NYT's Blow: Case for Civility Harmed by Those That Used Giffords Shooting for Political Gain
A week after the tragedy in Tucson, the Left is beginning to realize it made a dreadful mistake immediately trying to tie the event to conservatives.
New York Times columnist Charles Blow summed it up marvelously Saturday:
Immediately after the news broke, the air became thick with conjecture, speculation and innuendo. There was a giddy, almost punch-drunk excitement on the left. The prophecy had been fulfilled: “words have consequences.” And now, the right’s rhetorical chickens had finally come home to roost. [...]
The only problem is that there was no evidence then, and even now, that overheated rhetoric from the right had anything to do with the shooting. (In fact, a couple of people who said they knew him have described him as either apolitical or “quite liberal.”) [...]
The American people know it, too. According to a USA Today/Gallup poll released Wednesday, 42 percent of those asked said that political rhetoric was not a factor at all in the shooting, 22 percent said that it was a minor factor and 20 percent said that it was a major factor. Furthermore, most agreed that focusing on conservative rhetoric as a link in the shooting was “not a legitimate point but mostly an attempt to use the tragedy to make conservatives look bad.” And nearly an equal number of people said that Republicans, the Tea Party and Democrats had all “gone too far in using inflammatory language” to criticize their opponents.
Great. So the left overreacts and overreaches and it only accomplishes two things: fostering sympathy for its opponents and nurturing a false equivalence within the body politic. Well done, Democrats.
Blow concluded:
Concocting connections to advance an argument actually weakens it. The argument for tonal moderation has been done a tremendous disservice by those who sought to score political points in the absence of proof.
You probably agree with Blow's assessment. However, would he be saying this if Jared Lee Loughner turned out to be a Tea Partying lover of Glenn Beck that had pictures of Sarah Palin on his wall?
Isn't this self-flagellation occurring only because the Left was wrong?
How much different would Obama's speech have been Wednesday if Loughner was everything liberal media members were hoping for?
Don't be fooled: the press got their its hand caught in the proverbial cookie jar this week, and the feelings of regret and remorse are because they got caught and not because of their actions.
What this means is the next time an incident like this happens, they will likely be just as quick to shoot and ask questions later.
If this weren't the case, there'd be calls at the New York Times for apologies from Paul Krugman as well as the Gray Lady's editorial board which both shamefully participated in the premature finger-pointing.
There'd be similar requests made of MSNBC's entire prime time lineup.
As neither appear forthcoming, and were totally missing in Blow's piece, we can chalk this up to a tad of backpedaling that will be all forgotten when the next opportunity arises to blame something on conservative rhetoric.
If Las Vegas books placed odds on such an eventuality, it would be better than even money.
- Noel Sheppard's blog
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Comments
This bet wouldn't be on the board at all.
Submitted by gopcongress on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 11:27am.
"If Las Vegas books placed odds on such an eventuality, it would be better than even money."
Actually, this bet would be so one-sided it wouldn't even be on the board at all.
"The news and truth are not the same thing." -Walter Lippmann (1889-1974) FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER
Blow was on both sides, though
Submitted by StarAZ on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 12:19pm.
He also said he believed all the worst stuff came from the right, but couldn't actually prove it--something like that. So he was basically winking--I am just saying this nice stuff, but I really think...Here is what he said...
I have written about violent rhetoric before, and I’m convinced that it’s poisonous to our politics, that the preponderance of it comes from the right, and that it has the potential to manifest in massacres like the one in Tucson.
But I also know that potential, possibility and even plausibility are not proof.
Blow is right: So why did Obama make "civility" an issue...
Submitted by krendler on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 11:27am.
...at a memorial honoring the victims, of all things? As if lack of civility from people like Beck or Limbaugh or Olbermann had the slightest thing to do with the shooting. Obama was playing the same game as the left wing pundits, only he presented himself as if he was above the fray, while trying to "heal" the nation, effectively saying: Let us use this as an example of why we need more civility in our political discourse. Utter bs and utterly disgraceful.
"...only he presented
Submitted by celator on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 11:52am.
"...only he presented himself as if he was above the fray."
That's a technique both he and Michelle (and much of the MSM) use when hectoring the citizenry. They sit on their high perches and tsk tsk the rest of us for our speech, actions, eating habits, values, political pratices, etc.
In basic Game Theory Obama and company are playing the "I'm Ok, you're not OK" game. Here's a neat little matrix that shows the matrix. Look at the explanation of "I'm OK, you're not OK. Obama operates at the dysfunctional level, and I wish he had a wise gray beard or a smart, no nonsense blue haired grandmother to knock some sense into his head. It's too late for that, I reckon.
http://changingminds.org/explanations/behaviors/ok_not-ok.htm
Now I've Got You, You S.O.B. game
Submitted by TexasMom0517 on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 4:20pm.
NIGYYSOB seems more accurate for the initial game that was being played, then "I'm OK, You're Not OK."
The Dems are expert at using LINKAGE to tar any and all opponents- see Glenn Beck's Thursday program about Edward Bernays and propaganda, public relations, linkage, and progressives- well worth watching and thinking about how many times this technique has been used on the public. Obama, and/or his handlers, are better at making linkages through innuendo than Clinton was, but Obama's narcissicism and lack of authenticity shines through even though his speechwriters try to hide it.
I don't think Obama fooled anyone but the Left and the elites with his speech. He never means the "high-minded" words he says and we have had two years to prove it.
It's called triangulation
Submitted by cheesegrater on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 11:57am.
It is a tactic that was used by Pres. Clinton. It shouldn't work, but when the "news" talkers support it, it can't miss. The folks who get their news from the MSM swallow it every time.
Yes, above--called triangulation
Submitted by StarAZ on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 12:21pm.
Someone finally explained this term last nite--was it little Dickie Morris...He said the right, the left, and above in between, Obama...above and in between--forming a triangle.
Will the NYT admit that, if one of Gabby's assistants had a gun
Submitted by ekslib on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 11:30am.
there might have been fewer victims?
NY Times
Submitted by happi on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 11:34am.
Lately I've noticed that I can't follow the links to NY Times articles or opinion - I get a login screen at the NYT. This is an FYI to all posters - I do not have a NYT account and I have no intention of getting one. AND, I bet I'm not alone.
Motive is everything
Submitted by Kenyon Schraeder on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 11:46am.
Noel Sheppard is right on the money to question "why" Mr. Blow offered up this mea culpa on behalf of the leftsit MSM. Damage Control immediately comes to mind.
Because the left looks STUPID, it is Wellstone memorial all over
Submitted by merly1 on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 12:27pm.
And really, the Palin (or Dem) "target" issue is beyond stupid. It is now RARELY gunsights that use targets, ie even the WaPo fact checker was pretty kind to Palin on the "target" map. Do people live in the 21st century? Surveying, sure.......Yet, those type of sights are used millions and million of times every year on golf courses with laser technology...... Using a computer map, every google map has a "targeted hand" in the left upper corner to return to previous location....Is it now politically incorrect to target a location for election, driving destination, golf shot, etc etc. Really, the left is simply deranged.
The Palin attack truly was libel........
Oh, right. He wouldn't dare say this on Moaning Joe.
Submitted by Texndoc on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 11:57am.
On Moaning Joe, the meme is "both sides jumped to ridiculous conclusions and assumptions". "Both sides" ran to Twitter on last Saturday morning. "Both sides" need to re-think things. "After all, you know, our "No Labels" movement......"(Mika shakes head up and down furiously agreeing with her Joe)
Moaning Joe
Submitted by Red Jeep on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 10:56pm.
That sums the show up exactly. Love it. Moaning Joe where liberals go to groan.
Do we need to see the shooter's picture anymore?
Submitted by Red Jeep on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 12:04pm.
He's in custody.
RJ, I concur with your picture comment
Submitted by Hunter12 on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 12:45pm.
This guy really creeps me out. It's the "lights on, but nobody's home" look in those soulless eyes. I worry that the plastering of his name and face all over everywhere are fuleing the fantasies of multitudes of the mentally ill who have been kicked to the curb by unsustainable welfare costs. I know locally of several state mental hospitals that basically opened their doors and released their patients when the cost of treating them became too much for over-extended budgets. Are these people out there thinking about creating their 15 minutes?
"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." - Sir Winston Churchill
Isn't it mental health care ...
Submitted by Red Jeep on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 1:10pm.
...what should be discussed instead of the blame game?
If this shooter is mentally ill, shouldn't we have a national discussion/review of how we are treating or not treating the mentally ill in this country instead of all this hot air about putting the blame everywhere else?
We have gone through 2 stages of treatment of the mentally ill in this country. First we institutionalized all. Then that was thought to be cruel or not working or something, and then we let them exist in society providing they took their meds, etc.
Maybe it's time with the knowledge and caring and medicine we have now to start institutionalizing most of them again. Make it safe for them and for us.
Institutionalizing the insane?
Submitted by needle on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 2:46pm.
“Maybe it's time with the knowledge and caring and medicine we have now to start institutionalizing most of them again. Make it safe for them and for us.”
I could not agree with you more. The problem with tackling this problem is that the concept of deinstitutionalizing the insane was in the first place, and still is, a Liberal project promoted by PC Liberal theoreticians and vigorously supported by Liberals. It is going to take a whole lot of people in the media like Charlie Blow, but who are even more introspective than he is, to get this this to happen. Good luck with that!
Look at it this way: How many more Islamo-terrorists is it going to take before the BLM – Blood LIbel Media; I love this new acronym – will address the Islamic terrorism problem intelligently?
The practical answer may be between 100,000 and a million, considering that there have been 16,000 Islamic terrorist attacks since 9/11, and the BLM is still furiously carrying water for Muslims. Interestingly, all that could change once the NYT, MSNBC, or a liberal politician is targeted. (Uh - oh, there is that word again.)
In the meantime here is another way to look at the witch hunt attack rhetoric that has been coming from the Left: CYA and divert attention from the liberal project of deinstitutionalizing the insane.
- Looking forward to the self-annihilation of the Manipulated Stories Machine.
It's too bad in this day and
Submitted by Hunter12 on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 3:33pm.
It's too bad in this day and age where we can track whether or not Lindsay's taking a drink, we can't somehow monitor whether a person in need of treatment is off their meds. I would bet that if it were allowed, most psychotics who are treatable with meds would volunteer for this type of thing. ACLU would probably protest.
"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." - Sir Winston Churchill
File this picture along with Helen Thomas's
Submitted by needle on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 3:01pm.
... and only bring it out to scare off snakes.
- Looking forward to the self-annihilation of the Manipulated Stories Machine.
Isn't careful speech...?
Submitted by okiehawk44 on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 12:08pm.
Isn't careful speech monitored by the media actually stifled speech?
I'm not reading Blow's piece
Submitted by bkeyser on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 12:10pm.
I'm not reading Blow's piece because -well, why start now? One moment of clarity does not a sunny day make... or some other metaphor that makes better sense.
But I wonder, did Blow tie this knee-jerk, score-political-points-quickly because they-won't-all-come-of-the-board-even-if-we-turn-out-to-be-wrong reaction into playing the political race card? Seems to me the left has been doing this for nearly three solid years and still has no evidence that race has adversely affected any of the politics they claim. They went so far as to imagining a racial "spitting" incident and asserting that opposition to health care reform was based upon racism.
You see, Mr. Blow, this is your sides' strategy. This isn't something new. This is on page one of the Official Progressive Playbook. Of course you'll do it again. And of course whatever you do it about will be forever tainted by whatever ridiculous claims you and yours assert. You've cheapened racism for those few who still experience it. And better for our side, you've likely cast an aura of doubt over the gun control debate that could've been a logical and reasonable result of the Loughner shooting; all because you've shown your side to be disingenuous with the facts. You're increasingly untrustworthy. You help to weaken your position every time you open your mouth.
Good on you.
Oh yeah.... Noel said "shoot".
Blow is angry that the Democrats blew it, that's all.
Submitted by motherbelt on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 12:20pm.
would he be saying this if Jared Lee Loughner turned out to be a Tea Partying lover of Glenn Beck that had pictures of Sarah Palin on his wall?
I doubt it, given his regret that
... the left overreacts and overreaches and it only accomplishes two things: fostering sympathy for its opponents and nurturing a false equivalence within the body politic. Well done, Democrats.
Well, motherbelt
Submitted by Blonde on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 12:53pm.
My new tag says it all about Blow, the NYT, and this idiot "civility" nonsense. :)
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
Point of Order, Mr. Blow
Submitted by Hunter12 on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 12:23pm.
I will cite one point I'll take exception to in Mr. Blow's article: "I have written about violent rhetoric before, and I’m convinced that it’s poisonous to our politics, that the preponderance of it comes from the right,..." Can we get a for-instance please? Mr. Blow cites Chuck Norris, Michelle Bachman, and Glenn Beck as the rabble-rousers for general comments that are intended to fire up their supporters. Charlie, don't worry. I can assure you that none of the three you cite have had any planning sessions for revolution in their basements late at night. Most of us can distinguish the underlying meaning of these calls for revolution that seem to worry you. They mean don't let a system that has fallen into a status quo remain unchallenged. Tell your elected representatives that they do indeed represent you and if they stray too far from the majority's voice, they can be replaced. Who does Charles Blow embrace as the voice of reason on political propriety? Bill Maher, the man who doesn't speak in generalities, but cited specifics about the failed attack on Dick Cheney. People like Maher can see no wrong on their side. SEIU thugs beating up people with opposing views, Democrat campaign workers with Palin Nazi signs, or a profanity-screaming lunatic ripping out yard signs are ignored by the MSM and because it didn't get general coverage, it didn't happen in their eyes. Controlling the media doesn't mean you can edit history. The vast majority of violence is perpetrated by the left and their goon squads. Slashing tires, beating up people, smashing windows are a few of their simpler tricks. Sadly, it doesn't need to be incited. It is taken as a given right.
"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." - Sir Winston Churchill
I started to write a reply,
Submitted by theprofessor on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 2:09pm.
I started to write a reply, and the realized you said it much better than I ever could.
I don't get the "marvelessly" written, Noel. I see nothing but a back-handed slap at the right with a "it hasn't happened yet, but it will someday" caveat.
I hope Charles Blow
Submitted by American Infidel on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 12:25pm.
has updated his resume
color me 'civil'
Submitted by ZuccoZoid on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 12:56pm.
We may need to revamp the DHS color chart to "Threats to Liberty" and apply it to media outlets and politicians (especially the high ranking ones that recite Bible quotes while tearing down Christian traditions).
The NYT last week was clearly on RED, while most others in the leftist media complex followed suit but were more in the ORANGE category.
Liberty-antagonistic Bible-quoting feds rank at least a YELLOW.
Here's the original color chart; maybe some of you can have a little photoshop fun with it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hsas-chart_with_header.svg
I still know
Submitted by Kansasgirl on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 1:16pm.
that Blow and the entire state run media want the conservatives in America to "just shut up". Since that isn't going to happen, they are hoping to look like the true civil party.
" case for civility" from Left
Submitted by sarge329 on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 1:35pm.
As Messers. Savage and Hyneman of Mythbusters fame would say, " Busted " . Even though a myth might be possible, or even plausible, unless it can be proven scientifically, so that there can be no doubt, it's still a myth. Again, I say to the myth about the Left the paragons of virtue & civility, " Busted " .
If Blow keeps
Submitted by NDanielson on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 1:46pm.
getting his head straight (is that racist?) eventually, he won't suck.
He is over here, Charles
Submitted by Barack_must_go..... on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 1:49pm.
He is over here, Charles blow me, I'm over here.
Barack_Must_Go.....
MSNBC's entire prime time lineup
Submitted by needle on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 2:13pm.
"There'd be similar requests made of MSNBC's entire prime time lineup."
DO you mean like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaK0EsJyqhM&feature=player_embedded
- Looking forward to the self-annihilation of the Manipulated Stories Machine.
A liberal with some sense of conscious?
Submitted by sam12663 on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 3:25pm.
Don't worry , he will be dealt with soon enough. He will be shunned at the next breakfast meeting of 'The Only True Journalist's Club'.
Blow will be back to conservative bashing next week.
coming...the summer of love part 2
Submitted by TerryWest on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 4:50pm.
The left is now trying to bully Americans into accepting their new weak stagedy of manipulation via "unity" as in lets all be lovers now, hold hands and paint flowers on our faces k?, I advise American's to stock up on cases of condems to hand out to those falling for this love in ruse and remain well guarded over the next coming months.
But the fact is there is massive mistrust and rejection of the Obama admin and their media, as most people see last week as just the peak, the highlight of all that is corrupt in that partnership.
This had far more reaching consequences then the isolated Main stream left wing media who still cling to the false notion that they are the all powerful OZ can possibly understand, This too has failed, we can set it along side the others failures like cash for clunkers.The Fox News website has a
Submitted by Hunter12 on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 5:14pm.
The Fox News website has a story about the new RNC Chair and what a tough fight he'll have against a "fractured GOP and a popular president". I couldn't figure it out and then I scrolled to the bottom and it's mostly an AP report. I want me some of what the're smoking. I personally think that if the GOP can forget this crap about running from the center and pick truly conservative candidates for the races coming up in 2012, they'll win in a landslide. The American voter got a whiff of progressive ideology from 2006 to 2008 and the full-blown stink of it as it ran rampant in the last two years and they've rejected it. Our country was stronger and we did more to take care of those without prior to the liberals' attempt to give everything to people for doing nothing in exchange for a vote to retain Democrat power. We just need to disregard anything we hear out of the MSM between now and 2012. They've squandered their trust pushing a screwball agenda and the new media has broken their monopoly. Republican candidates must get over the need for love from Katey and Matt. It ain't going to happen anyway.
"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." - Sir Winston Churchill
Nothing Based On Vanity Can Stand...
Submitted by Tenebrous on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 5:09pm.
It probably wouldn't be on the charts -- I agree with that. Here's why. The problem that conservatives have is that we presume that liberals are ever truly, down in their souls, sorry for anything they do. Their mistakes are just an opportunity for them to invent an escape, and to look good and sound smart in so doing. There is no contrition. There is no repentance. Liberals are never sorry and liberals and never admit error. That is the core of their belief structure.
They might be "wrong" in trusting someone (betrayed); they might be "wrong" in liking something or someone (unfashionable), in which they can run sobbing back into the arms of their liberal friends; but fundamentally, they themselves never err, and they never see themselves in need of fixing. They imagine themselves hip, smart, caring, beautiful, graceful, better than others, edgy, and all of this is wrapped up in their conception of themselves as liberals. Few things can shake them of this.
That is why Blow's piece is nothing but a wink and a nod, and it's all that it ever could be. Any liberal who has a moment of soul-shaking is not going to be a liberal for much longer. When you start to see the cracks in your conception of yourself and your worldview, nothing based on vanity can stand.
Visions and Principles blog
"Towards the end of an
Submitted by Cowboy on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 9:13pm.
"Towards the end of an otherwise thoughtful town hall, there was a single incident: James Eric Fuller, who was shot at the Safeway last week, allegedly made a threatening comment to another audience member, Tucson Tea Party co-founder Trent Humphries. It is unclear whether Humphries heard Fuller and the two never engaged. According to the Pima County Sheriff's Department, Fuller used a cell phone to take a picture of Humphries and allegedly said, "You're dead."
Fifteen seconds after the conclusion of the town hall, law enforcement officials approached Fuller and led him to a side entrance. A moment later, Fuller could heard yelling, "What's the matter--with you--whores!" Fuller was charged with disorderly conduct and threatening and intimidation and taken to a local mental health facility, according to the Sheriff's Department"
http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/tragedy-american-conversation-continued/s...
Question Time
Submitted by Unsane on Sat, 01/15/2011 - 10:10pm.
I'm just curious...
If the "uncivil" tone of political discourse causes bloodshed like what we saw last week...
...then why isn't this happening daily in the UK, Australia, and other parlimaentary democracies?
Question Time is not the most civil example of political discourse that there is.
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
The Leftist Media shot Sarah Palin and the Tea Party!
Submitted by Rod Patrick on Sun, 01/16/2011 - 2:36pm.
And they thought that Palin and the Tea Party were dead.
That's the essence of the Liberal Media's (INCLUDING FOX CHANNEL) and the Left's advanced accusations sans facts.
There's only one way for me to prove if Palin and Tea Party can still survive!
I will give money, support, campaign and vote to Palin and any true Tea Party candidate and defender from Tucson shootings blood libel in the primaries and the general election in 2012!
TO REPUBLICAN WANNABES ... YOUR SILENCE MEANS THAT YOU WERE ALSO BENEFITTING AT THE EXPENSE OF PALIN'S POLITICAL ASSASSINATION, YOU'RE NO DIFFERENT FROM THE OPPORTUNISTIC OBAMA!
Shame on you all!