One of the most disturbing features of journalism today is when media personalities use tragedies to paint their political opponents as dangerous threats. This is clearly what’s happening now, following last week’s brutal hammer attack against Paul Pelosi. MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski immediately blamed “years and years of Republican propaganda” and Trump-fueled fascism for the crime.
It also occurred in April 1995, following the Oklahoma City truck bomb attack that killed 168 people. After the 1994 liberal losses, Democratic politicians and media accused conservative talk radio of being culpable. Bryant Gumbel, NBC’s smarmily stated that “never do most radio hosts encourage outright violent behavior.” (Read more.)
It happened in January 2011, just weeks after Democrats lost control in the midterm elections. Just minutes after Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords was shot and killed by a mentally ill man, six other victims were also killed. Irresponsible journalists then accused the conservative Tea Party of the bloodbath.
It was disgusting and completely without foundation. In the days following the attack, news was filled with accusations of harsh political rhetoric, which was blaming conservatives by an eight to one margin. Liberal journalists exploited the terrible tragedy perpetrated by a delusional schizophrenia to discredit the conservative movement.
Here are just some of the quotes that were used at that time, just a few minutes after the shooting on January 8, 2011.
# “I must tell you as a columnist who has covered politics in this state, it was inevitable, from my perspective….Because the right in Arizona, and I’m speaking very broadly, has been stoking the fires of a heated anger and rage successfully in this state.”– Arizona Daily Star columnist/cartoonist David Fitzsimmons appearing at about 2:30pm ET during CNN’s live coverage of the Giffords shooting, January 8, 2011.
It looks sadly like it’s come to fruition today. It looks like it’s coming to fruition today .”– NBC/MSNBC reporter Luke Russert during MSNBC Live coverage at 3:30pm ET January 8, 2011.
# “We don’t have any proof that this was political, however the odds are that it was. She was the victim of violence before …. Her father claims that ‘the entire Tea Party’ was her enemy. She was also on Sarah Palin’s notorious ‘crosshairs list’. Ezra Klein made a comment yesterday that opposition to health reform was becoming scary Violent acts are what happens when you create hate. It’s past time for the GOP’s leaders, just two hours after Giffords’ shooting, to take a stand against hate-mongers .”– New York Times columnist Paul Krugman.
# “Giffords was among 20 Democrats whose districts were lit up with crosshairs last spring on a Sarah Palin campaign website. Giffords and others complained that someone insecure might act on the imagery .”– CBS’s Nancy Cordes, on the January 8, 2011, Evening News.
# “There is a lot of discussion on Twitter and Facebook about Sarah Palin. You may recall that Palin posted a message on Twitter in March last year, as the House was about to vote on health care and it was heating up, saying “common sense conservatives don’t retreat” and directing people to her Facebook page. There was a list of Democratic members Palin was targeting, and Gabrielle Giffords was in the crosshairs .”– CNN’s Jessica Yellin, during the Newsroom 10pm ET hour, January 8, 2011.
# “While the motives of the suspect in the shootings remain unclear, Jared Lee Loughner’s website, which is linked to him, contains anti-government ramblings. It was unclear what caused the episode. However, it quickly brought to light the extent to which inflammatory language and threats to violence have become a constant undercurrent in the nation’s political culture .”– New York Times journalists Carl Hulse, Kate Zernike, in a front-page article titled “Bloodshed puts a new focus on Vitriol in Politics” on January 9, 2011.
# “Sarah Palin has come under some criticism. Although there is no evidence that her Web site featured a target on Giffords’ district, some are wondering if today’s political rhetoric is inspiring this fringe ?”– NBC’s Matt Lauer teased an upcoming segment on Today on January 10, 2011.
# “Not since Timothy McVeigh attacked Oklahoma City’s federal building, has an anti-government crime attracted so much attention.” The map Sarah Palin posted on Facebook last year, which targeted Congresswoman Giffords, made Giffords nervous. Even then .”– correspondent Lee Cowan, on Today, January 10, 2011.
# “What’s the role of talk radio to fuel the heated language ?…People such as Mark Levin and Michael Savage, who every time they listen to them, are furious at the Left with an anger that just builds in their voice and then they go to commercial. They’re just in a rage every night with ugly talk. Ugly talking. It doesn’t change ….. My question is: Does that give moral license to people with crazy minds to start with ?”– MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, Hardball, January 11, 2011?
Despite these false accusations, the lie that conservative rhetoric was responsible for the shooting has permeated into political discourse and remained there. NewsBusters’ Curtis Houck, NewsBusters’ Curtis Houck, caught a Washington Post reporter falsely stating that 2010 right-wing anger/mobs had played a role dehumanizing Congress and contributed to Giffords shooting in 2011.
You can find more examples from our flashback series, the NewsBusters Time Machine, here.
