09 January 2011

The Arizona Shooting

My take so far.....

You've got a young man who's spouting off about the US Constitution, English language issues, but is also known for smoking pot and being anti-religion.

All over the Internet you've got the Right-wing people calling him a leftist and you've got the Left-wing people blaming FOX news, Glenn Beck, and especially Sarah Palin. During the press conference the Sheriff in Arizona kept referencing extreme rhetoric on radio and television. He referred to this as the price of free speech etc.....unmistakeably a reference to Right-wing talk radio and television.


This is my guess and I could be wrong....but it sounds to me like this guy was a Libertarian gone awry. The Libertarians are great (from my view) when it comes to critiquing US foreign policy and corruption in government, the nanny state mentality and how the corporate-media propagandizes society.

From that standpoint, many who read their stuff or listen to them consider them to be LEFT wing. Ron Paul ran as a Republican in 2008 and outraged the other candidates with his views of the wars and foreign policy. They considered him to be worse than Hillary Clinton. Of course, on those points I would agree with him.

But on the other hand, Libertarians are really into strict Constitutionalism, minimalist government a la Barry Goldwater, and many of them reject the Christian Right's view of Government which demands Government legislation of secondary moral behaviours like drug use, alcohol, gambling, divorce etc.....

The old Republican party of Goldwater which was more Libertarian has slowly been taken over by the Moral Majority wing of the Republican party which rose up in the late 70's. Reagan was an omnibus candidate that both sides liked, but slowly the Christian Right has taken over the party. There were many Conservatives who did not like George Bush but still voted for him because they disliked Gore and Kerry far more.

The Libertarian wing has either had to go along to get along, or they've left and gone into what are called Paleo-conservative movements. You have the Libertarian Party itself and now with the Tea Party you're seeing these tensions again......non-Christian Right conservatives sitting with the Christian Right and both trying to set the agenda.

My point is this.....for those unaware, this shooter may indeed sound Left-Wing. Libertarians are often identified as such but that's too simple. Because they're also Constitutionalists, extreme Free-Market Capitalists, and very Patriotic...they just don't tie it in with Militarism like Republicans do. When they critique the Right, they sound Leftish but they're nothing like Obama (a centrist liberal) or Pelosi. And even those figures are considered pretty tame by those who are really on the Left.

From a Libertarian standpoint....Republicans are Fascists and Democrats are Socialists.

I would actually agree with that assessment. From a Christian standpoint I'm hostile to the former and somewhat indifferent to the latter, neither wholly supporting or rejecting their fallen view of the Common Grace realm.

I'm guessing this guy was a Libertarian who was rejecting both. Many Libertarians like FOX news (in part) and many are very appreciative of the Tea Party. They DON'T want to see it taken over by the likes of Sarah Palin, Sharron Angle etc.....They don't want the message to stray into Christo-American exclusivism with the racism that often follows close behind. That view of America also affects foreign policy, setting up America as God's gift to the world and thus sanctions America's militaristic imperialism. Libertarians are about a free society and making money. They genuinely don't buy into the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) exclusivistic view of things. They do buy into the policies that led to the WASP ascendancy in America but they've broadened that vision, at least from my perspective.

Just as people we're baffled by the anti-globalist riots in Seattle, I think the mainstream will struggle to understand this guy and what makes him tick.

He's not really a leftist, but Extreme Right people won't see that.

He's a Right-Winger but of a different stripe......and I bet he was influenced by Glenn Beck. Beck claims to be a Libertarian, though he's really more of a Right-Wing type on the military etc....., but many Libertarians appreciate him. He's a buffoon which embarrasses them, but overall they agree with much of his message. We shall see what comes out in the news.....

Aside from Beck's Mormonism, those on the Christian Right have mixed views. I know some Christo-Americans who love Libertarianism and Beck....and I know some who think Libertarianism is very evil, very libertine, and they also like Glenn Beck. They would usually say the first group of Christians don't understand Libertarianism. If they did, they would reject it.

Dominionists, our favourite people at this website LOATHE libertarians and consider them to be leftist and they will do as much as they can to emphasize that Leftist politics are what drove this man to do this. For those trying to transform society, Libertarianism is a threat. It's anti-visionary.

The reality is more complicated. I don't identify as a Libertarian though I would identify more with them than I ever would the Christian Right or the Republican party. So while not a defender of their views, this guy....if this is where he's coming from......is way outside of their mainstream. Their political views seem extreme, but violence is not part of their rhetoric.

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out in the media over the course of the next week or so. I could be wrong, but that's my take based on what I've read so far. We'll see if it changes. I will happily eat crow if I'm wrong, but it seems a good fit with what I've read.

I think it will come out that he liked the Tea Party etc.....and no surprise. We've expected something like this to happen. Beck, Palin and the rest are touching people's nerves with high voltage. Some will snap.....I know of a few who have become shall we say...unstable? as a result of their influence. Beck and Palin are merchants of Fear and fear drives people to act extreme. I can't believe there hasn't been a serious attempt at Obama yet.

The Christian Right will say....he wasn't one of us because he smoked pot and didn't like religion.

Not a member of the Christian Right....but still a part of the Right Wing political sphere and heavily influenced by their propagandists.

He won't fit the categories 95% of Americans operate within.

This is why I often post articles from LewRockwell.com. It's a Libertarian site that is great on some things (from my view) and awful on others. They're thinking outside that 95% box and that's why they're interesting. But you get wide range of ideas and viewpoints and for someone deranged.....who knows what they might do with it?