In Harlem on a scorching Friday afternoon, the boarded-up nightclub next to one of the prettiest churches in New York took most of the attention. Instead of the usual posters advertising gigs or the latest Judd Apatow movie, the passer-by was encouraged to consider the possibility that 9/11 was "a thoroughly un-convincing lie".The 911 Truth Movement is a loose grouping of conspiracy theorists who question the mainstream account of the attacks of September 2001. This in itself isn't particularly shocking or interesting. A second glance at the language, however, offers an insight into how Americans who engage in reactionary politics try to get their message across.
Take a look at the top-center poster above, where the viewer is invited to choose whether he is a "dumb-ass", "coward" or "Nazi" for being apparently duped by the 9/11 conspiracy.
Now look at how Rush Limbaugh described Obama's health care plan this week:
"If you want to do a comparison...between the people pushing (the health care bill) and the people opposing it, to national socialism in Germany, it ain't a contest. The people pushing this health care bill have far more in common with the national socialists of Germany - exempting genocide - than any of us who are opposing this health care have."
Pretty shocking. And this type of language just fans the flames in this part of the world. When you get scenes like this in a liberal state like California, you know that vitriolic language has fanned the flames to the point where all common sense and reason go out the window.
One kind of expects this language from conspiracy theorists, it's their stock in trade after all, and they'd have little or no public profile without it. But it's worrying that a significant proportion of the political establishment here throw words like "Nazi" and "evil" at people who are trying to do something as noble as expanding health coverage.
Similar strokes for very different folks, then.
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Good first post, James. I'll be impressed if you keep this going!
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the crazy world of American politics, where two camps take turns to tell the country that their dad is bigger than the other's dad, where Democrats have long forgotten was "liberal" actually means, never mind "conservatism", Republicans vice versa, and where it is impossible to fall somewhere between the two.