Captain Obvious: Chris Matthews Discovers Tea Party "Aren't That Far" from White Supremacist Groups

I've had a few issues with Chris Matthews of late, where his always vacillating political needle seemed lodged in libertarian/conservative land. But he still shows flashes of reasonableness, even if the topic is blindingly obvious. In this case, it's noticing the not-so-very-far-apartness of white supremacist groups and "Tea Party" conservatives. Um yeah, we noticed that.

[Excerpt]
MSNBC’s Chris Matthews: Tea Party Republicans ‘aren’t that far’ from white supremacist groups

MSNBC host Chris Matthews slammed Tea Party Republicans on Tuesday, likening them to white supremacist organizations like the one currently linked to House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA).
 

Image from source, Raw Story

“How do you think Louie Gohmert feels toward David Duke?” Matthews askedHuffington Post reporter Sabrina Siddiqui. “How do we know? What do you think of [Ted] Yoho, and that crowd? These guys believe [President Barack Obama] was somehow an illegal immigrant from Africa because they can’t stand the fact that he’s an African-American president. Let’s be honest about it — they’re not that far from the crowd they refuse to associate with. . . .”

Read more at: Raw Story

New GOP Congress Off to Bang Up Start

Wow! See, America, this is what happens when you don't pay attention, fall for truthiness, decide it's the other side's "turn" or just don't vote because you think "they're all the same." The new team--yet to even be sworn it--already has a prominent member guilty of a felony (and resigning after saying he wouldn't). And now a guy third from the top in the House of Representatives who gives speeches for white supremacists. And didn't realize it. He's also kind of a nutbar. Is this what you bargained for?

[Excerpt]

House Majority Whip Scalise confirms he spoke to white nationalists in 2002

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the House majority whip, acknowledged Monday that he spoke at a gathering hosted by white-supremacist leaders while serving as a state representative in 2002, thrusting a racial controversy into House Republican ranks days before the party assumes control of both congressional chambers . . .

Read more at: Washington Post

Shooting at Holocaust Museum

Photo from New York Daily News

I'm not sure what to say about today's shooting at the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. It's such an odd story. An 88-year-old shooter? Who was in World War II? On the US side or the Axis side? And he's a Hitler-lovin', Jew-hatin' extra crispy bucket of crazy.

Left wing sources ponder openly whether or not the DHS report on radicalized right-wing extremists turning violent, may be playing out with this and the Tiller murder. Right-wing sites are trying to distance themselves from that, and are busy trying to make the recent shooting at a military recruitment center the real story. Because that shooter was a Muslim. Which doesn't necessarily make him not a right-winger.

When this story first broke, I checked in on the good folks at FreeRepublic, and they were obsessed with finding out who the shooter was, was he a Muslim? Why won't they say? I'll bet it's a Muslim! When it turned out to be a bonafide white guy, one of their own, they focused on his age, saying he probably didn't know what he was doing. Which isn't borne out at all by this dude's history.

Whatever the underlying issues, the fact of the matter is, we've had three pretty damned creepy domestic terrorism events here. And in each case, the shooter seemed to believe their actions were justified. I hope it doesn't embolden more whack-jobs. We certainly don't have a shortage of them.

[Excerpt]

Traces of Gunman’s Online Life Begin to Vanish

A Google search for “James W. von Brunn,” the name of the 88-year-old white supremacist suspected of opening fire at the National Holocaust Museum in Washington, killing a security guard, reveals that he was apparently an active user of the Web — although traces of his work online are already being erased by some of the sites he frequented. . .

Read more at: New York Times

A Kid Named Adolph Hitler Denied Birthday Cake

Photo from source, New York Daily News

I understand that there are white separatists in this country. I don't understand why, but I understand that they exist. I also understand that they sometimes name their children oddly, to reflect their odd beliefs. It takes a rare set of parents though, with the chutzpah (Yiddish word chosen intentionally), or the outright stupidity to name their kid Adolph Hitler. They showed no more intelligence with the selection of "Aryan Nation" for their daughter's name, but at least squeezed those names between her first and last name.

So, tell me. While folks were voting against my right to marry, is organized religion out there organizing against potential parents like this? And by the way, the white separatists are free to separate--I'd think without complaint from anybody--from the rest of us, other white people, included.

[Excerpt]

Happy birthday, Adolf Hitler! Boy with nazi leader's name denied ShopRite cake

This Hitler youth is blond-haired, blue-eyed and just turned three.

Adolf Hitler Campbell is the middle child of three kids given Nazi-themed names by their parents, including a dad who denies the Holocaust occurred and decorates his home with swastikas. . .

Read more at: New York Daily News