Of course all the news this week has been about the shootings in Arizona and the possible culpability that the right-wing media might have in it. Was Jared Loughner influenced by the loudmouth pundits spouting off hatred and violence on talk shows? It's possible, but it's also possible that it wasn't the case, and the guy is just a wacko who would have done the same thing anyway. Yet, how many people out there are actually influenced by the right-wing rhetoric and fear-mongering that comes from the mouths of people like Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck, and Sarah Palin? Even if Loughner wasn't influenced by those hate-spewing publicity whores, how many people in this country are influenced by them? And how long will it be until some nutcase actually does harm someone thanks to these people?Rush Limbaugh has a top rated radio show which he regularly fills with fear-mongering and hate rhetoric for his audience to take in each day.
Glen Beck has joked about putting poison in Nancy Pelosi's wine, amongst many other rants he has made including a desire to kill Michael Moore.
Bill O'Reilly has joked about decapitating a Washington Post columnist, among many other hostile and hate filled quotes, and more quotes.
Sarah Palin put 20 Democratic members of Congress in her "crosshairs", and bragged that 18 are now gone, leaving Rep. Giffords and Rep. Nick Rahall to go. She has made so many stupid and hate filled statements I'm not even going to bother linking to some of them.
At what point will these people realize that the majority of their listeners aren't that bright and that is why they listen? These listeners are easily influenced and might not realize that one of the murder related "jokes" are actually jokes.
Last spring Charles Alan Wilson a tea-party member was arrested for threatening to kill Patty Murray. Any idea where he got some of his ideas from?
And recently Charles Turner Habermann was arrested for threatening to kill Democrat Jim McDermott.
Last time I watched Stewart or Colbert, I don't recall them "joking" about the death of a person they disagree with. When I read or listen to my "left-wing media" stories I don’t recall reading anyone making jokes about the death of conservative Republicans, or members of the media. Think about this: If this had been someone shooting a extremely conservative politician, what would the right-wing media be saying about that right now? Worse than anything that is being said about them, that is for sure.
Unfortunately, they won't learn a lesson from this and tone down the rhetoric. They won't attempt to speak out in a more civil tone. They will talk about this for a while, then the short attention span public will move on, and the right-wing media will continue with the hostile hate filled rants they have been doing in the past. After all that is what people listen to and increases the ratings.