Madison County, Idaho was once dubbed “the reddest place in America” by Salon, but that didn’t make it any less shocking when elementary school children started chanting “assassinate Obama on the school bus.
According to an article which appeared in Salon in 2006, “You’ve heard of Jesusland, but Rexburg, Idaho, is something more. It’s not just a small town in rural Eastern Idaho. It’s a small town in rural Eastern Idaho completely dominated by a fast-growing Mormon college, Brigham Young University-Idaho.”
“Through this conservative convergence,” the article continues, “Rexburg and surrounding Madison County may well be the rosiest place in all of red America. Need numbers to prove it? In the 2004 presidential election, 93 percent of Madison County’s votes went to George W. Bush or minor-party conservative candidates — arguably the reddest result of any county in the entire country.”
The population of Madison County is not only heavily Republican but also 97.7% white. One of Rexburg’s lone Democrats, a professor at the university, told Salon that “she remembers the time when a group of classmates followed her third-grader home, shouting out ‘baby-killer’ all along the way. She took it up with the teacher, who didn’t seem to mind.”
Mormonism is sort of the Scientology of the 19th century (one guy makes up some stuff->gullible people succumb->religion ensues), but as an older religion it of course has had time to do what the big names do, kill people. Together with their interference in California’s Prop 8 vote they really are on course to join the big boys of fundie idiocy.
The fever for killing Obama is openly flaunted by rightists who revel in the murder of anyone not white, conservative, christian and capitalist. To be optimistic, let’s hope a brilliantly effective secret service keep Obama safe as this period brings the racism and eliminationism out of the woodwork and it can be confronted and defeated. This is beyond the policy let downs, Emanuel, Summers etc represent, if the forces of bigotry cannot be stopped from killing the most well protected man on earth then what is left? Open warfare? Many rightists claim to welcome such a breakdown but geniuses that they are they fail to realise they are outnumbered many times over, can it be impressed on their tiny minds- challenging their own bigotry is in fact their only survival option. It would be nice to be able to appeal to some higher rationale but they repeatedly indicate such higher thought is beyond them, so we’ll just have to keep it to that real simple selfish argument.
13 November, 2008 at 1:03 am
That’s some pretty darned good dot connecting there. It really makes me think.
13 November, 2008 at 4:32 am
As the Empire declines, the likelihood of a Second Civil War increases. But not secessionist states (except for Alaska), but (if you allow me to don the tin foil hat) extremist whose support comes from the Bosses of Capital losing political grounds as desperate politicians throw up waves of reform to stave off the inevitable Imperial collapse.
We already seen what these radical groups are willing to do (http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2006/12/eliminationism-in-america-i.html), the KKK, the Sundown Towns, the Civil War, Waco, Oklahoma City. But beyond tragic episodes of mass murder these groups can not do much else. However, inject them with millions of corporate dollars laundered through radical churches and other private organizations, backed and trained by mercenary cadres and you got yourself Baghdad/Mogadishu/Lebanon 4.0!
13 November, 2008 at 6:44 am
I find it interesting that you would judge a community based on what a few children are chanting on a school bus ride.
I won’t deny that the children on the bus probably over heard parents talking about Obama and assassination, but to judge an entire community based on this…shame on you.
The LDS church does not profess murder.
I always find it interesting that those who know the least about a subject are the ones that are always so willing to tell everyone about it. If you really want to teach about the LDS church, research it first. Don’t be like a school bus riding child that only over hears what others have to say about it.
13 November, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Not so much the LSD in general, but so called “Real America”. There lies the difference.
13 November, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Just a blogger- Good to to see the LDS are trawling blogs to spin their message! Although it always works better if you engage with the post and don’t assume ignorance. The ‘community’ supported Bush, he is a war criminal, oddly I disapprove of that. I am not a fan of the Good German.
Mormonism excluded people of colour until 1978. And in prop 8 it was engaged in denying equal rights to people. The Obama chant is a small signifier of greater problems and not the straw man for your boilerplate.
GLH- you provided some of the seeds.
Rafael- Ok now you’re just trying to scare people to death! Would make a nifty thriller too, rather that than it happen and it is not totally foil-y. I mean already Katrina affected areas had Blackwater deployed and now they have returned much lower votes for progressives after being economically/ethnically cleansed to a degree.
14 November, 2008 at 2:18 am
Rick, plenty of those written during the 90s, back in the hay day of the Militia movement.
I mean it is not like it has not happened before. Just look at the original definition of “filibuster”, or how the Pinkerton Detective Agency evolved into a Union Busting Private Army, or the dozens of “wars” out West between ranchers and homesteaders. And that was when the Federal goverment was weak. Ironic too if you look at the history of the LDS as well, you find a nexus of private militias and gun battles. And the more radical offshoots certainly believe the whole “Armed Compound” idea.
The Das Capital branch of the Republican party has exploited the nexus of mythology, ignorance, religious bigotry and racial animosity for quite sometime. Somewhere along the line these folks got it into their heads that maybe they really should control the country after all. What would happen if meaningful reform threatens the American branch of Das Capital? They already mobilized billions of dollars to manipulate the media and have a captive audience through talk-hate radio. The final step would be an all out attempt to discredit the sitting goverment (Republican or Democrat, doesn’t really matter) by stirring this hornet nest to a slow but explosive boil.
The only saving grace would be that Das Capital Americana does not hold any allegiance to the US, and so would bail as soon as things really got ugly or the taxpayers can no longer afford the bailouts.
Yes, it sounds extremely far fetched in a the black-helo, tin foil hat, Jesus told me so kind of way (and I hope that it stays that way), but so did the idea of a WWI mustachioed Corporal and his beer drinking buddies taking control of a nation and plunging the world into the bloodiest war in history. Remember who made that possible.
14 November, 2008 at 8:04 pm
One other thing: I can think of a difference between Scientology and Mormonism. Scientology isn’t based on plagiarism.
14 November, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Rafael- Yes I think people really should realise the ruling class holds no loyalty to the country it is only there as long as it is a viable vehicle for their plots, the bailout scam has meant they will hang around for a while yet and they don’t need any takeover, what really is going against them? Unless Obama really does turn out to be Marxist!
GLH- Plus it has alienz & UFO’s which are kewl!
15 November, 2008 at 6:42 pm
ralfast: Something similar to what you describe happened in the US in the 30s. The House Unamerican Activities Committee actually was created in response to an effort by wealthy fascists to overthrow our government. Talk about creating a monster.
Just a Blogger: The LDS does oppose abortion rights, which is an attempt to murder women by forcing them to use dangerous back alley abortions.
17 November, 2008 at 2:21 am
To Just a Blogger:
I spent 25 years in the Mormon church, and believe me when I say I know a bit about it’s history.
I vividly remember the following bit of Book of Mormon history being drummed into my head in primary, sunday school and seminary (and probably the “Know Your Religion” series as well):
” … it is better that one man should perish than a whole nation dwindle in unbelief.”
You say the Mormon church does not profess murder. Really? I would submit that Neocon mormons have a history of teaching and preaching this very thing. The Book of Mormon is all about war mongering. Rexburg, Madison County, Idaho, which is predominatly LDS, is filled with hate mongers, and this incident highlighted how bigotry and intolerance lie just beneath the surface. Seems that Mormon’s don’t take it well when their “guy” doesn’t win.
17 November, 2008 at 2:50 am
GLH -”One other thing: I can think of a difference between Scientology and Mormonism. Scientology isn’t based on plagiarism.” Well,if you take out the 1950’s pop psychology and the nickel tour of Zen Buddhism, all you’ve got left is a cheesy skin galvanometer and some bad eLRon sci-fi.
18 November, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Thanks Watcher for the inside take.
wyamarus- Have Mormons made a ‘Battlefield Earth’ level of flop yet? I think the whole founding done in a Lord of the Rings(/plates) style is called for, how tall was Joe Smith?