Repeat – someone is going to get hurt. UPDATE
Mon, May 26, 2008
UPDATE: My response to Reynolds and his commenters here.
In the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, here’s what Bill Clinton had to say.
Such rhetoric seems to vindicate President Bill Clinton’s charge that there are “purveyors of hate and division” on U.S. airwaves who “leave the impression, by their very words, that violence is acceptable.” Clinton was roundly condemned by right-wing talk radio hosts and their allies for “politicizing” the Oklahoma City bombing, but his basic point is undeniable: There is much speech on the radio today that advocates or justifies violence.
No one could predict that Timothy McVeigh would emerge from the environment created by talk radio hatred, which I’m quite certain McVeigh surrounded himself with 24/7, and take the kind of action he took in Oklahoma City. No one can predict what psychopath is within earshot of whatever manages to make it into the mainstream “discourse”, and what that psychopath will feel vindicated doing by the mere fact that others feel free to escalate the words beyond any definition of decency.
Here’s the latest manifestation of the “discourse” which Hillary Clinton has seen fit to create.
The fact that Fox News intentionally wants people to confuse the Illinois Sen and Presidential candidate with the terrorist Osama Bin Ladin (someone whose capture and death many Americans have fantasized about) and then, on public airwaves, openly wish for violence against the Senator – Are they trying to encourage someone to kill Obama? Are they openly inciting violence? Isn’t that against the law – like yelling fire in a crowded theater?
Under no circumstance would anyone make such a statement absent Hillary Clinton deciding to invoke the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy as a reason for staying in this primary. Those who wish to claim there could never be any causal relationship between Hillary’s comments, and the horror that might become some psychopath’s new mission, are missing the point. Certainly there is no proximate cause – just as certainly, there is a “but for” cause. But for Hillary’s rhetoric, a Fox News commentator would never go there. But for a Fox News commentator wishing for someone to kill Obama, some psychopath might never go there.
Bill Clinton saw where that could lead in 1995. Here’s what I wrote about this in March, 2008, ironically after Barack’s speech on race.
It is inevitable, repeat, inevitable, that people are going to get hurt. It may be a few, it may be many. And no amount of begging them to tone it down is going to get these “thought leaders” to do so. The best thing we can hope for is that when these acts of hate happen in response to the drone around them, the news is reported as it happens, and the wider world sees it for what it is. Maybe that can keep it from getting to a point where we all find ourselves praying for Barack Obama’s safety. Daily.
Approaching June, my prayers for Barack Obama’s safety have indeed become a daily plea. I’m not a big prayer guy, but I had no idea Hillary Clinton would make that necessary for my own peace of mind. Not in March, and not today. But she has. And she, and her supporters, are complicit in this because of their silence, their apologia, and their utter tone-deafness.
None of us are surprised that a Fox News commentator would be this irresponsible, the surprise is that Hillary Clinton would make such irresponsibility not only possible, but likely, through Hillary’s own actions.
Tags: barack obama, bill clinton, fox news, hillary clinton, racism, rfk
May 26th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Shalom Tim,
Comments by Clinton, Limbaugh or any Fox News commentators won’t play a role in the mind of anyone who decides to make an assassination attempt on Barack Obama.
Such a link would be like trying to tie rape to pornography.
The Obama family had this discussion before he announced. He, and they, know that by running for President he made himself the potential target of some nut case. His secret service detail knows that their’s is the most difficult and dangerous political job in 2008.
That Obama has accepted this risk speaks to his character. That his family stands with him speaks to their bravery and love; for the man and their nation.
Clinton’s words were ill-spoken but not ill-meant. The reporting on the days following, if anything, only increase the tiny chance that some waste of human genome might act.
The primaries will end at the convention and shouldn’t end a second sooner.
B’shalom,
Jeff
May 26th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Calm down, no one is going to get “hurt.”
Geez SO dramatic!
“which I’m quite certain McVeigh surrounded himself with 24/7″
So your premise is that Timothy McVeigh bombed Oklahoma City because he listened to The Drudge Report? and was filled with hate because of Mark Lavin and Savage Nation radio?
Where is your evidence?
Despite the FACT that McVeigh was a purveyor of White Supremest literature “The Turner Diaries” or that he claimed his act was in protest of the Waco/Branch Davidian siege AND Ruby Ridge and that was AGAINST Clinton administration’s Janet Reno. McVeigh said he began harboring anti-government feelings since his service in the Gulf War. (and he claimed he had a tracking chip in his butt placed there by the government? I suppose Rush Limbaugh put that there?)
You are ONLY offended because Obama is YOUR candidate of choice, had the same comments been made of Hillary or McCain you would celebrate.Exaggerating your “offended-ness” is “Much ado about NOTHING”!
I suspect you would NOT be offended had someone said the SAME thing of George W. Bush, THE CURRENT President of the United States, so your “offense” is ridiculous.
No doubt Hillary’s mouth was working faster than her brain and all politicians can be blamed for stupid comments. Are you aware that Michelle Obama said that Barak could be shot just for being a black man while pumping gas? Are you outraged at her ridiculous suggestion of black man being shot in an upper class Chicago suburb petrol station? I guess Michelle doesn’t trust her predominantly white neighbors. That comment shows why Michelle isn’t ready to be first lady, she doesn’t know America. SHE of all people should know the danger is in poor neighborhoods where there is little opportunity. Typical stereotyping of people that read about bad neighborhoods that they drive by on their commute to upper class neighborhoods, and think the media is an accurate snapshot of the world. With that thinking there is a plane crash everyday and Miley Cirus represents American youth.If I thought like that, being a minority, I should be scared of getting stabbed every time I get my car washed, ridiculous.
While you are pleading the Rod Parsley style “blood of Jesus” for Obama’s protection and safety you should crack a Bible and read Psalms 119:165 “Great peace have they that love thy law and NOTHING shall OFFEND them.” Relax, Obama isn’t going anywhere.
You know I enjoy reading your style-isms but you are WAY off base on this one. (along with the liberal media) Clinton made a jack-ass comment. Whoop-tee-do! That is why candidates need handlers and should stick to their scripts and tele-prompters. They can’t think on their feet. They are all jack-asses if you listen to them long enough.
You don’t give our Secret Service agents enough credit for their Secret Service overtime and LARGEST PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE protection detail, in history.
I thought “we” were ready for a black president…if we are, why are you so worried about him? We are READY! He will ride into Washington on his donkey while palm leaves are placed at his feet, followers singing Kum-by-ya. Why would anyone want to hurt “Our political Lord” and Savior?
You are concerned for Hillary’s comments because they point to a REAL concern for Obama, the United States MIGHT NOT be ready for an African American President and she ignorantly expressed the same concern that everyone is feeling about him. She VOCALIZED what much of the word already THINKS, she did it in a twisted manner.There IS a real concern for Obama’s safety. But who is concerned for the lady running for office. Would a white woman need a large extra security?
I was invited to a fundraising event with Chlesea Clinton and SHE HAD NO SECRET SERVICE!!!!! The only daughter of a former President and a current Presidential Candidate….wow!
Why does Michelle Obama?
Cindy McCain has NO Secret Service protection.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/04/03/mccain_has_not_requested_secre.html
The Obama’s have a REAL need for security because America is SOOO ready for this candidate. *sarcasm* This flap proves it.
However, the only thing that is going to get hurt are peoples feelings when the outcome of the election doesn’t meet their expectations.
May 26th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Damn,
that was an excellent response…
May 26th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
There have been more calls for assassination of political figures, Bush and Cheney mostly but there have been others, on Lefty sites such as Daily Kos and Huffington Post than there has ever been calls for violence on Rush Limbaugh’s show.
Both Kennedy’s were assasinated by persons from groups recognized as “heroes of the Left”. A defector to the Soviet Union, and a Palestinian.
May 26th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
“There have been more calls for assassination of political figures, Bush and Cheney mostly but there have been others, on Lefty sites such as Daily Kos and Huffington Post”
Indeed. Kos and Huff are cesspools of this type of filth.
May 26th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
We live in the Era of Histrionics.
Overwrought, melodramatic keening is the order of the day. Blogs read like romance novels. Moral outrage finds its expression in the high-pitched, queeny fulminations of Keith Olbermann.
It’s mortifying.
Man up, for God’s sake.
May 26th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Ditto what Schmennis wrote…excellent response!!
May 26th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Must admit, I am unfamiliar with your blog, but I find this post to be just a bit on the paranoid side. Quoting W.J.Clinton re Tim McVeigh doesn’t exactly bolster your argument. He was just taking a cheap shot at the standard liberal bogey-man: Talk Radio.
And your statement,
“But for a Fox News commentator wishing for someone to kill Obama, some psychopath might never go there.”
… is just absurd. You know not of what you speak.
May 26th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Dare I say it? Schmennis’ response was better than the original article, which was good, too, btw.
May 26th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Good Lord, You’re an idiot.
“No one could predict that Timothy McVeigh would emerge from the environment created by talk radio hatred”
Possibly because he didn’t. Well, back to watching Law and Order, the leading cause of murder, robbery and white collar crime.
May 26th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Democracy Guy?
You’re the one who misquoted Jonathan Adler, then went bananas when someone politely pointed it out.
If it makes you feel any better, most of us on the right want to see a) the Democratic Party in hilarious shambles, and b) no one getting hurt.
May 26th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Hmmm… I’m still looking for an actual quote of Bill Clinton’s purported statement in 1995. All I’ve seen is a quote from an article parsing Clinton; not his actual words.
Your rant fell flat in the first paragraph with Clinton’s “quote” and only got worse after that.
May 26th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
“blogger interrupted?”….more like a brain fart, what a dunce.
May 26th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
“That Obama has accepted this risk speaks to his character.”
Actually it speaks more to his ambition…
May 26th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
i didn’t expect anyone arriving here via instapundit to actually get it. but hey, beggars for links can’t be choosers.
May 26th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Isn’t the mere fact that you are posting about an assassination attempt simply keeping the thought alive? Doesn’t that make you complicit too by raising it? What if a poor, windblown, rudderless soul had not heard Hillary’s comment, but only reads it here?
Holy crap! I just left a comment, perpetuating this discussion and encouraging MORE assassination thoughts! Now I’M complicit! God only knows what kind of unstable psychopath could read this, and decide to pull the trigger just because he wanted to prove me wrong.
If only there was some controlling legal authority to moderate these thoughts! Then everyone would be safe at last.
May 26th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Tim, just because people disagree with you doesn’t mean they don’t “get it.”
May 26th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
What a foolish post. To whom are you referring? I am not aware of ANY rightwing talk radio host who is threatening or justifying violence. Your argument is just a way to rationalize censorship and re-institution of the “failness doctrine.” The assassination of RFK was mentioned by Hillary. To be fair, I do not think she was saying, like some Mafia guy, “It sure would be shame if someone broke those nice plate glass windows.” I think she was only giving the usual Democratic worship at the shrine of the Kennedys — not only was RFT a politician, he was a martyr! Do you remember that RFK was killed by a radical Palestinian, not a rightwing opponent of civil rights. As a matter of fact, we do not know how Timothy McVeigh spent his time or if he EVER listened to talk radio. If he were a dedicated listened of Air America, would you then say they were “spreading hate”? What Clinton said was really an attempt to use the terrorist event for political purposes, something disreputable when Bush alleged does it. Why would Republicans want to kill Obama? Hillary is the stronger candidate. Obama is an elitist candidate who cannot reach the “lunch-pail” voter. He is also apparently hard of hearing since he sat in the pews for 20 years and was apparently unaware of the Rev. Wright’s anti-white anti-American views.
May 26th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
“No one could predict that Timothy McVeigh would emerge from the environment created by talk radio hatred, which I’m quite certain McVeigh surrounded himself with 24/7…”
Apparently you missed all the causality questions in that philosophy and rhetoric class, didn’t you.
Let’s try this again. How do you explain all the other people who “surrounded” themselves 24/7 with talk radio and did not engage in terrorism?
May 26th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Hold the phone. I’m aware of Hillary’s statement, that was well publicized.
What Fox News commentator stated that they wanted Obama to be killed? Who, and when?
I know people make jokes conflating the two, I have myself, but that’s hardly the same as encouraging people to kill him. Obama, that is. Osama I would not lose any sleep over.
May 26th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
Mr. Interrupted, this is theologically very interesting.
Who are you praying to and what power does he/she/it/them have to protect your Obamessiah?
May 26th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
I suspect you were a liberal arts majot(thought processes aren’t too strong) with a theatre minor (look at me!).could you confirm?
May 26th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
“i didn’t expect anyone arriving here via instapundit to actually get it. but hey, beggars for links can’t be choosers.”
But of course not! How could center-right knuckle draggers ever “get it”? But seriously, if you’re going to cast your pearls before us unworthy swine, couldn’t you spare an extra moment to enlighten, revise and extend your remarks for our edification? Please sir, can I have some more prObama drama queen histrionics?
May 26th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
ah yes, the intelligence of conservatism. i forgot about that one.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:19 am
What a load of hooey. 1) Barak Obama is not anti-American; 2) Hillary Clinton is not anti-American; 3) Rush Limbaugh is not anti-American.
What we have here is a straightforward knock-down drag-out political battle.
Hint for the retarded: if Obama or Clinton ends up as the Democratic nominee, Rush may well celebrate. Neither of them has a snowball’s chance in hell of winning. The only question will be, will it be worse than the McGovern debacle? I can’t (personally) see much chance that either of them can prevent a rout of extraordinary dimensions, such that the Democrats lose control of both houses of Congesss.
You are of course free to daydream, if that is your wont.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:38 am
Good point. The real risk to a candidate is not the psychopaths, per se. They have enough focus on their self-benefit to realize that assassins have a 100% past probability of being caught and spending their lives in a cell or being snuffed.
The real risk is a narcissist who is willing to run that risk in the name of being memorialized. It is irresponsible, to use the mildest term possible, for any public figure, and for the media covering them, to give play to stories that would awaken this idea in their minds. Personally, I’m going to vote GOP. But I would happily join in mugging anyone who used the A word in connection with any candidate or public figure, or said anything hinting at it.
May 27th, 2008 at 6:55 am
Hmmmm, Fox News is deliberately confusing the two names, Osama and Obama? Hey, did either of you write for Loose Change?
Please. The reason why the names get confused is because they are extremely similar. Do you NOT remember the famous gaffe of Ted Kennedy last year when he called Obama “Osama”, and then got stuck in an Elmer Fudd stutter trying to correct himself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APx2YJ-_jos
Based on you “interesting” theory, Ted Kennedy is in on the conspiracy with Fox News. How Machiavellian of Ted to endorse Obama while all the while conspiring to have him bumped off by turning him into our most hated enemy!
Next time maybe you should take a breath before posting such a theory.
May 27th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
so much fun.
June 6th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
That’s right Tim. Someone is going to get hurt. At the rate YOU are going.
June 9th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
it’s my favorite part of stars wars when they blow the f outta Porkins – cover that jackass
July 9th, 2008 at 11:22 am
TIM,
I am starting to think you are RIGHT!
Obama’s Plane Scare
July 08, 2008 7:36 AM
“This was not Obama’s regular campaign plane, which is being overhauled. It was a loaner, having previously been used by Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY.”
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/07/obamas-plane-sc.html
Is it just a coincidence that Barak Obama’s plane, that was forced to make an emergency landing, WAS Hillary Clinton’s campaign plane, and it was on loan to Obama while his plane is being “over hauled”???
*cue Steppenwolf – Magic Carpet Ride*
October 8th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Isn’t anyone going to shoot the man? What the hell are they waiting for? Are they waiting for him to actually get elected?????
October 10th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
McVeigh = Patsy.
October 11th, 2008 at 11:42 am
For those ignorant, racist fools that espouse such disgust After viewing that backwoods video, I feel sick for you all. You are jealous, ignorant and pathethic!!!!!!!!
Go drop dead
March 11th, 2009 at 5:03 am
I dont usually comment, but after reading through so much info I had to say thanks