Virginia Tech Shootings, Talk Radio, NBC, Gunman's Manifesto

CALL OFF THE DOGS!

Isn't Network News The Real Problem?







Once and for all, can we put an end to the mainstream media's astounding hypocrisy on the issue of appropriate content?

For weeks, talk radio as a whole has been raked over the coals thanks to former fossil talker Don Imus and his bizarre ramblings.

In the days following his now- infamous "nappy- headed hos" remark and the resulting firestorm, the MSM went out of its way to present an "everybody's doing it" case against talk radio.

Beyond Imus, however, the evidence to support this contention was flimsy at best. And in some examples cited, the hosts in question were actually fired at the time of their respective incidents.

Soon after, of course, politicians joined in on the fun, with Barack Obama leading the way. From RushLimbaugh.com:

RUSH: I'm going to go to two sound bites here, one from Dick Durbin, the other from Barack Obama. I warned everyone yesterday that this was what was coming. First Senator Durbin on the Senate floor this morning.

DURBIN: Just yesterday, reports that a car in a garage of an Illinois state court judge on the north side of Chicago, was damaged by gunshots. The sad reality is that violence and threats against our judges are on the rise. Between 1996 and 2005, the number of threats and inappropriate communications towards judges has gone up dramatically, from 201 in 1996 to 943 in 2005.

RUSH: Stop the tape. Now, before you hear the rest of this bite, I want to ask you a question. When it comes to people in our society talking about judges, who would you say maligns judges more? Would it be Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee that you see televised? They're trying to say these people are not qualified. "They are extremists. They are out of the American mainstream." They go out and about their way to try to destroy their character and their reputation. Who is it in this society that spends all this time ripping judges to shreds? Now, here's Durbin's theory.

DURBIN: There may be many reasons for this increased violence against judges, but one of the most regrettable is a rise in criticism and condemnation of these fine men and women, not only in the halls of Congress, but in some of the shock radio shows that go on and pass as news on some cable channels and radio stations.

RUSH: Whoa ho-ho-ho! So now it's talk radio, and who do you think he means when he says "talk radio"? Of course he means me when he's talking about what happens on talk radio -- and cable news? What cable news channel do you think he's talking about? He's talking about Fox! So all the criticism of judges is occurring on talk radio and on shock radio and this sort of thing. So you have the whole Imus thing lurking over there as something that's still sprouting branches for these guys to hang from and make this statement. Now, here's Obama, and this is Monday in Milwaukee at a fundraiser.

OBAMA: Obviously, what happened today was the act of a madman at some level, and there are going to be a whole series of explanations or attempts to explain what happened. There's also another kind of violence, though, that we're going to have to think about. It's not necessarily physical violence, but violence that we perpetrate on each other in other ways. Last week the big news, obviously, had to do with Imus and the verbal violence that was directed at young women who were role models for all of us, role models for my daughters.


RUSH: Verbal violence! So you have Durbin and Obama. Now, this is not unprecedented. Remember, the Clinton administration attempted to blame me for the blowing up of the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City. We called them on it and they "apologized." They went out there, and (Clinton spokesman Mike) McCurry said, "No, no, no! We're talking about the short-wave radio communications of the militia, the Michigan militia or some such thing," but make no mistake about it, they take every opportunity. So now all of these acts of violence are being blamed on the "shock talk."

I told you this Imus thing was about far much more than him, and now you've got this Virginia Tech issue, which is used as a launching pad to go after the one area of media that is perhaps the home of more openness, more free speech, more diversity of speech and thought. But because the dominance of talk radio is conservative, it is a target, and it is going to be dealt with as best these people can.

Now, the same network that aired Imus, yet was quick to point fingers elsewhere, is also the one behind the horribly sensationalized coverage of the Virginia Tech mass murderer.

Thanks to their seemingly endless attention to his supposed "manifesto" (which happened to be sent to their newsroom by the killer), NBC has ensured this sick individual will be forever remembered.

Once NBC let the dogs out, the race was on, with little restraint shown by any of them, including the BBC. Now, his violence has been glorified and he's been given all the attention he'd craved.

Knowing the positive end result, there's little doubt this will encourage others to follow suit.

Already, there is a public backlash brewing. Isn't it clear NBC made the wrong call on this one?


As a result of their sickening display yesterday, it's time to call off the dogs and end the non- stop criticism of talk radio. Our medium has never done anything even remotely as offensive as what was splashed across television screens last night, ever!

Hey MSNBC clowns: you've been put on notice that talk radio is ready to fight back. Get ready, Mr Olbermann.


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