With all those hateful slurs hurled at congressmen turning into violent threats, we’ve been waiting for days for a Republican response. Today we got several. And they were all tepid at best. Majority Leader John Boehner called threats of violence “unacceptable,” but he understands the “anger and frustration.” Ditto for John McCain who echoed the lukewarm GOP rebuke on the “Today Show” Thursday.
Look, I’m glad they came out and said something. I said in Monday’s column, “Nasty Noise,” I’d respect Boehner if he denounced the hate speech. And I do. Sort of. I’m moderating my admiration the way Boehner,McCain, Cantor and other GOP leaders have qualified their rebukes. There is always a but with these guys. And there can be no qualifier to an emphatic statement of denunciation. ACTS OF VIOLENCE OR THREATS OF VIOLENCE ARE UNACCEPTABLE. Period.
Minority Whip Eric Cantor actually accused the Democrats of “fanning the flames” by politicizing the threats. He cited a mailing DNC Chair Tim Kaine sent asking for donations for the coffers of targeted pols. Okay you know what? He may be right about the Dems using the threats for political gain. But his comments today should have been used for a concise and clear denunciation of any and all threats. And that’s it. Time later for the other political maneuverings. Anything less–which is what we got–and it looks like Cantor is the one fanning the incendiary flames. There’s irony smoldering in those flames, too, as some nut job shot a bullet through Cantor’s office. So it’s not just a Democratic Party problem.
The violent threats are escalating–and, as I’ve said– they’ve already crossed party lines. Reps on both sides of the aisle have received threatening letters, faxes and phone messages. Bricks thrown into congressional offices, a gas line cut at a home of a congressman’s brother. When the blogger who incited people to show up at the rep’s house found out it was his brother’s, he commented on his facebook page: “oh, it was his brother’s house? Oh, well. Collateral damage.” New York Congressman Anthony Weiner, a vocal proponent of health reform, received anti-Semitic threats on Wednesday and a package containing a suspicious white substance along with a threatening letter on Thursday. Scary all around.
When asked about these incidents, a loopier than usual Ann Coulter commented, “I wouldn’t bring it up, but I’ve gotten suspicious white powder sent to me, too. And I had 250 kids with sticks and stones prevent my talk in Canada,” she said on “The Joy Behar Show.” “So Anthony Weiner gets a little white powder and Paul Krugman starts blubbering all over the ‘New York Times.’ Conservatives get way more threats than liberals. We just don’t whine as much.”
On his Thursday radio show Glenn Beck actually said, “If violence breaks out over this ( health reform) it’s on Obama.” And he suggested the congressmen targeted have been “courting violence.” Wonder under which blackboard the Beckster was hiding when his pal Michelle Bachmann called for all Minnesotans to “be armed and dangerous” during the high tea season a few months ago when all these seeds of hate were planted.
I know a lot of people are angered over the health reform bill; quite frankly most in the progressive camps aren’t exactly doing cartwheels either. But the way to express that dismay is through the political process. Go ahead, try to fix the bill, repeal it, throw the “bums out of office.” Register voters, work for candidates who support your views, run for office yourself, write a blog, call a radio show, etc. And yes, colorful language has always been part of our political process. Free speech is a fundamental right and our culture encourages it. And with that, crazy speech, even hate speech is generally protected. Legally.
But as we tread into the waters of morality, questions of responsibility and conscience must be addressed. Just because we can say it, doesn’t mean we should. As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday, ” Words have power. They weigh a ton… We have to understand the impact our words have, but we don’t want to stifle free expression.”
Freedom of speech, by the way, doesn’t abolish self-censorship. Reasonable, responsible people in politics and media have a right and a duty to temper their tone in a time of rancorous, even dangerous debate. Dial it back a few notches, people. Whoopi Goldberg, on Thursday’s “The View” spoke directly to media hot heads: “Watch yourselves talking heads. If something happens, the blood will be on your hands.”
Sarah Palin should take heed, especially as she straddles politics, media and reality TV. The accidental “Queen of all media” let her quick trigger mavericky finger do the talking with her now infamous tweet: “it’s time not to retreat but reload.” and her target facebook map, featuring Democratic congressmen in dubious districts, with rifle cross hairs clearly depicted. To be fair to Caribou Barbie, I’m sure she’s not deliberately encouraging violent attacks on these representatives. And her folksy Annie Oakley nonsense would be harmless political play in a more tranquil environment. But not now. Take down that map, Sarahcuda. Denounce any potential violence. Do it now.
Drive safe. Play nice. Think peace.
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