When news broke last Thursday that a deranged gunman had opened fire outside a Pentagon security checkpoint, wounding two officers before being stopped by return fire (the gunman later died from his wounds), the reaction from some oddly giddy right-wing bloggers was swift. They wanted everyone to pay attention to the story. Why? Because bloggers claimed the gunman, John Patrick Bedell, was a loony liberal.
Under increased scrutiny for the rampant anti-government rhetoric of the Tea Party movement, along with its often violent imagery and open talk of insurrection, right-wingers seemed anxious, even frantic, to hold up the Pentagon killer as proof that they weren't responsible for -- or connected with -- every political act of vigilante violence that makes headlines these days.
But as more details emerge about the incident, the far-right bloggers may wish they hadn't shone a spotlight on the disturbing Pentagon story. If anything, as we learn more about the anti-government rantings and writings of Bedell, this madman attack looks an awful lot like a string of other "lone wolf" attacks, such as the recent kamikaze pilot who flew his plane into an IRS office in Austin.
They're attacks that appear to be fueled by an almost pathological hatred for the U.S. government -- the same open hatred that right-wing bloggers, AM talk radio hosts, Fox News' lineup of anti-government prophets, and Tea Party leaders have been frantically fueling for the last year; pushing propaganda and warning of America's permanent, democratic demise under President Obama.
As I noted last year when the first red flags were raised about the specter of anti-government violence, what the GOP Noise Machine is doing today is embracing, and mainstreaming, the same kind of hate rhetoric and doomsday conspiratorial talk that flourished on the far-right fringes during the '90s. (Think Waco and black helicopters.) And legitimizing that kind of talk is dangerous.
On the one hand, right-wing media love mainstreaming vile, alarmist, anti-government rhetoric. Yet they're also hyper-sensitive to the charge that they're, y'know, mainstreaming vile, alarmist anti-government rhetoric and might also be goading some crazies into action. Consumed with Obama Derangement Syndrome, 'wingers literally cannot help themselves. Just this weekend, one prominent, albeit unhinged, right-wing site branded Obama as "suicide-bomber-in-chief." They've removed all sensible filters, which means the crazy talk flows 24-7.
Read the entire Media Matters column here.
Follow Eric Boehlert on Twitter: www.twitter.com/EricBoehlert
Your call to regulate speech is what is dangerous.
But I agree on the second point. Regulating this speech would be a threat to our rights.
Rather we should embarass these people with the stupid things they allow to flow out their mouths.
to blame people that are right wing for lone acts of violence j We have had over 10 years of either right wing or left wing venom against Washington. Now suddenly we forget the other 8 1/2 years of venom and say " that had nothing to do with people going over the edge ,its only the last year and half that count".
These people are all saying Washington does not represent them and the government is out of control. Since the election in 2000 till now both right and left are saying that.
So if you really want to see what is responsible I think you approach the subject with a true open mind and realize people are frustrated for the past 10 years and some are snapping.Who is to blame?? I do not know. Two people out of millions have snapped. Thats 2 too many but again after 10 years of bashing I suspect that the fruits of finger pointing and blaming is bearing a tragic crop.
This article again is part of the finger pointing and blaming not SOLVING.
Then there is the dark side of words; they can move people to horrible acts. Some of the greatest madmen of history were powerful orators. Their words moving people in a frenzy of hatred and killing.
Yet conservatiives will deny that the words carrying their spiteful and hateful ideas have any power to motivate. That they are just for "entertainment" or that they are just opinions; free-floating and free of consequences. History says otherwise and will not be kind to them.
There seems to be no limit. Those who trashed the word liberal (which is rooted in free market ideas and opportunities for individuals) have now conflated the warring communism and fascism. They've given conservatism a bad name in doing this. They're not conserving anything and actually have made nothing safe. They're nihilists and anarchists.