What's Up With That?

Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme was released from prison today after 34 years. A follower of Charles Manson, although not one of those who participated in the murders of actress Sharon Tate and six others, she was one of his few (only?) followers who continued to correspond with him. Whether or not she still does is unknown.

Her crime? She pointed a gun at President Gerald Ford. There was no round in the chamber (she said she removed it in her apartment) although the gun had a full clip.

Why bring this up? Every day, more and more people bring loaded guns, including assault weapons, to the areas outside town hall meetings where President Obama is speaking. They are invited to appear on news shows where they proudly proclaim their right to bear arms and their state's open-carry law, and some legislator's are even now suggesting that more people should follow their example.

On Meet the Press yesterday, Senator Coburn, (R-OK), when asked his response to the violence, hate speech, representations of Obama as Hitler, and signs with swastikas, including the man (armed) with the sign with the Tree of Liberty and the accompanying Thomas Jefferson liberty quote, he ducked the question and mouthed some crap about how the government "earned it."

Has he forgotten that Timothy McVeigh wore a t-shirt depicting the exact same thing, with the complete quote on the back, which says: "The tree of liberty must be refreshed sometimes with the blood of patriots and tyrants" when he blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, Senator Coburn's home state? There was obviously a statement being made by that shirt since he stood so proudly when he got caught.

What on earth are the Secret Service thinking? What about our legislators? It's bad enough when our left-wing talk show hosts snidely suggest violence, then turn around and say they didn't really mean it. Then our Republican legislators passively and not so passively sanction violence against their Democratic colleagues and the President.

Some say that these armed protesters are too far from the President, but are they sure? He's had more death threats than any other President. The level of racism and hatred is rising to an unprecedented degree. The hate speech allowed and encouraged in our mainstream media is astonishing and the more moderate voices remain silent. The networks continue to report ping pong news (he said/she said) rather than actual journalism (i.e., this is truth, this is false) and provide false dichotomies for the uninformed to wade through as they try to form an opinion.

And the fringe get angrier as the corporate lobbyists foment violence and fear, and more and more bring guns (with bullets in the chamber) to events with the President.

What is the Secret Service thinking?

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k