My Real Politik

The Other Side of Terrorism: Domestic Hate and Religious Extremism

This is an excerpt from "White Power USA," which aired on Democracy Now last Monday as well as on Al Jezeera English. "White Power USA" is a short documentary produced by Rick Rowley and Jacquie Soohen which gives insight into growing social and political support of white supremacist hate groups across the country.

The US Department of Homeland Security warned last June that right-wing extremism represents "the most dangerous domestic terrorism threat in the United States." Many on the right balked at this claim, citing it as a partisan attack.

Yet, as Republicans have been quick to demand the Ft. Hood shootings and the failed Christmas Day Bombing be declared terrorist attacks on the US, the same demand was largely absent after the assassination of abortion doctor George Tiller by a supporter of Christian anti-abortion groups like the Army of God, regarded as a terrorist organization by the United States government. 

On January 22 of last year, Matthew L. Derosia of St. Paul MN rammed an SUV into the front entrance of a planned parenthood clinic, claiming the Jesus had called on him to do so. Had Mr. Derosia been of Islamic decent instead of white and had he a Qur'an in his truck instead of the Bible, this incident might quickly have been exploited as a terrorist attack. Yet, it slipped strangely under the radar.  

The Other Side of Terrorism: It hasn't stopped since 9/11

 

There is a disturbing and growing trend among some conservative commentators to claim that there were no terrorist attacks under President George Bush's term. Last November on Fox News' Hannity former Bush Press Secretary Dana Perino suggested the President Obama was playing politics and demanded that the Fort Hood shootings be considered a terrorist attack. She continued by saying "We did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush's term."

On December 28th, conservative commentator and former White House aid to Dick Cheney Mary Matalin claimed the Bush Administration had "inherited the most tragic attack on our own soil in our nation's history."

On Good Morning America earlier in January, former New York mayor Ruddy Giuliani said "We had no domestic attacks under Bush, we've had one under Obama." 

To make matters significantly worse, not once did it occur to Fox's Sean Hannity, ABC's George Stephanopoulos, or CNN's John King to stop their line of scripted questions to ask these commentators to clarify their remarks.

In the Shadow of King- Intolerance is Alive and Well

"The United States is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today."

Martin Luther King Jr, April 4, 1967

After Martin Luther King Jr gave his "Beyond Vietnam" speech in New York's Riverside Church, Time magazine called it "demagogic slander" and the Washington Post claimed King had "diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, his people." 

Forty years later, with a black man as president, we may have learned greater tolerance towards racial differences, but we are tragically far from tolerance of differing opinions. 

This parochial addiction infects every possible aspect of American life from our literature to our entertainment, our government and our media. It distorts the electoral process and is consequentially the single largest threat to American democracy. Out inclination to blame notwithstanding, there is no one scapegoat at which we can direct our damning finger- the media and our government are really only reflections of ourselves. They may be distorted, but the origin of their perversion is the same just as our partisan ridicule is largely a reaction to what we see and hear in our news and from our government. 

And so on this celebration of Martin Luther King's legacy, I'm challenging myself to listen to people that I might normally shut my ears to. Listening is the only way we can begin to understand each other, and if we fail to understand each other we defer to our innate urge to fear that which we do not understand. It is this fear that is at the heart of discrimination and this fear that only tolerance and tolerance alone can overcome. Instead of judging people by the creed of their politics, let us instead judge them by the content of their character.

My Conflicting Opinions of Fox News: Haiti Earthquake Coverage

An interesting analysis by the media watch group Media Matters breaks down Fox News' 1/13/2010 Haiti earthquake coverage as compared to its counterbalance MSNBC:

"Fox News' three top-rated programs for 2009, combined to devote a total of 6 minutes, 41 seconds of coverage to the earthquake in Haiti. Among the things they chose to air instead were Beck's interview with Palin -- to which he devoted nearly his entire show -- Hannity's continued advocacy for Brown; and O'Reilly's discussion of Stewart. Countdown, The Rachel Maddow Show, and Hardball, MSNBC's three top-rated shows, devoted 2 hours, 2 minutes and 33 seconds to the earthquake -- more than 18 times the coverage devoted by Fox News' top three shows. Other Fox News shows -- such as Special Report with Bret Baier and The Fox Report with Shepard Smith -- did devote extensive coverage to the earthquake."

The initial reaction might be a balk at Fox's insensitivity, however I welcome the break from the constant barrage of Haiti coverage. While of course my heart goes out to the people of Haiti and I'm supporting their relief, there are actually other things going on in the world.

Since the earthquake, the UN announced 2009 to have been Afghanistan's deadliest year since 2001, the nations top Banking Execs are appearing on Capital Hill, Prop 8 is going on trial, Israel is deporting American journalists, the Defense Department surpassed $700 billion in their budget for the first time in history as Obama requested an additional $33 Billion to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, six of the nation's largest insurance companies have been implicated in launching a $20 million anti-health reform campaign, the Federal government has accused Bank of America of illegally hiding Merrill Lynch losses from investors before acquiring them in 2008, 1 in 8 Americans are now reported to be on food stamps, Google is pulling out of China because of serious censorship and hacking threats, food giant Monsanto's genetic modification of corn has been linked to a "dramatic public health" threat, and the creator of SpagettiOs Donald Goerke passed away.

But you wouldn't know any of this because right now, nothing else is as important as splattering the nation's television screens with graphic horror stories from Haiti so that mainstream media can earn an extra half-a-point in the Neilson ratings.

Fox News may not be any less cannibalistic, but at least there is some variety to their balderdash.