Using Lies to Whip Mobs into Anti-Democratic Frenzies (update)

As a follow-up to today's earlier post, I wanted to offer this terrific expose on the subject by Rachel Maddow.

I also thought this video was illustrative of the point that I made about trying to scare people. Listen to the big guy in the red hat (wait until about :25 before he really gets going):

Does he really say that Sen. Chris Dodd "would not be allowed to have surgery under the new healthcare plan" because he's 65-years old? I'd like to see the part of the bill that says that! (And don't forget that Sen. Dodd is already in a government healthcare plan...)

Videos like this are popping up all over the Internet. Some show people shouting at their representatives and some show pushing and shoving and fistfights. To paraphrase another blogger (I can't find the link right now) who posted a video of an apparent fight outside a town hall meeting: Our political system has crossed the Rubicon.

Since early on in my blogging days, I've been warning about the slippery slope into political violence. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin allowed the unleashing of mob mentality (remember the shouts of "terrorist" and "kill him"). Well, I'm afraid that violent rhetoric and action have now become part of our political process. That slippery slope that I was worried we were approaching? Well, I'm afraid that we're there and we're sliding downhill.