The Party of Pyromaniacs--Anybody Want To Denounce Them?

By Carol Morgan

In Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451, the firemen start fires, rather than put them out.

In the spirit of Montag, the act of pouring gasoline on an already-robust blaze has become routine politispeak for Red State governors, pro-birth evangelists, and the motley crew of terribly unqualified GOP Presidential candidates. There is no shortage of problems and issues that need solutions, but instead of problem solving, the human flame throwers of the GOP and their vacant-eyed followers insist on fueling sectarian violence and religious intolerance.

Maintaining composure during a crisis, inspiring hope and trust and most importantly, subduing a nation’s fear is part of a good leader’s toolbox.

President Obama’s Sunday fireside chat showed his leadership skills. He reassured us that we will defeat ISIS “by being strong and smart, resilient and relentless…” and he added that it “won’t depend on tough talk, or abandoning our values, or giving into fear. That’s what groups like ISIL are hoping for.”

The GOP, by contrast, keeps creating emergencies rather than preventing them.

Even before the San Bernardino shootings, Greg Abbott, {Texas Agriculture Commissioner} Sid Miller, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump unknowingly fulfilled the role as the public relations wing for the terrorists, rather than showing leadership. Since the shootings, they have continued to manufacture lies and fear at an astounding rate.

Greg Abbott lied about the Syrian refugees at our southern border. They weren’t caught; they sought out the border patrol. His announcement that Texas would not be taking in any Syrian refugees only to retract his kingly edict later shows a lack of foresight; a hallmark characteristic of his knee-jerk governance.

Sid Miller’s adolescent tweets…comparing Syrian refugees to rattlesnakes, pictures of Slim Pickens riding an atomic bomb as a possible solution to the Syrian conflict. Miller’s good time came at the expense of diplomacy. It escalated tensions and embarrassed Texans.

Jeb Bush claims it’s all on the Muslims and there are no other religions acting radically. I guess he forgot the genocide that the Buddhists committed in Myanmar? Or the radicalized Christians in America that wait in the shadows to assassinate Planned Parenthood healthcare workers? Marco Rubio took to Fox News to remind Americans that they should be, “really scared and worried.”

Ted Cruz played the role of patriot warrior in Iowa with his tough guy declaration, “We will carpet bomb them into oblivion,” and his clever banter, “I don’t know if sand can glow in the dark, but we’re going to find out.” Oh, isn’t he clever?

And then Trump…there’s not enough space to cite his political tomfoolery. There’s nothing he won’t do or say to keep his name in the media. He’s hated on the Mexicans and now he says he will bar all Muslims from entering the country.

These candidates have become self-radicalized and just like the ISIS they want to radicalize all of us.

So many of them have demanded Muslim-Americans to denounce the actions of ISIS, why don’t we ask moderate Republicans to denounce the terrorist wing of the GOP? The definition of terrorism is “the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims”. That definition makes it pretty clear that the extreme right wing of the GOP can be labeled as a terrorist group.

So how about it, Moderates? Anyone wish to denounce their actions?

If conservative politicians and candidates are the gasoline, then corporate media is the bellows that keeps the flame burning. The fear-mongering of the 24-hour news cycle is worse than ever. Non-stop racist and fascist rhetoric fills the airwave; they claim it’s a part of exercising their free speech.

Fox News, Breitbart, the Blaze, and that bastion of ethical journalism, World Net Daily, hammer away every day; every feature, every video, every blog has only one message: Be afraid! Be very very afraid! They don’t actually believe it themselves. It’s a disingenuous game for profit and pay-per-click advertising that needs to be recognized for what it is: Deception for dollars.

There are plenty of stories they could have covered that would restore our faith in humanity; tales of people coming together to transition one another through bad times: Muslims who cleaned out the flood-ravaged Hindu temples in Chennai. San Bernardino Muslims who raised thousands for the deceased and injured victims of last week’s terrorist massacre, the child who emptied his piggy bank to give to an Austin-area mosque that was vandalized and covered in human feces.

The barista who held a protest in support of an Irving Mosque that was terrorized by David Wright and the Bureau of American Islamic Relations who threatened the worshippers with guns during the call to prayer. My friend, Camilla, who helped deliver love letters of support to an Albuquerque mosque to show their support.

It’s amazing how America can have so many sociopathic candidates in one party and a violence-baiting media that lip-syncs their madness. On the other hand, it’s amazing that we have millions of compassionate and caring Americans of all religions and ethnicities who will join hands to undo the damage inflicted by the narcissistic and ignorant.

I choose to align myself with the second group.

If you remember Bradbury’s story, 451 degrees was the temperature which would guarantee the incineration of a book, but I wonder…at what temperature can a human being experience spontaneous combustion? It may take a few years, but the radicalized conservative wing of the GOP will eventually burn itself out.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Carol Morgan is a career/college counselor, freelance writer, and former Democratic candidate for the Texas House. She is the award-winning author of two books: Of Tapestry, Time and Tears and Liberal in Lubbock. Email Carol at elizabethcmorgan@sbcglobal.net , follow her on Twitter and on Facebook or visit her writer’s blog at www.carolmorgan.org

http://lubbockonline.com/interact/blog-post/carol-morgan/2015-12-11/party-pyromaniacs-anybody-want-denounce-them#.Vm9L6r_nWBY

Permission granted to post this blog in its entirety.