The Republican Party must be ecstatic over the election in Albuquerque. Fair enough – a win is a win, if not a trend. Keep in mind that more people voted Democratic than Republican – far more. So anyone seeing this as an out-right victory of Republican principles over Democratic ones is simply wrong. However, as clear a majority had had enough of Mayor Marty and voted for change (rather consistent with 2008). Thank god, Karl Rove hasn’t announced another generation of Republican rule based on this election.
So, welcome, Mayor Berry. We’ll overlook the macho posturing and the pornstar mustache. We’ll ignore that your wife capitalizes on Federal programs you must despise. We’ll give you and the new Republican majority on the City Council some time to prove you can govern. Despite the craven conservatives who haven’t granted as much to the Democratic majority at the Federal level – and the far clearer, undeniable call for change at that level – we’ll show conservatives what graciousness-in-defeat (albeit, tiny and forced) looks like, since they’ve never seen it in a mirror or among their ilk. peace, mjh
REPORT: ‘We Will Overthrow The Government’ — Calls For Violence Repeatedly Stoked By Conservative Voices
Last week, the right-wing media outlet Newsmax — which receives 4 million unique monthly visitors and 130,000 print subscribers — published a column by conservative author John Perry arguing that a military coup could “resolve” the “radical left…Obama problem.” After being widely criticized, Newsmax retracted the column. However, the column appears to have encouraged an already angry group of anti-Obama radicals who have been plotting violence against the government.
While discussing the Newsmax column on his XM Sirius radio show last week, Michelangelo Signorile heard from a caller, “Jim from Oklahoma,” who explained that the idea of a coup is already being planned by a group of at least 200 people:
Pulling our government down, pulling our President out, and putting him back where he should be […] [using] the right to bear arms, it’s in the Constitution. […] We need a coup, there needs to be a coup and if the United States military won’t do it, we’ll do it.
Jim confirmed that he was “dead serious.” Although he was coy about specific details, Jim said that he was motivated by homophobia and an interest in bringing back slavery. A second caller confessed that her own mother has been scheming against the government because she has been captivated by racist thoughts and a belief that “Jesus is coming to overthrow Barack Obama.” She pleaded for people to recognize the extremist threat against Obama.