Michelle Malkin
Answer: Nearly a dozen times, including the 2009 massacre of three Pittsburgh police officers (which lib journos falsely blamed on Fox News, Glenn Beck and the “heated, apocalyptic rhetoric of the anti-Obama forces”); the 2009 suicide insurance scam/murder hoax of Kentucky census worker Bill Sparkman (which New York magazine falsely blamed on Rush Limbaugh, “conservative media personalities, websites and even members of Congress”); the 2009 Holocaust museum shooting (which MSNBC commentator Joan Walsh blamed on Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly and yours truly); the 2010 Times Square jihad bomb plot (which Mayor Michael Bloomberg falsely blamed on tea party activists protesting Obamacare); and the 2011 Tucson massacre, which liberals continue to blame on former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
Question: What will this rabid Blame Righty mob do now that an alleged triple-murderer has singled out prominent lefties in the media and Hollywood for fawning praise as part of his crazed manifesto advocating cop-killing?
Answer: Evade, deflect, ignore and whitewash.
Last week, former Los Angeles Police Department Officer Christopher Dorner allegedly shot and killed three innocent people in cold blood. He was the subject of a massive manhunt as this was written. Dorner posted an 11,000-word manifesto on Facebook that outlined his chilling plans to target police officers.
CNN headlined its story on the rant: “Alleged cop-killer details threats to LAPD and why he was driven to violence.” MSNBC reported: “Manifesto: Alleged Revenge Shooter Named Targets.” KTLA-TV in Los Angeles went with: “Christopher Dorner’s Manifesto (Disturbing Content and Language).”
There was a curious, blaring omission in both the headlines and the stories from these supposedly objective outlets, though. Dorner expressed rather pointed, explicit views of news personalities and celebrities who have influenced, entertained and uplifted him. Dorner praised stars from Ellen DeGeneres and Charlie Sheen (“you’re effin awesome”) to “Jennifer Beals, Serena Williams ... Tamron Hall ... Natalie Portman, Queen Latifah ... Kelly Clarkson, Nora Jones, Laura Prepon, Margaret Cho and Rutina Wesley.”
The shout-outs to liberal journalists go on at length:
“Chris Matthews, Joe Scarborough, Pat Harvey, Brian Williams, Soledad Obrien (sic), Wolf Blitzer, Meredith Viera (sic), Tavis Smiley and Anderson Cooper, keep up the great work and follow Cronkite’s lead,” Dorner cheered. “I hold many of you in the same regard as Tom Brokaw and the late Peter Jennings.”
Dorner also offered an “atta boy” to notorious, anti-Second Amendment CNN anchor Piers Morgan, suggesting he be given “an indefinite resident alien and Visa card.” Offering up his political counsel, Dorner added: “I want you to know that I agree with you 100 percent on enacting stricter firearm laws, but you must understand that your critics will always have in the back of their mind that you are native to a country that we won our sovereignty from while using firearms as a last resort in defense and you come from a country that has no legal private ownership of firearms.”
Dorner reminded MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough that they had “met at McGuire’s pub in P-cola in 2002 when I was stationed there. It was an honor conversing with you about politics, family and life.” The alleged triple-murderer also advised “Today” show personality Willie Geist: “(Y)ou’re a talented and charismatic journalist. Stop with all the talk show shenanigans and get back to your core of reporting. Your future is brighter than most.”
It’s ridiculous, of course, to blame these journos for the deaths of three innocents in Southern California. But herein lies a teachable moment. In the sick cycle of recent politicized tragedies, the Blame Righty mob demanded that conservative media personalities and GOP politicians apologize for crimes they didn’t commit; called for increased regulation of political free speech; and cranked up its decades-old machinery to stifle conservative talk radio in the name of public safety and civility. Even the remotest connection to anything right-wing was excuse enough to convict conservatives for homicidal sprees.
And while the Blame Righty crowd still inveighs about Palin’s completely innocent use of crosshairs on a political map, they have fallen silent about the stunning admission of Floyd Lee Corkins, who pleaded guilty this week to attempting to murder members of the conservative Family Research Council in Washington, D.C., last summer.
Corkins said he wanted to “kill as many as possible and smear the Chick-fil-A sandwiches (he had brought) in victims’ faces, and kill the guard.” How did he pick the office? From a “hate map” published by left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center — the leading guilt-by-association witch-hunt crew targeting conservatives.
Ho-hum. Nothing to see here, move along. Be vewwy, vewwy quiet.
Michelle Malkin is the author of “Culture of Corruption: Obama and his Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks and Cronies” (Regnery 2010).
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Another premise of your article that I found ridiculous was your suggestion that because he had liberal-leaning celebrities he liked, Dorner must be a rabid liberal. Most everyone I know, including Republicans, have favorite movie stars and comedians, most of whom generally are liberal-leaning politically. So, it is no surprise that most of the celebrities he likes are liberal, since most celebrities are liberal. He also likes Tim Tebow, who is embraced by the Christian-right.
Dorner in his manifesto came across to me as a disturbed man trying to justify, unjustifiable behavior. What he did not come across to me at all as is an across-the-board liberal. He came across as politically moderate, liking some ideas and candidates from both parties. Shame on you for using a tragic, scary situation to try to attack liberals based on selective, misleading information, which lacks full context.
If you are going to bash liberals, at least try to use fact to do so.
-Josh Rosenberg
I in no way want to be confused with condoning the man's despicable behavior. All I am saying is that your article misrepresents the facts and is a pathetic attempt to use a tragic, scary situation to slam liberals based on information that is not even accurate. Shame on you Ms. Malkin!