Murderous insanity of right-wing talk radio

Right off the bat I suspected that the man who killed two people in the Unitarian church shooting would be a devotee of Michael Savage, Bill O'Reilly, and Sean Hannity. And I was right.

I'm no Sherlock Holmes, but when the news reports said that Jim Adkisson railed against the Unitarian Universalist congregation for being "liberal," including its advocacy for gay rights, I recalled all the hate speech that spews daily from the right-wing blabbermouths.

Savage is the worst of these nuts. He's off his rocker, yet has the gall to write a book called "Liberalism is a Mental Disorder."

That book was found in the killer's house. A review of the book (found via a Google cache) shows that there's good reason to hold Savage partly responsible for helping push a deranged guy over the right-wing edge.

"You will not have a nation unless you awaken to the reality that America has become pacified; America has become feminized; and America is being compromised from without and within," Savage warns. "You cannot let them get away with this. Can America be saved? Is it too late? I believe that with God's will and with your determination to confront the mental disorder of liberalism whenever and wherever it is found, America can both survive and thrive."

The best-selling author and top rated radio talk show host of The Savage Nation not only diagnoses the mental state of liberals, he tells his readers what to do to counteract the ravages wrought by their deranged states of mind and exposes the methods by which they impose their demented agenda on the American people.

Liberalism, he writes, is "made in much the same way as a sausage - it's a blend of fascist, Communist, and socialist ideologies from twentieth century Europe, with a pinch of Nazism, all ground together, yet retaining the flavor of its various parts."

This is sick.

I'm sure Adkisson thought he was being a patriot when he shot up the Unitarian church. Actually, of course, he demonstrated that the real Americans are those who stand up for the ideals this country was founded on – including freedom of speech and tolerance of diversity.

There were heroes in the church that day, but they were all on the liberal/progressive side. Greg McKendry died when he stood up and blocked a shotgun blast with his body.

Meanwhile, Savage, O'Reilly, and Hannity sit on their asses in air-conditioned studios and rant on about how selfish demented liberals are destroying America. Hopefully this tragedy will cause a lot of listeners to realize how dangerous these guys are.

Their hate speech divides America. That's what they want – division, because it helps their ratings when right-wingers flock to hear how, well, right they are. No wonder the Unitarian church was so threatening to Adkisson.

Michael Savage, who claims to be able to diagnose liberalism as a mental disorder, recently claimed that in 99% of autism cases, "it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is."

Of course, it isn't. Which led to a firestorm of protest from parents of children with autism and others. Major advertisers on his radio program jumped ship, which makes me feel a lot better about Home Depot and Aflac.

Savage called autistic children "brats, idiots, and morons."

Clearly, this is an instance of the pot calling the kettle black. I like the advice of Rebecca Estepp, an advocate for those with autism.

"Michael Savage is spectacularly uninformed about this major national health crisis," Estepp said. "His comments were beyond insulting and are tantamount to blaming parents for their child's cancer.

"Perhaps 99 percent of his listeners should stop tuning in."

Comments

[condor]

You are deranged and mentally unbalanced yourself, Mr. Hines, if you think conservative talk radio is the cause of this sick person's actions. I fear people like you far more than Savage or O'Reily. You are one step away from fanaticism and the "deep end" if you really believe what you just wrote. I thought you were learning some universal principles from your Tai Chi and Taoism. Come back to the hub of the wheel grasshopper, you're losing it.

Remember Charles Manson and "Helter Skelter"? Were the Beatles responsible for Manson sending his minions on a murder spree?

[Rain]

You really do take on the difficult topics, Brian, and I agree with you. The same thing can be said about left wingers who can be as spiteful. When someone says those who don't think as they do are evil for their ideas, threatening that something should be done about it (without defining what) there is responsibility. It can cause the irrational to react in ways that weren't intended. Words have meaning.

To me we have to find ways to disagree, discuss our differences, but not label someone else undeserving of basic human respect. I hear some of the extreme right wingers inciting this kind of hate toward Obama and it scares me. I dislike it as much when I hear it toward Bush. Neither extreme tolerates dissent and threatens to get their way. Even bloggers get threats and when that works, it stifles free speech.

When Bush's dad was running for president, I began listening to Rush Limbaugh. I'll be honest, I enjoyed his show for quite a few years. There are times he discusses issues in a way that is entertaining (heard him the last time when on a road trip and in Arizona) but I had to stop regularly listening when he made me so angry for carrying the water for Bush's administration. He stopped caring about issues and no matter what they did, he supported them. For that same reason I don't listen to left wing talk programs either with one exception when I am somewhere I can get his program-- Ed Schultz who is on the left but seems to really think about what he's saying not just support a position lockstep.

I have heard Michael Savage and my husband often listens to him on his way home just to keep track of what the 'other' side is saying. Savage is hard to listen to and he does spout off to hear himself talk (from my experience). He needs to think about who might be listening.

One time I was in Idaho and again found some talk radio. The speaker was a militant right-winger to the extent of being militia type. The reason this kind of thing doesn't generally work is because more people have rejected it and don't listen to give ratings but unfortunately the ones who do sometimes prove dangerous to even other right wingers if they happen along at the wrong time.

[Brian]

Condor, I'm just reporting facts, and drawing conclusions from those facts. The 9/11 terrorists drew their inspiration from the Koran. They shaved their bodies, expecting to meet virgins in paradise.

The Unitarian church killer was inspired by right-wing blowhards, who tell their listeners to act now against liberal crazies before America is destroyed. I occasionally listen to Savage just to know what insanities are being spouted by people I disagree with. This is just what he says -- liberals/ACLU/etc. should be viewed as traitors.

So what's the difference? From your comment, I assume you don't think there was any connection between Islamic fundamentalism and 9/11. That's wrong. There was. Just as there was a connection between the church killings and right-wing hate speech.

[condor]

If the Koran is taken literally, ALL Muslims should be out killing infidels as we speak. It is their religious duty and obligation to Allah to do so, but "right wing blowhards" are not in any way suggesting that people kill liberals when they say to act now against liberal policies. If some idiot gets a notion to start whacking liberals, it's his personal defect and not Bill O'Reilly's.

You said it yourself: "Hopefully this tragedy will cause a lot of listeners to realize how dangerous these guys are."

I hope some nut doesn't hear YOU and decide to start shooting conservatives.

Will the blood will be on your hands, Mr. Hines?

The pendulum swings both ways.

[Harry Vanderpool]

I'm in Rain's corner.
This is where I really get turned off by both extremes.
Folks ULTRA liberal and ULTRA conservitive at each others throats.
I do listen to FOX all day long as I work because It keeps me company.
When I lay awake at night, I tune in to KGO and get the LLLLLLLLLLLLLeft wing view.
Then I can to come to my own conclusions.
As a registered DEM for over 30 years, I will be voting for McBush because unlike Bush, he is very moderate and levelheaded on all of the issues.
Abummer; way off the charts extremist.
How much damage could he do in one term?
Probably not as much as GW, for sure; but I for one do not want to find out.
The off season is drawing close, & I plan to explore changing my voter affiliation.
The Democrat party has slowly moved off into the twilight zone since I first registered as such.
I am not a Democrat.
Republi-nucklehead, NO WAY!!
Brian, maybe you could write about the other parties and your views on them?

[Rain]

What I find amazing is how we all see the world so differently. What you said about Obama, Harry, I'd say about McCain. McCain scares me. His bad temper, his string of mistakes, his willingness to do anything to get elected including lie, now his taking on Karl Rove's team as his advisers. Rove left Bush so that he'd be ready to take on the next Republican running for president and you can see his hand in everything McCain does now. The man I used to think McCain was I don't even know where he went. And yet you see him as good and Obama as bad. Just amazing that good people can see the same things, the same events and yet interpret them so differently.

[condor]

Here's the thing about Obama's plan: If you excessively tax the source of investment liquidity to create entitlements you will kill the economy especially in its current weakened state. This is a bad idea in the best of times. While it sounds all nice and egalitarian in the coffee-houses and lecture halls, in the real world it doesn't work. You don't tax a country back into economic health. Let the freemarket run without inhibition and the natural human drive to prosper will eventually get things rolling once again. Where there is prosperity, there is opportunity for everyone if they are willing and have the talent. Entitlements ironically further weaken and corrupt those they are designed to benefit to the detriment of society as a whole.

[Brian]

Condor, after tax increases in the Clinton years, this country enjoyed tremendous prosperity. After tax cuts in the Bush years, we're in the doldrums.

That's a fact. Also, check out how European stocks have done over the past five years or so. Much better than American stocks. Yet Europe has a much higher tax rate than the United States. It sure doesn't hurt Europe's economic growth.

With Bush's deficits, we're getting deeper and deeper into debt with foreigners --like China. We're also passing on that debt to our children and grandchildren, like irresponsible parents who run up their VISA card and never pay it down.

Your economic analysis is deeply flawed. Tax cuts don't bring in more revenue to government; they decrease revenue. This is why we have a record breaking deficit this year.

Here's some advice: pay more attention to facts and less to right-wing talk radio, which is largely fact free. Here's a place to start:
http://hinessight.blogs.com/hinessight/2008/01/tax-cuts-dont-p.html

[Harry Vanderpool]

Brian, we may see a few things differently, but I agree wholeheartedly with your assesment of McBush.
Unfortunatly, we only have two viable choices.
I have grandchildren too, Brother Hines!
When I walk into that booth and pull the handle, I really do not want to hear a flushing sound.
Abummer's popularity is nothing more than an over reaction to the worst president in the history of this country, Georgy Bush.
We have to think clearly at this critical time and make NO MORE MISTAKES like we did when we voted in that knucklehead.
A vote for Abummer is just as bad (or worse) than a vote for another unknown in the last election. And where did that get us?
I see the same mindless (which is not you) lock-step march by the Democraps in this election as the republi-knuckleheads in the last elections, to hand the nations keys over to a ??????
No way!
It may be our last chance, dear friend.

[Rain]

which right winger started calling Obama abummer? I hear it in many sites now and figure it has to be some radio guy. Which one? I don't use names like that for McCain or Obama and find it to be Rovian tactics to do that. Bush loved to rename people to something that belittled them. I have never liked that kind of subtle (and not so subtle) put down. McCain and Obama both deserve the respect of their names being used. We can disagree on the issues without resorting to that.

[condor]

Mr. Hines said: "Condor, after tax increases in the Clinton years, this country enjoyed tremendous prosperity."

--The prosperity was due to policies set in motion during the previous administrations and a favorable economic cycle, not anything Clinton did.

Mr. Hines said: "That's a fact. Also, check out how European stocks have done over the past five years or so. Much better than American stocks. Yet Europe has a much higher tax rate than the United States. It sure doesn't hurt Europe's economic growth."

--I stridently disagree. Europe is in trouble:
http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/933

"With Bush's deficits, we're getting deeper and deeper into debt with foreigners --like China. We're also passing on that debt to our children and grandchildren, like irresponsible parents who run up their VISA card and never pay it down."

--I 100% agree. How about that?

"Your economic analysis is deeply flawed. Tax cuts don't bring in more revenue to government; they decrease revenue. This is why we have a record breaking deficit this year."

-- Tax cuts stimulate growth which increases revenue because there is more money to tax. If you tax one dollar at 10% you get 10 cents. If you tax $2.00 at 8% you get 16 cents. How government mismanages these funds is an entirely different matter. Should we give government more money to waste?

Mr. Hines said: "Here's some advice: pay more attention to facts and less to right-wing talk radio, which is largely fact free."

--That is an ignorant and prejudicial statement. Listen to yourself... All doughnuts must taste bad because the one I tasted was stale. Or, vegetables must be bad for you because I disagree with those who say they're good for you.

Finally, Mr. Hines did not address the issue I raised in my previous comment...

He said: "Hopefully this tragedy will cause a lot of listeners to realize how dangerous these guys [conservative radio hosts] are."

--I hope some nut doesn't hear YOU and decide to start shooting conservatives.

By your logic the blood will be on your hands, Mr. Hines in the same way you blame "right-wing" radio for the actions of the crazed killer in Tennessee.

[Roger]

condor,

Be cool....... This is not a big deal. All opinions on a blog ar Ok. Relax.....

[Rain]

With the latest deficit total, somebody will have to raise taxes somewhere or do you think we can keep borrowing from China with the interest reaching a point that we aren't even touching the original amount borrowed? Looking at the recent totals, it's obvious something is not working. Obama though has not said he'd raise taxes on the middle class. McCain has said he won't raise them on anybody and then turns around and says nothing is off the table. Short of voodoo or some magical way to raise money, this country will someday have to pay the piper as the foreign countries will get tired of funding our growing debt. Nobody likes tax increases but a lot has been done with this war that has not been fully counted and that will come due someday.

[Ocelot]

Condor is a crazed conservative. If the tables had been turned and someone had gone on a rampage killing conservatives, he would have blamed the liberals.

Yes, don't try and deny it condor. You know you would have, and probably have done so on similar occasions.

[condor]

Rain, If you're using the money to create entitlements you aren't paying off any debts!

Roger, I'm just stating MY opinions relative to other's. No big deal. I'm cool, and even if I'm not, so what?

[condor]

Yes Ocelot. Can't wait to bring down one of them long-haired commies. Oh, gotta go. Got one in my crosshairs now.

[Harry Vanderpool]

condor said:
>>>No big deal. I'm cool, and even if I'm not, so what?<<<
Well, when you go off the deep end you loose your credibility, thats what.

Just like last week when Brian posted that he spent the day on his tractor knocking down the blackberrys and scotchbroom, and some left wing extremist starts the guilt trip about the global warming superstition.

It hits all of us from both sides some days.
I can't point the finger, but I can say that I really, really work at being reasonable as best I can.

[condor]

Harry Vanderpool, you wrote: "Well, when you go off the deep end you loose your credibility, thats what."

Here is the title of Mr. Hines' post that got this thread and my commentary started:

MURDEROUS INSANITY OF RIGHT WING TALK RADIO

That's credible? That's not off the deep end?

[Brian]

Condor, of course it's credible. I wrote it. Relax. It's just a blog post. Imagine how upset you'd be if I spewed my opinions over the public airwaves three or more hours a day.