The Source of the Insanity

Commentary By Ron Beasley

Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck and Fox News are getting the blame for the birther/teabagger insanity but I think the real source may be Sarah Palin.  It was after she joined the McCain campaign that the lunatic level went up.  The real bat shit crazies were drawn to her like a bear is drawn to honey.  Well today she joined the health care teabaggers.

Palin: Obama's "Death Panel" Could Kill My Down Syndrome Baby

In a new posting on her Facebook account, former Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) made a dire statement about health care reform -- that it could result in an Obama-created "death panel" killing her infant son with Down Syndrome:

The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's "death panel" so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their "level of productivity in society," whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.

I have to assume that Sarah still has a group insurance plan since the "death panels" of the private insurance companies would not give her a policy for that same Down Syndrome baby.

And just how insane is it you ask?  This insane:

 

Believe me, someone is going to get hurt.  Ignorant lunatics are a problem - armed ignorant lunatics are a real big problem.

Thank you John McCain for giving us Sarah Palin.</snark>

Update

John Cole's reaction to Palin's latest has to be the quote of the day:

Every time Sarah Palin opens her mouth I think of the old joke country song- “How Can I Miss You If You Won’t Go Away.” I’m seriously ready for our Chinese overlords to take over. We’re just too stupid a country to function.

Comments

[Pug]

I believe the old song How Can I Miss You If You Won't Go Away was done by Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, a San Francisco-based band from the late '60's early '70's.

It had a country sound but they weren't really a country band. They were more of hippie band.

[adamson]

If you google his name, you can find that he has a couple of websites.

[lex]

Take it one step further, The Source of the Insanity is Bigotry. Plain and simple, these predominantly white folks live in fear and hate of anyone or anything who doesn't act or think like they do. No matter how great a president Obama is, having a black, Democratic President is the real source of this dangerous and violent Bigotry.
Palin is just another scared white person acting out her lunatic racist fears.

"big⋅ot⋅ry
  /ˈbɪgətri/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [big-uh-tree] Show IPA
Use bigotry in a Sentence
–noun, plural -ries.
1. stubborn and complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one's own.
2. the actions, beliefs, prejudices, etc., of a bigot."

[CarolAll]

Yes! Finally, someone makes the connection!
As I recall, this all began when John McCain was looking for someone who could bring some excitement and enthusiasm to his dull presidential campaign. Sarah Palin is what McCain's handlers chose to fire up the conservative base. Her appearance, relatively unknown politics, her young family, and her snarky delivery of very cutting remarks excited the predominately white, older crowd at the convention. Pretty soon, Sarah had them chanting "Drill, Baby, Drill!"

Palin's attacks on Obama at campaign rallies painted Obama as a "foreigner." She claimed that he "palled around with terrorists" and, although Obama claimed to be a Christian, as a member of Rev. Wright's church, he subscribed to a "radical black theology." (Michelle Obama was portrayed as "an angry black woman" who celebrated her husband's success with a "terrorist fist bump.") Painting Obama as "the other," Palin established doubt, asking "Who is Barack Obama?" She went around the country, claiming to speak for "real Americans" in "real America." She was not an elite ivy leaguer, a "Chicago thug." Palin is the one who got crowds shouting ""Terrorist!" "Socialist!" and "Kill him!" The campaign climaxed with the old woman who told McCain that she couldn't support Obama; "he was an Arab." At that point, McCain knew that it had gone too far and had to backtrack.

The same crowds we saw at Palin rallies showed up for Teabagger protests of the Stim. Now, they've been organized and orchestrated into the "Hands off my healthcare" Mob.

Palin resigns as governor of Alaska, and suddenly there is a resurgence of the "birthers." Outright ies about "rationed care" and "euthanizing the elderly," a "government takeover" of healthcare are directed at older, white Americans resulting in chants of "I want my country back!" Back come the references to fascism in signs containing swaskitas and Hitler logos, images, and slogans.

Health insurance lobbyists, religious conservative organizations, Republican Congresspersons, and their right wing media supporters join in the "Obama is a racist who hates white people and culture" mantra.

There are those who have insisted that Sarah Palin is the future of the Republican Party. Old, white, racist, misogynist, MSNBC consultant and former Nixon speech writer, Pat Buchanan, promotes Palin on every media platform available to him.

Let's face it: Sarah Palin is a draw. She is attractive, ambitious, and can deliver stingingly sharp barbs. As VP candidate, she gained conservative backing developed contacts. But she lacks the intelligence, the depth of knowledge, and the sophistication to pull this off by herself. This whole scenario is no coincidence.

[willymack]

I think you pretty much nailed it, adamson. The "good ol' boys'" club is more than simple-minded bigots whose world is crumbling around them. In my mind, they're seriously disturbed maladroits who haven't had an original thought in their lives, and are easily upset and stirred up by any agitator pushing their buttons.
Just take a look at the lynch mob "mentality" at town hall meetings, lately.
All the emotional intensity minus anything resembling reasoned discourse is in play here. These sorry fools couldn't possibly have organized themselves and taken action without someone putting the idea into their tiny minds. The perception that the apocryphal "good ol' days" are slipping away without any hint of insight, let alone introspection, is evident here. Pablov would've been proud.

[Ron Beasley]

Yes, it is all about race. After Bush/Cheney/Rove destroyed the country and the Republican party much of what was left were the fruits of the "Southern Strategy" which left the Republicans in a position where they had to pander to the bigots.

[Mike Licht]

First appointment to Death Panel?

See:

http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2009/08/09/paula-abdul-named-to-obama-death-panel/