Because no one should have to read Charles Krauthammer. No right-wing pundit, as far as I'm concerned, can match Chuckie K. for how mad he makes me, and how consistently awful his columns are.
I suppose it's a little late in the week to read Wednesday's column, but better late than never.
Massacre, followed by libel
Well, at least it isn't "blood" libel.
The charge: The Tucson massacre is a consequence of the "climate of hate" created by Sarah Palin, the Tea Party, Glenn Beck, Obamacare opponents and sundry other liberal betes noires.
The verdict: Rarely in American political discourse has there been a charge so reckless, so scurrilous and so unsupported by evidence.
And what evidence doth Doctor Krauthammer have of this? Why, Mr. Loughner never personally thanked Caribou Barbie Sarah Palin or Teh Great 'Murkan Teahad for inspiring him to violence.
Further on, Chuckie decides that Loughner was obviously CRRRAAAAZZZY, so the outside world obviously had no influence on him, whatsoever. Now, given that Herr Doktor Chuckie is an actual psychiatrist, he's slightly more qualified to frist Loughner than, say, an optometrist.
But what baffles me is how Herr Doktor Chuckie learned that Loughner did not formulate any of his views in response to rhetoric from radical, far-right sources. Maybe he says something about that later on in the column?
A climate of hate? This man lived within his very own private climate. "His thoughts were unrelated to anything in our world," said the teacher of Loughner's philosophy class at Pima Community College. "He was very disconnected from reality," said classmate Lydian Ali. "You know how it is when you talk to someone who's mentally ill and they're just not there?" said neighbor Jason Johnson. "It was like he was in his own world."
Oh, I see. Superficial examinations of the statements of people who aren't Loughner. Well, at least he's staying true to the spirit of fristing.
The rest of Herr Doktor Chuckie's column is mostly one big tu quoque. "But, but Democrats do it, too!" His evidence?
- Even-the-liberal New Republic once published a column that talked about how the author hated George Bush.
- Barack Obama once used a metaphor involving knives and guns.
- Rahm Emanuel once sent a dead fish to someone he didn't like.
- Joe Manchin shot a copy of the cap and trade bill.
This, then, is Herr Doktor Chuckie's proof that "OMG TEH LIBRULS R JUST AS BAD!!!" This is just as bad as Paul Broun saying that there were "domestic enemies of the Constitution" in Congress and the White House. It's also just as bad as Glenn Beck's rhetoric, which has actually caused someone to head off for a shooting rampage*. It's just as bad as the right-wing blogger who urged people to phyiscally vandalize congressional offices, including Congresswoman Giffords's.**
Um, no.
None of Herr Doktor Chuckie's examples actually urge active violence against specific people. Glenn Beck has done this. Paul Broun and Michele Bachmann and various other luminaries of the Right have done this. I challenge Herr Doktor Chuckie to give a single example of a mainstream liberal political figure who actually advocated the violent overthrow of President Bush. It's not comparable.
In fact, the whole column's premise is flawed. John Cole wrote an excellent little piece saying as much in a much shorter time than it took me:
Trying to pretend everyone is just blaming poor old Sarah for the murders isn’t just a lie, it is an attempt to avoid any discussion of what is happening in our country. It’s the same old MO for these guys- “Sarah Palin didn’t pull the trigger!” is fundamentally no different than “global warming is a lie because it snowed today.”
Even if Loughner didn't listen to Glenn Beck all the time, the Right's rhetoric is still out of control. There's all this talk of watering the tree of liberty, and secret cabals (I'm still waiting for my check, Soros!), and various other frightening things. I don't care whether they take it seriously. What matters is whether frightened people with guns take it seriously.
So I leave you with Herr Doktor Chuckie's concluding paragraph:
The origins of Loughner's delusions are clear: mental illness. What are the origins of Krugman's?
You stay classy, Chuckie.
------
*The fact that he never got there is a testament to the California Highway Patrol.
**In the course of my googling, I came across an NYT article from March 2010. It's the last couple of lines that really caught my eye, to wit:
Ms. Giffords, at least, said she would uphold Arizona’s tradition of self-protection.
“I have a Glock 9-millimeter, and I’m a pretty good shot,” she said.
Irony is alive and well.