August 14, 2009 08:27 PM UTC

How do Democrats combate the Dog Whistle?

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• by: Vincent Lynn

Stealing a great term from David Sirota on what the GOP talking heads are doing, it is time for the Democrats to face the Dog Whistle.

Dog Whistle (noun) -org. Boulder, America, David Sirota: the act of inciting a desired action without expressly stating that action.

Used in a sentence:

Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck are dog whistling to their followers to create violent scenes at town hall meetings.

Conservatives reading this may say, that’s ridiculous, they’ve never supported violence towards congressmen or the president…they’ve even said to refrain from violence.  Yes, this is true.  However, when their whole broadcast is about how angry they are, and how Obama and the Democrats are trying to take their country away, lying directly to their audience of extremists to try and rile up more hatred…they know what the result is going to be.

The Southern Poverty Law Center released findings that reinforce a statement released earlier in the year by the Dept. of Homeland Security:

Ideologically driven by racism and a virulent anti-government, anti-taxation and anti-immigrant agenda, the homegrown groups that thrived in the 1990s and spurred numerous deadly terrorist attacks are expanding, said the Southern Poverty Law Center.

“All it’s lacking is a spark,” said the official, adding it is “only a matter of time before you see threats and violence.”

Anti-immigrant, anti-taxation, anti-government?  Does this sound familiar? Well if you watch Lou Dobbs, Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly or listen to Rush Limbaugh it should sound familiar because one of those issues was probably the topic of the segment you watched or listened to last.  Should people not be allowed to share these views?  Of course they should.  However, the first amendment does have limitations.  Just like when shouting fire in a movie theater, you cannot, and should not, be able to lie to create public hysteria.  

Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck are shouting fire everyday to their minions; but there is no fire.  

Now there is legitimate concern that the President’s safety is at great risk.  According to the Secret Service, death threats are up 400% from GW Bush to Obama.  This is even more surprising considering Obama’s much higher approval rating.  So how do you explain that even though there are less people that are against Obama than were against Bush, the death threats are 4x higher?  The common thread as that Obama haters listen to Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh.