Still trying to wrap my head around Chris Matthews' interview with William Krostric, the next Joe the Plumber, except he's Joe the Gunner.
This guy had, along with his gun, a sign that said "It's time to water the tree of liberty" which as you know means "with the blood of tyrants..." Matthews unwittingly made him a hero, but I can't blame him for wanting to pick this guy apart. Krostric seemed minimally smart but resorted to the typical far-right enthymemes and "I'm not saying directly we should kill our leaders" kind of stuff. Of course, his lamentation concerning property rights will be latched onto by the right-libertarians as being the crux of this message (see what little I have to say on the concept of property here). But it's the "water the tree" phrase that carries the most significance here. These are not people who want to debate. We have entered into a state of incipient fascist thuggery: Instead of voting for pro-life candidates, these people kill abortion doctors. Instead of debating health care reform, these people pay millions of dollars to coordinate shout-downs.
Enjoy your 15 minutes, William.
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The juxtaposition of an openly carried pistol with that sign comes quite close to being a terroristic threat. The man sounds more like an attention-seeker than an assassin; but some modes of attention-seeking warrant Secret Service attention.
By giving him his 15 minutes, Matthews and others in the media are (wittingly or not) encouraging similar attention-seekers. That's bad, in terms of civility and perhaps safety. But it may serve to delegitimize a lot of the anti-reform protesters. A silver lining for reform advocates, perhaps.
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