The label of “communist” is too often indiscriminately attached to those whose views differ from the majority. Those whose lives are not led according to what one segment of society might decree to be the “norm” are too frequently challenged as “Reds.” Attributing every adversity to communism is not only irrational, but contributes to hysteria and fosters groundless fears. […] The job of curtailing and containing communism is one for legally constituted authorities with the steadfast cooperation of every loyal citizen. This is neither the time for inaction nor vigilante action.
—J. Edgar Hoover, Letter to all law enforcement officials, 1 April 1961
Monthly Archives: December 2012
Only conservatives are allowed to put heads on sticks
You may have heard about this latest right-wing ragegasm over blogger and scholar Erik Loomis’ use of a metaphor while discussing the Newtown school massacre:
I was heartbroken in the first 20 mass murders. Now I want Wayne LaPierre’s head on a stick.
I wonder if these conservative voices had displayed anything but approval for the John and Ken Show “Head on a Stick” campaign against purportedly liberal incumbents in California’s state government?
The campaign brought us such tasteful visualizations as the following:
Honduras’ oligarchy and the drug trade
Danielle Marie Mackey, Guernica Mag, 3 December 2012:
In a June interview with the staff of Diakonia Honduras, director Reina Rivera Joya mentioned that a map that charts the most common points of drug plane entry, provided by the regional security monitor organization Friedrich Ebert Foundation, shows exactly the parts of the country that are dominated by large plantations owned by the landowners: Aguan, Colon, and Mosquito.
See also:
- “Honduras since the coup: Drug Traffickers’ Paradise” by Marco Antonio Martínez García, CIP Americas Program, 31 August 2010
- “Honduras Worried About Becoming Narco-State” by Thelma Mejía, Inter Press Service, 22 October 2010
- “WikiLeaks Honduras: US Linked to Brutal Businessman” by Dana Frank, Nation, 21 October 2011
Things Republicans believe in the year 2012
- 50.9% of Republicans “support the use of US military force to remove foreign leaders or governments from power” in order to “defend US economic interests from being seized by the government” (p. 7).
- 62.9% of Republicans agree with the statement that “Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when the United States invaded in 2003” (p. 26).
- 55.6% of Republicans “have always believed President Obama was born in another country” (p. 26).
- 57% of Republicans view Muslims “unfavorably” (p. 1).
- 49% of Republicans think ACORN stole the 2012 election for Obama (p. 15).
Current Events Inquiry 