Liberal Media Playing Connect the Dots — Again
As that great American philosopher Yogi Berra once said: It’s deja vu all over again.
When Timothy McVeigh blew up the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995 it took the mainstream media -- and other liberals -- about 2 seconds to blame conservative talk radio in general and Rush Limbaugh in particular for what happened. Why? Because conservative talk radio, they said, was too “hot.” It inflamed passions. It was too anti-government. Or as Dan Rather put it: “Even after Oklahoma City, you can turn on your radio in any city and still dial up hate talk; extremist, racist, and violent from the hosts and those who call in.”
Conservatives, in other words, created a dangerous and ultimately deadly atmosphere that either produced or at least emboldened a Timothy McVeigh – and made him think that what he was about to do was the right thing. This is what passes for the wisdom of the elite Left.
Fast forward to today. Now we have the screwball who flew his prop plane into an office building in Austin that housed the IRS. Joe Stack detested the IRS – and many other things – and this was his statement.
So who are the crazies on the Left blaming for this? If you said the Tea Party movement give yourself a gold star.
We get this from the so-called mainstream media:
Time magazine ran an on-line story about the crash – and right there in the middle of the story --- in bright red – was a link to another story in Time. About what, you ask? The Tea Party movement, what else?
An editorial in the Washington Post said Stack’s “alienation is similar to that we’re hearing from the extreme elements of the Tea Party Movement.”
New York magazine wrote that Stack’s rhetoric “could have been taken directly from a handwritten sign at a tea party rally.”
And from the hugely popular left-wing website, the Daily Kos we got a post entitled, “Teabagger terrorist attack on IRS building.”
For the record, there is no evidence whatsoever that Joe Stack belonged to any Tea Party organization or ever attended a Tea Party. None.
Now let’s go back a week or so to another act of violence -- that shooting at the University of Alabama. A Harvard-educated professor, who failed to get tenure, shot up the place killing three professors. Turns out she was a huge fan of Barack Obama. Question: Would any serious journalist – or anyone else for that matter – make the case that this woman represents Obama’s most passionate supporters?
Yet the Left loves to play connect the dots -- when in their fevered imaginations the dots lead from conservatives to violence. And that's assuming Stack is a conservative and not simply a lunatic.
What we used to call the mainstream media – and I now call the lamestream media – are so riddled with bias that there is no hope for them. Over many years the cancer has spread. The disease is now incurable. Their credibility is on life support.
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I’m sick and tired of lamestream media making excuses for Islamic killers and then lumping all Tea Party folks with Tim McVeigh. How many conservatives have taken up the McVeigh cause and blown people or building to smitherines. Well, there was Bill Ayers, oh, wait, he’s on Obama’s team; hate speech…Rev. Wright on Obama’s team, Jesse Jackson, Sharpton, Black Panthers, Farrahkan, Father Flager, etc. all a bunch of race baiters and or anti-American, anti-Christian dirtbags associated with Obama. Maj. Hassan and Fruit of the Loom Bomber over Detroit were treated with more respect and understanding of their anger than MSNBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS have ever treated the Tea Party movement. The more the lamestream media does this the lower their ratings go and the more people there are that are joining the Tea Party. Check the cable rating and is it any wonder they barely break 400,000. FOX is over 4,000,000! Go FOX NEWS!!!!!!!!
Here’s another story (23 Feb) that tries to link the tea parties to the IRS plane attack:
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20100223/D9E1IQV02.html
Associated Press writers April Castro and Jim Vertuno contributed to this report from Austin.
I would love to contact the writers directly, but I don’t know how. I will email comments to info@ap.org
Keep up the good work Mr. Goldberg.
Obama, Liberals,lefties, why is this the only thing tou rightwinnationdestroyers talk about. Lets go over the eight years before Obama. All you rightwingers want to do is blame, kill,destroy and spend the tax payers money wildly or give more to the rich. You people promote hate and division. The destruction left by the Bush regime will take seventy-five years to rebuild. Yes the Liberals has great reasons to hate the rightwingneo-con. What was the difference between what Bush and Cheney did than what Hitler did? Let me tell you Hitler did less.
Are you kidding? Bush was worse than Hitler? Bush killed MILLIONS of people? How did I miss that? You have issues Bob. Good luck to you.
That is the most outragous view I have ever heard. It doesn’t even deserve a response because obviously you do not follow what is going on in this country very well. Stop blaming everything that is wrong with this country on Bush, if that is all the Obama administration is going to do for 4 years then everyone is in serious trouble. Blame it on people like yourself who do nothing but complain about the past and think that Obama is the holy savior who will deliver us from all evil. News flash… He’s not. Nothing will get done in this country until Obama steps up and as far as I am concerned he has not done so. What he has done though, just this past friday decided to give the president of GM a nice 9 million dollar bonus for what? For nothing, his company already got a bailout and now an extra 9 million. To me 9 million dollars would be like hitting the lottery but I guess for some people it is just a reward for doing a poor job, yeah the auto industry is hurting but we already bailed them out. How about rewarding the real workers and not the round-table hotshots. Talk about “spending the tax payers money wildly or giving more to the rich”. And by the way not sure if Bob Hall knows this historical fact but Hitler killed over 6 million people, Cheney may have shot one of his buddies but I don’t think Bush or Cheney did anywhere close to the damage caused by Hitler’s Nazi party.
Seriously Bob? Did you forget to take your Thorazine?
The newest dirty trick on the political scene is the FAKE Tea Party. The fake Tea Party is one comprised of liberal Democrats who will promote phony straw horse candidates intended only to split the conservative vote and allow liberal Democrats to win.
This is a real danger to our badly disorganized Tea Party movement. Fakery is happening in Nevada right now. A phony group of liberals has filed state papers to become a Tea Party. The real Tea Party has no idea who they are.
Our enemies understand the power of getting organized. WE DO NOT. If we don’t wake up soon the enemy will organize the REAL TEA PARTY right out of our underwear. All the work we have done so far will go right out the window because we are independent and we don’t need no “stinkin’ organization.”
I have been an outspoken supporter of getting our hundreds of Tea Party groups organized under a national umbrella since November of 2009. My campaign to organize our beautiful movement has been opposed by many Tea Party members who pride themselves as being independent.
The “we-don’t-need-no-stinkin’-leaders-and-we-don’t-need-no-stinkin’-organization” was great for John Wayne in the Wild West, but it is a bad philosophy in this modern day political world.
We do need an organization under which all of our local groups can coalesce. I have suggested a bottom-up structure where our local groups have strong representation.
This organization would strengthen our Tea Party Movement, and do nothing to weaken it.
FAKE Tea Party groups would not be able to form if we had an organizational structure. Real Tea Party groups would be greatly assisted by a national organization.
I also suggested having a National Tea Party Photo ID Membership card for those who desired to pay a small fee to cover costs of the card. I would proudly carry such a card if it was of good quality.
Many derided my suggestion. Why? Anything voluntary should not be criticized. I can think of many ways this card could be used to benefit our Patriots once we become organized. (Think of the many ways the AARP card was used before we all destroyed them).
I was disappointed that some organizational structure did not emanate from our first national convention. We can’t wait my fellow Patriots. The Tea Party is our best hope to save our country. Let’s all join it and become a political power. But let’s all join the REAL TEA PARTY.
Please respond if you agree.
God Bless You and our Tea Party
Marty RicKard, National Tea Party President
It is very simple. The difference between the Rep. and Dems. and the news that supports them. You can trace it back a couple hundred years. Some are for love of country ( conservatives) some are for the love of other countries(liberals). This country was founded on a certain way of looking at things. Remember we are the country that all the people that did not like Europe or were forced out of Europe or were persecuted in Europe came to. We did not agree with the way they ran things and so stood up against the most powerful nation of their day.We have and continue to be the best nation in the world. People are dieing just to get into this country. You can not say that about any other nation. The leftist seem to think that we should be like everyone else in the world, and do what is pleasing to the rest of the world. This alone is anti-American. It is not what we have ever stood for. And unfortunately the silent majority have allowed the hippies of the 60’s to hijack(maybe terrorist themselves lol) the government and the media. As it was in the day of our for fathers there are those that do not want this country to stand alone. They all wish to be a part of something (maybe the one world order). But what has made this country the Great Nation it is, is the ability to stand alone. There is a bias on both sides. There is even extremest and I am sure in a way terrorist on both sides. That goes without saying there is crazy people everywhere. The fact of the mater is the news was never supposed to pick a side but stay neutral. This is not true anymore. But the Fox news, is the most honest news being the fact that they do point the finger at bothsides(thanks Beck/ and the big O’). So now pick a side, and remeber it was the belief that we could live better with less Fed. Government and more State Government that won the first time. Maybe if we get back to that the media would become neutral again. There wouldn’t be the need for the masses to side with Big Brother anymore. Long live the Constitution of these United States of America.
Im sorry, but I hardly doubt that there is europeans die to get into the US.
“You can not say that about any other nation”
Yes you can! – Alot of refugees and people in generally from the middle east and southeren Europe are trying to get into Denmar, Sweden, Norway, France and alot of other western countries. Dont talk about things you have no clue about. You´ve been listening to much to the “patriotic, we are the only country in the world” talk. We have major immigration problems in Europe because so many people are fleeing here.
I’ve been to Tea parties and it cracks me up when the libs refer to them as violent or heated. For the most part we’re polite and respectful people. That’s part of our whole mantra, you don’t have to be obnoxious about protesting like the liberals are. The fact is that liberals are the ones that traditionally resort to violence and start burning stuff and flipping cars over, etc. Why? The majority of liberals are early twenty-somethings who haven’t yet developed the self control to wage a reasonable argument (in fact i can’t stand discussing politics with liberals because 95% of the time they just start screaming at you). Usually once they enter the real world work force and figure out how the world really works, they’re not liberals anymore!
Bernie,
You are right that this whack job’s attack on government offices and employees has nothing to do with the tea Party movement. It is my view that you are dead on when it comes to the left wing trying to attach Thursday’s attack to all things conservative.
What strikes me is how predictable this was. While sitting in the truck, listening to the various news agencies piece together what happened, the first thing out of my mouth to my producer was, “How long do you think it will be until some of the news media tries to hook this guy up with talk radio?”
The producer scoffed at me.
But what do I know, I’m just a lowly truck monkey.
Jay: If you watch the news presentations on Fox on any day and take the time to switch to ALL of the others you will consistantly find many items that are reported ONLY on Fox. Generally, these are items that are embarassing or at the very least unfavorable to the democrat side of things. However when repiblicans are on the hot seat Fox tells all that is happening while ALL of the others do so as well. So you see that Fox has achieved its popularity for its consistancy while the rest are sinking due to their ommissions. I think that you are put off by Fox’s very biased conservative commentators whose inflammatory opinions cause you to have a warped view of their news coverage. If you were to do some simple channel surfing especially on a day when some goofy liberal politician does something stupid you will become a Fox fan too.
Well, I only discovered FOX recently, so I have not seen it for that long. But I have watched CNN and BBC for my American news coverage for many many years. And there has never been any shortage of news coverage regarding democrats or liberals. How would I have known about Eliott spitzer? or jeremiah wright? or bill ayers? There was plenty of coverage of that on CNN and BBC. So I think you are being a bit unfair here.
And yes, FOX does also cover republican scandals, but you can bet that FOX will not be the news org. that has uncovered it. And when they cover it, they will always try and come to defense of the republican, where as if it was a democrat, they would be driving the tough questions.
Now you said there were stories that you would only see on FOX. Now I would like for you to give me some examples?
Sure, the stories that make a point of embarresing the left, they will show them alot! Which will enforce the viewers of FOX that it´s an important story, because it is featured so much. And when they flip the channel and only see regular coverage of it on other news channels, it seems as though it´s being under reported or neglected all together.
It´s not the news org. job to drive the news that way, it´s only suppose to report on it. That´s the big difference between FOX and the rest of the stations in your country, and frankly all of Europe.
What are the chances? That all other tv stations, BBC, BBC2, CNN, CNN Int, NBC, CBS, ABC, Tv2, DR, NPR are the ones that get it wrong, and only FOX get it right? or maybe lets be realistic, it is the other way around.
Jay, have you read Mr. Goldberg’s book “Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News” It might explain this “realism” you seem to know so much about.
http://www.amazon.com/Bias-Insider-Exposes-Media-Distort/dp/0895261901
Jay
All the non-Fox media love a sex scandal, particularly a Republican one so they can use the ‘hypocrite’ narrative. Democrat sex sells too, but those folks are not held to standards or only mentioned as Democrats much later if at all.
Only on Fox do you see the issues debated regularly with articulate voices on both sides. The fact that the ‘right’ side is heard on prime time Fox show sounds very strange to people brought up on the other networks’ spin. This leads them to categorize FNC with outlets like MSNBC which is stridently left and, frankly, presents truly screwball left-wingers like Olberman and strange people like Maddow.
Im sorry, but the issues are debated on CNN too, from both sides. Usually they have even more people on than FOX.
And I´m sorry, the only articulated voices from the left I´ve seen on FOX is Juan Williams (who is centrist, not left) and Ellis Hennican, who has been demoted to the Fox News Watch panel, where he is up against 4-5 other conservatives, who usually just laugh at him and dismiss him.
The last paragraph…
“The fact that the ‘right’ side is heard on prime time Fox show sounds very strange to people brought up on the other networks’ spin. This leads them to categorize FNC with outlets like MSNBC which is stridently left ”
Could be applied to people who watch FOX too. Just because the leftist standpoint is clarified and articulated better on other stations, and it isnt done very well on FOX, does not mean there is bias? Now because MSNBC has two opponion shows that have liberals, hardly make the whole station liberal? Isnt joe scarborough on in like 4 or 5 hours? that´s twice as long as Olbermann and Maddow.
Again I would say: What are the odds that all the stations : BBC, BBC2, CNN, CNN Int, NBC, CBS, ABC, Tv2, DR, NPR are wrong and ONLY FOX gets it right?
Could it not be, that you think FOX does it the right way, because you like what they have to say? because it reinforces what you believe?
Having frequented Media Matters, Crooksandliars and newshounds, its pretty clear that those sites dont like MSNBC either… and according to you, that is a liberal station, so should they not love it?
But I dont happen to agree with all those sites. or Newsbusters for that matter.
I think a good sign of a station being neutral, is probably if it pisses you off one day because you dont agree, and you live it the next when you agree with it.
Or just dont watch cable news, and only watch the newscasts thats on at 8 on the local channel… or however it works in your country, Cable cant be the only way to get the news.
.
Jay
I am not saying that FNC is unbiased, I am saying that it is the only news network that, beyond the opinion shows like Hannity and O’Reilly, regularly presents the arguments in play. CNN makes an attempt but their correspondents and editors regularly commit the bias of OMISSION, treating conservative thought as an occasional novelty.
As a hint of where I’m coming from, being a political media consumer since the ’70s, I well remember the time when the word ‘conservative’ was not commonly recognized as a political term. In those days, the only televised expositions of the Right Wing was the Buckley show on (ironically) PBS and James Kilpatrick’s bellowing in the Point/Counterpoint segment of 60 Minutes. Bernie remembers.
So you see, for me it’s beyond watching only those with which I agree. It is refreshing to hear the best each side can give on an issue. Right now, that is best seen on Fox News.
I will give credit to CNN for usually having the best video of breaking news stories!
Great comment about Olberman & Maddow. The problem is that the over the top partisan rhetoric is also prevalent on FOX with Hannity, Beck, O’reily and their ilk.
The emergence of talk show networks (FOX & MSNBC) dressing themselves up as news organizations causes confusion among many uneducated viewers. A newsroom set does not a new show make.
Serious journalists don’t respect either end of a skewed story, and caring viewers should exercise similar fact/source dissection.
Hey Bernie,
Big fan, although I have never posted anything here! And I should declare that I am a foreigner
Now I thought I might try and give a outside perspective of your media.
It seems odd to the rest of the world that you call CNN, PBS, BBC biased. I don´t watch ABC, CBS, NBC since we can´t get those channels here in Europe, so I am not gonna speculate about those channels.
But seeing it from abroad it seems weird that you call FOX the only fair and balanced channel, when it´s pretty obvious, atleast from abroad, that it carries a certain point of view. I´ve heard alot of complaining from american liberals about CBS, CNN, ABC that its too much to the right. Couldn´t the reason be, that they are actually pretty centrist, and that the american right has gone further out, that even centrist media, seems as though its left leaning?
Now when I watch CNN International, PBS or BBC, or the channels we have here in Denmark. They carry the newscasts with a neutral point of view. They sit at the screen, and read the news. Nothing more, nothing less. And since Denmark was ranked at the top of News and journalism neutrality, I atleast know that I can put my country up as a beacon.. atleast before the muhammed incident,which unfortunately did muffle the media a little bit.
But when I watch FOX it´s pretty obviously different… it´s hard to put your finger on it. I know, you as an news analyst, should be able to give me an honest answer about it. Is it because Cable news has different standards? And since FOX is the most popular channel in your country, is it not a little stupid to call the other lesser stations mainstream, when FOX is obviously the mainstream?
Just some thoughts, sorry if they aren´t articulated too well, english is obviously not my first language.
Jay, I think you’re being a bit generous. It’s not hard to put your finger on it- it’s all very obvious and just laughable when republicans try to deny any kind of bias. Have you ever seen a liberal defending Fox? Why do you think that is?? Would you get some idiot like Glenn Beck pretending to cry on any ‘news’ channel in any other country? No because most news channels give the audience the benefit of allowing them to form their own opinions from the facts, rather than bending those facts, shouting opinion in your face and forcing a particular point of view down your throat as if it’s some kind of infomercial for politics, in a way that screams “If you don’t agree then you aren’t American”. Fair and Balanced? The rest of the world is laughing at you America.
Alborada,
While the rest of the world is laughing at us, I hope they didn’t accidentally drop all their US-provided financial aid on the ground. Wait, here, let me help you pick it up.
JJ
I’m surprised the LSM isn’t blaming this incident on GWB,…again…ad nauseam…
Well, Bernie, the last time I checked the Alabama shooter didn’t leave behind an extremist tirade against the IRS and taxation in general. Tea Party stands for Taxed Enough Already, for goodness’ sake. Of course, no one in the Tea Party movement would commit an act of terrorism against the US government, but how is it unfair to draw parallels between the Austin nutjob and the Tea Party movement when they share the same core ideology, ie. anger at the US tax system?
More than a few left-wing college professors at elite colleges detest Israel. Hamas detests Israel. So — to use your term — “they share the same core ideology.” Does that mean if Hamas blows up a bus filled with civilians in Jersulem we should draw parallels between left-wing college professors and terrorists? No one in his right mind would do that. Certainly no one in the liberal media would. But it’s OK to connect dots between the pilot in Austin and the people who go to tea parties? Even if he never went to a tea party? Even if we don’t know if he was influenced by tea parties? Come on, Mike, let’s be fair: the pilot was nuts. That’s the key, his mental condition. You want to blame J.D. Salinger for John Lennon’s death — because the shooter loved Salinger’s novel, Cather in the Rye? One more thing: The tea party folks aren’t the only ones who think they’re “taxed enough already.” More than 100 million Americans do. And in various ways, they vent their anger at the government. Do you want to blame all of them for the violence committed by a lone screwball?
Bernie, sorry for the late response – just rechecked the site. I agree 100% that the pilot is nuts. And if Hamas blows up a bus full of civilians, then of course a left-wing U.S. professor can’t be culpable. However, if a left-wing professor commits an act of terrorism against the federal government, then his/her views and links to Hamas (if they exist) would certainly be worth examining, just like Bill Ayers links to the Weather Underground are worth examining. I’m not trying to blame the Tea Parties for an act of terrorism committed by a lone wolf, just saying that he expresses the same views as many Tea Partiers. And while I take issue with a lot of what the media does, I don’t see any problem with, for example, the Washington Post’s statement that Stack’s “alienation is similar to that we’re hearing from the extreme elements of the Tea Party Movement.”