None the less, it may be that incitements to violence have at long last lost some of whatever it was that protected them. Racist Radio bloviator, blogger and frequent guest of Sean Hannity, Hal Turner has been arrested in Connecticut after he advised Connecticut Catholics to get out their guns and go after two legislators and an Ethics Committee official. Is there a difference between that and asking listeners to poison Judges? Perhaps someone in Connecticut thought the threat a little too credible; a little too specific, seeing that Turner promised on his blog to publish the addresses of his targets. Perhaps a little too much not to take seriously following the latest murder of Dr. Tiller.
"Mr. Turner's comments are above and beyond the threshold of free speech,"said Police Chief Michael J. Fallon according to Raw Story today.
"He is inciting others through his website to commit acts of violence and has created fear and alarm. He should be held accountable for his conduct."Yes he should.
Does this signal the beginning of an era when people are called to take responsibility for their words? Don't be silly, but if prompts the media to begin to reassess those they dub "conservatives" I think all of us should welcome it no matter what we call ourselves.
Captain: “Fairness, balance and objectivity, if I could find much of it, would occupy a smaller file.”
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely spot on! And while we are at it, maybe we should revisit the Fairness Doctrine, Section 315 of the Communications Act passed by Congress in 1937 and repealed in 1987 under Reagan’s FCC.
If my stats are correct, right wing radio dominates the airwaves with an estimated 90% market share. Thus, listeners no longer have access to balanced coverage with opposing viewpoints, and hate mongers like Limbaugh and Savage have a virtual monopoly.
The recent murder of Dr, Tiller points to a major failing of the MSM in failing to debunk the deceptions and outright lies promulgated by pro-life extremists. For years, pro-lifers got a free pass in advancing the notion that late-term abortion was tantamount to murder.
Now we learn too late what late-term abortion is really about. Lindsay at Majikthise posted two articles on the story, here and here. In the comment sections, please note that several woman came forward to share their stories. Like this for instance:
“Why did I and my husband seek his services? Because we were told by our physicians here that after my child was delivered the state would step in and keep my son alive by artificial means and there by subject him to a life time of surgeries which he wouldn't have gotten any satisfaction from since he would be in a constant vegetative state. We wanted our son to have a peaceful death since he couldn't have a meaningful life.”
On The Rachel Maddow Show earlier this week, there was an interviewee diagnosed with cancer in her third trimester, who could NOT begin life-saving chemo until her pregnancy was terminated.
This side of the late-term abortion story was never told … tragically too late for Dr Tiller. The hate mongers of crap radio, like the lunatic fringe of the pro-life movement, have dominated these debates and kept informed discourse away from the public. No longer. We have been forewarned.
It is high time that American citizens recognize that along with our vast amount of rights come an equal amount of responsiblity in how we use them and to show some restraint in not abusing them.
ReplyDeleteThat load of vomit could be an exercise from a High School Rhetoric class, where mediocre adolescents get to pick apart the fallacies, lies and pathetic attempts at specious trickery. It's all too easy to interest an adult.
ReplyDeleteIt's just an expression of irrational, self-contradictory rage -- the pose stupid people adopt; stupid people enraged by the facts of life, by the failures of their stupid credos, the impotence of their hatred and the dim, inchoate realization of their deeply worthless, meaningless, ineffectual and disposable lives.
Cursed is the ground for thy sake.
Capt, you are a better person than I to even respond to such sensless vitriol.
ReplyDeleteThanks, but no, I'm being dumb.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteSerr8d - if you wish to post a comment at the swash zone, please refer to our comment policy in the top right corner.
ReplyDeleteIf you need some definitions:
civil - adhering to the norms of polite social intercourse; not deficient in common courtesy.
discourse - communication of thought by words; talk; conversation: as in earnest and intelligent discourse.
troll - regularly posts specious arguments, flames or personal attacks to a newsgroup, discussion list,email or blog for no other purpose than to annoy someone or disrupt a discussion.
I do hope this clears up any misconceptions you might have about the purpose of this blog.
All further inappropriate posts here will be deleted without comment.
I'll second that. Way to go, Rocky !
ReplyDeleteAnd I see I have plenty of help keeping our beach a "no troll" zone!
ReplyDelete