Sins Of The Past

Rep. John Dingell (D MI) on the Ed Show yesterday, talking about the Town Hall Blitzers:

DINGELL: Well, the last time I had to confront something like this was when I voted for the civil rights bill and my opponent voted against it. At that time, we had a lot of Ku Klux Klan folks and white supremacists and folks in white sheets and other things running around causing trouble.

Needless to say, the Wingnuts are having a cow over this.

Just like yesterday with Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer's op-ed. Just like they will with whatever the Democrats say tomorrow that sets them off.

People forget the fact that John Dingell was there for the civil rights legislation fight. He should know. And if he says something like that, then maybe it's worth taking into the perspective of history of which is was given. As Dave Neiwert reminds us:

These are people who believe it's objectively true that the Obama administration's health-care reforms will lead to a mass killing of the elderly and denial of treatment for Obama's opponents. If you want to know why teabaggers are so worked up, this is why: They really believe this stuff.

This kind of alienation from fact-based reality was a significant component of the dynamic behind the "Patriot"/militia movement of the 1990s. It's embodied by the selective "skepticism" of such folks: Anything the runs counter to their belief system is dismissed as "the official story" which is only believed by "gullible" folks (and indeed is more evidence of the ongoing conspiracy), while any kind of outrageous nonsense that supports their belief system is seized up on as "secret truth".

It was a decidedly unhealthy trait when manifested among a relatively small group of people like the Patriots, because these beliefs formed the foundation for a broad range of radical extremism, including violence and armed standoffs with federal authorities.

The prospects of it now becoming a common pathology among the general conservative-movement population -- thanks to its open support from folks like Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and Newt Gingrich (not to mention Fox News) -- are very disturbing indeed.

And that really is the bottom line.