MY TAKE ON CHRIS MATTHEWS' "THE RISE OF THE NEW RIGHT" DOCUMENTARY

I just finished watching parts of Chris Matthews' one hour documentary on The Rise of the New Right on MSNBC. While it was no doubt enlightening for those who aren't familiar with the history of far right politics, it really shed no real light on the Birthers, the Tea Party movement, the militias, the Black Helicopter crowd, etc. These people have been with us for some time now.

The only difference today is that we have a 24 hour news cable cycle to feed, and a Black man in the White House. You put both of them together with a collapsed economy, brought on by unregulated stupidity, and you can understand the news cycle's need to put some symmetry to the movement.

Let me make this clear, once and for all. These people aren't new patriots, riled up by government tyranny. They're delusional, crazy, and frustrated, people who didn't get their way the last election. Just because they play dress up commando on the weekend, or don 18th century clothing whenever Fox News blows a dog whistle, doesn't make them patriots.

Look, the problems we have today we had under George W. Bush. The problems President Obama's facing today are a direct result of a failed ideology (which we continue to follow in many ways) he didn't initiate. The only documentary the cable programs should be doing on this group are for Animal Planet, or for some deranged Hallmark Life series. Seriously, these people don't need legitimation. They need help.

Stay tuned. I'll have more to say about this at a later date.

- Mark