-By Frank Salvato
Just over a month ago, President Obama took to a stage in Arizona to decry what he perceived as the caustic nature of political discourse in our country. On this issue, and very few others, we agree. But Mr. Obama was delinquent in pointing out the individuals and organizations – the factions – responsible for stoking the fires of discontent and, dare I say, hatred. The unspoken reason for this omission is because most – if not all – of the caustic rhetoric – the unbridled hatred – comes from the Progressive Left and there are myriad examples to prove the point beyond argument.
Truth be told, the Progressive-Left in the United States, as they exist today, are not unlike the arrogant, defiant, naïve teenager; so full of self-righteousness yet so incredibly oblivious to the fact that there are consequences to each and every action. And just like that rebellious teenager, when it comes time to reap the pains of what their actions sowed, they become bitter, angry and sometimes violent in their defiance. The troubles created by their lack of vision and their selfishness, however, remain for others to rectify. And just like the defiant teenager, those of the Progressive-Left would rather blame everyone else for the problems they face; the problems society faces because of the obstinacy and narcissism.
The mainstreaming of the Progress-Left’s insolence has manifested in the evolution of malcontents who once bombed government buildings and killed law enforcement officers, who rioted in the streets of Chicago, Los Angeles and New York, into many who have now achieved elected office, including the status of US Representatives, Senators and, yes, even the Presidency of the United States. The difference between yesterday and today is that today the consequences of their actions – the cost for their lack of vision and their arrogance – is much higher.
So, what happens when those of today’s Progressive-Left are thwarted in their quest for self-serving achievement; what happens when the generation of artificial self-esteem doesn’t get their way? What happens when their employment of the Alinsky rules doesn’t bear fruit? Well, they hate…and they hate with a viciousness that should give everyone in the world – not just the United States, but the world – a fright.
Hate of the Person
Recently, amid the chaos and violence of the Egyptian upheaval, CBS News’ Lara Logan, a seasoned war correspondent, was brutally beaten and sexually assault for a period of time. It wasn’t until a group of Muslim women and approximately 20 Egyptian soldiers came to Ms. Logan’s aid that the assault was stopped. Mr. Logan was hospitalized for her injuries and evacuated to the United States where she was hospitalized further.
In the face of this unacceptable attack on a woman who was trying to report to the world the events taking place in a land in turmoil, Nir Rosen, an alleged journalist who has been published by Time Magazine, The New Yorker and The New York Times Magazine – liberal and Progressive publications, one and all, submitted the following “Tweets” upon hearing the news of Ms. Logan’s assault:
“Jesus Christ, at a moment when she is going to become a martyr and glorified we should at least remember her role as a major war monger.”
“Look, she was probably groped like thousands of other women.”
Mr. Rosen, who was forced to immediately surrender his title of Fellow at New York University’s Center on Law and Security for his hatred, later offered the “Sorry, I was insensitive” defense.
The fact remains, that was the initial response by Mr. Rosen and, thus, we all must understand that his “Tweeted” sentiments are, in fact, his true sentiments. The hate – the misogynistic hate – he spewed toward a woman who was sexually assaulted and beaten at the hands of a vicious mob cannot be erased and must be recognized for what it is: It is who Mr. Rosen is, period. He is a hater…and he is a Progressive.
Recently, at a rally to protest the Koch Brothers – two people who spend a considerable amount of money to champion Conservative causes, but nowhere near what George Soros spends to advance the cause of Progressive globalism – occasional New Media Journal contributor Christian Hartsock asked people in the crowd how they felt about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Their answers demonstrated a hatred for Justice Thomas that rivaled the hatred of those who celebrated the Ku Klux Klan:
“Put him back in the field…He’s a scumbag, he’s a dumb-shit scumbag. Throw him back in the field.”
“We cut off his toes, one by one, and feed them to him.”
“I don’t know, I’m all about peace, but I say torture.”
“What do we do with him? String him up! And his wife too, let’s get rid of Ginny…[Then we can] start all over…Scalia…who are the other assholes? String him up…Thomas…his wife…Scalia…Roberts, oh my god…”
“Hang him.”
While these people were protesting two American citizens, natural born American citizens, who observe their right and obligation to engage the governmental process – incredible, in and of itself – they called for the lynching, torture and maiming of a United States Supreme Court Justice, his wife and his fellow Conservative Justices simply because they held a different political opinion than they did. The racial hatred speaks for itself.
I could go into every instance where the Progressive-Left smeared, defamed and lied about President George W. Bush over the years but there isn’t enough space here to do justice to the injustice incurred by Mr. Bush and his family.
The ironic thing about the hatred of the Progressive-Left is that it is the Progressive-Left that not only professes the need for tolerance (no, that’s not a laugh line) but they are the ones that insisted on advancing hate-speech legislation, yet the powers that be never inflict that non-freedom of speech on any of their transgressions.
Hate of the Process
This week, in Wisconsin, labor union operatives organized teachers, jail guards and other unionized government workers to protest a move by Wisconsin’s newly elected Republican governor, Scott Walker, and the new Republican majority in Wisconsin’s legislature, to push back against over-reaching union benefits in the face of a state budget crisis. Walker and legislative Republicans wanted to strip most public employees of their collective-bargaining rights, while mandating that they pay more into their own pension funds.
But the vote was not to be. The entire Wisconsin Senate Democrat caucus abdicated their responsibility to their constituents by leaving the state so as to create a situation where there was no quorum, thus, keeping the Wisconsin State Senate from being able to execute its constitutional duties.
Not only did out-of-state labor union organizers descend on Wisconsin’ capitol to gin-up the Progressive-Left, but Pres. Obama’s own organization, Organizing for America, played an active role in derailing the business of the State of Wisconsin.
But, this isn’t the first time that Progressive-Left activists, elected through the Democrat Party, have interfered with the execution of state business.
In 2003, Texas Senate Democrats, in the minority in the chamber – as is also the case with the Wisconsin mutiny, left the state in an effort to thwart the chamber’s constitutional duty to examine the redistricting of districts as mandated by the US Census.
In Maryland, during a heated debate on the extension of in-state government benefit rights to illegal aliens, Baltimore City Senator Joan Carter Conway bellowed into the face of a fellow City Senator, Norman Stone, who was arguing for preserving rights for legal residents:
“I don’t want to hear about the Constitution.”
These three examples, when coupled with the dismal and wholly unconstitutional tactics employed by US House Speaker for the 111th Congress Nancy Pelosi (P-CA)and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to ram through health insurance reform legislation, i.e. the behind closed door sessions, the usurpation of House and Senate rules, the lockout of Republicans in crafting of legislative language, provide a stellar example of how Progressive-Leftists hate the process that is Constitutional Republicanism.
Hate of the Country
That the Progressive-Left hates the United States of America – and everything it stands for less their right to wreck havoc over the US Constitution – is more than evident. From President Obama’s continuous apology to the world for perceived wrongs committed by our country, to the elitists in higher education who systematically brainwash as many students a possible against the opportunity presented by Capitalism and a free market system, to Progressive-Leftists like Code Pink, so devoid of reality that they believe radical Islamist violence is caused by US foreign policy (please explain the Islamist violence in Indonesia, Africa, China and Russia please), the Progressive-Left’s hatred for our country leaves at least me asking: Why the hell do you want to live here if it is so horrible a place?
The truth of the matter, when it comes to hate, is this: The Progressive-Left is very good at screaming that Conservatives or the Tea Party or people who practice their faith are budding with repressed hatred; that they are intolerant, uninformed, mean-spirited, organized and hate-filled. But over the years I have come to understand one very important thing. If the Progressive-Left accuses you of something, it is out of guilt; it is because they, themselves, are guilty of the charges. If you don’t believe me, just ask Lara Logan, Clarence Thomas, Sarah Palin or George W. Bush.
Maybe that’s why they hate religion so much…it facilitates a conscience.
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Frank Salvato is the managing editor for The New Media Journal . He serves at the Executive Director of the Basics Project, a non-profit, non-partisan, 501(C)(3) research and education initiative. His pieces are regularly featured in over 100 publications both nationally and internationally. He has appeared on The O’Reilly Factor, and is a regular guest on The Right Balance with Greg Allen on the Accent Radio Network, as well as an occasional guest on numerous radio shows coast to coast. He recently partnered in producing the first-ever symposium on the threat of radical Islamist terrorism in Washington, DC. His pieces have been recognized by the House International Relations Committee and the Japan Center for Conflict. He can be contacted at oped@newmediajournal.us