Home of the ... racist, intolerant and unhinged?
Thats the view I get this morning, considering the Giffords assassination attempt, the bomb found in Spokane on the route of a MLK Jr. Day parade route, and the new governor of Alabama turning his inaugural bully pulpit into just that - a pulpit for bullying and threatening non-Christians. I think that it should be clear to most Americans, regardless of their political beliefs, that the current atmosphere will see sectarianism only grow. The right in particular feels emboldened, and the Tuscon shootings, far from making them rethink their strategies, will only help those who feel threatened by plurality, non-whites and non-regressive thinkers to use violent means. And the timing couldn't be worse: right at a moment in world history when other countries (China and India the leaders, but many others also) are readjusting to take advantage of a new era in global economics and power, the most conservative and repressive elements of American society are attempting to dominate with individual acts of cruelty and idiocy - ecce homo, ergo Palin.