“Every day, it becomes clear that American capitalism, and by necessity the American Constitution, are under assault from a neo-Marxist revolution launched, as it only could be, by a madman, a hate-filled (thank you, Pastor Manning), narcissistic psychopath who is a liar par excellence (thank you again, Pastor Manning), possessed by whatever demons possessed those in whose footsteps he follows. Hitler, Stalin, Hussein et al. Insert your favorites. I donâ??t know what fucked this two-bit punk up, or when, and I donâ??t really care, Iâ??m just going to see to it that he is stopped. Iâ??d like you to join me.”

Among the comments there:

“this is a bad-ass post. if the movement means taking up arms against the left. so be it.”

“If we do not move to win politically now we will eventually have violence in the streets. The battle will be fought. Choose a side and participate now.”

“And I also need to point out to all socialilsts that are eavesdropping. I am sure that everyone else here has sold all weapons already, since Obama wants to take them away from us, ans we are all buying ammunition with cash purchases only to stimulate the economy. Please rest assured that all such ammunition pruchased was properly disposed of, no one hoarding anything, please, nothing to see here Mr. spineless socialist, move alongâ?¦.NOW”

“All I can think of is dead commies and DC in Flames, weâ??ll hunt those bastards to the gates of Hellâ?¦â?¦â?¦â?¦â?¦â?¦America reborn! With the blood of Patriots. My GOD we live in amazing times. Freedom for All”

Yeah, pretty damn scary.

The Smith Act has, if I recall, been ruled unconstitutional.

Yeah, it’s close to that. Several of the convictions were thrown out as unconstitutional, but the statute itself still stands.

Actually, the Smith Act probably wouldn’t be the most appropriate in this case. More likely would be §2384 of Title 18: Seditious conspiracy. (The Smith Act is §2385.)

The bottom feeders thrive.

@Matthew Platte:”Well sure, we all remember that Joe McCarthy was busy packing the Universities full of Reds during the 50’s, right?”

Those Communists are sneakier than you think. They infiltrated the senate and had McCarthy censured, ruining his reputation. The rest was easy.

This is seriously scary. Is it my imagination, or has this kind of ridiculous non-thinking gotten worse in the last several years? Or is it just louder? (Either way it’s a problem: loudness=positive feedback.) I’ve lived in Germany for the last six years, so I don’t have real time contact with the mood over there, just what gets filtered through CNN, Scienceblogs, Alternet and a few other sources.

The Smith Act has, if I recall, been ruled unconstitutional. You should not wish for government to have such a power: Do not think that will only be used on those far-right wing-nuts (it was originally used on far-left wing-nuts, if I recall). Governments tend to yield power very coarsely, and according to the whims of the party in control at the moment. Which might not always be your favorite one.

I’m just waiting for the first Fox media pundit to actually put together enough of the right words to be charged with sedition. I don’t think it would be easy though. The Smith Act is still on the books, but I don’t think it’s been used since the early 60’s.