There are a lot of “bang-bang” speakers in the world. There are a lot of outlets for them. Single-issue voters and “litmus tests” share some similarity.

It’s not always clear (especially in cool media like blogs) what the payoffs and costs are. Bold speech makes an impression and can feel good, even righteous for the utterer. This has been humorously referred to as the “Greater F***wad Theory” (somewhat NSFW(language) origin: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19/ ). Clay Shirky and other researchers have observed similar things, though less colorfully.

There’s a lot more to say about the usually unmentioned transition from viewpoints such as “This policy will destroy (part of) this country that I love” to expressions of the form “This person/political figure wants to destroy the country…”, but let’s take that as read for now.

Not to get in the conversation between you and NM, but I would note that both left and right have their fringe elements.

Just as it’s not correct to judge the policies of the left by the far left fringe, it’s likewise not correct to judge the right by the far right fringe.

However, having said that I would note that accusations by the left that the far right fringe were taking over during Bush the Younger proved to be totally inaccurate.

While I don’t necessarily agree with what the fringe right may say either, it’s still perfectly reasonable to believe that the direction foreign, economic, and social policies are taking are wrong without likewise believing that it’s all a conspiracy to create a one world government or something like that.

It’s not any sort of derangement syndrome, it’s enlightened self-interest.

Baklava Says:
Every policy enacted by this Congress and President are moving this country in the wrong direction.

I don’t ascribe motives to that. Some have said it’s intentional and that Obama wants to destroy this country. THAT IS ODS.

I respectfully disagree. First of all, it isn’t just Obama. It is the radical Left which now almost totally controls our educational system and our entertainment industry, and comprises large swaths of Congress. Young people are being marinated in a Left-dominated culture practically from the cradle. It’s no surprise that they vote the way they do. It must seem as natural as breathing to them.

Secondly, try as I might, I can see only two possibilities for the policies of Obama and the Congressional Democrats:

1. They are unbelievably stupid, and are utterly, utterly ignorant of 20th century history.
2. They are doing it on purpose, with the intention of ruining the American economy and impoverishing the majority of the American people. Why? To gain power over us.

I just don’t see the evidence that they are that stupid.

Furthermore, I’ve believed for many years that in order to establish a world government, which I believe will be socialist in nature, two things first have to happen:

1. The American economy must be weakened or destroyed.
2. The American military must be weakened or destroyed.

Step 1 is happening right now. For a further discussion of Step 2, see this post at Belmont Club.

Obama is a part of this process, but it isn’t all about him.

“The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles.”

Semper Fi

Not really, it’s clear as a bell that Obama and company are on a clear and rushed trajectory to radically change the direction of America’s policies, foreign and domestic, and in such manner that the consequences will be quite staggering for those who are the victims, especially and immediately with the proposed confiscatory agenda. “Transform” might be a more appropriate term, “Destroy” may become significantly more relevant if the Iranian Shiite 12th Imam (Mahdi) movement become more empowered as Obama and company weaken America by various cuts in defense spending, especially Star Wars and other high tech programs. Don’t underestimate the long-term damage that incompetent left-wing ideologues can do to a country. One only need look at Cuba, Russia, Communist China, North Korea, etc. I’m not engaging in some kind of thoughtless “ODS” by any stretch of the imagination. People are simply not cognizant of the danger which is lurking with these people running things, and the short and long-term consequences.