RICK KARR: Why did Adkisson hate "the liberal movement"? Police said that he told them "that all liberals should be killed ... because they were ... ruining the country, and that he felt that the Democrats had tied his country's hands in the war on terror and ... ruined every institution in America...." Police said that Adkisson had targeted the Unitarian Universalist Church "because of its liberal teachings." The church advocates social justice and tolerance, and it openly welcomes gay, lesbian, and transgendered members. According to police, Adkisson said that, "Because he could not get to the leaders of the liberal movement that he would target those that had voted them in to office."In the weeks following the tragedy, the congregation and its pastor, Reverend Chris Buice struggled with what they were learning about Adkisson.
REVEREND CHRIS BUICE: Some have suggested that his spiritual attitudes, his hatred of liberals and gays, was reinforced by the right-wing media figures. And it is beyond dispute that there are a plethora of books which have labeled liberals as evil, unpatriotic, godless and treasonous.
...books that police found in Adkisson's apartment, books by popular right-wing talk-radio personalities who berate and denigrate liberals. One of the books police found in Adkisson's apartment was Michael Savage's "Liberalism is a Mental Disorder". In it, Savage calls liberals "the enemy within our country;" "an enemy more dangerous than Hitler"; "traitors" who are "dangerous to your survival" and who "should be placed in a straightjacket".
..."I'm thinking about killing Michael Moore and I'm wondering if I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire somebody to do it."
Michael Reagan, son of the former president, suggested that people who claim that "nine-eleven was an inside job," a U.S. government conspiracy, deserve to die.
MICHAEL REAGAN: "Take them out and shoot them. They are traitors to this country, and shoot them.
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I remember when I first learned of the Rwandan genocide, and I thought, how is this any different from today's radio shock jocks? Rwandan radio personalities used their propaganda to brainwash, desensitize the Hutu majority, saying that Tutsi's were cockroaches which needed to be destroyed. Eventually, in 1994 the Hutu took up machetes and perpetrated a mass slaughter of men, women, and yes children.
Now we have radio personalities promoting murder of liberals? Beyond irresponsible. This is sickening. Remember, liberal means not narrow in judgment, and democratic means appealing to a broad spectrum of people. Rush Limbaush and his cronies have done more to destroy our democratic principles than anyone. They have created hate, distrust, and division between liberals and conservatives in our neighborhoods and workplaces. They have unduly influenced politics and legislation, through the spread of their misinformation and lies. (While channel surfing, I heard one of them blame the Democrats for the high cost of gas!) It will do us all good to remember that these men are in the business of entertainment--not news.
It's my view that what has created this state of affairs in the media was the FCC's eliminationof the Fairness Doctrine in 1985 under President Reagan's deregulation policies. This was a 1949 media regulation which mandated that media's coverage of politics and controversial issues be balanced, equitable, honest, unbiased, i.e., more democratic.
Free Speech comes with responsibility, which includes not provoking violence toward or hatred of a group of people. It is one thing to debate political issues, expressing facts as well as biases, interpretations. It's yet another to spin a web of evil, sucking in unsuspecting, undiscerning listeners.
What can you do?
1) Ask your congressmen to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine.
2) Call radio stations and ask for the removal of these self-inflated demagogues. Furthermore, ask for a balanced perspective, an alternative radio show!
3) Find out who their advertisers are, call them, and ask them to pull their support for these shows.
K. Canaday, who will not be a bystander
2 comments on The Danger of Limbaugh-ites
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Excellent post, and great find with that video. I still cant help but be stunned by the ones that say the left is full of hate. hector projector. I mean the quotes not just that Moyers points out, but over the past few years have been unbelievable. They need to be held accountable for their actions, as enablers. When you have a platform, you have to be much more responsible than they are...
you are clueless and paranoid if you think I am a hate monger! You are clearly not used to strait "talk" with people in the real world( the street, etc) not in a sheltered classroom or workplace. Im really doing you a favor even debating with you! But 1. theres no need for a fairness doctrine when there can be conservative talk shows on one station and liberal ones on another! Its the same premesis! Its just that Air America was so bad and humorless no one wanted to listen! Bill Moyers new insulting "hate" movie is another reason why the fairness doctrine is not needed! I been joking telling people to "move to africa" but its really not necessary cause africa is coming here, and the US is gonna be a third world nation soon, I thought that maybe just maybe you and most other americans wouldn't really dig that, but I can see theres no getting thru to you.