Thursday, January 13, 2011

Words. Kill. People.

We can play a little "Travis Bickle" with these words. But no matter where you put the inflection, the meaning is clear. Words do have the power to incite violence and murder.
As a result of what has happened on January 8th in Tucson AZ, there is now a very heated debate with much handwringing from the left and mudslinging from the right taking place. 


Normally, I brush off Sarah Palin, the Tea Baggers and the Fox News assholes who vomit  misinformation and fear mongering as extremists who couldn't possibly be taken seriously. 
Well, guess what?  They are - and by millions of gun-toting Americans.
Her speech today struck me as being very revealing not only because she  made herself and her movement the victim but she said something so ridiculously hypocritical that I  realized these people; Beck, Limbaugh, Roberts etc. are so immersed in extremism that reality is whatever they say it is.  


"Especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible." – Sarah Palin, Jan12, 2011


To use the term "blood libel" demonstrates an incredible amount of ignorance and insensitivity.  Do you think she knows what blood libel means? Does she know how loaded those two words are with centuries of prejudice and horrific persecution? The most galling thing about her speech is that fostering a climate of fear and hate is her movement's modus operandi.

And with the collaboration of Fox News who has a loyal audience representing a third of Americans, Sarah and company have a huge  bullhorn with which to broadcast their messages of hate and paranoid unabated.


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I agree totally with TV critic, John Doyle who states in today's Globe and Mail:
"It has come to pass: Fox News does indeed define the U.S. political culture and the manner of debate inside that culture. It is to blame, but blame must be tempered by our understanding that Fox News is America and America is Fox News. There will be neither silence nor a change of tone until the Fox News Channel changes, or shuts up. That’s not going to happen. Look at the ratings. The ratings don’t lie."
Words do matter
It's been a while since politicians engaged in civil discourse – on either side of the border. Fox News and the ideologues that speak from it's soapbox are reaping what they sow. 
It's time to plough the crop of crap under.

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous13/1/11 09:57

    What a powerful post Ray! I have been quietly ruminating over all these issues in the past 2 days and I still find myself extremely depressed and disappointed in the acceptance of the violent and ignorant rhetoric in politics.
    Sarah Palin's combination of ignorance & insatiable ambition is very dangerous indeed. (Lady MacBeth anyone?!)She is hunting right now; hunting for the highest political office she can get her bloody little hands on.
    As for Fox, John Doyle hits the mark with his commentary- Ratings don't lie. T.V., whether scripted dramatic shows or 'news' and current affairs programming is a business. period.

    sigh...kinda scary huh? oh, well, i'll think about it all tomorrow....For now,I gotta go- TLC's Sarah Palin's Alaska is on...& I think Todd kills a beaver in this one...

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  2. Thanks.
    It's very unnerving to watch a society that has championed equality and justice implode on itself. The ideology of individualism and religious extremism is a cancer that mutates the ideals that formed the foundation of that great country into a selfish dogma.

    People are social. Survival depends on the support of the "tribe".

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