What I'd like to do right now is take a close look at Congressman Walberg's latest claim, that those dastardly Democrats have added "a 600% tax increase on U.S. subsidiary manufacturers into the 2007 Farm Bill."

But I'm not going to. I just got back from a dental appointment which involved plenty of drilling and whatnot. Frankly, I don't have the energy to look at any serious issues today. If anyone would like to take a closer look at what Walberg's claiming, please feel free.

I could share the editorial from the Battle Creek Enquirer that was mentioned in a comment on the MDP post, in which Walberg is harshly criticized for trying to mislead his constituents. But I don't have any analysis to add to it, so I'll just let all of you go read it for yourselves. It's a well-written editorial.

And I could share James Carr's letter to the editor in the Daily Telegram explaining why he wants to recall Congressman Walberg. But the last time I checked, it wasn't available online yet, so it'll have to wait until tomorrow.

Instead, I'm going to follow some other advice from the comments:

Fitzy, maybe this might be good fodder for a Friday post, get everyone's emotions cooled off about our race and just look at something a bit different, but still with an impact on Walberg.

This blogger, Joe Sylvester has been a hard-line, ultra-conservative supporter of Tim Walberg and relished in the defeat of Joe Schwarz. He runs a blog which is very popular with the youth movement in the republican party, evident by all the posts on his site.

The interesting thing is the level of maturity, and total lack of respect he and his posters regularly have on issues. Anyway, remember Walberg's buddy on the immigration bill, Rep. Ellison from Minnessota? Check out the nasty slurs they use against him here:

http://bconservatives.blogspot.com/2007/07/congressman-ellison-is-douche.html

This is the face of the GOP and I'd like to slap the smirk off their faces, ASAP (or Nov. 2008.)

For those that don't recall, Congressman Walberg worked with Democratic Congressmen Patrick Kennedy and Keith Ellison on an immigration bill to help Liberian refugees. It actually was some good work on the part of Walberg. Ellison, for those that might be curious, is also the very first Muslim ever elected to Congress. It shouldn't matter, but it does to some people.

So I took a look at the link the anonymous commenter provided. It's a post about a meeting that has conservatives and the conservative media across the country upset (here, for example). At the meeting, Ellison compared the loss of civil liberties and the growth of religious intolerance after September 11, 2001 to the days following the Reichstag fire of Nazi Germany.

It wasn't the best comparison to make, politically speaking. But making matters worse, it inspired plenty of people to shout, "A Muslim just said Bush was Hitler!" That's a level of political discussion that makes things worse for everyone.

Which brings us back to the link the anonymous commenter shared. It's a website called the Michigan Conservative Dossier, and here's how the editor reacted:

Congressman Ellison,

I write to you today in response to recent headlines in which you implied that the President had something to do with the World Trade Center disaster.

Maybe the point you were making is the President gained power from the WTC attack...which is not what I dispute. My problem is that you compared it to the Reichstag fire which was organized by the National Socialists and blamed on the Communists to gain power.

Your comments were idiotic and unbecoming of a member of Congress and you should be ashamed.

In case you are in fact ignorant of the facts about the Reichstag fire, I have included a link so you don't make the same mistake again.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_Fire


Regards,

Joe Sylvester

PS: Allah is not God!

It's that last postscript that really gets me. When did Ellison's religious beliefs come in?

But doing some more looking, I found that this sort of hateful far-right rhetoric is common on the blog. Some samples:

THE REAL QUESTION SHOULD BE:
DO YOU SUPPORT VICTORY, OR WAVING THE WHITE FLAG?
IF IT'S THE LATTER, I WOULD LIKE TO KILL YOU WITH MY BARE HANDS, BECAUSE YOU ARE AN APEASER AND YOU DESERVE TO DIE JUST LIKE THE MUSLUMS!!!

Posted by Anonymous | 3:24 PM

and

LIBERALS DESERVE TO DIE RIGHT ALONG WITH PROTESTANTS, MUSLUMS, AND SUPPORTERS OF THE JEW OF M!!!
KILL EM' ALL!!!

Posted by Anonymous | 1:19 PM

In case you were wondering, I think the capital letters mean they're passionate in their beliefs. Or maybe they're keyboards are broken.

I don't know about you, but I find all of that pretty offensive. I mean, I run a blog too, and sometimes I get a little angry, and sometimes commenters get a little angry. But so far, we've all manage to avoid death threats and advocating genocide.

This kind of hatred disgusts me and saddens me. Something must be wrong with our society if there are people that angry. It makes you wonder what kind of politician these people would support.

But wait! What's that I see off to the side?

Yes, it's a banner for Tim Walberg for Congress!

Now, I'm not saying Tim Walberg is this hateful. Far from it. And I'm not saying that all conservatives are hateful. And I'm not saying that all conservative supporters of Tim Walberg are this hateful.

But this is a small sample of the folks that support Tim Walberg. It makes me glad that I'm a Democrat.

I'm going to go relax for a while. Since it's a Friday, I recommend you do so as well.

Labels: Republican Party, Tim Walberg