XPost: alt.radio.talk, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.politics.usa   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns, fl.news   
   From: weberm@polaris.net   
      
   1) The Most Hated Man in America Today   
      
   He is the most hated man in the world today.   
      
   Former Deputy Scot Peterson resigned yesterday after video   
   surveillance showed that he was armed and stationed at Stoneman   
   Douglas High School while the shooting took place.   
      
   Instead of immediately addressing the target and putting an end to   
   the rampage, Peterson cowered behind a concrete column in a   
   stairwell.   
      
   The sheriff of Broward County suspended Peterson without pay pending   
   an internal investigation, but the officer beat him to it. Peterson,   
   knowing his fate, resigned and retired yesterday.   
      
   This morning, police officers line Peterson’s home. They are   
   guarding against anyone who wants to harm Peterson—and that’s a lot   
   of people. The officers themselves probably don’t even want to   
   protect this coward.   
      
   But before we take up our pitchforks and torches and charge his   
   door, let’s remember something.   
   We weren’t there.   
      
   As much as we would like to think that we would be brave and execute   
   a single kill shot to the Stoneman shooter before he could take 17   
   lives, would that actually play out in real life?   
      
   Would we be brave?   
      
   Would we have the courage?   
      
   We all hope we would, but you don’t really know until you are in   
   that situation.   
      
   I’m not trying to defend Peterson’s gutless inaction. I absolutely   
   think he should have used his training to save lives that day.   
      
   I’m just saying we aren’t him. We don’t know what was going through   
   his mind.   
      
   Peterson could have been a hero, but he made other choices.   
      
   Now, he has to live with that guilt for the rest of his life.   
      
   So before we call for blood, let’s remember that he already has his   
   punishment.   
      
   2) National Socialism Hits CPAC   
      
   “France is no longer free!” Marion Le Pen took the stage at CPAC   
   yesterday and spent the first several minutes of her speech   
   destroying the EU. She lamented about lost sovereignty at the hands   
   of Brussels and advocated the new global slogan: America First…   
   Britain First – and yes – FRANCE FIRST!   
      
   I searched around yesterday – after she left the stage – to see what   
   people were saying. By and large, no one was saying a thing. The   
   conservative media and voices were all but silent. That’s probably   
   because everything she said sounded exactly like what Trump   
   campaigned on in 2016. Anti-EU and other large trade organizations?   
   Check! Anti-immigration? Check! Sceptical of Muslim migrants? Double   
   check!   
      
   Now here’s why this is so scary. All the issues I just said, mega   
   trade alliances, immigration, AND Muslim migrants are ACTUAL   
   legitimate issues. In fact, a big reason for why Trump won was   
   because he gave voice to these concerns that, by and large, had been   
   ignored for decades. If you watched Marion Le Pen yesterday, you saw   
   something the new American right hasn’t had in… well ever. A young,   
   female, photogenic firebrand. There she was at CPAC, flashing that   
   million dollar smile, and giving the crowd EVERYTHING they wanted to   
   hear. At one point a chant of “VIVA LA FRANCE” rang out over the   
   conference hall.   
      
   Let’s get one thing straight right now. The far-right in Europe has   
   absolutely NOTHING in common with American conservatism. These   
   people and groups are ethno-nationalist populists. The only thing   
   they’re concerned with is using real issues – like trade, the   
   economy and immigration – and focusing people’s rage. That right   
   there is how monsters are born. That’s how they gain power, and when   
   they get that power, they aren’t interested in reducing the size and   
   scope of government. They expand it through control, a massive   
   welfare state, and aggression. That right there is National   
   Socialism.   
      
   There is a global effort among the far-right to link themselves to   
   the success of Donald Trump. Now, I get that they would want to try   
   and emulate that success and ride our coattails, but we shouldn’t be   
   helping them do it. The European far-right, which has more in common   
   with the alt-right than anything else, was actually giving a speech   
   to American conservatives yesterday. They’re being legitimized and   
   co-opted into the American right. This is dangerous, and we need to   
   put a stop to it right now.   
      
   3) March for Our Lives   
      
   Abraham Lincoln said, “I am a firm believer in the people. If given   
   the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis.   
   The great point is to bring them the real facts.”   
      
   So, here are the real facts about the #NeverAgain movement and the   
   upcoming “March for Our Lives” rally, planned for March 24th in   
   Washington DC. All week, CNN and the rest of the media have   
   portrayed this movement as “grassroots” and totally teen-driven.   
   Maybe it was in the very beginning. But it’s not anymore.   
      
   Last Sunday, less than a week after the horrible tragedy at Stoneman   
   Douglas High School, junior Cameron Kasky set up a GoFundMe account   
   to raise money for the “March for Our Lives.” Kasky is the teenager   
   who confronted Senator Marco Rubio onstage at CNN’s Monster Truck   
   Rally event Wednesday night. So far, more than 25,000 people have   
   donated over $2 million.   
      
   What is the money actually for? On the GoFundMe page, Kasky says,   
   “the funds will be spent on the incredibly difficult and expensive   
   process that is organizing a march like this. We have people making   
   more specific plans, but for now, know that this is for the march   
   and everything left over will be going to the victims’ funds.”   
      
   The “March for Our Lives” has received an additional $2 million in   
   pledges from George Clooney, Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, and   
   Jeffrey Katzenberg.   
      
   Cameron Kasky’s father said that Cameron and his friends are “being   
   directed by people with knowledge of how to responsibly spend this   
   money and it’s going to be very transparent.”   
      
   Hope it goes a lot better than George Clooney’s September 11th fund.   
      
   Kasky’s dad also said that “with Clooney’s help” the teens have   
   brought in some attorneys, some administrative help, and a public   
   relations firm whose clients include Meryl Streep, Will Smith,   
   Charlize Theron, and Woody Allen, among many other celebrities. Why   
   do you need all that if this is such a grassroots thing, driven by   
   teenagers? Because these are now 16-year-olds with $4 million at   
   their disposal.   
      
   Already, the “March for Our Lives” rally has a slick website selling   
   merchandise. Make no mistake, this is a campaign.   
      
   The new spokesman for the rally (yes, it already has a “spokesman”)   
   says, “Any leftover funds will go towards supporting a continuing,   
   long-term effort by and for young people to end the epidemic of mass   
   shootings that has turned our classrooms into crime scenes.” In   
   other words, “March for Our Lives” is essentially a new gun-control   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)