I don't always agree with Mr. Simon. But this morning, I applauded him. On Reliable Sources he was the only person with the integrity to call out violent rhetoric and violent imagery for what it is...DANGEROUS.
I spent many of my teaching years with 12 year olds, mostly as 6th grade students in elementary but several also when they moved to middle school. Teachers of that particular age group have to deal with the emergence of bullying, with the emergence of inappropriate language and with the hormonal factors that often disallows the thinking process to take place.
"WORDS matter!" I cannot tell you how many times I have had to use these words with my students. It was a core part of my job. Children entering adolescence are filled with emotions they never felt before, fears as their separation from family process begins. As their body is in the midst of maturing, their brains seem to stand still. Often their reactions to things are impulsive. We openly discussed these things.
"WORDS can hurt. WORDS can encourage bullying, words can threaten. WORDS can also stand up for what is right!" These are things I would tell my young students. It's not OK to allow someone to encourage violence and bullying with words. I would tell them that. Yet, now I live in a world where "entertainers" do this on a regular basis because "they are entertainers." I cannot tell you how many times I felt my bp go up so high as some media person excused Limbaugh or Beck because they are "entertainers." I heard it this morning again from Mr. Kurtz. So I was thrilled when Mr. Simon countered the excuses being generated by a media that has been giving false equivalences for way too long.
Palin's target map was wrong. They know it and I imagine that is why it was scubbed from the site right after the shooting. The video with Chuck Todd poo-pooing Representative Giffords concern over that kind of violent imagery spoke volumes. Todd, like Kurtz and the rest of the mainstream media that is so afraid of offending the right, was wrong. Defending violent rhetoric and violent imagery with "everyone does it" is wrong. NO, everyone does not do it. It's a false premise being used by some in the media to make sure they will not be called the "liberal" press. That meme, pushed now for decades by right power mongers has taken hold and has hurt all of us. I will never forget Brian Williams stating that Limbaugh was a legitimate voice. I want to like Mr. Williams but I have never gotten past those words. To me that was like saying McCarthy had a legitimate point of view. Hate mongering is never legitimate. Rush has been hate mongering forever.
We all know it. We all remember his attacks on a 13 year old Chelsea Clinton. Can you get much more hateful than that? Beck's hate mongering has two venues....radio and FOX.
I have to say my truth. I want guilt to overtake and flood the hearts and souls of those that use hate as a tool, and those that excuse and defend violent rhetoric as entertainment or with "everyone does it". Can you imagine if any teacher came out and said to the public after a violent incident that was encouraged by bullying rhetoric "Oh everyone does it."
As it is, when violence in schools erupts and it turns out that bullying was a part of it, I read everywhere, "Why did the teachers do nothing?" Well, why has the media done nothing to curb the violent rhetoric and violent imagery. Why is the media STILL excusing and rationalizing the violent rhetoric and violent imagery as not the problem???
As I used to tell my students, "If you are silent while others bully and threaten, then you are part of the problem, even if you do not join in the bullying. If you are unable or afraid to speak out, then get the adults and get us to speak out." In my opinion, the media folks that excuse Limbaugh and Beck as entertainers, that want to absolve the Palin, Angle or Bachman rhetoric that promoted the notion of violence, are cowards who are part of the problem. So I publicly want to thank Roger Simon for speaking up. I know KO spoke up, as will I am sure, Ed Schultz and Rachel Maddow. But they are partisan. It is the supposed NON PARTISAN media that I am struggling with. If they are afraid of the right, then indeed this angry, hateful cloud in the political arena will continue.