Frank Rich and Rachel Maddow Are Worried About Obama and the Gun-Toting Crazies

“I think we have a problem,” said Frank Rich to Rachel Maddow on her show Wednesday night. He was talking about people bringing guns to health care rallies. Yesterday’s distraction about whether or not MSNBC deliberately edited footage of a black man with a gun so they could then talk all about dangerous white anger was just that: a distraction. A red herring, stirring up outrage over a questionable side issue when the main point is:  people are bringing guns to events where President Barack Obama is speaking. And man, is that scary.

Gawker’s John Cook has been writing about this a fair bit, and made this point on Monday:

It’s become a political meme: AR-15s are the new campaign buttons. First it was William Kostric, the New Hampshire Ron Paul voter who waited for Obama to arrive at a New Hampshire event carrying a sign with Timothy McVeigh’s favorite quote about killing tyrants. Today, the Arizona Republic reports, an African-American who would prefer not to give his name was walking around outside the Phoenix Convention Center, where Obama is giving a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, armed for an insurrection.

That quote about killing tyrants? Kostric’s sign said “It Is Time to Water the Tree of Liberty”; it referenced this quote from Thomas Jefferson: “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” However much this guy swore up and down to Chris Matthews that he was just hanging around on a church lawn to, you know, spectate, let’s maybe take that with a grain of salt. Even without knowing that one of his heroes was a white supremacist, there’s the sign. And the gun.

Maddow reported on Wednesday night that the gun-toting protesters who showed up in Arizona were actually called to action by a right-wing radio host, Ernest Hancock, who told CNN’s Rick Sanchez that it was a publicity stunt. O-kay. Scenario: What is they had all shown up with intent to do something other than publicize? The implications are a little worrisome. Except by “a little” I mean “extremely.”

Rich and Maddow have a frank and honest discussion about it, and not only is it worth noting, it’s worth noting that it belongs to a growing body of work centered around being very, very nervous.

Related:
Let’s Just Say It: We’re Scared Someone’s Going to Try to Kill Barack Obama [Gawker]
Calling Off the Assault Rifles at Obama Rallies [The Atlantic]
Gunning For Trouble [LATimes]
Guns at Obama Rallies: Where’s the Outrage? [Newsweek]

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.