Left Kicks Off New Battle Against Talk Radio

THE 'ELIMINATIONISTS'

Partisan Operatives Exploit Shootings For Political Gain





*** NEW: BOSTON GLOBE MAY TURN TO SWORN ENEMIES IN ELEVENTH-HOUR SURVIVAL BID ***

Even before yesterday's fatal shooting of three police officers in Pittsburgh, left-wing operatives were desperately working to tie Friday's stunning upstate New York massacre of immigrants to conservatives.

Though that one proved quite a stretch, with the gunman himself foreign-born and having no known conservative or GOP ties, the Pittsburgh incident provided a glimmer of hope to the far left: he was said to fear Obama's expected elimination of gun rights.

Without bothering to wait for confirming details, such as anything to indicate 23-year-old Richard Poplawski even had a history of political activism, sleazy far left smear merchant Markos Moulitsas of the Daily Kos exploited the cop-killings for his own benefit:

This appears to be an inevitable result of the bad economy, a conservative movement circling the drain, feeling betrayed, isolated, and defeated, and the rampant eliminationist talk from right-wing nutjobs on the radio and TV.

I know Barb blogged this below, but it's important to see the aftermath of right-wing hysteria, because this is likely just the beginning. Unless the Becks (and Beck-wannabees) walk back from that ledge, they'll be to blame for more atrocities of this sort.

Obama isn't coming for anyone's guns. The NRA won that battle years ago and the Democrats have long since moved on. Yet the eliminationists carry on, whipping their readers and listeners into a frenzy of panic and fear, and as a result, four little girls (and a young woman) don't have dads tonight. And I fear today was just the beginning.

What does "eliminationist" mean? Apparently, it's part of the title of a new book written by one of Kos's pals, featuring alleged "reporting" on "hate talk" in America. How is talk radio eliminationist? You'll have to buy his buddy's book to find out. But it certainly smells like a smear to your Radio Equalizer.

Meanwhile, what did Kos have to say about the recent savage killing of four police officers in Oakland, just miles from his home? Nothing, most likely because he couldn't use their deaths for political gain.


Even beyond these shooting incidents, there have been other attempts to show "concern" for "anti-Obama talk". A story that appeared just yesterday at the Politico claimed some on the "right" were concerned with this kind of rhetoric coming from their own side, but the supposed "conservatives" named certainly have their own agendas:

Conservative author David Horowitz, himself no stranger to controversy or heated accusations, warns that the criticism of Obama among some conservatives has approached “over-the-top hysteria." It’s not just Stalin comparisons, Horowitz wrote this past week on FrontPageMag.com — one contributor likened the president to David Koresh, Charles Manson and Saddam Hussein.

Borrowing from conservative writer Charles Krauthammer — who in 2003 coined the term “Bush derangement syndrome” to describe some Bush haters — Horowitz dubbed the piece, “Obama Derangement Syndrome.”

“Conservatives, please,” Horowtiz said. “Let's not duplicate the manias of the left as we figure out how to deal with Mr. Obama. He is not exactly the anti-Christ, although a disturbing number of people on the right are convinced he is.”

David Frum, a former speechwriter to George W. Bush, has been the most vocal critic, recently taking aim at Rush Limbaugh in a Newsweek cover story, “Why Rush Is Wrong,” and Beck on his site, NewMajority.com: “What the hell is going on at Fox News?”

“You never get very far in American politics with extreme talk,” Frum said. “When you use extreme language, you’re much more likely to push away the audience.”

But what hasn't been mentioned is that Horowitz has moved away from the conservative camp, adamantly supporting Obama during the presidential contest last year. And Krauthammer isn't among those "worried", a point that was clarified in a Politico follow-up post:

“Obama derangement syndrome?” asked Krauthammer. “I think not.”

“It's much too early — I say this as the coiner of 'Bush derangement syndrome' and de facto resident psychiatrist of the commentariat — to discern anything of the sort,” he continued. “It may come, but it's way too early.”

Most disturbing is this assertion made in the first Politico story:

Limbaugh, citing Arbitron PPM ratings for several metered markets, said this past week that his “audience growth rates are phenomenal” and only increased around his blistering CPAC speech, in which he said he wants Obama "to fail." While preliminary numbers seem to back the boast, it’s too early to quantify the number of listeners since Obama took office. In two weeks, conservative radio host Mark Levin's book, “Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto,” has sold more than 730,000 copies and gone through twelve printings.

How is it too early? These ratings results are NOT "preliminary", they are tabulations based on Arbitron's new (and far more accurate) electronic Portable People Meter system (PPM). Under the old, diary-based process, monthly numbers did not carry the same weight as quarterly "books". But the largest cities have abandoned diaries for the new devices.

Rush's numbers are in fact soaring and any effort to undermine that fact should be challenged with the data at hand.

Though there shouldn't be any surprise to see news events exploited for political gain, fighting back against these smears and misstatements of fact is critical.



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