Shared Responsibility

This was an old post from April that sat in drafts. I'm posting an edited/updated version now due to recent events.

Greenpeace posted a call to violent action on their blog. Now, if any Greenpeace supporters, or anyone who could possibly be tangentally connected to Greenpeace, does something even remotely threatening or violent will the Left go hysterical and denounce Greenpeace?

Think they'll treat Greenpeace the way they do Limbaugh, Beck, or anyone who's not a member of the leftist mainstream media?

Liberals constantly tell me that right-wing pundits should be held accountable for the actions of any violent 3rd party. They will never apply this "logic" to any person or group on the left. What they really want is to silence those with whom they disagree.

My Grandpa for example has told me that when GWB invaded Iraq no one on the left responded with violence or threats of violence. I have to wonder how an otherwise intelligent man can make such a statement. I suppose there's a great deal of truth to the fact that people see only that which they choose to see. It's as if in his mind the violent, seething hatred of President Bush simply didn't exist. We'll ignore the fact that the Iraq Resolution enjoyed a great deal of bipartisan support.

There was plenty of violence and threats from the left, and plenty of extremist rhetoric, he just chose not to see or believe it. I seem to remember 2002 anti-Bush protests in Portland, OR that were far more unruly, violent, and threatening than any Tea Party rally we've seen. Likenesses of George Bush and Sarah Palin have been hung and burned in effigy. None of this violent behavior on the left was portrayed by the MSM as some kind of systemic, widespread hate or extremism that applied to the entire Democratic party. When it was reported at all it was brushed aside as insignificant.

Hell, anyone remember the movie about the Assasination of GWB, which came out while he was still in office? I think we all know what the MSM's reaction would be if a Conservative put out a similar movie about Obama this year. I'm sick of the double standard.

Thank God for the internet, which allows us to highlight the disgusting hypocrisy of the left when it comes to hate speech, violence and violent rhetoric. If you think I'm kidding go see Michelle Malkin's post. She does an excellent job detailing violent rhetoric and imagery coming from the left. There's violent rhetoric and imagery coming from folks all over the political spectrum, and when some paranoid schitzophrenic kook starts shooting it's not the fault of the pundits.

Ultimately, left or right shouldn't matter. Crazy is as crazy does and Loughtner was crazy. His ramblings on Youtube were all over the political spectrum. That said, and Mein Kampf & The Communist Manifesto aren't exactly favorite literature of your average Tea Party supporter.

The problem is that for the MSM left or right does matter, since their goal is to smear anyone who doesn't walk in lockstep with progressive ideals. Anytime something like this AZ shooting happens it's the fault of violent rhetoric from the right and of course the fault of the tool used. It's Palin, it's Beck, it's Limbaugh, it's the gun, it's the 2nd Amendments fault. For some reason no one on the left will place the responsibility where it ultimately lies, on the shooter.

I suppose placing the blame for one's actions directly on the person in question would be far too damaging to the political ideology of the left. It simply wouldn't help further the progressive cause. Besides, you can't score cheap political points by doing that.