After spending most of Saturday shocked about the attempted killing of a Congresswoman, I began to seethe. My anger was like a spreading cancer.
Sometime later I began to realize that I had more anger towards the media, spoken and written, who, in their desperate attempt to smooth things out, never once called out that this shooter, despite his irrational rantings, was, no doubt, identifiable with right wing ideology.
Even though among his rantings there sat anti-government ideology, gold currency ideology, and government mind-control ideology.
And anyone who has been alive and thinking for the last two years understands from where this ideology comes.
All those in the media who claim that political rhetoric has been around for decades have a point- albeit a small one. Yes, the 60's were volatile, but the horrible vitriol was relegate to a few. The rhetoric was not broadcast 24/7 on cable and talk radio.
Now, the rhetoric is twice as hateful, and is able to be broadcast all day, every day. Now, the rhetoric is not about policies, it has become personal.
Isn't it obvious, or should be, that this insanity started when Barack Obama was nominated and has only gotten worse since his election and inauguration.
The second Barack Obama raised his right hand, many right wing elements in this country became unhinged. In their collective hatred, they could not wrap their heads around the fact that an African-American had been elected President of the United States.
This was a huge change, and in their minds, not supposed to happen. I think that during the campaign, the "haters" totally thought the American people would understand that their country was built on and should remain a rich, white man's country. Although indication suggested Barack Obama would be elected, they, the right wing, refused to believe this.
From this hatred came the Tea Party, who cared less about analyzing policy. If the Black man was for it, they were against it. Does anyone believe they even understand any one article within the health care bill? And the more policy initiated, the more unhinged they became. They know nothing of policy; they simply could not fathom the changes happening in the country. So their hatred turned on the change agent himself- Barack Obama. They were so out of touch with the changing demographics in their country, they couldn't think straight. Which led to the onslaught of Rush, Glenn, Sarah, et. al.
Once corporations learned of the outrage, they and their money organized this ill informed group into an organization, the Tea Party. These wealthy corporate people knew damn well what they were doing. They understood that using this disgruntled group of people to make sure their agenda was in no way blocked by Barack Obama. So they upped the rhetoric and upped the salaries of those who spewed the hate.
Suddenly what was unacceptable rhetoric in the past, became acceptable. Calling President Obama unAmerican, socialist, Hitler, etc. repeated so often, it became an undeniable truth.
Sure- during the Bush years a lot on the left hated what he was doing to this country. I, myself, said on numerous occasions I hated him. But never do I remember anyone on the left wish him death. No one in the media trashed President Bush. Hell, they hardly questioned anything he said or did. Presently, that is a totally different story. President Obama, our first African-American President, has been under a microscope since he was sworn in.
Along with the corporate Tea Party, the complicit media, came the acceptance of this vitriolic rhetoric by our elected officials themselves. Add the really bad economy, two wars, a crumbling infrastructure, little manufacturing, high unemployment, and there sits your perfect storm.
But the complicity of elected officials is what gave the unhinged their respectability. The complicity of elected officials, those who said nothing about the signs at rallies- or those who hung a Don't Tread on Me flag from the balcony of the Congress- are the ones who splashed the gasoline and threw the match. For a sitting Speaker of the House to refuse to tell his caucus to stop the birthed conspiracy says it all. And the rhetoric gets more and more volatile.
What angers me the most are those in the media who go out of their way to insist that the shooter had no political motive- or worse- no belief in any political agenda - is an absurdity. Now they, too, are complicit. To insinuate that this type of talk exists on both sides of the political parties is laughable, but dangerous. For in their desire to be "fair and balanced," they cover-up the truth.
But the truth is that sometimes there is only one truth. Sometimes there is only one "side" that is in the right, and the other is in the wrong. Those in the media are wholly capable of adding two and two, but always come up with three or five. But those who add two and two to equal four know the absolute truth.
Those on the left, who are on the right side of history, need to not only hold the President's feet to the fire, but we need to hold all elected officials' feet to the fire. Demand they shut down the rhetoric on their side of the aisle. Eric Cantor should not allow his House members to keep the rhetoric going. That goes for John Boehner, too. Elected officials need to act like the role models for how government works.
Those on the left also need to hold the media's feet to the fire. Instead of pie fights and flame wars on Kos, we need to write diaries that inform others of the facts. We need to write to radio stations and cable networks to call out those who white-wash the truth or simply try to cover it with platitudes of fairness. Sometimes we need to be more like MediaMatters, who attempts to, rationally, call out those who are lying.
In the story of Congresswoman Giffords shooting, there is one truth only. Right- wing rhetoric was in the mind of the shooter, no matter how unbalanced he is. And the Sheriff in Arizona was correct and brave in saying that the rhetoric must stop.
And the first step in doing that lies with those who control and who are in the media. My anger stems from the fact that many on the left saw this coming. It is going to be up to us to make sure the media not only add two and two, but we need to make sure they do their job in calling the truth what it is.