Toxic Talk

I would hate to say that the assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was predictable but it is. What do you expect when you have high profile political people using strong violent language every time they open their mouth ? What do you expect when media show hosts on radio and television using vitriolic rhetoric ? What do you expect in a southern state that just decided to profile people based on their look ? The results are clear : 10 people killed including an innocent nine years old girl and other people who are fighting for their life in a hospital bed.

It is undeniable that a right-wing media has been targeting the government, and the president in a repulsive and destructive manner fueled this attack. This is not a pointed attack at the right wing. It is a fact. And please do not try to equate the right-wing language with the left wing. I acknowledge that there are extremists on both sides but the tone and the action from the right side is immensely different and destructive.

Allow me to site few examples :

"the suicide-bomber-in-chief, Barack Obama" Frank Ross in an article posted in March 6^th 2010 on the Big Journalism website.

"the Obama administration might kill 10% of population" Glenn Beck, Fox News, June 10

"Obama is trying to destroy the country" Jim Quinn , Clear Channel, June 3

"Democrats deserve to be drawn and quartered" Confederate Yankee, March 21, 2010

"Wolf Blitzer and Larry King Look like the type that would have pushed Jewish children into the oven" Michael Savage , The Savage Nation, 8/7/2006

"The Children's Minds are being raped by the homosexual Mafia." The Savage Nation radio show 6/16/08

"God Put Me here for a reason... To Beat the hell out of liberals." ABC Radio Networks, The Mark Levin Show 6/24/2010

"We have an attorney general who embraces the New Black Panthers, the head of which has talked about killing-murdering-white babies." ABC Radio Networks, The Mark Levin Show, 7/8.2010

" We're enemies of the state. We individuals or organizations who resist this are enemies of the state. So, we, as conservatives, by definition are enemies of the state. Well, so be it. It's us against them. " Citadel Radio, The Mark Levin Show, 10/21/09

On Sarah Palin's website she listed the names of 20 districts with crosshairs to target those districts and "take them back". On March 23 on her twitter account she stated to America: "Don't retreat, instead, RELOAD!"

On Jan 10, 2010, Nevada Senate Candidate Sharron Angle called for "taking out"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. On May 10, 2010, House candidate Brad Goehring wrote on his Facebook page: "If I could issue hunting permits, I would officially declare today opening day for liberals. The season would extend through November 2 and have no limits on how many taken as we desperately need to 'thin' the herd." Then on June 12, 2010, Jessey Kelly, the Republican who ran against Ms. Giffords advertised locally the following : "Help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office. Shoot a fully automatic M16 with Jesse Kelly." This is the same congresswoman who was shot.

But all of this nastiness and violent language is only just a sample of the garbage they spew every minute of every day. Some people may listen to this and not think anything of it. Some people however may take this to heart and some people might act on it. Some people do act on it and when they do people get hurt and lives are lost. But these right wing mindless clowns do not even acknowledge what they are saying or what they are doing even when they are told that crimes are committed thanks to them. Not only that, but they mock it! Here is another sample of how they mock the criticism of their rhetoric:

"The only people that are yelling and calling names - it's Obama telling the the American people to shut up, it's Nancy Pelosi attacking the American people, it's the Democrats comparing them to Nazis - the Democrats are doing that." Fox News, Hannity, 8/11/09

"The American people are legitimately outraged about what is being planned here, and this is how they are treated: rising militia groups, rising hate crimes, white supremacists, worried about doing harm to Obama, and then in advance, trying to link me to it. I said Obama was going to spark race problems when everybody disagreed with whatever his policy was. Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 8/14/09

"I like what Pete Sessions of Texas said: " The speaker is now likening genuine opposition to assassination." Now, if anyone is ratcheting up the rhetoric, this talk about inciting violence and the phony tears, the crocodile tears, and, "Oh, I wish we had more civility." Nancy Pelosi was silent when Al Gore said what he said. She was silent when Harry Reid said what she said. She made incendiary remarks herself. »

Fox News, Hannity, 9/18/09

They can make fun all they like but the fact remains that they are responsible for actual violence and even assassination attempts. During one of his shows, Glenn Beck burned Nancy Pelosi in effigy on his set. He said that he would poison her with a chalice. Few weeks later, a young man tried to firebomb Nancy Pelosi's résidence and the man's mother said that he got all of his ideas from Fox News. After the health care vote Senator Patty Murray, from Washington, received a death threat from a man called Charlie Wilson who said that she has a target on her back and he can accomplish what he wants with one bullet. During the man's trial, the court receive a letter from his cousin saying that Mr. Wilson was a victim of Beck. Furthermore, there is the incident with Byron Williams who wanted to "start a revolution by traveling to San Francisco and killing people at the Tides Foundation and the ACLU." Williams was involved in a shootout with the police but was captured. In several interviews he stated, "Glenn Beck is the schoolteacher on television." He lists several episodes that inspired him to want to start this revolution and kill people. Then we have the episode in Tucson Arizona where people were actually shot and murdered. So, we have 3 episodes of violence and people dying because of very explicit violent rhetoric by the right media.

These people need to be censored, stopped, questioned and punished for their recklessness. I refuse their denial of their actions. I refuse their rhetoric. I refuse them in every way shape or form. I refuse their fake version of patriotism. They know what they are doing and they know what the consequences are. Even after the murder of innocent people they did not stop their nonsense. They kept on rambling about their innocence and the fact that this was not a political act. It was just random. Well, that is nonsense. The man went to a political rally and tried to kill a political figure. He did not go to pizza hut to kill a server. These people, namely Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Shaun Hannity, Mark Levin, Michael Savage, are nothing but fear mongers that sell fear and reap the benefits in a bigger paycheck while innocent people's blood is shed.

I implore anyone who listens to them to stop listening to their toxic talk because it is going to harm each and every one of us in one way or another.

Sources

http://bigjournalism.com/fross/2010/03/06/overnight-thread-steyn-on-obamacare/

http://confederateyankee.mu.nu/archives/299691.php

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-01-10/news/bs-ed-schaller-20110110_1_house-candidate-conservatives-senate-candidate-sharron-angle

Fox News
www.mediamaters.org