Star reporter Dana Milbank discovers that crackpot extremists are encouraging violence

Dana Milbank has finally discovered rightwing violent and eliminationist rhetoric: Glenn Beck and the Oakland shooter Washington Post dated 08/01/2010; accessed 07/31/2010. And he managed to get through all nine paragraphs of the story without even once drawing the normally obligatory reference to "extremists of the left and the right" or the like. He writes:

Beck has at times spoken against violence, but he more often forecasts it, warning that "it is only a matter of time before an actual crazy person really does something stupid." Most every broadcast has some violent imagery: "The clock is ticking. ... The war is just beginning. ... Shoot me in the head if you try to change our government. ... You have to be prepared to take rocks to the head. ... The other side is attacking. ... There is a coup going on. ... Grab a torch! ... Drive a stake through the heart of the bloodsuckers. ... They are taking you to a place to be slaughtered. ... They are putting a gun to America's head. ... Hold these people responsible."

Beck has prophesied darkly to his millions of followers that we are reaching "a point where the people will have exhausted all their options. When that happens, look out." One night on Fox, discussing the case of a man who killed 10 people, Beck suggested such things were inevitable. "If you're a conservative, you are called a racist, you want to starve children," he said. "And every time they do speak out, they are shut down by political correctness. How do you not have those people turn into that guy?"

Here's one idea: Stop encouraging them.

Dave Neiwert and Sara Robinson and others have been writing about this problem for years. Dana Milbank is a long way from catching up. But it's good to see him do this piece.

Digby links Milbank's article and comments on it in Over the Cliff Hullabaloo 07/30/2010:

If you haven't heard about Beck's latest, it's a doozy. Something about a Weather Underground conspiracy in the 1960s to make Homer Simpson an American hero. Seriously.

Tags: radical right