McCain/Palin Crowds are NO MORE RABID than the Bush 04 Crowds

[alcibiades_mystery]

They are the same. You heard the same vicious shit then. They were swaying and frothing like rabid chihuahuas in a windstorm in 2004. It was an unforgettable experience to see their unhinged behavior.

What's the difference? This time, they're visible to the press as rabid. Then, they were just "enthusiastic." Now, they've fallen so far in power and relevance that they can be called for what they are: unhinged and ravenous lynch mobs.

But let's not pretend this is new. What's new is its public visibility across a wide spectrum of the American press. The actions are nearly identical.

[zbdent]

1. and this time, they have control of the military ...

in 2000, they could muster storming the election offices in Florida ... but they couldn't show in the streets ...

Now, they have military coming home just in time to enforce the law at election time ... and if the "lucky" ones who were returned home in time were the kinds that think that Rush Limbaugh isn't Right-Wing enough ... hoo, boy ...

[npincus]

2. Not according to Dana Millbank and other press folks.

[alcibiades_mystery]

3. Uh...that's the point of my post

:shrug:

[npincus]

6. well, you were saying that this is nothing new, and the environment was

hottid back in '94... from what I am reading, jouranlists are saying this is WORSE that there is an atmosphere of intimidation and danger. (the latter are my words).

[zulchzulu]

4. I am STILL disturbed by one event as a Kerry grassroots person in 2004

A buddy and I were handing out flyers that had info about Kerry coming to town on a Sunday in downtown Madison, WI. A lot of people were cool about it, but there was a Republican family that walked by. I tried to hand them a flyer and this little girl, no older than 4 and cute as a button, foamed at the mouth and scowled at me that she HATES KERRY!!! I looked at her dad, who was beaming proudly at her. I could do a painting of the event. It was sick.

[ecstatic]

5. Really? they yelled "kill him" and "terrorist" about Kerry?

Wow! That's news to me!

[npincus]

7. yeah, I'm with you- it is borderline threatening now.

[Overseas]

8. True. The RNC culture war game is a very old one indeed.

They've ginned up their fake culture war again and again. Republican policies are so cruel and damaging to regular people that they can't win on those, so they stir up fake culture wars.

Republicans are the real ugly elitists who think they've dumbed down the population enough to get them to buy into it again and there is always that 20% that really gets into it.

Things have intensified with the consolidation of the corporate media into Republican hands. That allows them to spread their bias into areas that had been off limits, and to suppress news unfavorable to the Republican party. (Tom Brokaw even said he'd help make sure the RNC got "a fair shake" even though MSNBC had a few journalists who were horrible enough to tell the truth about Bush gang mistakes and McLiar's many misstatements.)

And fewer Republicans worry about morals any more. They answer to a Higher Authority. They feel that the Ends Justify the Means now more than ever.