How Glenn Beck And Fox News Successfully Painted AZ Shooter As Hitler, Marx Devotee

Newsmax Still Hiding Facts About Loughner's Book List
Newsmax Still Hiding Facts About Loughner's Book List Topic: Newsmax Newsmax has its story on Arizona shooter Jared Loughner, and it's sticking to it. Two more Newsmax articles persist in incompletely reporting the contents of Loughner's book list. Davd Patten and Kathleen Walter wrote in a Jan. 10 article that "Loughner’s bizarre rants mention Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto and Hitler’s Mein Kampf, but do not mention Palin, Fox News, the Tea Party, or other high...

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...

Mein Kampf, Again
Since a few folks on Twitter and in my email, keep insisting that I think Mein Kampf was a “liberal” book, I figure I’ll respond once here. Beyond what I already said the other day about its incredible tediousness and unreliability as a serious guide to Nazi ideology, there are some other things to add. The first is that I never claimed Mein Kampf to be a “liberal” book, certainly not in the European sense and not  in the American sense either. If in the Americ...

Ed Schultz: Either Foxs Roger Ailes Has No Control Or Hes Flat Out Lying
Today on MSNBC , Ed Schultz was fired up because he believed Fox’s heavy hitters Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity took to the airwaves last night and didn’t change their tone despite a warning from Fox News president Roger Ailes to “tone it down.” Schultz played fiery clips from all three Fox stars and commented “nice job of toning it down.” Schultz seemed most angry with O’Reilly for his segment that directly criticized MSNBC, and conclu...

What Did Influence Jared Loughner?
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 By Terence P. Jeffrey Hardly an hour had passed after the first sketchy news broke on Saturday that there had been a horrific shooting attack in Tucson, Ariz., at a public event held by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, when the liberal media began reporting the incident in a way that suggested it was somehow linked to modern American politics -- as practiced by Conservatives. At 1:53 p.m. Tucson time on Saturday, The Associated Press released a story reporting the identi...

Adolf Hitler responsible for Arizona shooting?
While Victims of the Tucson shooting still lied in the Parking Lot, propagandists on the left started to lay the ground work in an attempt to spin the horrific incident into a rightwing self-fulfilling prophesy.  With no regard for the truth, a broad spectrum of liberals jumped on the political vitriol bandwagon attempting to connect Conservatives from Sarah Palin to Rush Limbaugh to the shooting.  However, to date the only information gleaned from the investigation indicate the discov...

Alexander's Teabag Band
by Distributorcap Senator Lamar Alexander - Teabagger Senator from Tennessee" On CNN Sunday morning, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) sought to deflect blame for yesterday's attack in Arizona away from the Tea Party. Twice, unsolicited, Alexander highlighted facts about the culprit that clash with tea party norms. "What we know about this individual, for example, is that he was reading Karl Marx, and reading Hitler, and burni...

The Issue Is Guns
There is little question that political discourse in the United States in the early 21st century will never be confused with the Lincoln-Douglas debate. Political combatants take an unseemly delight in characterizing opponents as enemies of the state, and reasonably decent public servants can expect to be labeled as pinheads and traitors, puppets of capital and apologists for Terrorism. This has been going on for some time; indeed, historians will note that no election in recent memory surpass...

Arizona Shooter a Marxist-loving, Hitler-loving, Bible-hating Atheist Doper
Bryan Fischer, American Family Association Jared Lee Loughner's idea of great reading The dead bodies hadn’t even been taken to the morgue before CNN invited a Cartoonist - a cartoonist! - on to blame the shootings of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Federal Judge John Roll, a nine-year-old girl, and numerous others on Conservatives. Winger blogger and Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas couldn’t wait to pin the whole thing on the right and Sarah Palin in particular: “Mission acco

The Exploitive Rhetoric of Tragedy
In the wake of the horrendous shooting rampage in Tucson, why isn't anyone talking about banning "Mein Kampf"? Or "The Communist Manifesto"? Or for that matter, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," "Peter Pan" or "The Phantom Tollbooth"? After all, unlike Sarah Palin's absurdly infamous Facebook map with crosshairs on Congressional Districts that some pundits have blamed for the violence, we have some evidence--suspect Jared Lee Loughner's own words--that these books were a dire...

Suddenly the Media is Concerned About Tone
Last night on John King USA I tried very hard to keep my blood from boiling. Cornell Belcher, a very good guy, tried to claim that the right’s history of Rhetoric is worse than the left’s. I’ll meet you half way on that, just for the sake of argument, and say the left and right can at times be equally vile, but only for the sake of argument. But really, maybe the right’s history of Rhetoric is greater if only because the left goes beyond Rhetoric to outright violence. ...

Sharron Angle: I condemn all acts of violence (Daily Caller)
Read more stories from The Daily Caller Heavy metal band responds to allegations that their music had any influence on AZ shooter Chris Christie to Rudy Giuliani: Butt out Police visited Loughner's home before shooting Face of evil: Mug Shots of famous assassins [SLIDESHOW] Poll of Conservatives shows support for broad cuts to spending, including Military Spending Former Republican Senate Candidate Sharron Angle condemned Tucson shooter Jared Loughner and expressed concern about the politicize...

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...

Bill Maher is a loon
Anderson Cooper took a very different tack last night in trying to make sense of the Arizona shooting tragedy from the weekend. While many on Cable News were turning down the partisan Rhetoric, AC360 producers booked comedian Bill Maher, who was unafraid to compare the imagined mindset of alleged assailant Jared Loughner with Fox News host Glenn Beck, while at the same time calling for responsibility in the media. Huh? Cooper opened by asking about the soul searching and finger pointing that cam...

Bill Maher is a loon
In case you had any doubt, allow this to remove it once and for all: Anderson Cooper took a very different tack last night in trying to make sense of the Arizona shooting tragedy from the weekend. While many on Cable News were turning down the partisan Rhetoric, AC360 producers booked comedian Bill Maher, who was unafraid to compare the imagined mindset of alleged assailant Jared Loughner with Fox News host Glenn Beck, while at the same time calling for responsibility in the media. Huh? Cooper...

First Comes Fear
By ROBERT WRIGHT NYT People on the left and right have been wrestling over the legacy of Jared Loughner, arguing about whether his Shooting Spree proves that the Sarah Palins and Glenn Becks of the world are fomenting violence. But it’s not as if this is the only data point we have. Here’s another one: Six months ago, police in California pulled over a truck that turned out to contain a rifle, a Handgun, a shotgun and Body Armor. Police learned from the driver — sometime after he opened

Apocalyptic Rhetoric
The Rhetoric of violence is not the only kind of Rhetoric that encourages violence. The apocalyptic Rhetoric we’ve seen from some on the right, most notably Glenn Beck, should be part of this discussion too. When Beck portrays Barack Obama as the head of a Socialist/Communist/Nazi Conspiracy whose goal is the literal destruction of America, he is implicitly encouraging violence. If that really were the nature of the administration, and our liberty really were on the verge of being snuffed ...

Influence and over-determination
In comments yesterday, Mark Matson posted this incredibly instructive little video demonstrating the power of even barely noticeable influence: In the broadest sense, this is a demonstration of the (small-s) situationist Thesis: the hidden power of situational factors to influence behavior. Situationist influences are generally taken to be much less important than dispositionist ones--those that reside in the individual's inherent disposition--their character, tastes, preferences, beliefs, et...

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....

Glenn Beck: The Epitome of a Disordered Mind
This graphic says everything about Glenn Beck's brain. What there is left of it. My theory? It was a fake nod to no violence with a wink on the left to the right-wing gun nuts. The violence he expresses is remarkable, even for Beck. Apocalyptic visions of violence. Oh, and "peace and love." Give me a break. He loves Sarah Palin though, and certainly gives a dramatic reading of her email. There is a certain chaotic rhythm to what the Right Wing does. Even in their denials, they're chaotic. They...

Palins Persecution Complex Culminates with Blood Libel Accusation
This gaffe -- demonstrating both an ignorance of religious history and language -- tops a disastrous week: her crosshairs map has been Exhibit A in the discussion of the use of gun-related imagery in political Rhetoric. But her PR has been woefully inadequate in explaining the map away as "surveyors symbols." Her TLC show will not be renewed by TLC, her chances for a successful run at the presidency have been downgraded, and even Barbara Walters expressed "feeling a bit sorry for her." Palin, ho...

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...

Liberals take a page from the Westboro Baptist songbook
Fred Phelps, the crazy 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 "sin...

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...;