Those “conservative” Fox “News” fans sure do use a lot of F-words in their death threats.
We’re used to various death threats by now, of course, even from Drudge’s poodle, Andy “Big Government” Breitbart, but those socially “conservative,” American “values”-lovin’, Fox “News” viewers have really outdone themselves this time.
On Monday night, FoxNews.com featured a story on the latest announcement from VR’s StopTheChamber.com campaign, concerning the offer of a $200,000 reward for insider information leading to the arrest and conviction of Tom Donohue, the CEO of the right-wing corporatist lobbying group, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. [Disclosure: The BRAD BLOG is a co-founder of VelvetRevolution.us]
Apart from his work at the Chamber, Donohue has run a number of major corporations into the ground, as his tenure as CEO at each was generally plagued by improprieties, plunging stock values (coupled with soaring executive pay), scandal, various forms of illegal behavior, and SEC investigations. He was found by the FEC to have made millions of dollars in illegal corporate campaign contributions in 2004 and is now facing a criminal investigation by the DoJ about that, even while he runs the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in many ways, as nothing short of a criminal racket.
Unlike many similar campaigns VR has run in the past, offering such rewards for whistleblower information about wrong-doers over the years, this one caught the attention of the folks at Fox for some reason, and they decided to splash it on the front page of their website this week with a bold graphic shouting: “HUNTED BY THE LEFT: Bounty Put on Head of Chamber Boss.” For good measure, in the story itself, they used the word “Liberal” a total of four times before they even finished the second graf. (An email to the story’s author, Judson Berger, explaining that VR is a non-partisan group and works with folks of many different political bents, including Republicans, led them to change their headline from the wholly misleading “Liberal Group Puts Bounty on Head of Chamber of Commerce CEO” to the slightly-less misleading “Activist Group Puts Bounty on Head…” etc.)
Anyway, while there is no bounty on anybody’s “head,” and no one is being “HUNTED,” the StopTheChamber.com campaign does feature a reward for information leading to Donohue’s arrest and conviction. Roll Call also covered [$-only] VR’s announcement on Monday, though much more responsibly (in a far less inflammatory way) than Fox did.
But this story is not about that, it’s about the unbelievable amount of email that was sent from, presumably, those “socially conservative” Fox “News” fans in which a good 98% of those notes contained one or more of the following:
- Threats of death or violence;
- The F-Word (or similar);
- Accusations of Nazism and/or Communism (never mind that it’s difficult to be both) or Marxism or Socialism;
- Racist slurs against Obama;
- Accusations that VR is working with or for the White House or the Democrats (which is somewhat amusing if you know anything about VR).
And, of course, many of them offer the cruelest cut of them all; they wish VR a “Merry Christmas.” Ouch, that one hurts!
So here are just a few samples from some of those friendly emails from those good “conservatives” of Fox “News” willing to send out death threats, we’ll guess, in support of the millionaire corporate lobbyists and billionaire corporations of the U.S. Chamber who’ve spent more money buying Congressmembers than anybody else in the country. These, apparently, are the Fox “News” “conservatives” — Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly’s “patriots” and Sean Hannity’s “great Americans” — as almost all of them came in at the same time that Fox’s story on VR’s reward offer was posted on the front page of FoxNews.com.
Out of an abundance of generosity, we’re not posting the emailers names here (each bullet-point quote below comes from a different note) but the ones which include threats of violence have been given to the FBI [PDF] in D.C., along with a request for an investigation to find out if the Chamber itself might be behind the hit campaign.
As many of these are not safe for work, we’ll post them below the fold…
- “Leave the US Chamber of Commerce alone. This is the only warning you will receive.”
- “You WILL be confronted and stopped … I am quite probably a member of the fasting [sic] growing group that is your direct enemy…”
- “Your [sic] all on borrowed time. The real revolution will come to those soon”
- “You peices [sic] of shit should all be fucking burned at the stake”
- “I dont make threats. Only promises. You better back the hell off”
- “interesting site but this will be no velvet revolution people. Quite the contraire [sic] as you give the moniker a bad name. … Now, if you want a revolution which it sounds as though you do, it most certainly wont be velvet.”
- “Be careful what you ask for…”
- “Keep this $200,000 ‘tip’ business going for the CEO of the Chamber and you will find yourself as the target…. You will only receive a limited number of warning — this may be the only one — before your punishment is delivered.”
- “Bounty on your head. Beware”
- “All I can say is ‘Go Fuck your Mother’….What a pathetic left wing org this is……run by…wait for it…….Mother Fuckers…….”
- “FUCK YOU COMMUNIST MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!! GET READY. CIVIL WAR II IS COMING, AND IT WILL BE THE RIGHT VS. THE LEFT THIS TIME. THE RIGHT WILL WIN. FUCK YOU ASSHOLES!!!!!!!!!”
- “your low life president Barry Boy along with Reid and Pelosi should all be arrested and tried for treason.”
- “Please let the world know who is behind this bounty offer so that they can be ‘recognized’ for their decision.”
- “I will inform friends and family of your thoughts and movements”
- “Your group is a fascist front group. Why don’t you and your band of traitors come to Texas and hold a big protest. We will ‘welcome’ you here.”
- “Try yourselves for treason againsst [sic] the U.S. and then we can hang you for your crimes against this country.”
- “Here is a tip — eat shit you fucking liberal pussy faggots. if you nigger loving hippies ever succeed in anything to ruin this country, you will find me banging down your door to take it back. i cannot believe how far this country has fallen when fucks like you are allowed to roam free – go back to your ghettos and hide behind the food stamp, hand out line with all your other crack whore mothers”
- “If you haven’t already figured this out, you work for a very corrupt organization that is sponsored by the anti-Christ–even Satan himself.”
- (Subject: “Ingorance?” [sic]): “What is wrong with you slimy idiots? Just because someone or some group has more brains that [sic] your half white, half black, half assed, 100% bull shit leader you have to try and slander them? Must be part of the ACORN (A Conglomeration Of Racial Nuts (or whatever starts with N).”
- “your boys numbers are plummeting … your boy goes even more lame than he will be after he doesn’t get healthcare, and gets destroyed in 2012.”
- “I am joining the Chamber just because of asshats like y’all and that Big-Eared Boy from Chicago. … A Proud Texan”
- “bend over and spread em and I’ll give you more than the tip”
- “I think he gave your mama a big tip up her ass, and the piece of shit that fell out was you!
- “FUCKING LOSERS!”
- “Douche Canoes! YOU SUCK! You liberal fucken [sic] asswipes.”
- FUCK YOU DOUCHE BAGS
- “2 cents for the arrest and indictment of NAZI traitors who belong to this Leftard Fascist ANTI-AMERICAN bunch of pissant girlieboys. How’s Hitler…you should know. You and your Islamic Nazi allies.”
- “Where is your next get together in Miami, Fl…I’d like to go down to the rally and kick all your ass’ for being a bunch of piece of crap communist !!! Let me know… You bunch of pigs”
- “Fuck off and die you leftist pricks. America is not a socialist country and never will be if I have to kick every one of your body odor smelling asses out of my country. So again FUCK OFF!!!!”
- “Any truth to the rumors that Obama likes men? Or, that he’s a closet Muslim?”
- “Send Velvet Revolution NAZIs to Gitmo they should endure a dose of the so-called ‘torture’ they’re crying like the queer girlieboys that they really are. … The more torture of Islamohitlerite babykilling Fascist pigs, the better. You should be with them.”
- May the islamic terrorists if they strike the U.S. again, aim at the White House West Wing and residence, the Congressional Office Buildings and Democratic lobbyists on K st. Maybe then we can get a government of the people.
And no, that’s not all of them. Just a sampling from the good “conservatives” in America who watch Fox “News” and read their website “religiously.”
If you’d like to “push back” against the thuggery, you can sign on in support of VR’s “Stop The Chamber” campaign here.
Didn’t we all know Republicans were already like that?
Orville Redenbachers stock must be through the roof. It’s a good thing for the American farmer, that is if the Chamber isn’t letting them import all of the corn they process from Mexico.
It’s only a few haters that believe that the Chamber is on their side anyway.
Pass the popcorn, this show is just at the opening credits.
This is the best, King (R-Nut) finds ACORN cookies are being served at the White House Christmas ball!!!
The look on his face speaks volumes 😀
…doesn’t he look like he just found a large turd in the official punchbowl? I can’t quit laughing…
Is there a substantive difference between offering a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a bank robber and offering that same reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of someone who engages in, say, securities fraud?
Perhaps our friends at Fox “News” can enlighten me, for I am having a great deal of difficulty seeing it.
If you look at the list of folks on the COC’s board (posted on VR’s site), you’ll see Fox Entertainment Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. Coincidence, that they ran with this, I’m sure. And I’m sure we just didn’t watch long enough to see the disclosure statement on that tidbit, either…..
We must be hitting them where it hurts. As they say… If you are taking a lot of flak that means you are over the target. Or something like that. Nice work Brad and the Velvet Revolution.
Senate Bill 604 is also hitting them where it hurts and has 30 co-sponsors in the Senate to perform an Audit of the Federal Reserve Bank. Please call your Senators now and ask them to co-sponsor this bill.
And finally 9/11 Truth is making a breakthrough as 1.6 Million people tuned in to Jesse Ventura’s show on TRU TV covering the anomalies of that day.
Let’s keep the ball rolling!! Thanks Brad.
As a budding journalist fresh out of school many years ago I took anonymous death threats seriously. After many years, publications and articles, I now accept them for what they are … a badge of honor. Great job, Brad!
It’s that kind of absurd, over-the-top vitriol that makes me want to not bother caring about any of this stuff. It’s like, if these are the guys who care enough to speak up, what’s the point in even thinking we can make a difference?
Is this Dick Cheney?
And this one, is this Phyllis Schafly?
That’s ok. I think all these right wing conservative Republican crazies should be hanging from street lamps for trying to destroy America. I think we are the ones with a legitimate gripe against these traitors. Is there a civil war coming?
Yes, it would be just like us to get into a civil war where a revolution is not only indicated, but long overdue. That’s exactly right! If the current trend of utterly demented, outright psychedelic, politics holds, you, slapbangwallah, have hit the nail slapbangwallah on the head. Civil war is coming.
Probably half of them are astroturf shills, the other half are made up of teabaggers.
The guys who sent the death threats must not be able to come up with any information to convict Donohue. Other republicans in the know must be salivating over the $200,000. It would be almost sacrilegious to give up THAT kind of cash!
… “Islamohitlerite”… ?
This is all Reagan’s fault!
This is what happens when you argue facts, reason, and law with people who disregard facts, reason, and law. It is pointless, and the emails should have been deleted without being read.
More fodder for the secret service and CIA – the list of criminals making death threats grows with each passing day.
What do these reichwing lunatics NOT get about making death threats and breaking the law.
When they’re in prison, I suppose they’ll finally get the message?
It just infuriates me to know that every one of these emailers is sitting in their homes complaining about how they can’t find a job that will pay their bills. And now they stand up for the very guy who is making it a personal goal to send every job that these people could have off to another country so his rich buddies can make even more money. These people really need to get their heads out of Faux Noise’s keester. It’s like they are demanding to keep getting screwed by the very people who have done it to them for 30 years, now.
What a shame that we don’t have some kind of accountability laws for the press. Faux would be out of business in a heartbeat, and we could actually have an educated populace. No one should make a living by lying a country into disaster.
“Douche Canoes!” – Have to admit it, that’s one I haven’t heard before and got a chuckle from it.
Come to think of it, wasn’t that what the Swiftboaters used? Douche canoes?
I signed the petition last week after I received their email. One sure way to know when you’ve gotten on some one’s nerves is to analyze his/her response(s), and these say a whole lot, all of it ugly.
One main reason I stand against folk like these is because of their rampant stereotyping. Everyone else, except for themselves, is persona non-grata and has no redeeming qualities. None, according to them.
Another reason I support organizations like VR is their focus on standing up for those who are unwilling or unable to stand up for themselves against those that abuse the system. IMHO, this is what Christianity is supposed to be about with these people, but they choose the opposite in every circumstance.
Finally, I have no intention during my lifetime to see people being oppressed, and be too much of a coward to take a stand and try to end it.
These type of folks are the reason why we cannot let them back into a majority status any time in the near future. I see them as bullies, inclined toward pitching tantrums like 2 year olds, but I also see them as extremely dangerous, and I know they are because I’ve lived as a second-class citizen (AA) in the South among them all of my life. And, guess what? The majority of them haven’t changed their attitudes toward people of color, GLBTQ persons, immigrants, atheists, etc, since I was in grade school in the 1950s. They even have some of the people in the groups they hate developing hatred toward members of the other groups. This is just how pervasive it is, and since I know this, I’ve so far not heard anything I haven’t heard before from this crew. They’ll tear this nation apart and think nothing of it as long as they are in the pilot’s seat, and after that, it’s back to running the country into the ground again.
We simply have to start regulating home schooling. This is clearly the uneducated teaching their children even less than they know.
I’d love to know what portion of these loons really are “lone loons” who live in their own paranoid fantasy, and what portion are paid operatives. And while I’m wondering, I’d love to know exactly who is paying the latter group.
Has anyone alerted the FBI and the Secret Service about these threats? It does not matter whether the President is a Democrat or a Republican, is black, white, Buddhist or Christian, threats like these should be investigated and prosecuted, and any forum or message board that allows these threats against ANY elected official should be investigate and shut down quickly.
Just for fun I spent some time with Google putting “islamo” as a prefix in front of everything from “-leftist” to “-libertarian”… but the results were only amusing if you’re into grammar done Grand Guignol.
Eliz was right about something desperately needing to be done about education… but unfortunately Obama’s solution would be to finish Bush’s task of turning it completely over to the corporations. Islamocoporatism! … stop looking at me like that.
Hmmm…. Islamopastafarianism? 🙂
“threats like these should be investigated and prosecuted”
Should is the operative word.
Just like teabaggers can bring guns to town halls but protesters can’t even stand in the streets of Pittsburgh while the WTO meets, I have a sneaking suspicion folks such as these get a pass.
As Orangutan (#6) said (and other similar comments),
Seconded.
I also agree with the first part of Yankee’s (#15) comment:
It goes to show the extent of the brainwashing they have been subjected to and how well it has taken hold. I find it scary, and Fox Spews is responsible for a significant portion of it.
I think we have to call out and combat the disinformation, even though it takes time and energy to do so. Kind of like having to answer a frivolous lawsuit. If you don’t fight it, the other side automatically wins. To let it sit is to let it fester and grow.
While most of these folks are probably harmless, there may be one or two psychowingnuts among them. I’m glad you’re reporting them.
Let’s continue to expose the lies and bring down the corruption.
I hope you will post follow up info on the responsiveness of the FBI.
I assume they will be able to trace the origin of each of the threatening emails to a computer and a person.
FINE BUNCH OF CANNIBALS, I SUPPOSE PITCH FORKS AND TORCHES ARENT IN VOGUE ANY LONGER THEN?
BEWARE THE PALINISTAS SUCH AS THESE CRAZIES ILLUSTRATE WHO KNOW NO BOUNDS TO HOW FAR THEY INTEND TO GO TO EBFORCE THEIR RIGHT WING FACISM.
The description of the condition:
“Islamowingnutism”:
Noun, adverb “Islamowingnutist”
The practice of putting the prefix “Islamo-” in front of another word (usually a social or religious descriptor) in order to further denigrate whatever one is applying the descriptor to. Wingnuts often raise their hypocrisy levels to amazing heights by claiming to not be bigoted at all while simultaneously practicing Islamowingnutism.
If ever one wanted to see the true danger in permitting demagogues like Beck, Limbaugh, O’Reilly et al dominate the airwaves, I think this piece documents it.
I’m beginning to think the entire nation must be tilted towards Fox News. All the loose nuts seemed to have rolled into the place.
The Indepedent said
Has anyone alerted the FBI and the Secret Service about these threats?
_________________________
If you follow the PDF link provided by Brad Friedman in the body of the article, you will see a 12/10/09 letter that was submitted by Velvet Revolution attorney Kevin Zeese to the Washington field office of the FBI and to the Justice Department.
The Secret Service only protects certain high level official — Presidents, former Presidents, their families, etc. The Velvet Revolution does not fall within that classification, so they would not be entitled to Secret Service protection.
The Transylvania tea baggers strike again.
As with the Republicans in the Senate, this bunch attacks anyone and anything that is not 100% far right extremist.
If the one of the Faux screamers should stop suddenly, the only thing you would see would be one of these fellows shoes against the screamer’s butt.