Silencing the Opposition

Posted on 04/06/2009 at 2:54 pm by Bob Cesca

Neiwert:

The point is not to silence the people saying these things, but to point out how grotesquely irresponsible they are — in the hopes that they will cease doing so, and start acting responsibly. It’s their choice to use irresponsible rhetoric. It’s not just our choice but our duty, as responsible citizens, to stand up and speak out about it.

Right. The goal, however idealistic, would be for FOX News and others to do the right thing and voluntarily cut the crap with the guns and ammo stockpiling talk. I haven’t read any reputable blog that’s called for anyone to lose their jobs over the shootings or for anyone to be censored by any sort of outside governing body. Responsible talk. That’s all.

Put another way: where is the line drawn? How far can FOX News go before it’s okay for the rest of us to speak out about it?

For the sake of argument, let’s push the rhetoric to its craziest level. Say for instance, a FOX News talker praises violent militias — the kinds of militias that vow to shoot federal agents. Are we justified in calling out this irresponsible talk? Of course we are.

Oh wait. Someone on FOX News has already said such a thing. Dick Morris on FOX News last week:

Those crazies in Montana who say, ‘we’re going to kill ATF agents because the UN’s going to take over’ — well, they’re beginning to have a case.

They’re beginning to have a case. A case for killing federal agents. And we’re supposed to let this sort of thing slide, especially in light of the recent shooting sprees? That’s rich.

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  • Karma

    When the Agency of Fair Play pulls Ice T’s rap song calling for the execution of cops the we can discuss censorship. I also highly doubt that the immigrant wing nut in Binghamton watched, much less could understand, Fox News.

  • SillyRatfacedGit

    Karma -You are wrong on so many levels that I am just shocked.Dick Morris’s statement on a purported News channel is comparable in no way to a lyric from a rap song. Ice T never said in a TV interview that he thought there was a case for shooting cops. Dick Morris said exactly that.I am probably more opposed to censorship than you are. I want to see boobies on TV like I can in Europe. Right Wing religious nutcases think nudity is bad, but blowing people up is OK. This is perverse at best.We’re not asking for censorship. We want Fox News to stop shouting Fire in a crowded theater.Do you think a case can be made for killing ATF agents? Dick Morris does.Do you really think Fox News should be allowed to incite violence because the first amendment says they can?The first amendment says no such thing and you should know that.

  • SillyRatfacedGit

    I forgot to add that I suspect that that “immigrant wing nut in Binghamton” was smarter than you think since he apparently worked for IBM. Do you think all immigrants are subhuman or only ones from certain races?

  • J

    @SillyGit: I agree with you on the first part, but half of Binghamton works (or worked) for IBM, and having spent four awesome (truly) years there, that is no indication of intelligence.But regardless, I am eternally fascinated by people who think “freedom of speech” means “everyone has to like what I say or they’re a terrorist”.

  • rogect8

    I hate Dick Morris on many different levels, and wholeheartedly agree that there has been vast amounts of irresponsible rhetoric coming out of Fox News.Having said that…Has anybody actually seen the interview clip? It’s clear that Morris was not saying “they have a case to kill ATF agents.” The topic of the discussion was a fear-mongering, “the U.N. and the IMF are going to take over, and we’re going to have one currency and one world govt” sort of deal.When viewed in that context, Morris is essentially saying – “You know those crazy bastards out there in Montana? The ones who are so damn crazy that they kill ATF agents b/c they think the U.N. is going to take over? Well guess what? They might actually be right about the U.N. taking over.”He’s trying to portray the (supposed) steps towards internationalism as so outrageous and nutty that the only people who thought they could actually happen are a bunch of lunatics.Does his phrasing suck? Most definitely. Is he “making a case for killing federal agents?” Well, I certainly don’t read it that way.

  • D. C.

    Anyone notice how we had all this talk in the 90s about how the UN was going to take over America, then total silence for 8 years. Now that we have another democrat in office, the talking pinheads are reviving all the fear mongering about international cabals taking us over.Are we supposed to believe that they UN shelved their plans and mothballed their black helicopters for 8 years just because they were afraid of Cowboy George?

  • ken129

    I listened to Dick Morris, the whole boring thing, and I have to agree with rogect8 that Dick Morris was referring to the validity of the “Crazies in Montana” having a case that the “UN is going to take over”. The whole entire conversation was about the subject relating around the “UN taking over”. The ATF agent reference was an unfortunate choice of words. He should have just said “Those crazies in Montana who say the UN’s going to take over’ — well, they’re beginning to have a case.”

  • D. C.

    Ken129, I still don’t get why they were afraid the UN was taking over in the 90s, then nothing for 8 years, and now suddenly, the UN is going to take over again.Was the UN on one big extended coffee break? Were all the black helicopters in the shop?Or is it that jackholes like Dick Morris really don’t believe the sh!t they’re selling and are just trying to whip the right into a frenzy?

  • ken129

    D.C-Sorry, I really don’t have a clue, watching that clip is the first I’ve heard of this.My somewhat educated guess is that the UN represents all controlling bodies outside of the US, and they are fearful of control moving from the US towards such an entity, which to them is represented by the UN.

  • D. C.

    My point, ken129, is that these conspiracy nutjobs only come out when a democrat is in office. This is all about whipping up anger at da gubment so that they’ll believe if we don’t get rid of Obama, they’re going have to defend their homes against rampaging hordes of soldiers wearing powder blue helmets.

  • Eric

    As I recall people who criticized the War in Iraq was undermining the troops and encouraging the enemy (whether their criticism were true or fair)according to right-wingers media. Yet they can tell any lie they want to encourage radical right-wing extremists to go over the top here but claim freedom of speech.