Alan Keyes calls Obama a "radical communist"

There is a great sickness in this country; a sickness of mind and spirit; a sickness that usually represents itself contrarily as "health," or "spiritual," or "godly."

Alan Keyes represents that great sickness. Crooks and Liars reports that when Keyes was interviewed by a reporter from KHAS-TV in Hastings, Nebraska, he said:

"Obama is a radical communist, and I think it is becoming clear. That is what I told people in Illinois and now everybody realizes it's true. He is going to destroy this country and we are either going to stop him or the United States of America is going to cease to exist."

David Neiwert, writing at Crooks and Liars suggests, rightly, that this is a call to action, which with these right wingnut fruitcakes "inevitably translates as violent action."

The video is being hailed by rightwing Websites as "the truth" and "telling it like it is."

No, says Neiwert, what it is, "is classic right-wing eliminationism: Depicting the opposition as the embodiment of evil, intent on destroying the nation. For militia/Patriot types, this kind of rhetoric also becomes a call to action."

Keyes' remarks are not surprising, of course. George W. Bush and his administration used this tactic to enhance and entrench their power for eight years. Alan Keyes is following a long and illustrious Republican tradition.

But dammit all, we're better than that! This country's better than that! Alan Keyes is a pathological remnant of the worst of humanity's traits. As such, he is a reminder that we must always be vigilant, aware, awake, and refuse to be coerced by the scum in our society who threaten the worst if their particular psychoses aren't continually fed.