# Right-wing media fearmongering taken to its logical end **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 24, 2009, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-media-fearmongering-taken-to-its-logical-end/511310 "2009-09-24T00:09:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-media-fearmongering-taken-to-its-logical-end/511310/41 "2009-09-24T03:31:55Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Meanwhile, the [Freepers](http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2346771/posts) are **actually** comparing this to the Reichtstag Fire. OK- what does this _mean_? Are they calling Obama a Nazi? Are they calling _themselves_ Nazis? I seriously can’t parse those references in a way that makes any kind of sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-media-fearmongering-taken-to-its-logical-end/511310/42 "2009-09-24T03:32:43Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > That’ll show 'em! Sure will! It’ll determine the area is full of more people who qualify for government programs than applied ten years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-media-fearmongering-taken-to-its-logical-end/511310/43 "2009-09-24T03:52:41Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > OK- what does this _mean_? Are they calling Obama a Nazi? Are they calling _themselves_ Nazis? I seriously can’t parse those references in a way that makes any kind of sense to me. They’re trying to say that Obama staged the murder himself in order to frame conservatives. This will allow him to suspend the Constitution, declare martial law and start mass arrests of Republicans. I wish I could say they were being sarcastic, but they actually believe shit like this. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-media-fearmongering-taken-to-its-logical-end/511310/44 "2009-09-24T03:54:13Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > They’re trying to say that Obama staged the murder himself in order to frame conservatives. This will allow him to suspend the Constitution, \*\*declare martial law and start mass arrests of Republicans. > \*\* > I wish I could say they were being sarcastic, but they actually believe shit like this. You say that like it’s a bad thing. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-media-fearmongering-taken-to-its-logical-end/511310/45 "2009-09-24T03:56:19Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > OK- what does this _mean_? Are they calling Obama a Nazi? Are they calling _themselves_ Nazis? I seriously can’t parse those references in a way that makes any kind of sense to me. [The Reichstag (building) fire](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_Fire) is considered by many historians a “false flag” operation, probably perpetrated by Nazis (Goering in his cups once claimed to have arranged it, according to some sources), but blamed on a Commie; whoever was responsible, Chancellor Hitler used it as a pretext to demand the Reichstag (assembly) vote him “emergency” dictatorial powers (the last decision the Reichstag ever made). Suppression of all opposition parties ensued. Do the dots, connect the math. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-media-fearmongering-taken-to-its-logical-end/511310/46 "2009-09-24T03:56:41Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I guess when your whole community’s economy is based on a couple of fields of weed it doesn’t pay to let anyone ask too many questions. > > Still, given the scrawl on his chest it doesn’t sound like this was drug-related. Yes, I can imagine the poor census taker coming up the front walk, calling through the screen door, “Hello, I’m here from the governme–,” and then seeing three guys sitting around the dining room table stuffing a bale of marijuana into plastic bags. And why wouldn’t the scrawl on his chest point just as readily to drug dealers? They would presumably have their own independent reasons to snarl about a “fed” getting in their business. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-media-fearmongering-taken-to-its-logical-end/511310/47 "2009-09-24T04:00:33Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > They’re trying to say that Obama staged the murder himself in order to frame conservatives. This will allow him to suspend the Constitution, declare martial law and start mass arrests of Republicans. > > I wish I could say they were being sarcastic, but they actually believe shit like this. > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [The Reichstag (building) fire](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_Fire) is considered by many historians a “false flag” operation, probably perpetrated by Nazis (Goering in his cups once claimed to have arranged it, according to some sources), but blamed on a Commie; whoever was responsible, Chancellor Hitler used it as a pretext to demand the Reichstag (assembly) vote him “emergency” dictatorial powers (the last decision the Reichstag ever made). > > Do the dots, connect the math. OK, thanks. > [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Yes, I can imagine the poor census taker coming up the front walk, calling through the screen door, “Hello, I’m here from the governme–,” and then seeing three guys sitting around the dining room table stuffing a bale of marijuana into plastic bags. > > And why wouldn’t the scrawl on his chest point just as readily to drug dealers? They would presumably have their own independent reasons to snarl about a “fed” getting in their business. I agree- this could quite plausibly be drug related. I hope more information comes out soon. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-media-fearmongering-taken-to-its-logical-end/511310/48 "2009-09-24T04:10:36Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > They’re trying to say that Obama staged the murder himself in order to frame conservatives. This will allow him to suspend the Constitution, declare martial law and start mass arrests of Republicans. > > I wish I could say they were being sarcastic, but they actually believe shit like this. This kind of thinking has been kicking around for a while in certain far-right circles. In the '90s, I attended a party hosted by a Libertarian friend of mine, and a guy who claimed some connection (I was not clear on how close) with the militia movement also claimed to have seen proof that the FBI arranged the Oklahoma City bombing to provide a pretext for a crackdown on dissidents. Ah, well, if I could go back in time to the early '70s, I probably could find some lefty countercultural types willing to argue the FBI arranged the Weather Underground bombings for the same reason. And let’s not get started on the “9-11 Truthers” . . . ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-media-fearmongering-taken-to-its-logical-end/511310/49 "2009-09-24T05:17:13Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > The whole point of an undercover agent is for him to not look like an undercover agent. Undercover federal agents don’t look like federal agents, but they’re also not late-middle-aged fat people. They’re generally young, or at least not beyond their mid-30s, and look like locals. In this case, an undercover DEA agent would probably have a mullet and be wearing bib overalls. > [@](#): > > Another disturbing sign of paranoia from the right: gun and ammunition sales have skyrocketed since Obama got elected. We’ve had a bunch of threads on that already, and the general consensus is that the increase in firearms and ammunition sales has less to do with people thinking they might need to fight off the forces of oppression, and more to do with people thinking Obama and/or the Democratic Congress may push through new gun-control legislation. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-media-fearmongering-taken-to-its-logical-end/511310/50 "2009-09-24T05:23:37Z")
Which is no less asinine. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-media-fearmongering-taken-to-its-logical-end/511310/51 "2009-09-24T05:30:19Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > While I think Bachmann is a toad, let’s not lay this poor guy’s body on her doorstep unless it’s verified. Dude. Seriously. Let’s not have any threads at all that contain any kind of speculation or what iffing–or even paranoid conspiracy theories. K. Ready? Go! \<\< crickets \>\> IOW: much as I usually appreciate your input (that’s serious, not sarcastic), **jsg** , I think most of us know that what we’re doing here is speculating. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-media-fearmongering-taken-to-its-logical-end/511310/52 "2009-09-24T05:38:27Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Meanwhile, the [Freepers](http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2346771/posts) are **actually** comparing this to the Reichtstag Fire. Ah, the same loonballs who are passing around [this picture](http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/photos/panthers.asp) of Barack HUSSEIN Obama as a Black Panther? A very, very young Black Panther. Even Snopes is going, WTF, are people really this stupid? > [@](#): > > This photograph of Barack Obama as a Black Panther is another item that many might dismiss as an obvious bit of political parody, but the number of “Is this real?” inquiries we’ve received from readers indicates that quite a few people are confused about its authenticity (or lack thereof). ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-media-fearmongering-taken-to-its-logical-end/511310/53 "2009-09-24T13:00:41Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Which is no less asinine. Yes, but not quite as worrying as the thought that the crazies are stocking up on ammo in preparation for an insurrection or something. ---
**Author:** ![Sinaijon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Sinaijon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinaijon)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-media-fearmongering-taken-to-its-logical-end/511310/54 "2009-09-24T13:10:41Z")
Has anybody seen Kevin Federline lately? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-media-fearmongering-taken-to-its-logical-end/511310/55 "2009-09-24T13:29:38Z")
I dun get it. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-media-fearmongering-taken-to-its-logical-end/511310/56 "2009-09-24T13:30:16Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I dun get it. "Fed"erline. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-media-fearmongering-taken-to-its-logical-end/511310/57 "2009-09-24T13:42:33Z")
Oh. I thought he might have been doing “celebrity” Census-related PSAs or something. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-media-fearmongering-taken-to-its-logical-end/511310/58 "2009-09-24T14:23:51Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [The Reichstag (building) fire](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_Fire) is considered by many historians a “false flag” operation, probably perpetrated by Nazis (Goering in his cups once claimed to have arranged it, according to some sources), but blamed on a Commie; whoever was responsible, Chancellor Hitler used it as a pretext to demand the Reichstag (assembly) vote him “emergency” dictatorial powers (the last decision the Reichstag ever made). Suppression of all opposition parties ensued. > > Do the dots, connect the math. But. I thought the Communists and Nazis were the same people! ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-media-fearmongering-taken-to-its-logical-end/511310/59 "2009-09-24T14:55:18Z")
Now, I’m no detective— can’t be anymore, really, with all the restraining orders—but I can’t help but notice that they spelled the world “FED” correctly. This bit of evidence absolves most of the major anti-gummint/gun-fellatin’/tax-evadin’ “patriot” groups out there. Unless, of course, they had help from those eggheads at one of the shadowy conservative _think tanks_… ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-media-fearmongering-taken-to-its-logical-end/511310/60 "2009-09-24T15:03:59Z")
I’m not quite sure what the liberals on this board want with respect to the right-wing media. Do you really wish to muzzle them? If they really are directly inciting people to violence they can be prosecuted under existing laws. Otherwise they’re protected by the First Amendment, and rightly so. You really want to change that? Nobody forces people to listen to the right-wing media. Liberals are quite free to compete for the attention of the population, there are plenty of liberals with deep pockets. Perhaps if they didn’t show such deep contempt for certain sections of the populace that populace might be inclined to listen a little more. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-media-fearmongering-taken-to-its-logical-end/511310.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-media-fearmongering-taken-to-its-logical-end/511310.md?page=4)