In the wake of the economic collapse last year, financial interests have been particularly keen on diverting the public's anger away from them. Traditionally, such diversions have been accomplished by redirecting the rage of lower- and middle-class whites against blacks (and/or immigrants) or the cultural-intellectual elite.
What is different now is that for the first time in our history the two favored targets that conservatives have used in the past to misdirect the anger of the middle class away from the economic elite -- the intellectual/cultural elite and racial minorities -- have been combined in one person: a black, Harvard-educated President.
Thus the quantity of the fuel for the fire with which the reckless rightists are playing is doubled.
Large swaths of America have become in recent months the sort of "nut country" that President Kennedy accurately said Dallas was on that tragic Friday nearly 46 years ago. We know exactly who the people (ir)responsible for planting the nut trees from which the nuts hang are.
Where Do Republicans Stand on Playing with Matches?
Are there no responsible voices among leading Republicans who will come out and say in unambiguous terms that none of what these rightwing shouting heads are saying is true and condemn them for their totally irresponsible, unpatriotic, and incendiary statements?
The way to stop the spread of a dangerous conflagration is to remove the highly combustible materials from the fire's path. The only firefighters in a position to do that with respect to the rightwing arsonists are prominent Republicans. They have already failed in the role of first responders. Will they respond now?
Extremism in defense of liberty (a liberty that is in fact not under threat) is a vice. Responsible, patriotic members of Mr. Goldwater's party need to say so, loudly and clearly, before it is too late.
My plea to Republicans, Fox News, and those who control rightwing talk radio is simple: Take the matches out of the hands of these mental children.
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