Beck claims 'I don't use [violent rhetoric] on or off the air': Oh really?

Talk radio under siege
As I reported on the main site today, conservative media figures’ fears that the left will use Tucson to clamp down on them are not entirely unfounded. Rep. Jim Clyburn wants to bring back the Fairness Doctrine – a move aimed directly at Talk Radio – while Media Matters CEO David Brock asked Rupert Murdoch to rein in or possibly even fire Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin. It’s hard not to read today’s news that Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee plans to ban state em...

Media Matters For America Calls Out Rupert Murdoch, Fox News, Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin
David Brock (r) and friends. (Hey, is that Bawney Fwank I see?) Oh please. Now David Brock has his panties in a bunch because Beck used vampire imagery and compared him to a “smelly kid in third grade.” (Media Matters) — Today, in response to the tragic shooting in Arizona and the increasing focus on the tone of political discourse, Media Matters for America founder and CEO David Brock issued an Open Letter to News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch asking him to rein in Fox News persona...

Left Lays Seige After Arizona Shootings
Sheriff Dupnik’s comments immediately after the horrific weekend shootings wherelaid the blame on conservative Talk Radio have caused the American left and right even further apart. Though there is no proof that the suspect Jared Loughner ever listened to talk radio, and in fact may actually have leftist beliefs, Sheriff Dupnik continued to pound the airwaves and lengthened his fifteen minutes of fame into a fifth day. Despite the fact that he’s responsible for the investigation of ...

A Challenge To Glenn Beck: Will He Cool His Paranoid Anti-Government Rhetoric?
On Sunday, federal officials charged Jared Lee Loughner on two counts of Murder and three counts of Attempted Murder in Saturday’s shooting rampage in Tucson, AZ that critically wounded Rep. Gabriel Giffords (D-AZ) and killed a Federal Judge and a Giffords Staffer, among others. In the wake of the tragedy, many are wondering what motivated Loughner — whether he was a mentally-ill lone wolf vigilante or inspired by something else. Information coming out about Loughner portrays the ...

Eric Boehlert: The Right's Rising Tide of Violent Rhetoric
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords appears be the latest Victim of anti-government violence that has taken hold in America since 2009. It's a wave of violence that's cresting along with a tide of hateful, insurrectionist Rhetoric that far too many Conservatives refuse to condemn. Instead, the toxic talk is routinely defended as being nothing more than spirited debate. It's not. It's deadly. And until those in positions of power say so, the dangerous Rhetoric is likely to continue. Whether that Rhetoric ...

Is Ed Schultz Show Really the Best Venue For Lectures About Vitriolic Speech?
Media Matters' Eric Boehlert chose an odd venue to lecture conservative media figures about civility in the American political dialogue. Has he ever watched Schultz' show?...

Open thread for night owls: More than rhetorical violence
In mourning for those who lost their lives in the Tucson massacre Saturday: To the survivors, including Congresswoman Giffords, go our wishes that their recoveries be swift and complete. President Obama has asked for a memorial moment of silence Monday at 11 a.m. Eastern time. • • • • • At Talk to Action, the Veteran watcher of white supremacist and anti-semitic groups Chip Berlet writes, The Becking of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. An excerpt: From a moral viewpoint R...

Media Matters new gay rights initiative names staffer
Trevor Thomas, director of communications for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, is joining Equality Matters, a Gay Rights and advocacy offshoot of the liberal group Media Matters. Thomas has been named Director of Programs for the new group. The move comes as Media Matters grows and expands beyond media criticism into more direct advocacy. In October, Media Matters president David Brock told Politico that the group was slowly expanding beyond its traditional role, as it collected 15,000 si...

Vitriol spinners losing the battle for hearts and minds?
The view from our front porch at daybreak this morning: Deck cranes of the container ship "West Bay" out of Hong Kong catch the sun's early rays dockside at Eastern Minerals across the street. "It looks like the vitriol spinners are losing the battle for hearts & minds," we just twittered," referencing a brand new CBS News poll that finds "Most Americans Feel Rhetoric, Tucson Shooting Unrelated": Overall, 57 percent of respondents said the harsh polit...

Beck, Limbaugh respond to shooting
Conservative media figures like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh are raising fears that liberals could use the Tucson shootings as an excuse to clamp down on their voices, even as two prominent liberals made public statements urging that the FCC and Fox News do just that. Limbaugh and Beck, along with other conservative voices like Sarah Palin and Bill O’Reilly, had come under fire in the hours after the shooting from liberals such as Keith Olbermann and Paul Krugman, who accused them of us...

Media Matters Boehlert Links Tucson Shooting To Rush, Fox News And Breitbart
Media Matters’ Boehlert Links Tucson Shooting to Rush, Fox News and Breitbart from Breitbart on Vimeo. ...

The Ailes Edict
Forgive me if I’m highly doubtful that Roger Ailes will change anything on Fox News Channel. But the interview with Russell Simmons sure is great PR and is getting a lot of attention. Former Pres. Clinton spoke to the BBC saying politics shouldn’t “degenerate into demonisation” and that the rhetoric “falls on the unhinged and the hinged alike.” He certainly knows this first hand. Less surprising was that Ailes used the platform to scoff at the notion that angr...

Beck Stokes Fears Of "A Ban On Guns" Following AZ Shooting
Beck Claims Politicians Are "Pushing" To Ban Guns Following AZ Shooting Beck: Lawmakers Are Pushing "A Ban On Guns." On his Fox News show, Beck claimed that lawmakers are pushing "a ban on guns" in response to the Arizona shooting. Beck stated: BECK: It didn't take long for Washington to come out with their solution to the problem of the alleged violent Rhetoric. The solution, however, comes despite not having a shred of evidence that this crazed gunman was motivated by anything other than his...

Glenn Beck seeks Congress members for Giffords letter
Fox News's Glenn Beck is recruiting members of Congress to sign on to his Open Letter denouncing violence and stressing that Jared Lee Loughner's shooting bears no connection to politics. My colleague Jonathan Allen obtained an email from a Fox producer, Virginia Grace, to Congressional offices this morning: From: Grace, Virginia Sent: Tuesday, January 11, 2011 9:45 PM Subject: [LIKELY_SPAM]Glenn Beck// Fox News Request for Rep. .... Dear XXXX, Following the tragedies in Arizona, Glenn Beck ha...

Hate -- Carefully Taught
From Nicole Sandler at Radio or Not -- Hate. Comments are restricted to Registered Users only. Glenn Beck's eliminationist attacks on Progressives: How long before someone acts on this violent Rhetoric? Beck claims 'I don't use [violent rhetoric] on or off the air': Oh really? Anderson Cooper Brings on 'Left Behind' Actor Cameron to Discuss Bird and Fish Deaths in Arkansas -- Seriously? Anderson Cooper Brings on 'Left Behind' Actor Cameron to Discuss Bird and Fish Deaths in Arkansas -- Seriously...

Glenn Beck Mocks Rhetoric Hysteria
I’m not a big fan of Glenn Beck because I think many times he is over the top.  However, I did enjoy his nine minute bit pointing out the absurdity of Congressman Bob Brady’s (D-PA) call to make “threatening” language and symbols used towards elected officials illegal....

A Modest Proposal to End The Progressive Media Tuscon Hate Talk Dont Bash, Find Other Things For Them To Blame
Sometimes it’s very hard not to feel empathy for The Progressive media; their arguments keep getting  shot down rejected. While most Americans have been occupied with praying for the wounded or mourning for the loss of the  dead respirationally challenged from that horrible Tuscon shooting perpetuated by the mentally imbalanced Jared Loughner, the Progressives in the Mainstream Media have been occupying their time  attacking placing blame on everyone and everything conservat...

Overheated Rhetoric on Overheated Rhetoric
If the pundit class were merely seeking to use the Tucson shootings as an opportunity to open a debate on civility in American life, that would simply be a case of misguided opportunism. There is a time and a place for such a debate. A better time would be when the dead are buried and the wounded have recovered, and when cooler heads can prevail in such a debate. Overheated Rhetoric is misplaced in a debate about overheated rhetoric. I have not heard anyone on these pages suggest that our public...

If you really believed political rhetoric caused Jared Loughner's killing spree, you wouldn't dare to say it.
Some people displayed a crazed Hunger for a vicious murderer who was inspired by the criticism of the government that has been so powerful over the last 2 years. Jared Loughner was not that guy, and, of course, they looked ridiculous and despicable jumping to say that he was. Now, what if it were really true that incendiary political Rhetoric pushed mentally unstable individuals over the edge and caused them to act out murderously? Picture such a mentally unstable person reading and listening t...

murdoch gets letters
and let's hope he takes action on this one. David Brock calls on murdoch to tone down the violent Rhetoric. ...you have the power to order them to stop using violent rhetoric, on and off of fox's air. if they fail to do so, it is Incumbent upon you to fire them or be responsible for the climate they create and any consequences thereof. - Media Matters...

Media Matters Calls On Murdoch To Rein In Beck, Palin
In a letter delivered to News Corp.CEO Rupert Murdoch Monday afternoon, and obtained by TPM, Media Matters founder David Brock says the time has come for Fox News to take responsibility for its programming. Specifically, Brock is calling on Murdoch to make Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck tone down their Rhetoric on threat of termination -- or to be complicit in acts of political violence. "Beck and Palin are two of Fox's most recognizable figures," Brock writes. "Before this heartbreaking tragedy i...

Westboro Baptist Liberalism
Fred Phelps, crazed leader of the Westboro Baptist Church cult, has become infamous for blaming any bad event on the evils of Homosexuality. Earthquake in Haiti? Blame the gays. Combat troop deaths in Iraq? Ditto. Phelps' Logic Works thusly: God literally hates people who engage in Homosexual conduct and unless societies take the steps to ban and punish such action, God is going to destroy them. Any Natural Disaster or mass Murder is, accordingly, the will of God being carried out on the &qu...;

Figures George Soros Has A Hand In Anti-Fracking Movement
If it’s good for America, George Soros is against it. In this case, it’s shale on our own land that’s rich with Natural Gas. Recently a friend of mine informed me she decided she’s against hydro-fracking (fracking) in the Marcellus shale after watching the film Gasland. She told me everything they said was true and she was very concerned about fracking in her area because her water source is a well. Although I had heard about the film, I hadn’t seen it but I encou...

The Violent Rhetoric End Game, Revealed.
The “Violent Rhetoric” End Game, Revealed. At last we see the end game of all the weekend “violent rhetoric” talk from the left. Several leading House Democrats blamed the inflammatory rhetoric for contributing to the Tucson massacre, while Republicans denounced criticism of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) following the tragedy. One lawmaker, Rep. Robert Brady (D-Pa.), has said he would introduce a bill to make it a crime to threaten or incite violence against a federa...

Should Tucson Prompt a Discussion About Climate Change?
Some angry e-mails this morning about civility, specifically about my earlier posts asserting that, so far, the Tucson massacre story has more to do with Mental Illness and Gun Control than it has to do with violent Rhetoric in political discourse. Here's one such e-mail: Get your head out of the sand Goldberg. These kinds of shootings wouldn't happen in a country that wasn't ruled by Fox. Wait until your targeted for Death Threats, then you'll see. Put aside that bit about death threats -- I ke...