Malcolm X once said, “I have more respect for a man who lets me know where he stands, than for one who comes to me as an angel, but is nothing but a devil.” Powerful words that best describe the current situation in 21st century America; a phenomenon that has been quietly built by the American far-right since the late 80’s and has come to a head with the election of Barack Obama, permeating not only the right-wing media but the mainstream media as well. This phenomenon is something I like to call “guerilla racism”.

Guerilla racism is comprised of a number of tactics, all of which are currently being directed at President Obama, but have far-reaching implications in American race relations. From comparing Obama to Hitler (anecdotally, most Europeans I know – especially Germans – find this sickening and hilarious at the same time) to branding him a communist and a socialist; from bring loaded weapons to events where he is speaking to the continuous questions regarding his citizenship; from the ongoing guilt-by-association campaign regarding ACORN and Reverend Jeremiah Wright to the ridiculous claims by right-wing media stars like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity that he’s somehow a racist. For many, the obvious question is: would all of this be happening if Obama wasn’t black? Yet as soon as those who put forward such racially tinged rhetoric are called out on their actions, they push back against the claims of racism with the anger, confusion and naiveté of a child whose hand was caught in a cookie jar, followed by a vigorous defense of their incitement.

It is this pattern of innuendo and subtle race-baiting followed by wild-eyed confusion and denial that is the essence of guerilla racism. Such hit-and-run tactics are vital to cause of stoking fear and anger within a certain portion of the American population who long for a return to the America of old; a demographic of white, conservative “christians” who have seen there ranks dwindle in what is becoming an ever more culturally diverse country. Being labelled a racist in 21st-century America is in many ways political and cultural suicide, so to engage in such demonization is an effective, more sinister way of fueling racial animosity.

Many on the political right have made the bizarre claim that it is those on the left and members of the so-called “liberal media” who are fanning the flames of racial hatred by associating any and all criticism of President Obama as racism. Such a notion couldn’t be further from the truth, however; the President gets plenty of criticism from the left, the current health care debate and Obama’s refusal to fight for a public option or his refusal to prosecute Bush administration officials regarding torture being an example. The difference is that the current criticism coming from the right is almost completely lacking in rationality, coming only as a means to score political points against Obama. There is also a startling amount of violence in the rhetoric coming from the right, which was recently called attention to by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Her words (which were promptly and expectedly attacked by the right-wing media) made a point that shouldn’t be lost on any American who knows about our turbulent history: When rhetoric coming from the right is this vitriolic, political violence is inevitable. Our flag has more than once been stained by violence caused by a right-winger who took conservative rhetoric a little too seriously.

So, how does Malcolm X’s famous quote apply to racism in 21st century America? Simple: the guerilla racism occurring today can be given an alternate name: cowardice. To be a racist in America today takes courage, and those who would fan the flames of racism through these subtle and dishonest tactics show just how much courage they lack.

As the battle for America’s political soul rages on, I’ve noticed one thing about the conservative movement (at least among those conservatives in the media) that really didn’t hit me until recently, with the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States. From Rush Limbaugh’s declaration that he wants the President to fail, because of his fear of what Obama’s policies will do to the country; to their opposition of gay marriage, out of fear for the “sanctity of marriage”; to their fierce opposition to the closing of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, out of fear that terror suspects will be released into the general population; to their fear of calling waterboarding what it is (torture), to their opposition to an assault weapons ban, out of fear that the government will take away our right to bear arms. The recurring theme to all of their opposing positions is fear; I’ve just realized that conservatives are a bunch of sissies.

There’s no mistake that the Republican Party in America had been able to hold onto power in Washington for so many years by feeding the American people a steady diet of fear and paranoia. The mantra of “we are the only ones who can protect you from those who want to hurt you” has been a powerful weapon for the right wing in America, especially since 9/11; the Republican talking point that they “kept us safe” in the seven plus years since the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon has been a persuasive argument for the right, until of course you consider that 9/11 could have been prevented if anyone in the Bush White House had been paying attention, and that more Americans died under Bush / Cheney at the hands of terrorists than in any other time in American history. What I find interesting – and shocking – is that in their quest to hold onto their influence in the American political debate, they are revealing a remarkable amount of cowardice. Simply put: the majority of conservatives are chicken-shit.

Especially on the issues of national security – long seen to be an area dominated by Republicans – once rational arguments have given way to sheer paranoia, denial and outright fear. Take the conservative talking point that if Gitmo is closed and terror suspects are brought to the US, the american people will somehow be in grave danger. Forget the fact that the US houses some of the worlds most dangerous criminals like Charles Manson, the Unabomber and domestic terrorists Eric Rudolph and Timothy McVeigh and numerous foreign terrorists; America has some of the worlds most well fortified maximum security prisons, facilities that no one to date has escaped from. The notion that these places cannot hold suspected terrorists is not only ridiculous, it’s an insult to the thousands of men and women who work for the US prison system, as it says they’re not capable of doing their jobs. Even more than that, such sentiment reeks of cowardice.

You cannot, in my opinion, boast about how pro-America, “we kick ass”, shoot-first-ask-questions-later you are, but at the same time be afraid of the gay or lesbian couple who wants to marry, the person who hasn’t even been convicted of a crime going to a Supermax prison, or the state legislature who wants to ban the sale of weapons that were solely designed to kill people. You cannot be pro military, but at the same time support a war that was unnecessary and morally wrong, thus putting the lives and livelihoods of our military and their families at constant risk.

Granted, not all conservatives are cowards; recently, a conservative radio personality named Erich “Mancow” Muller subjected himself to waterboarding in order to “prove” that is wasn’t torture. Not only did he change his stance on the issue after going through it himself, saying that it was “absolutely torture”, he said that if he were waterboarded under interrogation he would have said anything to make the torture stop. The courage he showed by being waterboarded in order to back up his claim and his ability to admit he was wrong are traits that, sadly, the average American conservative are sorely lacking these days.

I guess having a spine doesn’t generally belong to conservative ideology.

For years I’ve considered myself politically “left of center”; a progressive / liberal on social issues, pretty much a moderate on fiscal issues. I tend to support politicians who have reasonable positions on issues, regardless if they’re Democrats, Republicans or Independents. The current debate about whether or not the US committed acts of torture in the name of national security, however, has really made me rethink my political leanings.

As I’ve stated in the description of my website, I’m a political junkie. I watch the news every day on TV and online; When I read the newspaper, I always start with political stories; I listen to the news updates every hour on the radio; I talk to anyone and everyone who is willing to hear me out regarding politics. Lately, I’ve been shocked at the number of conservative commentators and pundits in the media who defend the United States’ use of torture, specifically waterboarding, on terror suspects beginning in 2002, and their support of those who conjured up our so-called “enhanced interrogation” program. The shock comes not only from the fact that it’s been proven time and time again throughout history that torture doesn’t really work, but from the apparently deeply held belief that the end justified the means in cases of waterboarding; the notion that torture was right as long as it worked and “kept us safe”.

What bothers me the most that these people are totally willing to deny facts and the historical record regarding torture in order to push their belief that torture is OK if the US does it. The facts are clear; we prosecuted Japanese soldiers after World War II for waterboarding US war prisoners. We prosecuted and convicted our own soldiers during the Vietnam War for waterboarding captive enemy soldiers. As recently as the 1980s we prosecuted and convicted a US sheriff in Texas for waterboarding prisoners. Waterboarding is categorized as torture since the 1890s and is considered a war crime by the Geneva Conventions, a document the US not only signed, but helped to draft. And yet, so many on the political right believe that because of what happened to the United States on 9 / 11, we are totally justified using torture techniques to extract information from our enemies, in the name of “protecting America”, an argument that totally contradicts what should define American society: the rule of law. According to the law, waterboarding and other forms of torture is a crime, and should not be done under any circumstances.

Regarding this issue, it has been those on the left who are so far on the correct side of the debate. Even those like Senator John McCain, who himself was subjected to waterboarding and other forms of torture during his captivity in Vietnam, has come out with the position that the US government should just sweep the issue under the rug, let bygones be bygones, and move forward, without at least an investigation of those who committed war crimes in the name of the United States. Based not only on this example of how conservatives in the US embrace this belief, and how progressives / liberals for the most part are for upholding the rule of law (there are certainly those who want prosecutions as some sort of political payback, but that’s a subject for another article), but on a host of other issues where conservatives are in my opinion on the wrong side of history, that I find my own political beliefs shifting even more to the left. Their current stance on torture makes them no different than those whom they claim we should be defending America against.

It could also be that I’ve been a straight-up liberal all along, but just didn’t want to admit it. However, when I think back on my time here in Europe and my political thinking in regard to German, British, Spanish and French politics, it’s been clear that I more often than not have supported left-leaning politicians and policies. It has to do with the fact that many aspects of liberal political philosophy just makes more sense to me. In America, for example, it’s common conservative wisdom nowadays that government cannot ever be that answer to society’s problems, because government is the problem. Given that a democratically elected government is chosen by the people and that we have the power to correct the so-called problem through the election process (which is, ironically, exactly what happened with the election of Barack Obama), this notion is fundamentally flawed. One could argue that, at least in the US, the government is now trying to clean up the problems we as citizens created, but that’s also the topic of another article.

At the end of the day, people should be interested in what’s true, right, and fair. The conservative movement in America represent neither of these values right now. The question is; when will the conservatives come back around to those principles that are supposed to define what their movement, let alone America, should be all about?

I love America. Seriously, despite all of the horrible, idiotic, racist, arrogant things the U.S. has done since it’s founding, I LOVE America. I love it because of it’s promise; it’s still a work in progress. Most of all I love America because it every once in a while shows the ability to correct itself when it starts to stray off of it’s path. This is evident with the election of Barack Obama. The problem is, many Americans don’t want the pendulum to swing, and they’re pulling out all the stops in their quest to halt the inevitable. 

Admittedly, I’m a leftie. Better said; I’m a progressive / liberal, so it is with great amusement that I watch the current meltdown of the right-wing in America. However, with that amusement also comes a great deal of fear, for it is exactly this kind of ideological meltdown that has lead to some of the most disturbing episodes of U.S. history. It was exactly this kind of ideological meltdown that lead a man named Timothy McVeigh to kill 167 innocent people in Oklahoma City in 1992, the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil before the tragedy of 9/11. A terrorist act committed not by a foreigner, but by a U.S. citizen who justified his crime by touting himself as an American patriot with a deep-rooted hatred of the government.

Why is all of this anti-Government, anti-Obama right-wing sentiment being stirred up? I blame the right-wing media outlets such as Fox News, and “conservative commentators such as Rush Limbaugh. I listened to Rush for a while, mainly out of curiosity about how such a man could have such a following in the U.S. and among our military stationed overseas (his show is broadcast on American Forces Network Europe’s AM stations). I had to stop listening once it became clear to me (rather quickly, I might add) that Rush only cares about Rush at the end of the day, and hearing how his right-wing rhetoric brings out the worst in many people made me literally sick to my stomach.

See, I’m a firm believer that knowledge is power, and ignorance is dangerous. What I see in the American conservative movement right now is a profound level of ignorance, being perpetuated by intelligent, highly manipulative people in politics and the media, whose only REAL interest is self interest. The question for me is: how long is this pocket of American society going to allow themselves to be played like this? Conservatives have for years ridiculed the left for not being able to think for themselves, a stereotype being perpetuated to this day by the likes of Rush Limbaugh , Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, etc. It’s especially ironic in the case of Limbaugh, whose listeners are referred to as “dittoheads”; being a so-called “dittohead” implies that you’re indeed not capable of thinking for yourself, thus being in direct contradiction of what being a conservative is all about.

I really hope that the level of muckracking on the right does not lead to something truly horrible happening to President Obama, his family, or anyone else who doesn’t agree with their ideology, as it did back in 1992 in Oklahoma City. Unfortunately, history shows us that something likely will happen. The question then becomes: will the right-wing in America take responsibility for it, or will they act like cowards, as they so often do?