Baumblog EST 1968 - A blog for the Baumbachs who originated in Syracuse, NY

I honestly thought that the sensible folks in the GOP (national level) would shout down the morons that have the microphone for the conservative movement in the United States. I figured that the Dems wiping the GOP off the map in the last election would give these decent folks them the upper hand.

Instead, the looney asylum at the GOP has run wild. Ask the common party member, and they can't really give you a cohesive answer as to who the voice of the party is. Worse, they are energizing the fringe far right wing--the gun-toting survivalists, the neo-nazis, the militant anti-abortionists are all louder than ever. FoxNews, mouthpiece of crazy-central, is happy to whip them up in a frenzy.

Crazy religious people are scary. They're the folks that make the best violence--because they believe they are divinely inspired, and will be rewarded in heaven. There is no denying that the fringe-right is heavily populated with religious crazies, and Fox News is happy to push them along.

Maybe it's a conincidence that they're pointing images of guns at prominent blacks. I really doubt it.

Exhibit B: constant referral to late term abortionist as baby killer, bringer of baby genocide, etc. Then posting HIS ADDRESS. ON THE AIR. What did they expect to see happen?

Last week, George Tiller was gunned down by a crazy anti-abortionist. But the fun didn't stop there.

This week,Holocaust denier James Von Braunn kills a security guard on his way into probably trying to kill a whole lot more people at the Holocaust Museum in Washington.

Rush Limbaugh: "(James Von Brunn) has more in common with the marchers and protesters we see at left-wing rallies."

Harry Binswager (Ayn Rand Institute): "How did it happen that you look at people that are Nazis and you say that those are right-wing? It doesn't make any sense whatsoever!"

So, Shep Smith, the lone voice of reason on Fox, starts tearing into the loonies that write into Fox. He reads several of them on the air, and explains that encouraging this sort of thing is, well, DANGEROUS. Imagine what response he got for this.

Pamela Geller: accused Smith of 'scary stupidity' and being a 'pompous elitist,' before arguing, 'Shep sucks. And Shep has always sucked, and it's time to get rid of the deadwood.... He has got to go.'

So, rather than toning down the rhetoric, instead, we get the "it's the liberal's fault" line. Again. And the loony faithful just keep eating it up.

The liberal left have some fairly "interesting" media moguls as well, but they do not appear to incite violence. Perhaps they're a more benign form of crazy? I dunno, but I fear this summer will see a whole lot more unfortunate politically based violence before it comes to a head. And that's just our "home-grown" terrorists!

Marc said about 7 hours later

I saw the YouTube video of Shep Smith on Fox and couldn't believe it was Fox News. It was all the rage on digg.com and they expected him to be fired any time now. :)

Fox News is like watching high school students gossip. While CNN isn't even close to how crazy they are at Fox News, I've seen them have similar ridiculous discussions. We're in very dangerous times when crazy people are watching these crazy news stations and taking things at face value, or on the opposite end, other crazies are getting attached to the "everyday journalist" (read: blogger) and reading those at face value. Sometimes I feel like I should just step back and let them shoot each other.
GJ said about 7 hours later

Nah, Fox won't get rid of Shep. They can hold him up and say, "see, we're not 100% crackpots."
Eric said 1 day later

Oh, boy. You've been watching to much NBC (Neurotic Bonehead Coalition)!

I'll be honest - I think everyone's crazy! The mainly liberal media (with the obvious exception of Fox News), the administration (spend, Spend, SPEND!), every feakin' politician that opens his/her mouth, the whole dang world! What the heck is going on? You can't blame it all on the GOP, although I agree there are crazies popping up all over the place.

You look at Fox News, and it's just the polar-opposite of MSNBC! It unbelievable! These people are taking pot shots at each other over the airwaves! I have never seen such outrageous behavior on either side. Why ARE we taking sides anyway! We are supposed to be one country of Americans, but these idiots are spliting the nation apart.

I say we forget all this nonsense and get back to the arguement that really needs settled:

Tastes Great! Less Filling!
Geoff said 1 day later

hahahaha
Eric said 1 day later

By the way, those images you posted above are obvious in intent and completely wrong. People are always entitled to their opinion, but it's against the law to make death threats (and that goes for SEIU and ACORN, too!)
GJ said 1 day later

Yeah, death threats seem to be a fixture on the far right lunatic fringe. The far left has a few that do this as well (Animal Liberation Front is a good example) but you generally don't see their ideals being championed by the mouthpieces of the left.
Steve said 1 day later

You guys actually pay attention to Fox news and Rush Limbaugh? I have to admit, I don't watch much news anymore, and certainly not Fox news (not even the local Fox station). If I watch the news, I'll watch a Lansing station, as they aren't nearly as annoying as Detroit stations are. Sure, the anchors aren't quite as polished - but who cares, they at least tell of news I care about, and don't seem anywheres near as one sided.
GJ said 1 day later

No, actually, I don't watch much in the way of news. Most of my news comes from BBC America, the AP news wire, Wall Street Journal, and the Economist. With Tiller's death, I did a little checking around to see what Fox's response was knowing their history with him. Little surprise that instead of apologizing for doing idiotic things like publishing Tiller's work and home addresses, they were instead publishing that same information about the next two leading late term abortion providers. Responsible journalism, that.

Limbaugh is being quote far more often in the legit news wires because the GOP doesn't appear to have a rudder at the moment. I don't think many people realize that he's an entertainer, not a legit pol. Same goes for Glen Beck, the crybaby loose cannon at Fox.

Eric's got a very valid point above. The separated-at-birth halves of the MSM seem to be designed to split America apart by the same divisions that split our politicians. I think it may well be simply that they need to put on a constant spectacle in order to justify 24/7 news coverage, but at what cost?
Eric said 2 days later

I don't watch much either. I pick and chose things to watch. I do watch Glenn Beck, mostly because I find him humorous. He may be a cry baby, but I enjoy his rants. I read most of my news online, but I get it all over the place (AP, Reuters, WSJ.) Even MSNBC from time-to-time, if you can believe that. I don't listen to Rush. He's a joke.

We have to get away from the finger pointing politics. GOP's and Dem's act like they are light years apart, but it's really not the case anymore. Just the dance alone is what makes Congress and the Executive Branch so ineffective. Not that I know how that gets done. Personally, I pay much more attention to local and state politics now.
Eric said 3 days later

By the way, GJ. I could not find any indication that someone posted Tiller's address on the air. Was it his home address or work address? Who posted it - O'Reilly? When was it posted?