DHS Weighs in On Right-Wing Extremism

Expect loud cries of foul from the GOP echo chamber, but DHS has finally taken notice of the well-documented uptick in right-wing extremism.  Sadly, I think this is the kind of move that only encourages these movements ... who really, genuinely believe that the sun is setting on America and that Obama offers only a fast-track to statist totalitarianism.  That said, this report is incredibly timely and appropriate.  Here's hoping it has the intended effect on law-enforcement priorities and practices.

So You Say You Want a Revolution

The grassroots echo-chamber on the right continues to get scarier. Charles Blow has an extremely accurate summary of the goings-on in a NYT piece yesterday:

Lately I’ve been consuming as much conservative media as possible (interspersed with shots of Pepto-Bismol) to get a better sense of the mind and mood of the right. My read: They’re apocalyptic. They feel isolated, angry, betrayed and besieged. And some of their “leaders” seem to be trying to mold them into militias.

[...]

But, it’s not all just harmless talk. For some, their disaffection has hardened into something more dark and dangerous. They’re talking about a revolution.

This is no joke. A lot of these people are armed--many of those largely in anticipation of this "moment". Blow continues:

At the same time, the unrelenting meme being pushed by the right that Obama will mount an assault on the Second Amendment has helped fuel the panic buying of firearms. According to the F.B.I., there have been 1.2 million more requests for background checks of potential gun buyers from November to February than there were in the same four months last year. That’s 5.5 million requests altogether over that period; more than the number of people living in Bachmann’s Minnesota.

I'll follow up with examples as I see them in the next few days/weeks. The right-wing blogosphere is a confused place right now.

Update: Not exactly a revolution, but not unrelated either.  It'll be interesting to see if this version of the story bears out.

Update 2: Seems to be borne-out. 

Update 3: Apparently the right-wing blogosphere has no idea what we're talking about:

I just do not understand why the Left Wing Media and the Liberal Bloggers are using two major tragedies like these to try and further an anti-gun agenda and a Conservative Media hysteria agenda. It does sort of remind me of the Jewish hysteria agenda that Hitler started in Germany.

Priceless!  I wonder why so many wingnuts think we're on the verge of statist totalitarianism.

The GOP Indentity Crisis Takes an Ugly Turn

Mostly, this GOP implosion is fun to watch ... but sometimes, it's really scary.

John Bolton offers apocalyptic visions for our Second City:

"The fact is on foreign policy I don't think President Obama thinks it's a priority," said Bolton. "He said during the campaign he thought Iran was a tiny threat. Tiny, tiny depending on how many nuclear weapons they are ultimately able to deliver on target. Its, uh, its tiny compared to the Soviet Union, but is the loss of one American city" – here Bolton shrugged his shoulders impishly – "pick one at random – Chicago – is that a tiny threat?"

[...]

Bolton concluded by saying, "I think it's clear that our national security is at risk in this administration."

And Hannity's trying to start a revolution:

What kind of revolution appeals most to you? Military Coup: 16.00%; Armed Rebellion: 52.00%; War for Secession: 32.00%

I really want them to get their act together (and become a party of adults for which I would consider voting), but they don't seem to be in a hurry. Happy CPAC.

The New Contract on America

After the 2006 midterm elections, my prediction was that Barack Obama would run against Newt Gingrich for the presidency this year. Roberk Novak reports today that I may simply have gotten the year wrong:

Gingrich is far from a unanimous or even a consensus choice to run for president in 2012. But there is a strong feeling in Republican ranks that he is the only leader of their party who has shown the skill and energy to attempt a comeback quickly.

Even one of his strongest supporters for president in 2012 admits it is a "very risky choice." But Republicans are in a desperate mood after the fiasco of John McCain's seemingly safe candidacy.

Republicans appear chastened by the failure of seeking moderate, independent and even Democrat votes. They are ready to try going back to the "old-time religion."

Strikingly, the GOP seems to have "learned" the lesson that they were not conservative enough. As I've mentioned before, generational demographics make this a serious mis-reading of the outcome.


At any rate, this will be fun to watch.

Drilling Down

All the interesting breakdowns of Tuesday's results are starting to pop up.

Mark Newman provides a nice collection of maps and cartograms for both 2004 and 2008:

In the end, he argues that a more nuanced view is better:

For the more demographic driven geeks, Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State provides some interesting trendlines. It's clear that young people are moving left:

And so is the electorate:

The Genius of Our President-Elect

I thought that I might experience post-election depression due to the lack of an outlet for my hope and enthusiasm once the campaign goal was reached. As if on cue, I received the following email from the Obama campaign last night:

*************************************
Marina --
I'm about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first.

We just made history.

And I don't want you to forget how we did it.

You made history every single day during this campaign -- every day you knocked on doors, made a donation, or talked to your family, friends, and neighbors about why you believe it's time for change.

I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to this campaign.

We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I'll be in touch soon about what comes next.

But I want to be very clear about one thing...

All of this happened because of you.

Thank you,

Barack
**************************************

This short note says a lot in both its words and tone. Rather than proclaiming victory or touting Obama's achievement as an individual, the message emphasizes the success of a (huge) group effort and capitalizes on the network built during the campaign to keep us engaged in the "work to do to get our country back on track."

I can't wait to continue to help Obama as he transitions from my candidate to my president. Service is the new flag pin. Brilliant.

Tracking the Data

The Huffinton Post has offered a Guide For Watching Election Night Results. It's worth poking around here, 'cause there are a lot of useful links to electoral and other maps, including the increasingly popular and aesthetically pleasing closing time map (taste the rainbow!). Based on what I've read about the questionable reliability of exit polling, I'm a bit confused as to why Team Huffington has given so much credence to this "data," but there's lots of other good stuff to peruse, too.

The first polls close in 16 minutes!