NYT: 'It's Legitimate to Blame Republicans and Their Most Virulent Supporters in the Media'
As we move into the second day following the horrendous attack on innocent citizens in Tucson, Arizona, the media's blame game continues.
Although the New York Times editorial board stopped short of claiming Republicans and the Tea Party were responsible for inciting Jared Lee Loughner to commit this heinous crime, the Gray Lady made it clear it feels the Right are the cause of a "gale of anger" dangerously sweeping the nation:
Jared Loughner, the man accused of shooting [Rep. Gabrielle] Giffords, killing a federal judge and five other people, and wounding 13 others, appears to be mentally ill. His paranoid Internet ravings about government mind control place him well beyond usual ideological categories.
But he is very much a part of a widespread squall of fear, anger and intolerance that has produced violent threats against scores of politicians and infected the political mainstream with violent imagery.
And that's where things got ridiculous:
The federal judge who was killed, John Roll, had received hundreds of menacing phone calls and death threats, especially after he allowed a case to proceed against a rancher accused of assaulting 16 Mexicans as they tried to cross his land. This rage, stirred by talk-radio hosts, required marshals to give the judge and his family 24-hour protection for a month. Around the nation, threats to federal judges have soared for a decade.
That may all be true, but there's no way that Loughner would have known Roll was going to be in that crowd as the judge who lives in the area had according to reports spontaneously decided to visit his friend Giffords at her political event.
As such, Roll's only crime as far as Loughner was concerned was his attendance. At this point, we don't even know if Loughner knew who Roll was.
But there was more:
It is facile and mistaken to attribute this particular madman’s act directly to Republicans or Tea Party members. But it is legitimate to hold Republicans and particularly their most virulent supporters in the media responsible for the gale of anger that has produced the vast majority of these threats, setting the nation on edge. Many on the right have exploited the arguments of division, reaping political power by demonizing immigrants, or welfare recipients, or bureaucrats. They seem to have persuaded many Americans that the government is not just misguided, but the enemy of the people.
And whom did the Democrats and their media minions demonize in 2006 and 2008 to take back the Congress and the White House in subsequent elections?
Much like the rest of the carping and whining media, the Times has developed a convenient amnesia of the virulent rhetoric directed at the Bush administration as well as all Republican elected officials that led to sweeping Democrat victories at the polls.
Given the sheer volume of liberal media outlets joining in the evisceration of the Right back then, what we've seen in the past 24 months pales by comparison.
But the Times doesn't see it that way, or at least it's not willing to admit it.
Instead, like the rest of the pandering press, the Gray Lady views this incident as a way to browbeat conservatives into silence while possibly getting the public behind stricter gun laws.
What all these media outlets are missing is this blame game will only further divide the nation, increase the invective, and grow the public's distrust of politicians as well as those that cover them.
In essence, they're throwing gasoline on a forest fire with total disregard for the acreage at risk.
Makes you wonder where it's all going to end.
- Noel Sheppard's blog
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Comments
NYT : ' It's
Submitted by Barack_must_go..... on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 8:03am.
NYT : ' It's Legitimate........ Now there's an oxymoron, if I ever did see one!
Barack_Must_Go.....
I might be seeing a gale of anger...
Submitted by StarAZ on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 12:45pm.
...over the dopey spinning on this...I am angry because this is being blamed on my adopted state or protest rallies, rather than the killer. I read that NYT stuff--and the more than 1000 letters, many of which decided Beck and Palin should be indicted... I have totally lost the respect or scraps of respect I had for NYT readers. Are we now to be truly sheeple--yes, government, whatever you say, you are so wise...
Critical creative thinker
Submitted by Cyborg 0427 on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 8:11am.
I have the ability to think. Liberals believe that Americans do not have this ability. Even if Rush, Hannity, or anyone else for that matter said on their show someone needed to be assinated I would not run out buy a gun and go kill them. To suggest that most Americans do not have the ability to think on their own is unforgiveable. I do not listen to these morons, I for the most part come here to have a look at the tripe they are trying to sell. I don't listen to Rush, Fox News or anything else on a regular basis. I use many sources for information. What this man did was totally off the deep end and I look forward to seeing him have his day in court. I can only hope the system works in this case. My prayers and concern go out for Ms. Gifford and her family and the victims of this senseless act of violence.
Anger?
Submitted by Chupacabra on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 8:15am.
You bet people are angry. We're tired of a Government that enacts laws that run completely contrary to the will of the people.
And when people reach the boiling point, the crazies start coming out of the woodwork.
When are the Democrats and their cheerleaders in the MSM going to start taking responsibility for their contribution to the anger level in this Nation?
Actions
Submitted by Cyborg 0427 on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 8:38am.
You sir are correct. If blame can be put anywhere for this tragedy other than the person who actually did this it belongs to a government which compleatly ignores the will of the people.
Nothing personal, but dots don't connect
Submitted by StarAZ on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 2:48pm.
You bet people are angry. We're tired of a Government that enacts laws that run completely contrary to the will of the people.
And when people reach the boiling point, the crazies start coming out of the woodwork.
WHOOPS--this second sentence does NOT follow the first one--see how this stuff gets going?
Acc to the Wall St Journal
Submitted by StarAZ on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 2:54pm.
According to the Wall Street Journal, at the 2007 Congress on Your Corner session Loughner and Giffords attended, he asked her something about grammar taking over and she was sort of nonplussed and answered him in Spanish--and he STAYED furious, a friend said--for THREE YEARS and THEN MURDERED her. Would you say she brought this on herself? Of course not! And it had nothing to do with the Tea parties, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck or anything else. It had to do with his disordered mind and fixations.
angry rhetoric
Submitted by Agnostic on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 9:12am.
I've heard more baseless claims and angry rhetoric in the last two days from the left than I've heard from the right in all the time since election day 2010.
But since the media think they are impartial I am sure they don't see things that way. <sarc>
The libs love "zero tolerance" for school bullying, you know
Submitted by merly1 on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 9:49am.
because it allegedly might lead to violence or suicide. Yet, the public bullying of Republican figures has gone on for years, including violence injuring both police and patrons at the St Paul RNC. And public figures---Palin, Coulter, Rove, Emmer have been subjected to public attacks at public gatherings. Oddly, the NYT and the lib media has full tolerance for this. Indeed, there was even much media amusement when Bush had the shoes thrown at him in Iraq.
The blame game on this tragedy, with minimal insights into the perp yet released, is pathetic. Even worse, to blame the right who has received the lion's share of public violence for its public figures is simply journalistic malpractice.
Someone should go seek an
Submitted by Hunter12 on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 9:53am.
Someone should go seek an opinion from the producers of "The Assination of President Bush.".
"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." - Sir Winston Churchill
Rhetoric Vs Truth
Submitted by Hunter12 on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 9:51am.
Let's see:
For Laughner:
Reported: Tea Partyer Truth: Liberal Democrat
Reported: Afghan Vet Truth: Rejected by Military
Reported: Sarah Palin Fan Truth: Fan of Hilter and Marx
I wonder how many more of these we'll see when the facts come out. What's sad is that the left doesn't see that this exact behavior of theirs is the true fuel for these kind of nuts. I would not be surprised if all the sensationalization of this story can not find another look out there to act and get his share of fame as well.
"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." - Sir Winston Churchill
Interesting how the liberal
Submitted by Beukeboom on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 10:51am.
Interesting how the liberal mainstream media cried out vehemently to not rush to judgment over the shootings at Ft. Hood by Nadal Hasan yet they rush to judgment here, often erroneously (either intentionally or unintentionally). Apparently fact checking goes right out the window when they think they can blame conservatives. This goes well beyond a lack of journalistic ethics and integrity and solidly into journalistic malpractice and malfeasance.
Don't allow the libs to get away with the unhinged spin. Here are a plethora of materials of which they (liberal MSM and politicians) are either forgetting or intentionally ignoring:
http://michellemalkin.com/2011/01/10/the-progressive-climate-of-hate-an-illustrated-primer-2000-2010/
Conservative-phobia
Submitted by Chad B on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 11:38am.
This is exactly the kind of rhetoric that they believe the vast majority of Americans are harboring against Mulims and the Islam religion. It's absolutely astounding how far this is going and the vastness of it all.
What's more offensive is that they still refer to Loughner as the suspected killer while daming the entire conservative movement for these crimes. If they had any consistency in their thought, they would be going out of their way to separate this individual's hienous acts from the political discourse that goes on every day on both sides. Obviously, we know better that they will not.
The inconvenient truth is that Loughner's personal beliefs are more consistent with the liberal left rather than what Sarah Palin believes or discourse from conservative radio. The rate at which the liberal left is going with the blame game is one of two things: never letting a crisis going to waste by trying to defeat their political enemies or it is phobic - a fear of conservatives. Either way, Christiane Amanpour must root this one out with the same energy that she had with her 'Islamophobia' witch hunt.
Some of the Kos Kidz are pissed at Sheriff Moonbat
Submitted by SickofLibs on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 11:49am.
Seems his statement "Tuscon is the MECCA for prejudice and bigotry" is offensive to guess who?
DNC spokesperson issues clarification on Arizona tragedy
Submitted by Bruce Majors on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 3:48pm.
DNC press spokesperson Lennie Wryfin-Stalled issued a press clarification on earlier statements by Democrats blaming the Arizona tragedy on Sarah Palin, the Tea Party, and people who refuse to watch MSNBC.
"In light of new evidence that accused shooter Jared Lee Loughner had been obsessed with Congresswoman Giffords since 2007, we wish to apologize for saying a graphic used by Sarah Palin's PAC led to the tragedy.
"Clearly it was instead Sarah Palin's inaugural speech as president of the Wasila, Alaska PTA that is responsible."
Contact:
Lennie Wryfin-Stalled
Ass. Dir. Communications
Democratic National Committee
430 S Capitol St SE
Washington, DC 20003
(202) 479-5100
(202) 863-8000
(202) 224-2447
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703667904576071191163461466.html
?KEYWORDS=DEVLIN+BARRETT