Climate of Hate

[Soul Crusher]

Bama is a financial and economic weapon of mass destruction.

[MCWAY]

Jonah Goldberg: The exploitive rhetoric of tragedy
By JONAH GOLDBERG
16 hours, 36 minutes ago


________________________ ________________________ ______________-



In the wake of the horrendous shooting rampage in Tucson, why isn't anyone talking about banning "Mein Kampf"? Or "The Communist Manifesto"? Or for that matter, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "The Phantom Tollbooth"?

After all, unlike Sarah Palin's absurdly infamous Facebook map with crosshairs on congressional districts that some pundits have blamed for the violence, we have some evidence -- suspect Jared Lee Loughner's own words -- that these books were a direct influence on him.

And to listen to partisan ghouls such as Keith Olbermann exploiting this horrific crime, any rhetoric or writing or images that contributed to it must be stopped, and those who don't accept blame and then repent (specifically Palin) must be "dismissed from politics."

Note: It's apparent from evidence found by the authorities and from interviews with the alleged killer's friends and acquaintances that Loughner has fixated on Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords since 2007, long before anyone heard of the "tea parties" or, in most cases, Palin. Moreover, his grievance with Giffords appears to be unrelated to any coherent -- or even incoherent -- ideological platform. Rather, it drew on the bilious stew of resentments this young man cultivated as he lost his grip on reality.

Indeed, according to a fascinating interview in Mother Jones with one of Loughner's close friends, this twisted soul was apparently an ardent believer in "lucid dreaming" in which he could control an alternate "'Matrix'-style" reality.

Something similar seems to be taking hold in more respectable quarters. New York Times columnist Paul Krugman insists he wasn't surprised this happened because he saw it coming, even though the facts in this dimension don't support his premonitions.

But rather than beat up on those who've migrated from the reality-based community, it might be worthwhile to take them at their word.

If these people seriously believe that the tea parties and Palin's "lock and load" rhetoric are to blame, then what shall we do about it?

It's hard to find a serious answer to this question. For most of these ideological ambulance chasers, it seems enough to lay the blame at Republican or right-wing feet in an effort to anathematize ideas they don't like.

But that's shortsighted. Misplaced panics like this have a momentum and logic all their own. Already, Rep. Bob Brady, D-Pa., has drafted legislation to ban the use of symbols (crosshairs on a map, for instance) or language ("lock and load!") that could foster violence. "The rhetoric is just ramped up so negatively, so high, that we have got to shut this down," he told CNN.

That opens the bidding. The question is, where will it end?

If the alleged shooter had been inspired by a movie or TV show -- as any number of murderers have been over the years -- would those blaming the tea parties join with social conservatives in blaming Hollywood? Would they celebrate new laws to "shut down" such fare?

Mark David Chapman, who murdered John Lennon, claimed to be in part inspired by "Catcher in the Rye." Should that be banned? Or if not banned, should we "dismiss" from public life anyone who doesn't denounce J.D. Salinger?

When the subject of censorship or the "chilling" of free expression comes up in other contexts, the very idea that books, movies or TV can be blamed for the actions of the criminal or the deranged is met with unbridled scorn. I actually disagree with that. If books can inspire us positively, surely they can inspire us negatively, too. But we understand that we don't blame books for the rare demons who feed on them.

No doubt this will cause eye-rolling among those who simply want to keep the focus on demonizing conservatives and never bother to think ahead about the consequences of their misplaced hysteria. One noble exception is Slate's Jack Shafer, who probably goes further than I would when he writes, "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."

Meanwhile, many proud liberals, not to mention dedicated journalists, see no problem with fueling a mass panic over our "political discourse." The fact that liberal rhetoric and images are often just as "extreme" is irrelevant. Also irrelevant is any violence that might be linked to such rhetoric. And the fact that the shooting suspect's motivations may lay in a reality of his own design? That's irrelevant, too.

These critics' aim is simply to exploit this horror as an opportunity to yell "shut up" at their political opponents.

Jonah Goldberg is an editor-at-large of National Review Online and a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. His e-mail is JonahsColumn@aol.com.




________________________ ______________________


good column   

Indeed!! Over the last three days, I've been skewering the lefties over at HP, with the facts regarding this killer. Half of my comments are still waiting "approval". The rest have put them off the deep end. You should see the lame-brained attempts to ignore the facts and keep chanting that it's Rush's fault.

Some are so desperate that they're claiming a Rush billboard with bulletholes (referring to Limbaugh as a "straight shooter") influenced this lunatic.

[whork25]

Bama is a financial and economic weapon of mass destruction.

He very well might be but he sure as hell is no dictator. When people come out with those statesments you can hear its the words of conservative commentators and then repeated by a brainwashed citizen thats just sad. So many people go through life just living on other peoples opinions because they are to stupid to think for themselves.

I agree with your statements though

[Soul Crusher]

He very well might be but he sure as hell is no dictator. When people come out with those statesments you can hear its the words of conservative commentators and then repeated by a brainwashed citizen thats just sad. So many people go through life just living on other peoples opinions because they are to stupid to think for themselves.

I agree with your statements though

He wants to be one though.   

[whork25]

A private security force? I thought you would like this better than the military after all they are government run Communist programs right?

[Soul Crusher]

A private security force? I thought you would like this better than the military after all they are government run Communist programs right?

Guess who also had private armies?   

[whork25]

Guess who also had private armies?   

Every dictator

[Soul Crusher]

[whork25]

Ehh wrong tread..?

[Soul Crusher]

No, its exactly the right thread proving how moronic the left is in this country to even mking this an issue in the first place   

[Soul Crusher]

Are the loons on the left trying to out do each other in terms of absurdity?   



________________________ __________________-


UC Berkeley chancellor's e-mail linking Tucson rampage to issue of immigration draws criticism
La Times ^ | 1/14/10 | Howard Blume



The chancellor of UC Berkeley is drawing criticism for sending a campuswide e-mail that linked a Tucson shooting rampage with Arizona's crackdown on illegal immigrants and the failure of the DREAM Act.

In the e-mail, sent Monday, Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau condemned a "climate in which demonization of others goes unchallenged and hateful speech is tolerated."

He continued, postulating on factors that may have motivated Jared Lee Loughner, the alleged gunman in Saturday's shootings, .. : "I believe that it is not a coincidence that this calamity has occurred in a state which has legislated discrimination against undocumented persons."

...

"From the 'CAPITOL' of liberal dolts," one commenter wrote on the Fox website.

A leader of the Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a civil liberties group, also criticized the chancellor's remarks. "The supposition that political expression created a climate that led Loughner to his choice is an idea that seems to have sprung from whole cloth out of the minds of people who likely were upset beforehand about 'rhetoric' and 'hateful' speech, including, apparently, Chancellor Birgeneau," Adam Kissel wrote.

Diane Schrader, on the NewsReal Blog of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, accused Birgeneau of delivering "a nasty political rant even while condemning — you guessed it — nasty political rants!"

Birgeneau also commented in his e-mail on the recent failure in Congress of the DREAM Act, which would have created a path to citizenship for children of some illegal immigrants. "This same mean-spirited xenophobia played a major role in the defeat of the DREAM Act by legislators in Washington, leaving many exceptionally talented and deserving young people, including our own undocumented students, painfully in limbo with regard to their futures in this country," the chancellor wrote.


(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...

[Soul Crusher]

Benny:  who it to blame for all the cop killings by the ghetto savages?  Hate Radio?   Russ Limbow?  Glen Beck?   

[George Whorewell]

Benny:  who it to blame for all the cop killings by the ghetto savages?  Hate Radio?   Russ Limbow?  Glen Beck?   

No child left behind, affirmative action, malt liqour, fried chicken?

[Soul Crusher]

January 9, 2011
Climate of Hate
By PAUL KRUGMAN

When you heard the terrible news from Arizona, were you completely surprised? Or were you, at some level, expecting something like this atrocity to happen?

Put me in the latter category. I’ve had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach ever since the final stages of the 2008 campaign. I remembered the upsurge in political hatred after Bill Clinton’s election in 1992 — an upsurge that culminated in the Oklahoma City bombing. And you could see, just by watching the crowds at McCain-Palin rallies, that it was ready to happen again. The Department of Homeland Security reached the same conclusion: in April 2009 an internal report warned that right-wing extremism was on the rise, with a growing potential for violence.

Conservatives denounced that report. But there has, in fact, been a rising tide of threats and vandalism aimed at elected officials, including both Judge John Roll, who was killed Saturday, and Representative Gabrielle Giffords. One of these days, someone was bound to take it to the next level. And now someone has.

It’s true that the shooter in Arizona appears to have been mentally troubled. But that doesn’t mean that his act can or should be treated as an isolated event, having nothing to do with the national climate.

Last spring Politico.com reported on a surge in threats against members of Congress, which were already up by 300 percent. A number of the people making those threats had a history of mental illness — but something about the current state of America has been causing far more disturbed people than before to act out their illness by threatening, or actually engaging in, political violence.

And there’s not much question what has changed. As Clarence Dupnik, the sheriff responsible for dealing with the Arizona shootings, put it, it’s “the vitriolic rhetoric that we hear day in and day out from people in the radio business and some people in the TV business.” The vast majority of those who listen to that toxic rhetoric stop short of actual violence, but some, inevitably, cross that line.

It’s important to be clear here about the nature of our sickness. It’s not a general lack of “civility,” the favorite term of pundits who want to wish away fundamental policy disagreements. Politeness may be a virtue, but there’s a big difference between bad manners and calls, explicit or implicit, for violence; insults aren’t the same as incitement.

The point is that there’s room in a democracy for people who ridicule and denounce those who disagree with them; there isn’t any place for eliminationist rhetoric, for suggestions that those on the other side of a debate must be removed from that debate by whatever means necessary.

And it’s the saturation of our political discourse — and especially our airwaves — with eliminationist rhetoric that lies behind the rising tide of violence.

Where’s that toxic rhetoric coming from? Let’s not make a false pretense of balance: it’s coming, overwhelmingly, from the right. It’s hard to imagine a Democratic member of Congress urging constituents to be “armed and dangerous” without being ostracized; but Representative Michele Bachmann, who did just that, is a rising star in the G.O.P.

And there’s a huge contrast in the media. Listen to Rachel Maddow or Keith Olbermann, and you’ll hear a lot of caustic remarks and mockery aimed at Republicans. But you won’t hear jokes about shooting government officials or beheading a journalist at The Washington Post. Listen to Glenn Beck or Bill O’Reilly, and you will.

Of course, the likes of Mr. Beck and Mr. O’Reilly are responding to popular demand. Citizens of other democracies may marvel at the American psyche, at the way efforts by mildly liberal presidents to expand health coverage are met with cries of tyranny and talk of armed resistance. Still, that’s what happens whenever a Democrat occupies the White House, and there’s a market for anyone willing to stoke that anger.

But even if hate is what many want to hear, that doesn’t excuse those who pander to that desire. They should be shunned by all decent people.

Unfortunately, that hasn’t been happening: the purveyors of hate have been treated with respect, even deference, by the G.O.P. establishment. As David Frum, the former Bush speechwriter, has put it, “Republicans originally thought that Fox worked for us and now we’re discovering we work for Fox.”

So will the Arizona massacre make our discourse less toxic? It’s really up to G.O.P. leaders. Will they accept the reality of what’s happening to America, and take a stand against eliminationist rhetoric? Or will they try to dismiss the massacre as the mere act of a deranged individual, and go on as before?

If Arizona promotes some real soul-searching, it could prove a turning point. If it doesn’t, Saturday’s atrocity will be just the beginning.

[Soul Crusher]

Pelosi: GOP Budget Will Deprive Seniors Of Meals
www.realclearpolitics.co m




NANCY PELOSI: "In one of the bills before us, six million seniors are deprived of meals -- homebound seniors are deprived of meals. People ask us to find our common ground, the middle ground. Is middle ground three million seniors not receiving meals? I don't think so. We've got to take this conversation from a debate about numbers and dollar figures and finding middle ground there to the higher ground of national values. I don't think the American people want any one of those six million people to lose their meals or the children who are being thrown off of Head Start and the rest of it."

[Kazan]

Pelosi: GOP Budget Will Deprive Seniors Of Meals
www.realclearpolitics.co m




NANCY PELOSI: "In one of the bills before us, six million seniors are deprived of meals -- homebound seniors are deprived of meals. People ask us to find our common ground, the middle ground. Is middle ground three million seniors not receiving meals? I don't think so. We've got to take this conversation from a debate about numbers and dollar figures and finding middle ground there to the higher ground of national values. I don't think the American people want any one of those six million people to lose their meals or the children who are being thrown off of Head Start and the rest of it."

Same old BS from the left, doomsday for the old and young

[MB]

Pelosi: GOP Budget Will Deprive Seniors Of Meals
www.realclearpolitics.co m

NANCY PELOSI: "In one of the bills before us, six million seniors are deprived of meals -- homebound seniors are deprived of meals. People ask us to find our common ground, the middle ground. Is middle ground three million seniors not receiving meals? I don't think so. We've got to take this conversation from a debate about numbers and dollar figures and finding middle ground there to the higher ground of national values. I don't think the American people want any one of those six million people to lose their meals or the children who are being thrown off of Head Start and the rest of it."

Wrong.  I want those six million seniors to lose their meals and the children to be thrown out of their program too.  If right wing extremism means slashing spending, sign me up. 

[kcballer]

Reminds me of when people blame all Muslims for the actions of a few extremists.   

[George Whorewell]

Reminds me of when people blame all Muslims for the actions of a few extremists.  anything.

Fixed.

[whork25]

Reminds me of when people blame all Muslims for the actions of a few extremists.   

Reminds me of when muslims blame the western citizens for the actions of one priest

[Soul Crusher]

Way Too Early With Willie Geist
MSNBC

Aired on Wednesday, Apr 06, 2011 (4/6/2011) at 01:30 AM
 View other episodes 
  View more from this channel 
 View all transcripts from (4/6/2011) 
   
       
Transcript
00:00:00 What will be the american role if it does. 
00:00:03 It's "way too early" for this. 
00:00:13 This is the show that has only two wrong sides of the bed to choose from when waking up in the middle of the night. 
00:00:20 I'm glad you're up with us this morning. 
00:00:23 Shoot me an e-mail and let us know why you're awake. 
00:00:28 Or you can do what the red sox nation do. 
00:00:33 Text the word awake followed by your response to 622639. 
00:00:43 We'll read the best responses later. 
00:00:45 Next 30 minutes is your cram session for this wednesday, APRIL 6th. 
00:00:48 A lot going on today including boeing expressing its public surprise that 737 airplanes are wearing out so quickly. 
00:00:55 Plus, as I said, the boston red sox, one of only three major league teams now without a single victory. 
00:01:06 We'll have a detailed analysis of what is wrong there. 
00:01:10 But first let's get to the news. 
00:01:12 We're now just two days away from a potential government shutdown it that would take place at midnight on friday. 
00:01:20 The possibility is looking more and more likely after president obama and congressional leaders failed to reach an agreement yesterday on funding for the rest of the fiscal year. 
00:01:29 In back to back meetings with the white house and capitol hill, john boehner floated an offer of $40 billion worth of cut, but $7 billion more than the two sides have been discussing over the past week or so. 
00:01:43 After their summit meeting, president obama expressed his clooming shutdown. 
00:01:55 >> We're closer than we've ever been to getting an agreement. 
00:01:58 There is no reason why we should not get an agreement. 
00:02:00 As I said before, we have now matched the number that the speaker originally sought. 
00:02:07 The only question is whether politics or ideology are going to get in the way of preventing a government shutdown. 
00:02:13 >> The president then criticized the pace of the talks and urged congressional leaders to put aside their differences and get something done. 
00:02:23 >> I think what the american people expect from me is the same thing they expect from every member of congress and that is we're looking out for the interests of the american people and not trying to score political points. 
00:02:36 I think what they're looking from me is the same thing they're looking from speaker boehner and harry reid and everybody else and that is that we act like grown ups. 
00:02:48 And when we are in negotiations like this, that everybody gives a little bit, compromises a little bit, in order to do the people's business. 
00:02:59 >> And republicans have been criticizing president obama and democrats for cutting too little out of any proposed budget. 
00:03:06 Here's what the president had to say about that. 
00:03:08 >> This notion that somehow we're offering smoke and mirrors, try telling that to the democrats out there. 
00:03:14 Because part of what we've done is we've been willing to cut programs that we care deeply about that are really important. 
00:03:22 But we recognize that given the fiscal situation that we're in, everybody's got to make some sacrifices. 
00:03:30 Everybody has to take a haircut. 
00:03:33 And we've been willing to do that. 
00:03:34 >> Almost immediately after president obama spoke there in the press briefing room at the white house, speaker boehner called a news conference of his own outside his office where he was decidedly lesses positive than the president about yesterday's meeting. 
00:03:52 >> We've made clear that we're fighting for the largest spending cuts possible p. 
00:03:54 And we're talking about real spending cuts here. 
00:03:57 No smoke and mirrors. 
00:03:58 This is an important step that we face today inned to get real cuts. 
00:04:05 The white house is proposing cuts that arebeyond things we would imagine. 
00:04:13 So we want to get an agreement and we want to keep the government open. 
00:04:16 >> Speaking last night on msnbc's the last word, chris van hollen blamed the lack of comprehend miz on the tea party. 
00:04:28 >> Speaker boehner no longer has his hand on the steering wheel. 
00:04:31 This car is being driven by the tea party wing of the republican party in the house and they are drag racing with the american budget and saying that if they don't get 100% of what they want, they're going to shut down the government. 
00:04:47 >> That's a talk point about the tea party that's been echoed by many democrats including harry reid in the senate. 
00:04:53 So if we see the first federal government shut down oig in 15 years, here is partially what it would look like. 
00:05:00 Seums,s national parks would shut down. 
00:05:02 Tax refunds and new social security applications would be delayed and passports and visas would not be processed. 
00:05:10 The government however does not completely cease functioning. 
00:05:13 Activities that are essential to national security like military operations will continue. 
00:05:17 Air traffic control, other public safety functions, are exempt from shut downs. 
00:05:21 Law enforcement and criminal investigations can continue. 
00:05:25 And federal prisons still operate. 
00:05:27 My god, I hope so. 
00:05:28 Also not affected, the fdic and postal service. 
00:05:33 Also up on capitol hill, republicans are lining up behind house budget chairman paul ryan and his 2012 plan which is aimed at shrinking the federal deficit. 
00:05:43 The blueprint released yesterday, he'll present it today up on the hill, suggests 8 trillion over the next ten years. 
00:05:51 Also cutting corporate and personal tax rates to a top rate of 25%. 
00:05:56 Privatizing medicare and turning medicaid into so-called block grants that would give states more flexibility. 
00:06:03 Essentially turning that money over to states for them to do as they please. 
00:06:08 Analysis by the congressional budget office, the plan would result in a surplus by the year 2040. 
00:06:15 About 30 years from now. 
00:06:17 By 2050, the projected debt would be 10% of the country's gdp. 
00:06:25 Niors and the disabled would pay sharply more for their medicare coverage and federal payments for medicaid would be substantially smaller. 
00:06:32 Announcing the plan yesterday, congressman ryan expressed hope that americans would rally around around his proposal. 
00:06:40 >> Look at these people, look at these new people who just got here. 
00:06:42 They didn't come here for a political career. 
00:06:45 They came here for a cause. 
00:06:46 This is not a budget, this is a cause. 
00:06:50 We can't keep going down the path of fearing what the other political party would do to us if we try to solve a problem. 
00:06:57 If we keep going down that path, then we know what that future looks like. 
00:07:03 >> Response to the ryan plan falling along party lines. 
00:07:06 The white house said would it would spare the rich and burden seniors. 
00:07:09 House minority leader nancy pelosi tweeted this. 
00:07:12 The gop ryan plan is a path to poverty for america's seniors and children and a road to riches for big oil/gop values. 
00:07:28 Betty wasserman schultz echoed that sentiment. 
00:07:31 >> Seniors would pay more and more each year for their health insurance. 
00:07:35 No longer would medicare be a guarantee of health insurance coverage. 
00:07:40 Instead medicare would become little more than a discount card. 
00:07:43 This plan would literally be a death trap for some seniors. 
00:07:47 Under the republican budget, we see a clear attempt for the government to back out of its commitment to seniors. 
00:07:52 As a result, many seniors in america will be forced in to poverty and worse, some seniors will end up dying because they 

[Soul Crusher]

New DNC Chair: GOP "Path To Poverty" Like A Tornado Through Nursing Homes
www.realclearpolitics.co m




 

 
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) comments on Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) budget proposal for FY 2012.

"Representing a large number of seniors in south Florida, I can tell you that this budget would be devastating for seniors and older Americans. This Republican path to poverty passes like a tornado through America's nursing homes, where millions of America's seniors receive long-term and end of life care," Rep. Wasserman Schultz said.

[MB]

New DNC Chair: GOP "Path To Poverty" Like A Tornado Through Nursing Homes
www.realclearpolitics.co m

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) comments on Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) budget proposal for FY 2012.

"Representing a large number of seniors in south Florida, I can tell you that this budget would be devastating for seniors and older Americans. This Republican path to poverty passes like a tornado through America's nursing homes, where millions of America's seniors receive long-term and end of life care," Rep. Wasserman Schultz said.

As if state and local governments, as well as churches and relatives would let granny die without care.

[andreisdaman]

This whole episode is truly disgusting for what the communist left is trying to pull here. 

"the communist left"....bro....are you in another time???...are you posting from the 1960's???

[Soul Crusher]

Rep. Louise Slaughter: GOP Freshmen Came to Washington 'To Kill Women'
CNSNews ^ | April 07, 2011 | Dan Joseph



"Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) said today that the new Republicans elected to the House of Representatives last November came to Congress "to kill women." She also likened Republican efforts to prohibit federal funding of abortion except in cases of rape, incest or where the life of the mother is endangered to actions taken by Nazis.

“This is probably one of the worst times we’ve seen because the numbers of people elected to Congress. I went through this as co-chair of the arts caucus," Slaughter said. "In ’94 people were elected simply to come here to kill the National Endowment for the Arts. Now they’re here to kill women.”


(Excerpt) Read more at cnsnews.com ...