Liberals say it’s ridiculous to suggest that their anti-cop rhetoric had anything to do with the murder of two New York police officers yesterday. But three years ago, liberals and their allies in the MSM had a very different take on the effects of political rhetoric on violence, as Breitbart.com columnist John Sexton notes.
This piece by @jacobwe at @Slate is a good example of the form: http://t.co/nvJYyXjlt8
Let's quote a bit from this…
— John Sexton (@verumserum) December 21, 2014
"It is appropriate, however, to consider what was swirling outside Loughner's head."
— John Sexton (@verumserum) December 21, 2014
"To call his crime an attempted assassination is to acknowledge that it appears to have had a political and not merely a personal context."
— John Sexton (@verumserum) December 21, 2014
"That context wasn't Islamic radicalism, Puerto Rican independence, or anarcho-syndicalism."
— John Sexton (@verumserum) December 21, 2014
"It was the anti-government, pro-gun, xenophobic populism that flourishes in the dry and angry climate of Arizona."
— John Sexton (@verumserum) December 21, 2014
[If you're just joining me, I'm quoting Slate's reaction to the Tucson shooting…which blamed it generally on the Tea Party.]
— John Sexton (@verumserum) December 21, 2014
"But the Tea Party movement did make it appreciably more likely that a disturbed person like Loughner would react…"
— John Sexton (@verumserum) December 21, 2014
"…would be able to react, and would not be prevented from reacting, in the crazy way he did."
— John Sexton (@verumserum) December 21, 2014
…"First you rile up psychotics with inflammatory language about tyranny, betrayal, and taking back the country."
— John Sexton (@verumserum) December 21, 2014
"none of this says that Tea Party caused the Tucson tragedy, only that its politics increased the odds of something like it happening."
— John Sexton (@verumserum) December 21, 2014
There were a lot of people writing in this vein in 2011. They couldn't connect the attack specifically so they connected it generally.
— John Sexton (@verumserum) December 21, 2014
Not hard to see how one could make the same argument now re: the left's rhetoric and its impact.
— John Sexton (@verumserum) December 21, 2014
Unlike Loughner, who was crazy and apolitical, the cop shooter appears to have been following current events.
— John Sexton (@verumserum) December 21, 2014
So if anything, the left's "marination" explanation for violence ought to apply even better in this instance. Will they employ it?
— John Sexton (@verumserum) December 21, 2014
Recall that we had a week of blaming Sarah Palin and the Tea Party for a horrible crime they had nothing to do with.
— John Sexton (@verumserum) December 21, 2014
The blame-game finally ended at the memorial led by the President himself who essentially endorsed that rhetoric was at fault.
— John Sexton (@verumserum) December 21, 2014
Will the President attend the funeral of these two police officers and lecture the country about the political tone?
— John Sexton (@verumserum) December 21, 2014
C'mon progressives! Let's talk about political rhetoric and the need for a new tone. Let's have another national conversation.
— John Sexton (@verumserum) December 21, 2014
Jan 2011 Post headline: "Gabrielle Giffords shooting in Tucson: Did it stem from state of political discourse?" http://t.co/c7CA0ca81J
— John Sexton (@verumserum) December 21, 2014
People who led the attacks on Palin–Matt Yglesias, Paul Krguman, Markos Moulitsas–still leading lights on the left. No penalty at all.
— John Sexton (@verumserum) December 21, 2014
It's okay to blame your political opponents for murder on the basis of vague *negative rhetoric* theory. That standard still applies now?
— John Sexton (@verumserum) December 21, 2014
"If Sarah Palin…does not repudiate her own part, however tangential, in amplifying violence and violent imagery in American politics…"
— John Sexton (@verumserum) December 21, 2014
"…she must be dismissed from politics, she must be repudiated by the members of her party." – Olbermann, Jan. 2011
— John Sexton (@verumserum) December 21, 2014
So that's the standard according to Olbermann: "however tangential" Can we still use that or not this time around?
— John Sexton (@verumserum) December 21, 2014
Allahpundit of Hot Air concurs:
@verumserum Another delightful bullshit tactic was when “impartial” media would repeat the left’s bogus charges in an “impartial” way
— Allahpundit (@allahpundit) December 21, 2014
@verumserum E.g., “liberals are blaming conservative rhetoric for inspiring Loughner.” Was it fair of liberals to do that? They didn’t say
— Allahpundit (@allahpundit) December 21, 2014
@verumserum It was just a “fact” on the ground politically and they had to dutifully report that fact
— Allahpundit (@allahpundit) December 21, 2014
@verumserum I remember that this “rhetoric” shit was flying around on Twitter literally within the first hour after Giffords was shot
— Allahpundit (@allahpundit) December 21, 2014
@verumserum Literally before we knew whether she had survived the shooting. “Rhetoric” was their first reptilian impulse.
— Allahpundit (@allahpundit) December 21, 2014
@verumserum One more thing to remember: The new tea-party House had just been sworn in when Giffords was shot
— Allahpundit (@allahpundit) December 21, 2014
@verumserum Part of the reason the left rushed to “rhetoric” shit was to discredit the new majority. It was raw, sleazy opportunism
— Allahpundit (@allahpundit) December 21, 2014
In other words, the Left’s standard operating procedure.
Update:
Gabriel Malor’s tweets from last year are well worth reading again:
Sept 2009: census-taker Bill Sparkman found hanged in rural Kentucky. Media speculated it was Tea Party. (He killed himself.)
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) December 14, 2013
Feb 2010: Joe Stack flies small plane into an IRS building. Anti-tax TP rhetoric blamed. (He quoted from the Communist Manifesto.)
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) December 14, 2013
Feb 2010: Amy Bishop shoots colleagues at University of Alabama faculty meeting. Gun-loving Tea Party suspected. (She was an Obama voter.)
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) December 14, 2013
March 2010: John Patrick Bedell shot two Pentagon security. A right-wing extremist, media asked? (A registered Democrat and 9/11 Truther.)
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) December 14, 2013
May 2010: massive Times Square car bomb found. Bloomberg speculates it's someone upset about ACA. (Actually, plain vanilla jihadist scum.)
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) December 14, 2013
August 2010: Amid GZM debate, Muslim cabbie stabbed in NYC. Media speculates: a RWNJ? (Actually, a Lefty art student off his meds.)
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) December 14, 2013
Sept 2010: James Lee takes hostages at Discovery Chan HQ. Media speculates: climate change denier? (An environmentalist who hates humans.)
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) December 14, 2013
July 2012: James Holmes shoots up theater in Aurora, CO. Brian Ross suggests he's a TPer on live TV. (Just another unmedicated nutter.)
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) December 14, 2013
Aug 2012: Floyd Lee Corkins shoots up @FRCdc based on @SPLCenter's "target list." Media: [crickets]. h/t @JammieWF
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) December 14, 2013
April 2013: Tsarnaev bros bomb Boston Marathon. Media suggests RWNJ commemorating "Patriot's Day." (Actually, just more jihadist scum.)
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) December 14, 2013
Oct. 2013: Media retroactively blames right wing for JFK assassination. (Actually, LHO was a communist defector.)
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) December 14, 2013
More from Twitchy founder Michelle Malkin here:
@stephenkruiser @TwitchyTeam @gabrielmalor See also Blame Righty: A Condensed History ==> http://t.co/Jbm8RAvqwZ
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) December 14, 2013