Michael Moore tweeted within the past hour, in response to yesterday’s shooting spree at Fort Hood:
The wingnuts, of course, are out for blood following the shooting. Predictably, they’re going after Muslims, under the presumption that the suspect, Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was acting out of incitement from Islam.
If that turns out to be true — and there’s no actual evidence to support that at this time, as far as I know — I’d agree that any person or persons who would incite such violence should be held accountable. Just as those who’d incite similar violence — for example, in the cases of the murder of Kansas obstetrician Dr. George Tiller or the hanging of Clay County, KY census worker Bill Sparkman — should be held similarly accountable.
Yet, I heard few such calls from the Right after those incidents. In the case of Tiller, his accused murderer Scott Roeder was regarded by the Right as either a hero or a lone, crazy guy (depending on how far to the Right they happened to be). I’ve heard no condemnation from the Right, or calls for accountability for the constant, repeated, almost daily characterization of Tiller, to millions and millions of Americans over the air waves by folks like Bill O’Reilly (the most watched man on cable news), as a “baby killer”, “executing babies”, “death merchant”, etc., even though Tiller was a medical doctor performing lawful services.
I heard no wingnut condemnation of Bernie Goldberg — and certainly not of Christianity as a whole — even after it was revealed that his book, 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America (And All Franken Is #37), was a major inspiration for Jim David Adkisson’s shooting spree at a Knoxville, TN Unitarian Church in July of 2008 which killed two and injured seven others…
“This was a symbolic killing.,” Adkisson wrote in his manifesto [PDF] just before his murderous rampage. “Who I wanted to kill was every Democrat in the Senate & House, the 100 people in Bernard Goldberg’s book. … I couldn’t get to the generals & high ranking officers of the Marxist movement so I went after the foot soldiers, the chickenshit liberals that vote in these traitorous people. Someone had to get the ball rolling. I volunteered. I hope others do the same.”
He went on to add: “It saddens me to think back on all the bad things that Liberalism has done to this country. The worst problem America faces today is Liberalism. … Liberals are evil, they embrace the tenets of Karl Marx, they’re Marxist, socialist, communists. … I’d like to encourage other like minded people to do what I’ve done. If life aint worth living anymore don’t just Kill yourself, do something for your country before you go. Go Kill Liberals.”
Addkison was also a professed fan of O’Reilly, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage and the rest of that crowd, yet I don’t recall any of them calling for either Fox “News” to be shut down, or for Christians to regarded as a terrorist group.
[Now is likely a good moment to remind you to sign on, if you haven’t already, to VR’s StopDomesticTerror.com campaign. FULL DISCLOSURE: The BRAD BLOG is a co-founder of VR.]The entire episode of wingnut hypocrisy is the case of the Fort Hood shootings is, perhaps, most amusingly and sadly illustrated by this quick exchange from last night’s Larry King Live on CNN between former POW Shoshana Johnson (captured along with Jessica Lynch) and wingnut attorney and JAG officer Tom Kenniff…
Wanna hold someone accountable? Fine. I’m all for it. But make sure you hold everyone equally accountable. And make sure it’s for something they actually did, versus something you imagine they did, due to your own prejudices — for example, hating Islam as much as you hate yourself.
ADDENDUM: In the wake of today’s shooting spree in Orlando, Media Matter’s Eric Boehlert tweets:
What a bunch of B.S.! This was a mutiny, plain and simple. It’s been a long time coming. And the good doctor was caught in the crossfire. But since he had a Middle Eastern name, he’s been assigned the role of scapegoat. Easy to do when the poor guy is on a ventilator. The one thing the military doesn’t want to do is to publicize this as a mutiny since it may give others ideas. What total scum!
I thought right away this guy was on pharmaceuticals and then there are reports that he wasn’t the lone shooter –
http://www.prisonplanet.com/what-happened-to-the-accomplice-shooters.html
The whole business smacks of government propaganda to keep Muslims in the news as an excuse to keep up the colonial occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Great sense of humor Brad. Regarding that (May be Christian!) thing up there in the breaking news section. Hilarious. And we need it during these tough times and when we are tackling these tough issues. Your journalism is much appreciated and I hope everyone here is doing what they can do to spread and support this work. Peace.
Interesting perspective slapbangwallah. I hadn’t thought of that, but it makes sense. I will keep that in mind as more facts come out and more journalism is done.
But wait. How did this happen.
I thought all those troops have guns. I though citizens having guns was the way to protect everyone from crime?
I wonder if this had anything to do with the genocide and occupations taking place in the Middle East. I certainly haven’t seen anything to suggest THAT! Oh well, I guess that’s what they get for making their women wear veils.
This whole thing is fishy and the information is being manipulated and massaged in every conceivable way to do everything but even HINT at the fact that maybe it’s time to end some of these wars.
I don’t know how anyone can trust a thing the military says after the Pat Tillman and Jessica Lynch fiascos, and I’m hesitant to trust their accounts of this as well. Perhaps it was some type of mutiny, if it was I doubt we’ll find out.
That clip is great too, that’s another thing that nobody seems to even want to consider, that the guy is a human being. Amazing that such an obvious thing is so ignored, as if even considering that fact is somehow treasonous.
Mike Savage was railing on how we can’t mention that the Fort Hood shooter was Muslim, when it’s the total opposite: the media only mentions a shooter’s religion when it’s Muslim!
Also, keep in mind when the rightwing media links Obama with the Muslim shooter, that this guy trained and advanced during the Bush years. That won’t be mentioned, either. It won’t be mentioned that Bush/Cheney were in charge during 9/11, it never was.
Suicide Toll Fuels Worry That Army Is Strained
A Muslim is a muslim that is to say a pig and American hater. All muslims don’t like America including Barack Hussein Obama the Kenyan in-chief
The muslim-anti American who killed my brothers and sisters is not a human being. He is just a muslim.
Your coommander,sissy-kenyan-in chief asked you not to jump to conclusion. Well, too bad he can’t invite the muslim assasin-whom I paid for his school- and the fallen AMERICAN SOLDRES for a beer.
Obviously, warming up for Quintessential Ugly American Award of the Year….
Everyone should try not to lose sight of this part.
Call it like it is: both the Ft. Hood and Orlando shooters were mass murderers. They violated the law against murdering people. We question the motives of any mass murderer because we want to know why sane people murder (and yes, sane people murder). Psychologists suggest that we can’t understand. We might learn a killer’s motive, or not, or be lied to about their motive, but in a society built on the rule of law, motive is evidence… not a crime.
Whether Christian or Muslim or other, murder is murder. A terrorist is just a murderer whose motive is some form of extremist ideology. I have no more sympathy for the Ft. Hood doctor than I do for Timmy McVeigh… and neither should a court of law.
Wow. I stumbled on this page. What disjointed demagoguery. This is just wingnuts turned inside out. Hateful stuff.
You must be proud of yourselves trying to spin murders in your way, only just opposite to what you complain about.
Sick.