Vixen Strangely has a great post up about the Planned Parenthood shootiings in Colorado Springs. Yesterday, I had to turn off the news on the radio because the mainstream media was tying itself in knots to avoid saying the obvious- the shooting was motivated by anti-reproductive self-determination extremism. Every news report was careful to characterize the shooting as a mysterious, context-free occurrence:
Authorities weren't ready to discuss a possible motive Saturday after interviewing 57-year-old suspect Robert Lewis Dear, Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers said.
Even though the motive was apparent to anyone with two brain cells to rub together:
However, people can make "inferences from where it took place," said Suthers, a former state attorney general who also suggested Dear's mental health was part of the investigation.
This reluctance to call out this right-wing terrorism allowed the wingnut Wurlitzer to begin cranking out conspiracy theories to obscure the true motive for the shootings. The original 'cover story' was that the shootings were a bank robbery gone awry, but the right-wingers have morphed the story into something much stranger- the allegation that the shooter was, get this, a transgendered leftist activist.
I have to confess that I would not have guessed that this particular 'theory' would be the one to gain enough traction to be repeated by Ted Cruz. Personally, my prediction would have been that the right-wing would have claimed that the shooter was a patsy set up by Planned Parenthood to derail upcoming congressional hearings. I also figured that, because a police officer was killed in the attack, the right-wingers would claim that the #blacklivesmatter movement was somehow culpable. Frankly, I'm a bit confused that the 'transgendered activist' narrative, based on a typo, is what they are running with.
At any rate, I blame the mainstream media for being unwilling to call right-wing extremism for what it is, giving enough breathing room to the right-wingers so they could start spinning.
Pretty amazing how successful the police are in bringing guys like this and the Charleston church shooter in alive.
ReplyDeleteYet not a black kid with a toy gun (for instance).
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What's especially weird about it is that the American Political Right has long HATED the 'liberal media' and the Fox News/Limbaugh base either doesn't believe anything they say or doesn't even HEAR it. So it's especially odd that the media is so intimidated by them...
ReplyDeletePretty amazing how successful the police are in bringing guys like this and the Charleston church shooter in alive.
ReplyDeleteFunny how that works out.
I like the phrase "reproductive self-determination". It's even better with the qualifiers you used. The whole has force and accuracy, while still feeling like you're cursing the motherfuckers.
It's all about semantics.
What's especially weird about it is that the American Political Right has long HATED the 'liberal media' and the Fox News/Limbaugh base either doesn't believe anything they say or doesn't even HEAR it. So it's especially odd that the media is so intimidated by them...
They're afraid that the plutocrats who fund astroturf movements will pull advertising for companies that the average citizen could never patronize.