In mid-November, a conference of Socialists gathered in New York to discuss strategies for advancing their cause.

Part of that strategy seems to include violence against the Tea Party.

In one breakout session, the leader admits to being militant and references a saying that refers to physical violence:

In times of growth historically the Democrats were the party that wanted to at least mildly redistribute a little bit of wealth. They were willing to finance a few social programs, make a few concessions in the interest of preserving social peace and social stability. But now when they don’t feel like that money is available for them to distribute, they don’t do anything. And I think that, you know, we all want to raise people’s consciousness but we also want to fight people, right? So I think it’s like both things. And, you know, we want to, we want to fight people who are on the — who have signed up on the other side of the barricade who are fighting us, we have to fight them. This is — we’re a militant organization when it comes to the fight against gay bigotry, the fights against racism and sexism. The labor movement has this old saying, and I don’t know if you want to take it — is if you can’t open their minds, open their heads.

Open their heads?  This clearly is not a reference to civil discourse or open debate, but is a call for naked aggression against those with whom they disagree.

What is more shocking than the statement is the response of the audience, who laughed at the idea.  Do these people think advocating violence is funny?

The leader of the group qualified his statement by saying:

I don’t know if we want to take it quite that far in all the issues.

No one asked what issues warranted deadly force, and no clarification was given.

The speaker was also clear about his target:

If we’re not fighters, we’re not going to recruit the people who are most affected by these. They are the ones who are going to fight. And especially you can point to the Tea Party, right?

In recent days, Americans have been treated to calls for violence from a cable talk show host and a left wing cartoonist. 

Recently, a Newsweek columnist implied the President should deal with the Tea Party the same way Abraham Lincoln dealt with the Confederacy.

Clearly, the nation is divided in a way that has not been seen since the Civil War.

What Americans need is a leader that can unite all of us, and soon – before rhetoric turns into open warfare.

Audio/Video link available here

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