The Smoking Gun: Here Is Why Glenn Beck Should Be Fired NOW!

Posted by on January 17, 2011 at 2:45 pm. 30 Comments :

Glenn BeckI have documented numerous examples of right-wing advocacy of violence, as have many others. But nobody crosses further over the line, or more often, than Glenn Beck. And here is the ultimate display of deliberate hostile intent. It is an overt call for violence and an instruction to viewers:

“Tea parties believe in small government. We believe in returning to the principles of our Founding Fathers. We respect them. We revere them. Shoot me in the head before I stop talking about the Founders. Shoot me in the head if you try to change our government.

I will stand against you and so will millions of others. We believe in something. You in the media and most in Washington don’t. The radicals that you and Washington have co-opted and brought in wearing sheep’s clothing — change the pose. You will get the ends.

You’ve been using them? They believe in communism. They believe and have called for a revolution. You’re going to have to shoot them in the head. But warning, they may shoot you.

They are dangerous because they believe. Karl Marx is their George Washington. You will never change their mind.” ~ Fox News, June 10, 2010

This cannot possibly be justified as acceptable political discourse. This is not merely an expression of opinion. It is not metaphorical. It is a call to arms. And Beck’s audience is listening. They have heard him say that “The country will be washed with blood.” They have heard him warn that he may have to speak in code:

“I fear that there will come a time when I cannot say things that I am currently saying. I fear that it will come to television and to radio, and I will stop saying these things. Understand me clearly. Hear me now. If I ever stop saying these things, you will know why. Because I will have made a choice that I can only say certain things, and I haven’t lost all of the rights. But know that these things are true. And if you hear me stop saying these things, it’s because I can no longer say them to you. But hear them between the sentences. Hear them, please. I will be screaming them to you.“

One of those to whom Beck was screaming was Byron Williams who was apprehended following a police shootout as he was on his way to San Francisco to kill people at the ACLU and the Tides Foundation. In a prison interview he said…

“Beck is gonna deny everything about violent approach and deny everything about conspiracies, but he’ll give you every reason to believe it. He’s protecting himself, and you can’t blame him for that. So, I understand what he’s doing.”

That’s right, Byron understands what Beck is doing, and so do I. A new poll by Public Policy Polling reports that 13% of Tea Partiers say the that violence against the current American government is justifiable. While that may sound like a small percentage, there are two things to keep in mind: 1) It’s more than three times the percentage of non-Tea Partiers who say violence is justifiable. And 2) It only takes one lone nut to wreak havoc. One lone nut like Byron Williams or, perhaps, Jared Loughner, as we learned in Tucson a week ago.

Let me be crystal clear. I am not associating Loughner to Glenn Beck. There has been no evidence (yet) to link the two. However, there have been other lone gunmen in addition to Williams who were indisputably linked to Beck.

It is because of statements like the one above that Beck has forfeited his privilege of hosting national broadcasts. His language is brazenly irresponsible and he knows it. He cannot escape accountability for the tragic consequences it produces. And neither can Roger Ailes or Rupert Murdoch.

In addition to his hostile streak, Beck also has demonstrated a flagrant prejudice against blacks and Jews. I previously noted that a rather large proportion of Beck’s targets are black, beginning, of course, with Barack Obama. Media Matters recently made note of Beck’s program on “The Big Lie” wherein Beck cited nine individuals whom he implicated in a tyrannical plot to control the minds of Americans in order to advance a socialist agenda. Was it just a coincidence that eight of them were Jewish?

This racist, anti-Semitic, provocateur must not be be permitted to conduct his terror campaign on America’s airwaves. Now that does not mean that he should be subjected to censorship or suppression of his First Amendment rights, but the First Amendment does not guarantee everyone a television show. Radio and television networks, and the advertisers and audience that support them, must be persuaded to act responsibly. And that is our job.

You can go to Glenn Beck Unhinged and click on “Take Action” for a list of organizations that are working to hold the media accountable. Then pass the links around to spread the word.

The quote above is not an isolated incident. The results of such rhetoric are predictable. His disciples believe that he is giving them covert directions, and he encourages that belief. So we have to redouble our efforts to make people like Glenn Beck pay for the harm they do to our nation. And we have to do it before there is further violence or loss of life.

[Update to Inquire] Eric Fuller, a victim of the Tucson shooting, was arrested and involuntarily committed to a mental facility for psychiatric examination. This occurred after he attended a town hall meeting and said “You’re dead,” to a Tea Party leader while snapping his picture. That’s it. Just words. He had no weapon and made no threatening gestures or movements toward anyone. If that warrants arrest and commitment then why isn’t Beck undergoing a similar examination after explicitly advising his viewers to shoot their political adversaries in the head?

[Glenn Beck Responds] On his radio program Friday he complained bitterly that his remarks were taken out of context. That’s a pretty gargantuan heaping of irony from the reigning king of contextual misrepresentation. Without out of context references Beck’s show would be shorter than his commercials.

Beck’s contextual explanation is that he isn’t telling his viewers to shoot people in the head, he is telling people in the administration (and the media) to shoot people in the head. Is that really better? He’s advising government officials to murder American citizens. Thanks for clearing that up, Glenn.

However, the broader context of these remarks has to include Beck’s warning to his viewers that they have to “listen between the sentences,” as Byron Williams did. So Beck is still narrowing the context to fit his demented vision.

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CNN’s Tea Party Partner’s Corruption Deepens

Posted by on January 15, 2011 at 11:11 am. 3 Comments :

CNN Tea PartyLast month CNN announced that they had entered into a partnership with Tea Party Express, an activist organization and political action committee, to co-host a Republican presidential primary debate. It is an unprecedented relationship that joins the news network with a discredited enterprise who’s reputation is sullied by racism, scandal, and fraud.

This week there is news that confirms the poor judgment of CNN to become involved with Tea Party Express.

First, the Center for Responsive Politics discovered that Tea Party Express has received thousands of dollars in donations from a woman who has been dead for four years.

“Joan Holmes is the late wife of media entrepreneur Lee Holmes, who himself has in recent years ranked among the most prolific political donors in Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific Ocean. And Lee Holmes was one of the first donors to the upstart Our Country Deserves Better PAC, which played a prominent role in electing conservative Republicans during the 2010 election cycle.”

And when Tea Party Express isn’t raising funds from the dead, they are raising funds by exploiting the dead. Last week they distributed a fundraising letter that drew on the sympathy of donors for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the other victims of the Tucson slaughter. The letter cast the Tea Party as the victim and politicized the tragedy by asserting that the shooter was “a far Left anarchist.”

“This weekend we all were horrified to hear the news of the violent shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and several others in Arizona. One thing that surprised us was how many in the news media and liberal political figures and organizations immediately launched into an attack on the tea party movement. […] We ask you to please stand with the Tea Party Express and show your support for our efforts. You can make a contribution online right now to the Tea Party Express – CLICK HERE TO CONTRIBUTE.”

This is the character of the group that CNN has seen fit to make their partner in hosting a GOP debate. It is an appalling relationship and ought to be regarded as an embarrassment for an ostensibly respectable news network. And it’s an example of the conservative bias of a corporate media empire that would never consider partnering with a liberal group like MoveOn.org. But it is also not surprising for a network whose new president, Ken Jautz, is the man who gave Glenn Beck his first job on TV.

Everyone who who cares about ethical media and fair elections should let CNN know that this is inappropriate and unprofessional. You can use this form on CNN’s web site to tell them that they should not be partnering with Tea Party Express or any right-wing wing PAC (or left-wing for that matter). You can also Tweet them at http://twitter.com/cnn. Use the hashtag #NoCNNTP.


Sarah Palin Runs Crying For Help To Sean Hannity

Posted by on January 14, 2011 at 12:01 pm. 6 Comments :

Sarah PalinIn the wake of her disastrous video statement Wednesday, Sarah Palin is running to Sean Hannity for a heaping of consolation and damage control.

The video Palin released on the day of the memorial for the victims of the Tucson rampage presented her as the victim and, if that weren’t bad enough, offended millions with her appropriation of the phrase “blood libel” to describe what she was suffering.

It didn’t take long to recognize the depths to which her foot was shoved down her throat. She was lambasted from all sides with even staunch conservatives in shock by her fumble.

So in an effort to redeem herself she has announced that she will appear on national television to take questions about the incident. The only problem is that the questions will be coming from her dear friend and apologist, Sean Hannity. No one is more obsequious than Hannity, who we can rest assured will do his best to rehabilitate Palin’s image.

The one thing that we can take away from this is that Sarah Palin is bent on affirming her manifest cowardice. Just by scheduling this “interview” she is demonstrating a pitiful lack of character. She is conceding that she does not have the intellectual capacity, or the intestinal fortitude, to face her shortcomings or her critics. Does she really think that anyone will conclude from this charade that she has been put to the test and reclaimed her dignity (such as it is)?

Palin is now in full flail mode. Her latest book is #542 on Amazon. Her reality show on TLC is not being renewed after having dropped viewers throughout its short run. Most polls show that even Republicans don’t support her for president in 2012. And her favorable ratings are hovering in the mid-twenties.

It may be time for her to take a bow and return home to Wasilla. Thank goodness the American people are demonstrating a far greater measure of common sense than Palin ever will.



Fox News Attacks The Tucson Memorial

Posted by on January 13, 2011 at 11:13 am. 4 Comments :

It didn’t last 24 hours. The good feelings and hopes for unity that were universally expressed at the Tucson memorial for the victims of the shootings on January 8, were unceremoniously cast into a ditch by Fox News at their Fox Nation web site.

The featured headline on Fox Nation reads: Obama Distances Himself From Loons on the Left. The Fox Nationalists are apparently incapable of refraining from disparaging rhetoric for even a few hours. They are also incapable of noting the sick irony that their own insulting headline article began with a call for thoughtfulness and civility:

“President Barack Obama called on the nation to resist the temptation to assign blame for a shooting rampage here that may never fully be explained, but to emerge from the tragedy a more thoughtful, civil nation.”

At Fox they have emerged a more thoughtless, uncivil Fox Nation. The portrayal of the left as “loons” was an editorial invention of Fox. There was no such language in the article to which they linked. And their proclivity for animus was extended by posting five additional stories that were critical of the memorial, the left, or the President, even as most of the country was touched and inspired by the event and Obama’s speech.

They just can’t help themselves. They were born to be a repulsive purveyor of nasty propaganda, and they are living up to their mandate. Rupert Murdoch must be so proud.


Glenn Beck’s Top Ten Reasons To Kill Your Congressman

Posted by on January 12, 2011 at 7:20 pm. 17 Comments :

Glenn BeckYesterday Glenn Beck introduced a petition that he described as a challenge to America. In truth it was nothing more than a self-serving stunt that enumerated a bunch of repetitive calls to denounce violence. This sets Beck apart from the millions of people in America whom he seems to think are clamoring for more of it.

Today Beck spent almost the whole hour whining that only 14 members of congress signed his silly petition. That’s a pretty dismal showing of support. Considering that congress now has 289 Republicans (House and Senate), Beck only managed to snare about 5% of his ideological allies. He was obviously devastated at having been snubbed so brutally. He heaped scorn on those who rebuffed him, blaming them for playing politics. He went on ad nauseum about not being able to understand how anyone could refuse to sign the farce that he regarded as so well-intentioned.

Other than Beck, no one should be surprised that his petition was so universally dismissed. It would be like McDonalds circulating a petition denouncing junk food. Beck is perhaps America’s foremost purveyor of violence-soaked hate speech and has no intention of changing. His history of incendiary language is rich with examples that are indefensibly bloodthirsty. And despite his denial, this sort of rhetoric can motivate the weak, the gullible, and the paranoid. So without further ado I present Glenn Beck’s justifications for political assassination.

Glenn Beck’s Top Ten Reasons To Kill Your Congressman

  • January 19, 2010: The progressive movement is sucking the blood out of each of the parties. This is their opportunity to finally win and progressives will, admittedly, do anything to win. They’ll lie, cheat, steal. Do you really think you can pull them off your neck with a ballot box? You must drive a steak through the heart of this movement. … [Obama]’s not a Democrat. He is a progressive.
  • June 10, 2010: Shoot me in the head if you try to change our government. I will stand against you and so will millions of others. We believe in something. You in the media and most in Washington don’t. […] They believe in communism. They believe and have called for a revolution. You’re going to have to shoot them in the head. But warning, they may shoot you.
  • November 13, 2009: Barack Obama and Congress are selling you a bill of goods. It is only when you take down the mask of sunshine and lollipops that you will see the real thing – the real image. Destruction. These bills are creating the path to America’s destruction.
  • July 23, 2010: They’ve already taken over health care. Is there any greater control than that of deciding the fate of someone’s life?
  • July 23, 2010: The financial regulation that the president signed into law yesterday is an unprecedented assault on our economy, our ability to do business and, quite honestly, the republic as we know it.
  • October 30, 2009: When you pull back the curtain, you will see that free speech is being eradicated for controlled speech: Control over the media; control over the Internet; control over you.
  • March 8, 2010: There is an effort to indoctrinate [our kids]. … Even President Obama, in his own Web site, targeting our children. … Get the kids out of this indoctrination or our republic will be lost.
  • April 24, 2007: I have been telling you for months now that illegal immigration is creating a new civil war in this country.
  • September 2, 2009: I’m going to show you the beginning of something that should scare the living daylights out of you. It is propaganda in America. The National Endowment for the Arts is now holding conference calls.
  • December 14, 2009: The climate cult wants more than just your recycling bin. … what they want is total submission.

Glenn Beck has assembled a pretty comprehensive list of things that will doom the republic. They include health care, religion, financial regulation, education reform, Network Neutrality, immigration, art, global warming, cap and trade, the census, cash for clunkers, and even food safety. Did I leave anything out? Yes I did. How about…

People that don’t attend his rallies?: There are people now who are saying: I don’t know if I am going on 8/28. I don’t know if I’ll go to another Tea Party. Well, if you’re done, then the republic truly is done. If you’re done, they will take your liberty as well.

And how about…

Sarah Palin? Sarah, as you know, peace is always the answer. I know you are feeling the same heat, if not much more on this. I want you to know you have my support. But please look into protection for your family. An attempt on you could bring the republic down.

As it turns out, our republic must be pretty weak. Almost anything can bring it down according to Beck. I wouldn’t sneeze too hard if I were you. But one risk that Beck stubbornly refuses to acknowledge is that inflaming people’s fears about the end of the world that they know and cherish could drive certain individuals to take extreme measures in what they regard as the protection of their family and country. If you believed that our government were actually behaving in the manner described by Beck, that it was deliberately steering toward slavery, tyranny, and ruin, you might consider it your duty to take out a congressman or two in the name of patriotism. Beck fails to acknowledge this even though it has already happened on a number of occasions; even though he has been warned; even though he caters to advertisers whose products are dependent on such fears; even though his boss Roger Ailes told him to “shut up, tone it down, make your argument intellectually.” And that may be where Beck gets tripped up.

There has been a lot of debate lately about rhetoric and imagery. I think some of it has concentrated too much on trivialities. I don’t think Beck or Palin are responsible for the shooting last Saturday. I don’t think that maps with crosshairs are going to motivate anyone to commit murder, although they may seem horribly inappropriate after a tragic event like the one in Tucson. However, repeatedly using irresponsible language that dehumanizes rivals and casts them as mortal enemies and foes of goodness and Godliness is tempting fate. It is fomenting a hatred and/or fear of government and fellow citizens. That can turn an ideological opponent into an imminent threat. That is what Beck does every day and it has to stop.

If our republic is to survive (now I’m doing it) we need to be able to have partisan divisions that don’t devolve into civil malignancies. All people in public life need to reflect on this in pursuit of their political goals. And if Beck won’t stop out of a sense of moral decency, then it is up to those who have such morality to counter his repugnancy and work to evict him from the public platform that he does not deserve.

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Glenn Beck’s Challenge To America: Play Nice

Posted by on January 10, 2011 at 5:03 pm. 2 Comments :

Glenn Beck: Armed and DangerousOn his Monday Fox News program, Glenn Beck complained that he had not seen any leaders emerge in the wake of the Tucson Slaughter who would stand up and say “Stop it!” He must not have been looking very hard because dozens of Democrats and progressives in the media did just that, even as their counterparts on the right dismissed them.

Now, after taking 48 hours to make any statement at all, Beck thrusts himself into the role of leader with this challenge:

I challenge all Americans, left or right, regardless if you’re a politician, pundit, painter, priest, parishioner, poet or porn star to agree with all of the following.

  • I denounce violence, regardless of ideological motivation.
    Does that include fantasizing about choking the life out of Michael Moore or beating Rep. Charles Rangel to death with a shovel?
  • I denounce anyone, from the Left, the Right or middle, who believes physical violence is the answer to whatever they feel is wrong with our country.
    Does that include your guest Michael Scheuer who said that the only hope for America was for Bin Laden to attack again?
  • I denounce those who wish to tear down our system and rebuild it in their own image, whatever that image may be.
    Does that include yourself who has said that “progressivism is a cancer in America, and it’s eating our Constitution” and that America needs to be “re-founded?”
  • I denounce those from the Left, the Right or middle, who call for riots and violence as an opportunity to bring down and reconstruct our system.
    Does that include Rush Limbaugh who said “Screw the world – Riot in Denver” in an attempt to sow unrest at the Democratic Convention?
  • I denounce violent threats and calls for the destruction of our system – regardless of their underlying ideology – whether they come from the Hutaree Militia or Frances Fox Piven.
    Does that include Sharron Angle who advocated “2nd Amendment remedies” and Joyce Kaufman who said that “if ballots don’t work, bullets will?”
  • I hold those responsible for the violence, responsible for the violence. I denounce those who attempt to blame political opponents for the acts of madmen.
    Does that include yourself who even today blamed political opponents for politicizing Tucson simply because they called for toning down the rhetoric?
  • I denounce those from the Left, the Right or middle that sees violence as a viable alternative to our long established system of change made within the constraints of our constitutional Republic.
    Does that include accepting an administration that campaigned (and won) on a platform of “fundamental change” within the constraints of our constitutional Republic?

If Glenn Beck will acknowledge that he and his rightist cohorts bear significant responsibility for the hostile environment in our nation, then his challenge is reasonable, even if it is obvious and represents the common sense approach that has always been advocated by the majority of Americans. I’m not sure where Beck gets the idea that the issuing of this challenge is either unique or demonstrative of leadership. It is more akin to a kindergarten decree to play nice.

If Beck is serious he will acknowledge that threats are not merely direct assertions of imminent harm. They are also implicit in language that dehumanizes rivals and casts them repeatedly as mortal enemies of goodness and Godliness. If he is serious he will apologize for (and stop) his campaign of vilifying his political opponents like Van Jones, George Soros, Cass Sunstein, Nancy Pelosi, and Barack Obama, and the long list of others he hates with such ferocity. He will cease to trivialize violence as he did just last month when he joked that an attempted murderer must have been a liberal because “The guy is a really bad shot.”

Today, in an interview with music impresario Russell Simmons, Fox News CEO Roger Ailes said…

“I told all of our guys, shut up, tone it down, make your argument intellectually. You don’t have to do it with bombast. I hope the other side does that.”

Color me skeptical. I find it hard to believe that someone with Ailes’ record of bombast has suddenly become a disciple of Gandhi. This is the man who recently called the executives at NPR Nazis. This is the man who said of the infamous Willie Horton ad that…

“The only question is whether we depict Willie Horton with a knife in his hand or without it.”

Time will tell if Beck and his colleagues on the right are genuinely seeking to restore civility to public discourse, or are engaging in the rank hypocrisy that has come to define conservative politics. For the sake of people who may become future victims of political violence, I have to retain some hope. But I’m not holding my breath.


Glenn Beck Finally Comments On The Tucson Slaughter

Posted by on January 10, 2011 at 12:46 pm. 7 Comments :

It took 48 hours, but Glenn Beck, arguably the worst offender at being offensive, has finally commented on the slaughter in Tucson that killed or injured 19 people including a federal judge, a nine year old girl, and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

Glenn Beck: Armed and DangerousFor the most part his message was a compulsory expression of condolences and a call for non-violence. This from someone whose daily sermons of apocalyptic terror have already inspired murderous acts by unstable individuals. It is notable that he only spoke to actual acts of violence and made no mention of the hostile rhetoric from which they can spring. That is if you don’t count his defense of right-wing media by characterizing criticism of the vilification in civic discourse as politicizing the tragedy. What’s more, his web page with this message featured a rotating gallery of images that includes the one to the left wherein he brandishes a firearm. Now, that’s perfectly legal, of course, but perhaps a bit insensitive considering recent events and the very subject of the page on which it appears. Even Palin felt compelled to remove her “Hit List” from her web site.

[Note] Beck has since removed the image of him brandishing a gun. That is a tacit admission that it was inappropriate, but I don’t expect that he will make an explicit admission, nor apologize.

Also included in his message was a bizarre defense of Sarah Palin that also served as an advertisement for his security provider. He introduced his remarks as being excerpted from his letter to Palin.

“Sarah, as you know, peace is always the answer. I know you are feeling the same heat, if not much more on this. I want you to know you have my support. But please look into protection for your family. An attempt on you could bring the republic down. Please call Gavin De Becker in Los Angeles. He is the guy that protects me. They are, bar none, the best.”

According to Beck it is Sarah Palin who is feeling the heat. She is the victim of Saturday’s massacre, poor thing. And if Glenn Beck thinks that an attempt on Palin could bring down the republic, his opinion of the republic is that it is pretty damn weak. Of course an attempt on Palin, or anyone, would be horrible, but our nation was strong enough to withstand a civil war; strong enough to lose four sitting presidents to assassination and numerous attempts on others; strong enough to endure the loss of 3,000 people on 9/11. It is stupid to suggest that an attempt on a former half-term governor/reality TV star would bring us down when those other events did not.

Beck should refrain from glorifying his elitist class of politicos as the foundations that keep our nation from crumbling to the ground and instead speak to the need for civil discourse in our country. We ought to be able to regard our political adversaries as people with whom we disagree, not mortal enemies. It does not help to call the President a racist or a fascist. It does not help to vilify people like Cass Sunstein as the “most dangerous man in America” or George Soros as a “puppet master” bent on destroying our economy and our nation. It does not help to fantasize about choking the life out of Michael Moore or beating Rep. Charles Rangel to death with a shovel. Nor does it help to announce that he is starting a revolution against those he vilifies as progressives, but who are really his fellow Americans. If he really believes in peace and love, he should practice it – for God’s sake.

As an aside, I was fully prepared with a knee-jerk condemnation of the product placement Beck included in his suck-up to Palin. However, Gavin de Becker & Associates, Beck’s security firm, has an article on their site titled: Media Fear Tactics. It is actually a pretty useful and entertaining commentary on the sensationalism of television news. Ironically, it describes pretty accurately the way Fox News presents their tabloid alternative to journalism. The article was clearly meant as a cautionary guide to shoddy reporting, but the Fox editors seem to have adopted as a style guide.


Hostile Intent: Right-Wing Media Doth Protest Too Much

Posted by on January 9, 2011 at 7:39 pm. 3 Comments :

Rarely have I seen such a desperate attempt to evade reality as has occurred since the shooting rampage in Tuscon. It would seem to be a fairly non-controversial notion that when a politician is targeted for assassination, the language that contributes to hostile discord ought to be carefully considered and avoided. The last thing anyone should want is another Jared Loughner. However, just raising that issue has caused politicians and pundits on the right to stiffen their backs and go on offense. They are taking such talk very personally. Could it be because they are harboring a latent guilt?

While the left has been responding to an horrific act of violence with calls to tone down the rhetoric, many on the right have assumed an attack posture. Keith Olbermann delivered a commentary yesterday wherein he included himself amongst those who have crossed the line. He apologized. There has been scarce reciprocation on the right. In fact, they have dug in their heels to assert that they will continue as if nothing has happened. Sarah Palin’s camp even contends that their notorious “Hit List” didn’t represent a gunsight’s crosshairs, but those on map. That might have been a little more plausible if Palin herself hadn’t referred to it as a bullseye.

So it should come as no surprise that Fox News would employ their propaganda web site, Fox Nation, to muddy the waters and absolve the right of any wrongdoing while tarnishing the left for observing the obvious. The Fox Nation presently has eleven articles that place the left in a bad light and/or polish the right’s reputation. Methinks they doth protest too much.

The Headlines:

  • Durbin Using Tragic Shooting to Silence Conservative Speech
  • A Colossal Failure of Journalism: Jared Loughner is crazy
  • Tucson Shooter and the Violent Rhetoric in the “Communist Manifesto”
  • AZ Dem Blames “Afghan Vet” for Shooting
  • DESPICABLE: NYT’s Krugman Blames Republicans For Giffords Shooting
  • NOW Blames Shooting on ‘Extreme’ Conservatives Opposing ‘Progressive Solutions’
  • PATHETIC: James Clyburn Blames Sharon Angle for Giffords Shooting
  • Tuscon Sheriff Politicizes Press Conference, Blames Talk Radio
  • Journalists Urged Caution After Ft. Hood, Now Race to Blame Palin After Arizona Shootings
  • Kurtz: Don’t Drag Palin Into this Horrific Mess
  • Dems Urge Obama to Pin Shooting on Tea Partiers

And it doesn’t stop there. On Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment, Jim Hoft, one of the most ignorant writers on a web site heralded for its ignorance, makes the ludicrous claim that “Democrats Plotted to Blame Tea Party for Slaughter.” Hoft’s justification for this “breaking” news flash was this paragraph from an article on Politico:

“One veteran Democratic operative, who blames overheated rhetoric for the shooting, said President Barack Obama should carefully but forcefully do what his predecessor did. ‘They need to deftly pin this on the tea partiers.'”

Did I mention that Hoft was ignorant? He is inferring from a single, anonymous source that a “plot” was in progress. And his inference is based on an opinion, not a plan. The source is suggesting what he thinks Obama ought to do, not what Obama, or any other Democrat, is actually doing. So there is no plot, just one guy with an opinion. And if this “operative” actually had access to the White House, or any group that could carry out this alleged plot, he would have given this advice to the President instead of a reporter from Politico.

What Hoft left out was the part where Politico reported this analysis from a senior Republican senator:

“There is a need for some reflection here – what is too far now?” said the senator. “What was too far when Oklahoma City happened is accepted now. There’s been a desensitizing. These town halls and cable TV and talk radio, everybody’s trying to outdo each other.”

The vast majority of tea party activists, this senator said, ought not be impugned.

“They’re talking about things most mainstream Americans are talking about, like spending and debt,” the Republican said, before adding that politicians of all stripes need to emphasize in the coming days that “tone matters.”

“And the Republican Party in particular needs to reinforce that,” the senator said.

I wonder why Hoft didn’t accuse this GOP senator of engaging in a plot to tone down the rhetoric as advised by most of the left. However, he did make the flat assertion that Loughner was “hardly a tea partier.” Apparently Hoft was unfamiliar with Loughner’s anti-government views, his opposition to immigrants and immigration reform, his advocacy of guns, and his opposition to the “2nd Constitution,” a rightist theme that regards the 14th Amendment’s securing of equality and birthright citizenship as unconstitutional. These are all views consistent with the Tea Party.

The truth is that the right is the only side that could plausibly be characterized as plotting anything. Hoft’s own column for Breitbart is evidence of that. And did the Fox Nationalists really need eleven articles to push their narrative? Then there is Judson Phillips, founder of the Tea Party Nation, who explicitly urged his followers blame liberals for the attack on Rep. Giffords. He wrote to his followers that…

“The hard left is going to try and silence the Tea Party movement by blaming us for this. […] The left is coming and will hit us hard on this. We need to push back harder with the simple truth. The shooter was a liberal lunatic. Emphasis on both words.”

The right is on a mission to wash their hands of any accountability for violence that is all too predictable. It would be much easier if they were to take the position of the GOP senator above who understands that this is the time to be thoughtful about what we say and the impact it may have on the mentally wobbly. Unfortunately, that is not the path the right is headed down.

It has been over 32 hours since the shooting in Tuscon and Glenn Beck, arguably the worst offender at being offensive, has not made a single public statement. There is nothing on his web site – no tweets – not even an expression of condolences. And you can rest assured that he will return to the air Monday with a delusional conspiracy theory for what he thinks happened in that Safeway parking lot. I can hear it now…..

Beck: Over the weekend there was a horrible crime committed against a United States Congresswoman. She is still clinging to life, but a judge, a young girl, and several others were killed.

Now, if you were watching the liberal media you may have come away thinking that this was the work of a conservative or a Tea Party member. I can assure you that nothing could be further from the truth.

Here’s the truth. Here’s what only I have been able to uncover through dogged research. Here’s what the media is afraid to tell you. Rep. Giffords was killed in order to silence me and other conservative broadcasters. That’s right. This was a liberal plot to create an environment where people would be calling for harsh rhetoric to be stopped.

Top down, bottom up, and inside out. The progressives are thinking all the time about how to stifle our message, and they know that by making a martyr of Rep. Giffords they can demand that we shut our mouths and crawl off into a corner. They can accuse us of inciting people to violence. And they think that will cause us to keep quiet about their plans to destroy America and demolish our moral culture. That’s why they sent their mole, Loughner, to the supermarket on Saturday. Some of my voices…I mean sources…are telling me that Loughner was seen with Van Jones and Cass Sunstein going over plans to take over the media.

But we aren’t going to let that happen, are we? We will remain strong because we know that only by eliminating our enemies can we live in peace.

Now, remember, I don’t want anyone to engage in violence. Even though the progressives are determined to see your future, and that of your children, blown apart and ruined for all eternity, you must not react violently. That’s what they want you to do. So even though they are going to put an end to the American Dream and cause our society and our economy to break down so badly that we will be praying for death rather than live in the socialist hell they want to create, do not become violent. Got it. Just get ready to suffer and prepare your kids for suffering like they have never known. Watching the whole world sink into depression and slavery is certainly no reason to resort to violence, is it? Well, is it? If you believe, like I do, that America is exceptional and worth preserving, then you know what to do.

And by the way, be sure to pick up a copy of my new book, “Reading Between the Lies.”

You read it here first.

[Update] Beck lived up to my speculation. On his Monday Fox News program he said:

“The solution, in this case, is to silence the opposition […] shut down the right […] How do you shut them down? You say it’s hate speech.”

As I suspected, Beck exploited the massacre to whine about the tragedy as a conspiracy to silence him and his rightist comrades.

[Update II] The right is now openly defending hate speech. Jack Shafer, editor at large of Slate.com, posted an article titled: In Defense of Inflamed Rhetoric
The awesome stupidity of the calls to tamp down political speech in the wake of the Giffords shooting.

Shafer’s article is really a demonstration of his own awesome stupidity. He argues that there haven’t been enough episodes of violence to justify the criticism of incendiary language. He is ignoring the numerous examples – from Dr. Tiller to Byron Williams to the Holocaust Museum to the Marine recruiting station to the gas line tampering at a congressman’s home. How many examples does Shafer need before he becomes concerned? But the real stupidity in his column is this passage:

“Any call to cool “inflammatory” speech is a call to police all speech, and I can’t think of anybody in government, politics, business, or the press that I would trust with that power.”

Nobody – repeat NOBODY – has suggested that inflammatory speech be criminalized. This is an invention of Shafer’s twitchy imagination. The matter is in the hands of the speakers, politicians and pundits, to be responsible and/or accountable. Free speech is not a shield from criticism of what is said. It extends to the critics as well. And when Shafer says that “violent imagery is a good thing” he illustrates just how idiotic and counterproductive right-wing hate mongers (like himself) can be.

[Acclaim for News Corpse] Keith Olbermann tweeted: “Deft and accurate summary of Right Wing Media in full-fledged panic and utter denial.” Thanks Keith.


Gabrielle Giffords: A Victim Of Violent Fox News/Tea Party Rhetoric?

Posted by on January 8, 2011 at 6:27 pm. 14 Comments :

There was a shooting today in Tuscon, Arizona that has taken several lives and has left a United States Congresswoman struggling to survive. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), is out of surgery and is clinging to life. Sadly, Judge John Roll and several others who have not been identified (including a ten year old girl) have already been pronounced dead.

Tea CrusadesWhile there are some disturbing components to this story (itemized below) it is way to soon to attribute motives in this particular case. However, it is not too soon to reiterate the predictable danger that results from irresponsible and violent language that has become far too common in recent years. Fox News has been at the forefront of this trend, permitting their top personalities to engage in dialogue that is overtly hostile, as well as promoting the most vile elements of the Tea Party.

Bill O’Reilly’s labeling of Dr. George Tiller as “Tiller the baby killer” may have played a part in Tiller’s murder. Glenn Beck’s relentless condemnation of George Soros and the Tides Foundation was cited as inspiration by a man who was apprehended after a police shootout while he was on his way to kill Tides and ACLU personnel. Sean Hannity refers to his audience as “Tim McVeigh wannabes” to thunderous applause. Liz Trotta joked about “knocking off” President Obama.

But the risk is not limited to direct threats as those listed above. The tone of many Fox News hosts and analysts is just as dangerous. They cavalierly describe their political adversaries as radicals, communists or fascists who are deliberately destroying America and blaspheming God. What do they expect people to do upon being terrorized by that sort of delusional peril?

I want to emphasize that the facts to follow are not necessarily connected to the gunman in today’s news. But they are notable nevertheless for how they illustrate potential risks due to the sort of anti-social behavior that is encouraged on Fox News.

Rep. Giffords was targeted by the Tea Party and their AstroTurf benefactors Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks.

Glenn Beck attacked Giffords with his co-host calling her a moron for her support of renewable energy in the military.

At a recent event held by Giffords in Arizona, police were called after an attendee dropped a gun.

Giffords’ office was vandalized just hours after she voted for the health care reform package.

Giffords’ opponent, GOP/Tea Party candidate Jesse Kelly, held an event where supporters were encouraged to “Get on Target for Victory in November Help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office Shoot a fully automatic M16 with Jesse Kelly.”

Also killed was Federal Judge John Roll, who had received numerous death threats after ruling to allow a case involving illegal immigrants to go forward.

Giffords was one of the politicians to whom Keith Olbermann made contributions, leading to his three day suspension from MSNBC.

Sarah Palin (“Don’t Retreat – Reload”) put Giffords on her Hit List.

Joyce Kaufman, talk show host and aide to Rep. Allen West told a Tea Party rally: “If ballots don’t work, bullets will.”

GOP/Tea Party Senate candidate Sharron Angle said: “If this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies.”

And perhaps most poignantly, Rep. Giffords father, Spencer Giffords, 75, wept when asked if his daughter had any enemies. “Yeah,” he told The New York Post. “The whole Tea Party.”

I repeat, these may have no connection to today’s shooting. But they are indicative of a problem in the media that must be addressed. There have been plenty of other acts of violence whose connection to this sort of rhetoric is well documented. And there have been credible warnings about just this type of tragic event.

To be clear, I am not calling for any kind of censorship. I am calling for responsibility on the part of the press, and absent that, accountability. The people who deliberately use incendiary language to fire up their followers cannot get off scot-free when the predictable consequences occur. It could not be said better than how Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik put it in a press conference addressing the shooting this afternoon:

“When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government. The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous,” the sheriff said. “And unfortunately, Arizona I think has become the capital. We have become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry.”