These religious fanatics thrive on violent rhetoric, willingly supplied by the Bill O’Reillys, Rush Limbaughs, Glenn Becks, and Michael Savages, who gleefully abuse the powers of their bully pulpits. These overpaid hatemongers may call themselves "entertainers," but their words serve as dog whistles, inciting their more rabid listeners to action.
Needless to say, the usual suspects (I’m looking at you, O’Reilly) have very vocally denied any responsibility for the murder of Dr. Tiller. For example, here is O’Reilly’s repulsive response tonight to Tiller’s death:
When I heard about Tiller’s murder, I knew pro-abortion zealots and Fox News haters would attempt to blame us for the crime, and that’s exactly what has happened. [...]
No backpedaling here, madam [Mary Mapes]. Unlike you, I report honestly. Every single thing we said about Tiller was true, and my analysis was based on those facts. [...]
Now, it’s clear that the far left is exploiting — exploiting — the death of the doctor. Those vicious individuals want to stifle any criticism of people like Tiller. That — and hating Fox News — is the real agenda here. Finally, if these people are soooo compassionate — so very compassionate, so concerned for the rights and welfare of others — maybe they might have written something, one thing, about the 60,000 fetuses that will never become American citizens. Or am I wrong?
[Actually, this segment highlights how utterly narcissistic and delusional O'Reilly is; does he really believe liberals are more concerned with shutting him down than ensuring access to life-saving medical procedures for all women?]
Well, I am a liberal and I do not condone the stifling of free speech. Hell, the right wing nutjobs have just as much a right to speak their minds as do the left wing nutjobs. But what O’Reilly and his hate-filled minions and wannabes do NOT have the right to do is paint a big fucking target on a specific individual and goad their listeners into hunting down that person and murdering him in cold blood while he stands in the foyer of his house of worship.
And that is exactly what Bill O’Reilly has done, no matter how he tries to justify his words.
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I expected nothing less from BillO. He always does the least he can do.
“Who will rid me of this meddlesome doctor?”
“Wait! I didn’t mean-REALLY!”
Good evening from the Great Swamp, watertiger.
Please tell me Mary Mapes did not appear on his wee programme.
greetings, RonD, evilDrPuma…
i have to say – i couldn’t even summon up the snark to deal with this. these people make me sick.
The people you mentioned above, Bill, etc. have “hired” these wingnuts to kill – they just don’t pay them. There needs to be a lawsuit even if it just gets attention on the issue.
Actually, I would like to lay this bullshit at the door of George W. Bush.
He lay down with fanatics, gave them heat and light and sustenance, rode them a long way to oblivion, and escaped to fricking Texas. They are his, and he is entitled to reap what he sowed.
No, he was responding to what had been written about his comments. You think he’d have the courage to face his critics today?
I’m really starting to feel some very very negative feelings about the creepy billo. grrr.
didn’t these jerks say similar things when Paul Wellstone passed? So any lessons learned about how to call people on their compassion-less crap?
I know. One of the things becoming apparent to me is that “the end justifies the means” has become a central principle of right-wing political thought in America today, and that scares the hell out of me, as it can manifest itself in countless ways.
Fox News is as innocent as Radio Rwanda.
No apologies necessary. Like BillO, we could pretty much predict the response, and it is loathsome.
WT, words can certainly kill.
And it certainly helps that Bill-O has never bothered to check his facts. See this diary for my reflections on what I learned working as an analyst at a state health department.
Keith Olbermann is upset enough about it that it appears that Bill-O the Clown has apparently won his last Worst Person in the World.
Andrew Sullivan revealed just how clueless he is, by thinking that broad access to contraceptives, Plan B and streamlined adoption will “solve” the problem of late term abortions. ’tain’t so, Andrew.
Maybe you should take the clue pill that the Roman Catholic heirarchy refuses to take: You no a-playa da game, you no a-make-a da rules.
When the trial starts, Roeder’s lawyer should call O’Reilly as a witness for the defense.
Or is that “witless” for the defense…?
I don’t hold O’Reilly to blame for this murder. That is rightfully the role of the assailant. I hold him and his ilk culpable, however. Their overheated rhetoric, rich with vivid imagery and innuendo has a galvanizing effect on the weakminded who do evil’s spadework.
Inevitably, they choose to overlook that aspect of the issue in a subjective fashion…Perhaps giving credence to the theory that in the end, to them these are mere words and have no intrinsic meaning save for the rating points and advertising revenue that they provide.
May they choke on their bloodstained lucre.
if only there were a “contributory” element to the criminal defense. “Aiding and abetting”, however…
Amen, DB. Amen.
Suppose you saw that one army recruiter was killed and another wounded in Arkansas? Thank goodness the NRA helps make it possible for everyone to resolve their differences without being forced to resort to nonviolent methods… /s
Michelle Malkin has already likened it to Tiller.
It is long past accountability time for these hatemongers. Inciting to violence, aiding and abetting terrorists (that is what it is), and more.
OTOH, there was an incredible interview by former pro lifer Frank (?) Schaeffer by Rachel Maddow. He pulled no punches and fully owned up to his responsibility in the extremist movement, apologized, and just laid the whole thing out. It was an incredible thing to listen to.
Yes, the Schaefer interview is terrific.
Hopefully, Dr. Tiller’s family will sue O’Reilly right down to his shorts. Culpable negligence? Reckless endangerment? Incitement to commit murder?
I don’t think Charles Manson ever actually killed anyone with his own hands either, but is he less guilty for that? Is O’Reilly?
the billo’s of the world fully engage in verbal violence. There is verbal abuse and his rhetoric reaches the low of verbal violence. The intent is to destroy the opponent through humiliation, character assassination, lying, shaming, invalidation, etc.
The least O’Reilly can do under these circumstances is take an eternal vow of silence and become an anchorite monk. Never going to happen, because he is a socipath like all the rest.
Oh! Thanks for the linky!!! :) I saw it on C&L and noticed it was an FDL vid on youtube.com and well, thanks for the boost. you rock.
McPalin fed and incited them. I said then that there would be hell to pay from their stirring up the hornet’s nest.
Agreed. I’d love to see a Tiller family suit against O’Reilly et.al.
It has always been a central tenet of conservatism. Nothing new about this at all.
Yup. They invited the hatemongers to the White House all the time.
Not surprising that Malkin would overlook the absence of hordes of media types and others advocating violence against military recruiters.
Very little in common except for being acts of senseless violence.
They directly incited these people to violence.
BTW, Frank Schaeffer will be the guest for our Book Salon on 6/21.
And the gunman is being charged with 15 terroristic acts plus murder. Wonder if O’Reilly and his ilk will think he was just exercising his free speech rights.
That’s true, isn’t it? Right-wing terror seems to constantly be excused or at least minimized, while even small stirrings of left-wing discontent are ruthlessly crushed.
Rightwing terror, at least some of the time, reinforces and serves the power structure. Leftwing political action, violent or otherwise, inherently challenges it. All you have to know about it.
Witness the nearly 50 years of official tolerance for all those hard-right anti-Castro Cuban terrorist groups in Miami. They are a useful tool…like violent anti-abortion militia crazoids who can be exploited, then disavowed.
He supposedly had a history of mental illness. Nothing that would infringe on his right to bear arms, apparently.
I believe so, although I’m struggling with the concept that one could be so easily excited by a disembodied talking head, yet still be able to tie their own shoes without supervision and eat meals without a bib.
And they all know God’s will, don’t they?
Good analogy.
The way I understand it is Billo is the real victim here.
Guns don’t kill until someone picks them up but they sure make it easier to do so. The suspect in Arkansas had a SKS rifle plus handguns. Pulling the trigger in society seems to get easier. O’Liar just gives them justification – Bill said it was OK, that Jesus will thank me.
O’Reilly and the rest play on their fears and resentments, their sense of disenfranchisement and marginalization. They think he is someone like them who is on their side.
Good. I look forward to that book salon.
“slaps head” Dang you are right! Poor Bill.
That will be his plea no doubt but he apparently was really mad at the gov’t and everyone else. I think many of these nuts are just angry and pick a cause that will allow them to say they were doing god’s work.
The conservative is always the aggrieved victim, by definition.
Long time no see, OFG!
LOL!!!
BILLOs idea of pregnancy was,when his little wifeypoo was preggers,he was stalking Andrea Makris with a vibrating dildo up his arse!
To mix metaphors, their hive mentality makes the Right an easier flock to fleece.
All their heroes have no actual allegiance, except to the almighty dollar.
Ron,
If Bugliosi is to be believed (I think he is, mostly) Manson was directly involved in the Tate-LaBianca muders (and some others besides.) Charlie drove the car, sent the killers into the Tate and LaBiance residences, etc.
Bill-O the Clown thinks his hands are clean on this because he didn’t specifically instruct Roeder to kill Dr. Tiller.
It’s a pity that he’s probably right about it in a criminal sense. I’m not sure about in the civil sense.
Well they openly worship Mammon. That should tell you something, but “the base” ain’t real perceptive and are more than a tad slow on the uptake.
He is not. Just ask the Aryan Nations.
o yes,it was frigtening,and NAPOLITANO and our prez made a big mistake backing off the terror report
All stalkers should be so considerate. The vibrator means they can’t run very fast and you can hear the buzzing as they approach…
I don’t want to ask those a**holes for the time of day, much less anything substantive.
I got jury summons in today’s mail — I’m on call through the first half of the Fall term. This truly sucks.
ya,at 30 million dollars a year,hope his gravytrain derails very soon
Speaking of slow on the uptake, in case you haven’t seen this yet.
-a recent Ohio State University study found that a majority of conservatives polled believed (Stephen) Colbert the man was one of them.
Point taken, but I think the difference between specifically recruiting an individual assassin and holding a cattle-call audition for a spot in the right-wing lunatic hall of fame and giving them a specific target is, morally, pretty small.
You would have thought Colbert had been sufficiently outed after the correspondents’ dinner a couple of years back. I guess he just does a really fantastic impression.
I’m with you — the moral distinction is much smaller than the legal distinction. Unfortunately, it’s the legal distinction that will keep Bill-O-the-Clown out of an orange jumpsuit.
As white male I find it bewildering how fast white men can don the cloak of aggrieved victimhood. Trust me, I’ve screwed up plenty of shit in my life, but since I learned the concept of responsibility, y’know, like in junior high, I step up and man up. To not do so is the mark of an immature weak wuss thumb-sucking bedwetter, which is an anagram of Bill O’Rielly. I know you may think that’s too many letters, but it’s just an illusion.
Senator Dorgan kicking ass on Colbert. No spoilers.
I really believe that Colbert could sit at his podium and tell everyone, “This is satire you knuckleheads! I don’t believe this stuff!”
A substantial fraction of the wingnuts would not believe him. The problem with satire is that it’s often lost on its targets. Just ask Dean Swift about that one…
I just got the same thing. Mine goes from August until next July.
Wow. We only get one-month callups in Iowa.
I saw that. Also the study that showed that conservatives really are stupid. (”Conservatism negatively correlated with cognitive ability”).
It may not, however, save him from a massive lawsuit. Or a vengeful person with nothing to lose and a yearning for immortality.
well, for the past couple weeks we’ve all come to understand that torture is acceptable, that belittling sitting federal judges based on race, gender and culture.
this week we are learning that there’s nothing wrong with a little murder.
what a great country we live in.
John Stuart Mill said it first, but he didn’t offer empirical evidence.
I don’t think Manson drove any car. It is possible that my memory is flawed as I read the book Helter Skelter in 1974 when it came out. I was 14 years old. Bugliosi’s big problem in convicting Charles Manson was convincing the jury of his control over others. He went into great detail over certain acts and tests he had them perform, but I do not remember Charlie driving any car.
You also have lots more people. We have the third lowest population density in the nation.
You win. Mine only goes to the end of October.
The aggravating thing is that I was on call two years ago, and when my term was up the Chief Judge thanked us for our service and told us we had a Get Out of Jury Duty Free card good for the next three years.
Apparently they changed the statute (or more likely, its interpretation) and my Get Out of Jury Duty Free card is no good. Now you have to be empaneled, or you can get called back every six months.
We’ve also learned from BillO that you can hide your screaming misogyny under a rug with the application of a mere million bucks.
It did not save the Aryan Nations. A civil suit bankrupted them to the tune of several million dollars.
One of the benefits of being a convicted felon. (ahem)
Don’t forget, it is also acceptable to promote violence against judges with whom one disagrees, as S.D. O’Conner pointed out.
Was the actual settlement ever disclosed? Linky please.
Really. I go for jury duty on Thursday here in CA and they’ll either put me up for a possible case or dismiss me. Where are you?
Well, it’s about time to crawl into bed with a good book. Be excellent to each other and never miss the chance to flip off Bill O’Reilly.
it’s late, i’m tired, i didn’t finish this sentence:
… belittling sitting federal judges based on race, gender and culture is acceptable social and professional behavior.
I was also called up two years ago and we only get a one year exemption. I did not have to actually serve on a jury here, but have in Oklahoma and Chicago (both civil cases). The one saving grace is that I am guaranteed to be dumped from any capital case. I am an opponent of the death penalty who has had three friends murdered. Neither side wants anything to do with me.
According wiki, you’re right. Manson did not go along on the Tate murders, he did go along on the LaBianca murders. My bad…
It is kind of startling, what we will countenance.
Hi karenmarie. Welcome to the sane FDL!
I’ve heard men accuse their wives of causing them pain because the men hurt their widdle hands punching the wives.
(((karenmarie)))
‘night. Evil Doc.
Car theft was among Manson’s early raps. Then, there was the fleet of dune buggies they were supposedly assembling for Charlie’s post Helter Skelter ascension from the hole in the desert.
True, he wasn’t there the night of the Tate murders. He accompanied the crew to the LaBianca home on the second night, leaving before the slaughter.
From the Manson wiki:
New Mexico, this is a District Court summons. We’re in the pool for four months, then a new pool comes in.
I served on a criminal jury in Federal Court, haven’t served in State Court. I was at serious risk of being empaneled on a nasty he-said she-said child sexual abuse case (the girl waited three years to come forward, no physical evidence at all) and I was able to get excused on the basis of personal circumstances.
Fortunately, we don’t have the death penalty here in New Mexico anymore, so I don’t have to worry about being on a capital punishment jury.
Mine is county court, so they run the gamut. Not sure why I keep getting picked on or why they empanel us so long here. I think perhaps they avoid the students.
The one capital case I was voir dired for, I got bounced for cause. I told the Judge that I’d be able to vote for the death penalty just as soon as the process could be shown to be error-free.
Hizzoner said, “Thank you, Doctor X. You’re excused.”
Even if they did, stating that you have a moral objection to capital punishment would likely prevent you from being chosen for the jury of a capital case.
Over here we get called up for a specific trial. I got called for a potentially long trial and got out of it on the basis of my self-employed status. They were very nice about it.
In my case they asked if anyone had friends or relatives murdered. I raised my hand along with a couple of others and we were excused.
It is absolutely guaranteed to get you bounced from the jury. The prosecutor will dump you immediately.
I think they track the attendance records, and if you’re reliable about showing up when called, your probability of “random” selection goes up.
I’m actually fairly impressed with the randomization processes used in our state courts. About 20 years ago they had a real problem and had demonstrably biased jury pools. Lawsuits were filed, and what came out randomizes the hell out of everything.
I’ve been assigned to a panel at random. I have a random number within that pool. When I have to go in for a trial, I’ll be assigned a random seat in the courtroom.
Basically, if you’re not in the first 20 or 25 jurors seated, your chance of being selected is nil.
In California, it is mandatory and automatic.
The unfairness of that is that the prosecutor doesn’t have to use up a peremptory challenge to dump those who have moral objections.
Good to know in thirty five years I’ve only lost half my mind.
Safe to say he hasn’t driven much in the last 40 years…
…and it would be nice if O’Reilly didn’t broadcast for the next forty.
You still have half your mind, I gather you’ve never been married? :-)
I’m out, splendid evening to all.
‘night, ratfood. Soft landings to you.
O’Reilly and the rest of the frothing demagogues…
Defense lawyer can and does do the same for friends and relatives of other murder victims. In either case, there is a reasonable presumption that you are biased against the case of one side or the other. Rather than take the time and the chance on grilling you individually, they just let you go. It expedites the whole process. I don’t have a problem with that, though I do have several with the death penalty itself.
Night. Think I had best head out as well. Those young minds won’t corrupt themselves in the morning.
I don’t have much of a problem with it in the abstract, either.
But the duality of the state having both the will and prerogative of taking a life, and enabling prosecutors to disadvantage a criminal defense strikes me as a bit itchy.
Tweety on RNC criticism of Obama’s daytrip to NYC:
“piss-ant criticism”.
Right. On.
‘night, Dr. Dick. Best to you, as always.
Olbermann had a good recommendation this evening. Banks, bars, airports and other public venues frequently broadcast Faux News (Fox Noise, whatever you prefer.) The next time you’re confronted by Faux News in a public place, leave. But before you leave, tell the manager exactly why you’re leaving — they’re showing Faux News, whose host incites murder.
I can testify that this approach is effective. Our credit union used to alternate among Faux, CNN, and Bloomberg. I was in line one day when Faux was on, and I asked to see the branch manager after I’d finished my business. I complained about Faux being on, she explained their rotation and that I wasn’t the first member to complain. The next member’s newsletter noted that Faux would not be in the rotation anymore. CNBC was added.
Good night, Dr. D.
Yes, Tweety appeared to be having fun with it.
Bringing up a very good point – that the only legal way to hit these eliminationist shills maximally is in the pocketbook.
Since money is all they understand, a rapid decline of income becomes quite the illustrative point for them.
Yup. I have jury duty this week.
Tonight after reading an article on the murder of Dr. Tiller I came across a Jan 2008 article about a book and I wanted to share a few paragraphs. Here’s some things that should be discussed during this SCJ nomination debate. The book is “The Common Secret: My Journey as an Abortion Doctor” by Dr. Susan Wicklund.
http://www.salon.com/mwt/featu…..index.html
Make the most of it. Once you have actually served on a jury, and particularly when you get a verdict, it forever changes the way you look at it.
Thanks, I will. I consider it a privilege to serve, and it kinda pisses me off when I hear people say they try to get out of it. (Even people paid for their day’s work)
I’d really like to get on an important case.
The authoritarian giving instructions to his “authoritarian followers”.
It was the last thing I expected, be selected. My father is a trial lawyer in this county, and all the lawyers and the judge know him.
But it was hugely interesting.
I view it as a duty, not a privilege.
I’ll do it, but I’m not particularly happy about it. But Newton’s right, once you’ve been on jury all the way through deliberation, you’ll never view it the way you did before.
Let us know how it goes.
Well, I’m off to bed. I have young adult minds to try to influence tomorrow.
‘night, folks.
Was it hard with the other jurors? I’ll be good if I’m selected!
Loo Hoo, if the day ever comes when I’m in the dock, I hope you’ll sit on my jury.
It was strange. It was a homicide, and once the jury retired to deliberate, one of us decided to state that he had already made up his mind, that he wanted murder one and he was just going to sit there until we all came to the same conclusion.
He lasted 5 minutes and was tossed by the judge.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, RonD.
I wonder why he didn’t just say he wanted off the jury to begin with? It’s easy enough to fake something.
NO, he wanted to stay. He was a bear of a man, and I think he thought we would not go straight to the judge.
Wrong.
You feel, and you can forget whatever sense of justice you have felt in your life up to that point, a huge weight of responsibility. You can’t help it. We didn’t let a minute go by before we called the bailiff.
Bill ORielly may not want to accept his role in Hate mongering and insidious rage enabling of the extreme minds that are paranoid and mentally unstable.
BillO didn’t pull the trigger on Tillman. he was the cheer leader and propagator for it.
He says we hate FOX, but that can’t be. I don’t even think of FOX unless someone else brings it up.
Thanks Watertiger.
“And on the seventh day Murdoch rested…I puked but that skeezy bastard…”
Agreed. There is a vast difference between parody of existing language standards and hate speech. Somewhere between take a hint but short of hit piece.
Thing is, as long as progressives still make cozy with the Julius Streichers on the Left, they won’t have a leg to stand on when it comes to taking down the O’Reillys on the right.
It’s not a partisan matter. To the targets, their families and communities (of which we are all a part, bottom line), it’s a matter of domestic terrorism.
Do we have the integrity to apply pressure to peers when they commence down that path? Do we have the integrity to step out of and speak out within networks who still rely on scape-goating and extra-judicial shortcuts for justice?
The media, including the internet, is still far better at taking out individuals than it is at addressing systemic and establishment issues. Perhaps the next evolution is web 3.0. Cause 2.0 is just 1.0 with greater expediency and all its attendant haste-making waste. De-contextualizing, cherry-picking data/talking points, galvanizing the frothing hordes. Till it’s done to death.
It’s time to examine what equal protection and due process mean across the boards whether we’re speaking in terms of journalism, adjudication or financial transactions. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. We need to work it at every turn, including within our own communities.
The compelling law that comes with protecting one’s own necessary becomes a 360 exercise. At least to those who want to evolve beyond the status quo. While we’re at it, don’t kill the messenger.
Again: I think the story has yet to be told about Tiller’s assailant. Wouldn’t it suck if he was a member of PETA or something?
So please, let O’Reilly make an ass of himself, but don’t accuse him of being complicit until you *know that he is.*
I have to agree with the letter of what the Right is saying on this, even if I doubt the underlying sincerity.
Lousy ideas should be denounced as lousy ideas. But don’t confuse them with acts.
Saying that someone deserves death or even that you’d like to kill him is not the same as doing it. If it were, many common rhetorical expressions and all murder mysteries would be criminal–as the advocates of censorship have indeed argued in the past. Yet you’d do nothing to reduce the level of violence in society.
Dr. Tiller was a public figure. People knew what he did and where he did it. His church and home address were easy to figure out from public sources. Knowledge of who he was and where he was did not kill him, nor did opinions of what he did or what kind of person he was. Indeed, without such knowledge and without positive public opinion, he couldn’t have pursued his profession. So no one can condemn opposing points of view just because they are not positive.
Mr. Tiller was murdered. That his killer was associated with opinions that condemned abortion is neither here nor there.