Should Libtalker Be Held Accountable For Hateful Rantings?
IN AN EMPTY THEATRE
Do Low Ratings Excuse Dangerous Outbursts?
*** ALSO NEW: SCHULTZ WORRIES ABOUT MSNBC AUDIENCE DEFECTIONS ***
Do tiny ratings provide sufficient reason to ignore rhetoric so inflammatory and dangerous it could well incite violence?
That's the question we've long posed regarding syndicated left wing talk host Mike Malloy. In the past, he's expressed "violence fantasies" against Dana Perino, Matt Drudge and others, narrowly sidestepping making direct threats against them. At this point, it's clear Malloy spends a decent amount of time thinking up creative ways to physically eliminate his enemies.
Yes, the audience is small, but what if just a handful of his crazed fans decided to take action motivated by one of Malloy's unhinged monologues? The results would be unthinkable.
It may be a relatively empty theatre, but Malloy's screaming 'fire' nonetheless. Listen as he fans the flames of racial tension during his program earlier this week:
Malloy's not the obscure figure dismissive lefties might have one believe: his background includes stints at CNN, major talkers such as WLS / Chicago and WSB / Atlanta, in addition to Huffington Post contributions.
Should this really be ignored? Or is it time to speak out against increasingly violent rhetoric in liberal talk radio?
Do Low Ratings Excuse Dangerous Outbursts?
*** ALSO NEW: SCHULTZ WORRIES ABOUT MSNBC AUDIENCE DEFECTIONS ***
Do tiny ratings provide sufficient reason to ignore rhetoric so inflammatory and dangerous it could well incite violence?
That's the question we've long posed regarding syndicated left wing talk host Mike Malloy. In the past, he's expressed "violence fantasies" against Dana Perino, Matt Drudge and others, narrowly sidestepping making direct threats against them. At this point, it's clear Malloy spends a decent amount of time thinking up creative ways to physically eliminate his enemies.Yes, the audience is small, but what if just a handful of his crazed fans decided to take action motivated by one of Malloy's unhinged monologues? The results would be unthinkable.
It may be a relatively empty theatre, but Malloy's screaming 'fire' nonetheless. Listen as he fans the flames of racial tension during his program earlier this week:
MIKE MALLOY (23:03): Now, of course Republicans are so goddamn stupid - so grossly stupid and ignorant - they think it's a good thing! Oh, goody goody good, the government will be insolvent! YAY! This is what the Tea Baggers uh and - and the right wing Republicans and Libertarians have been pushing for for a long time. Well, you animals are going to get it, you really are, you're going to get your wish!
[...]
MALLOY (25:06): Here are these late middle-aged cretins who are cutting their own throats because there's a black man in the White House? Really? Is that all black folk had to do to pound the white race into oblivion - is get a black man in the White House and the white people will all stand up and commit suicide? Is that all it took?
Malloy's not the obscure figure dismissive lefties might have one believe: his background includes stints at CNN, major talkers such as WLS / Chicago and WSB / Atlanta, in addition to Huffington Post contributions.
Should this really be ignored? Or is it time to speak out against increasingly violent rhetoric in liberal talk radio?
published by Brian Maloney at
20:31
6 Comments:
Forget the danger posed by some lunatic in Malloy's microscopic audience, focus instead on the danger posed by his substitute hosts.
One regular stand-in is Brad Freidman of the radical left-wing BradBlog.
Friedman's business partner and occasional co-conspirator is a fellow named Brett Kimberlin, convicted domestic terrorist and the chief suspect in the 1978 killing of a 65-year-old grandmother.
Malloy doesn't need to rouse one of his basement-dwelling devotees to commit an act of violence, not when he's a mad bomber practically on staff.
By
Cinco Jotas, at 11 November, 2010 01:13
He is an oracle of hate.
By
Anonymous, at 11 November, 2010 01:46
I think of the Jeff Bridges, radio "shock jock" character, at the beginning of the "Fisher King". The one who causes a massacre.
By
mdgiles, at 11 November, 2010 06:38
You're right. Free speech should be curtailed for those who say things you don't like.
By
Mambo Bananapatch, at 11 November, 2010 07:51
This was really a weak rant by Malloy's standard, not too much to this one. But to the question if what he says matters if he has a few hundred listeners nationally, it only takes 1 or 2 goofballs to act on his words to make him dangerous. I don't believe Malloy understands this,& he does'nt care.
By
danybhoy, at 11 November, 2010 08:09
That's a good question. Courts have decided that we can't yell fire in a crowded theater, but what if the theater is empty? What if no one heard it?
My instincts would think that if even one person heard him, then he would be culpable for violation. Probably the Supereme Court Justice used the fire in a crowded theater analogy only to provide an example that would seem obvious to most people.
By
P. R. Cook, at 11 November, 2010 15:48
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