This is the best title I could think of, but in reading some of the Diaries RE: Beck/Norris/Freeper-calls-to-violence, it also made me think about some things I am seeing in my own life.
I work for a software company in their Dallas office and we serve large multinationals all over the country. Two of my coworkers are 40-ish year old wingnuts. They send Freeper emails thinking its funny. I basically called them out last week and said such emails will pretty much get deleted without opening or discussion, so don't bother anymore. They thought it was cute because now THEY get to bitch for 4 to 8 years. It's really all just a cynical, bitter game to them.
But what really bothered me was a nice, female Project manager was talking about how she and her husband (at his behest) are stocking up on guns and ammo because they are, to paraphrase, concerned about anti-gun laws that could come OR massive taxes on ammo/ammo-making-equipment that are coming. I asked her where she is getting her info from, and she said he gets his from the news. She is a fairly progressive California native, but even her household is being poisoned by the lies.
So, all of this makes me wonder: Did Barack Obama's election merely rip the scab off of a long-festering sore we've just been putting alcohol and painkillers on for 40 years?
I'm starting to wonder (and I think I said it on an open thread before in less detail): How much is being able to say 'United States of America' worth anymore? I think I've mentioned an amicable divorce before, but again, would a structured, organized, non-violent seccession be a BAD thing?
Divide up the states as fairly as possible, divide up the military fairly (although the nuclear arsenal would be a sticking point, as I'm not to comfortable with hard-core wing-nuts having easy access to nukes), split the treasury, let them write their own bill of rights and constitution, and come up with a migration/emigration timetable.
I'm a 28 year old gay minority man. I can't imagine going through the protests and such that older progressives have gone through. But looking at issues like Prop 8, the wars, the economy and interpretation of the constitution, I'm becoming convinced that having facists in our own backyard isn't going to work for too much longer.
We shouldn't have to live in fear of what violent acts they will perform if they don't get their way in a democratic, lawful election. It's become quite obvious that even the most fair and moderate among them don't seem to give a rats ass about anything other than THEIR OWN POWER, and have seen fit to dehumanize anyone that doesn't agree with them or let them have their way. Dehumanize to the point of condoning violence.
I don't mean to sound defeatist, I am simply wondering if, like we are proposing for Israel/Palestine, a Two-state solution might be the best bet. Are some differences just too big to ever be overcome?