The growing fear among some citizens of losing their rights and freedoms has created a political backlash toward the U.S. government and manifested itself in violent rhetoric and anti-government groups who want to “take their country back.” Chris Matthews takes a hard look at the recent surge of anger on the political right in “Rise of the New Right: A Hardball Documentary with Chris Matthews” on MSNBC tonight.

 Synopsis

Why ‘The Rise of the New Right’ Matters (June 15, 2010) – Chris Matthews discusses “Rise of the New Right.” (01:46)

Excerpts from the transcript:

“The Rise of the New Right” … will stun you with what’s happening to this country. You’ll never again believe that this so-called Tea Party movement is just about taxes, deficits or Obamacare. No — what you’ll see is far more like the original tea party up in Boston, the one that previewed our war against the British.

Look at the Gadsden flag that they wield, that warning of “Don’t Tread on Me” with its coiled rattlesnake. In 1776, it served as a warning to those who threatened America from abroad. Today, it’s being waved in contempt of our honestly-elected American government in Washington.

Listen to Rush Limbaugh spur on the New Right by calling the government in Washington a “regime.” Or listen to Orly Taitz, the leader of the Birthers, call the president “illegitimate” … and you’ll get the full force of what’s happening.

This isn’t about what the tax rate should be. It’s an argument about whether the federal government deserves to be toppled like tyrannies or illegitimate regimes throughout history.

It’s not the talk of politics, but of revolution.

These people in the Tea Party movement, in the militia movement, the “Birther” movement, the patriot moment … they are all moving in the same direction. They are not Republicans, or at least they are not the Republicans that you and I grew up with. …

Listen to Limbaugh, Beck, Palin, Michele Bachmann, Orly Taitz … and you hear of a Washington that has usurped authority, of a president who is not one of us, of a Congress that needs to be investigated for treason, and of a country that has been taken over and needs to be taken back. …

See preview and Web-exclusive videos here.

 Preview

‘Rise of the New Right’ preview — MSNBC’s Chris Matthews takes a hard look at the rise of extreme conservative movements, asking the questions, Who are the New Right’s people? and What do they want and how do they intend to get it? (00:30).

Related video

Discussing “Rise of the New Right” (MSNBC, June 16, 2010) — Joan Walsh of Salon.com and Ohio gubernatorial candidate John Kasich discuss the Tea Party, Birthers, and other conservative developments on Hardball. (10:37)

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Related posts on this site

“Rise of the New Right” — Part 1 (July 7, 2010)

“Rise of the New Right” — Part 2 (July 8, 2010)

“Rise of the New Right” — Part 3 (July 9, 2010)

“Rise of the New Right” — Part 4 (July 10, 2010)

“Rise of the New Right” — Part 5 (July 11, 2010)

“Rise of the New Right” — Part 6 (July 12, 2010)

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Following is my own chronicle of the rise of rightwing extremism in America following the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States in November 2008.

Oklahoma City Bombing: 15 Years (April 19, 2010)

Interactive

Timeline: Key Dates in U.S. Militia Movements
Highlights from a timeline of right-wing militia actions compiled by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate crimes. The center says militias have resurfaced in the last few years after being below the radar for nearly a decade.

Homeland Security Wary About Reporting on Rightwing Extremism (April 17, 2010)

“By mobilizing them with hysterical accusations and pseudo-information, overheated talk has made it impossible for representatives to represent and elected leaders to lead.” (David Frum, prominent conservative and former speechwriter for George W. Bush, in an article about the health-care vote titled “Waterloo.”)

New York Times Tea Party Poll (April 16, 2010)

Walter Maciel, center, of Tewskbury, Mass., at the Tea Party rally Wednesday, April 14, 2010 on Boston Common. (Photo credit: Gretchen Ertl for The New York Times)

Tea Party Fomenting Rebellion? (April 5, 2010)

Video

Who comprises the Tea Party? (MSNBC “The Daily Rundown,” April 5, 2010) — Republican Pollster David Winston takes an extensive look at the voters who identify themselves with the Tea Party. (03:31)

Sovereign Citizen Ultimatum to Governors (April 3, 2010)

Video

Governors threatened (Associated Press, April 2, 2010) — The FBI is warning police across the country that an anti-government group’s effort to remove governors from office could provoke violence. The group, “Guardians of the Free Republics,” has sent menacing letters to some 30 governors. (01:08)

Christian Militia Terror Plot (March 29, 2010)

Video

Analyst: Militias are ideologically diverse (MSNBC, March 29, 2010) — Chip Berlet, a senior analyst with Political Research Associates who has written extensively about rightwing populism, militias, and the patriot movement, discusses with Rachel Maddow. (06:52)

Bachmann and Violent Extremism (March 25, 2010)

Video

Battle lines drawn over health care law (NBC Nightly News, March 24, 2010) — Anger over health care reform, erupted into over-the-top rhetoric and threats were made against members of Congress who voted the bill into law. NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell reports. (03:16)

MN-06 Endorses Conspiracy Nut (March 22, 2010)

False Witness! The Michele Bachmann Story

Pentagon Plot Political Paranoia (March 5, 2010)

Video

Anger at America turns deadly (MSNBC “The Dylan Ratigan Show,” March 5, 2010) — Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center offers his take on the gun attack outside the Pentagon, populist anger, and anti-government violence. (05:53)

Extremism Explodes in America (March 3, 2010)

Video

Number of hate groups reach record level (MSNBC “The Dylan Ratigan Show,” March 2, 2010) — According to a new report, militias and other extremist groups increased 244 percent in 2009. Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center and radio host Mark Williams of the Tea Party Express discuss. (08:33)

The number of extremist groups in the United States exploded in 2009 as militias and other groups steeped in wild, antigovernment conspiracy theories exploited populist anger across the country and infiltrated the mainstream, according to a report issued by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Bachmann Conspiracy Nation (Feb. 20, 2010)

Town Hall Face (Photos: Landov, AP, Getty Images / Newsweek)

Suspicious Plane Crash in Texas (Feb. 19, 2010)

Video

Joe Stack’s final act (NBC Nightly News, Feb. 18, 2010) — As investigators and journalists raced to piece together a picture of the suspected pilot who crashed into a Texas building early Thursday, a story of growing frustration and rage emerged. NBC’s Pete Williams reports. (02:01)

Condemning Beck and Bachmann (Nov. 19, 2009)

A year of growing animosity (Anti-Defamation League, Nov. 2009) — Since the election of Barack Obama as president, a current of anti-government hostility has swept across the United States, creating a climate of fervor and activism with manifestations ranging from incivility in public forums to acts of intimidation and violence.

Bachmann Rebuked for Nazi Image (Nov. 12, 2009)

Sign displayed at U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s “House Call on Congress” anti-health care reform rally in Washington, D.C., Nov. 5, 2009. The sign reads, “National Socialist Health Care: Dachau, Germany — 1945.” (Photo credit: Lee Fang / ThinkProgress)

Anger in America (Oct. 31, 2009)

Bachmann Heads Teabaggers (Sept. 13, 2009)

Rep. Michele Bachmann speaks at a Tea Party at Lake George in St. Cloud, Minn., after a town hall meeting, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009. (Photo credit: Jason Wachter / St. Cloud Times)

Invitation to Tea Party headlined by Michele Bachmann

Bachmann: “Slit Our Wrists” (Sept. 2, 2009)

Rep. Michele Bachmann speaks to a luncheon crowd at the Denver Athletic Club, Aug. 31, 2009 (Photo credit: Jason Kosena / The Colorado Statesman)

In a speech filled with urgent and violent rhetoric, Bachmann … drew a clear line on health care reform.

“You’re either for us or against us on this issue,” she said. …

At times, Bachmann’s legislative briefing sounded more like the plot of a slasher movie.

“Right now, we are looking at reaching down the throat and ripping the guts out of freedom,” she said. “And we may never be able to restore it if we don’t man up and take this one on.”

While Bachmann didn’t ask this audience to “rise up against President Barack Obamas tyrannical rule,” they stood anyway and applauded when she announced she was No. 1 on House Speaker Nancy Pelosis list of “top targets.” …

Economy and Obama Volatile Mix (April 16, 2009)

Hate groups including neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan have grown since Barack Obama was elected president. (Image: NBC News)

An April 2009 Homeland Security intelligence estimate warns that right-wing extremists could use the bad state of the U.S. economy and the election of the country’s first black president to recruit new members and incite anti-government violence.

Bachmann Call for Armed Revolt? (March 24, 2009)

Video

“I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax because we need to fight back. Thomas Jefferson told us ‘having a revolution every now and then is a good thing,’ and the people — we the people — are going to have to fight back hard if were not going to lose our country. And I think this has the potential of changing the dynamic of freedom forever in the United States.”
— U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), March 21, 2009

Obama, Economy Fuel Hate Groups (Feb. 28, 2009)

A cross and swastika are burned at an event called Hated and Proud in Nebraska in July 2008. (Photo credit: Southern Poverty Law Center / CNN)

Obama Racist Backlash (Nov. 16, 2008)

University of Alabama professor Marsha L. Houston posted a message against racism on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008 after someone defaced a previous poster of President-elect Barack Obama and his family with a death threat and racial slur in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Photo credit: Jay Reeves / AP)

Racial incidents around the country referring to President-elect Barack Obama, including schoolchildren chanting “assassinate Obama,” racial epithets scrawled on homes and cars, and Black figures hung from nooses, are shattering the post-election illusion of racial progress and harmony, highlighting the stubborn racism that remains in America. There have been “hundreds” of incidents since the election, many more than usual, said Mark Potok, director of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate crimes.

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Related link

An Open Letter to Conservatives

By Russell King
American Dad

March 22, 2010

Dear Conservative Americans,

The years have not been kind to you. I grew up in a profoundly Republican home, so I can remember when you wore a very different face than the one we see now. You’ve lost me and you’ve lost most of America. Because I believe having responsible choices is important to democracy, I’d like to give you some advice and an invitation. … Read the entire letter

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — June 16, 2009

Video

July missile test expected (NBC Today, June 19, 2009) — The U.S. is deploying anti-missile defenses around Hawaii amid reports that North Korea may test fire as many as two missiles in the direction of Hawaii next month. NBC’s Savannah Guthrie discusses the White House reaction. (01:07)

North Korea Nuclear Threat

One-year retrospective: One year ago today I reported that North Korea threatened a “fire shower of nuclear retaliation” if provoked by the U.S., but that U.S. officials were downplaying any imminent threat to the United States of a North Korean missile strike or confrontation between the two countries at sea.