David Neiwert’s site has a post by Sara Robinson, who writes about some murderous nutcase who killed a couple of people in Knoxville last year, and recently wrote a letter that explains that he did it because he hates liberals. He describes his killing as a political statement, claiming that he wanted to kill “every Democrat in the Senate & House, the 100 people in Bernard Goldberg’s book.” Police found books by Michael Savage, Sean Hannity, and Bill O’Reilly in the man’s home.
Being a sensible person, Sara Robinson discounted this man as someone who was obviously mentally disturbed. Bernard Goldberg might make the case that certain liberals are hurting our country, and you might agree or disagree with his arguments . . . but certainly, Ms. Robinson recognizes that Goldberg doesn’t ask people to go out and kill liberals.
Ha, ha! Just kidding! No, seriously, she blames Bernard Goldberg and other conservative commentators for the killings:
Nicely done, Messrs. Hannity, Goldberg, Limbaugh, Savage and O’Reilly — and all your lesser brethren who keep the hate speech spewing 24/7/365 across every field and into every shop in the country. There is no more debate to be had, no more doubt about it: What you did in the name of “entertainment,” and for the sake of the almighty ratings, raised and animated a monster like Jim Adkisson, gave him a list of targets (“the 100 people in Bernard Goldberg’s book”), and was directly responsible for the deaths of two brave and decent people. Adkisson was clearly angry and crazy — but his “manifesto” draws the clearest, brightest line possible between the media he consumed and his actions that terrible Sunday morning.
(My emphasis.)
I’m sorry? Bernard Goldberg’s actions were “directly responsible” for these murders? Does she mean that? Really?
In my view, Bernard Goldberg is a mensch. I hereby pledge to Paypal Sara Robinson $50 in cold hard American cash if she can produce a quote from Bernard Goldberg that shows him deliberately inciting anyone to violence against liberals. I don’t expect I’ll have to pay.
I’m not a big fan of most of the other people named by Robinson. I’m on record as saying that Michael Savage is a moron, and I have called O’Reilly a “humorless and self-absorbed blowhard.”
But they’re not people who are out deliberately inciting people to violence. As a sensible leftist friend who shall go unnamed wrote me about the Knoxville murderer:
Given the fact that he’s a lunatic, he could’ve taken his marching orders from Ryan Seacrest or the Ghost of Andrew Jackson and he still would’ve shot up some people in a church. . . . I don’t think Goldberg or talk radio incited this lunatic to violence—they merely served to justify a crazy person’s crazy actions. No one blames J.D. Salinger for killing John Lennon.
Amen. Let’s have more talk like that, and less silliness from the likes of Neiwert and his ilk.
P.S. I have quite a few more things to say about Robinson’s silly attack. I have tucked the rest into the extended entry. Click “more” if you’re interested (or if you’re reading the individual post, just keep reading).
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