Congressman Steve Stockman (R-Texas) has called on CNN's Wolf Blitzer to apologize for using the Boston Marathon bombings to “attack political opponents,” despite the fact that Blitzer made no such attack.
During yesterday afternoon’s televised coverage of the twin bombings in Boston, Blitzer commented that April 15 was a state holiday. "It is a state holiday in Massachusetts today called Patriots' Day,” Blitzer noted for viewers, “and who knows if that had anything at all to do with these explosions."
Within minutes Blitzer was being pilloried on Twitter for speculating that anti-tax groups were responsible, which, as in a right-wing game of telephone, quickly mushroomed into accusations that Blitzer had blamed the violence on the Tea Party.
Proving that no Republican legislator can resist the smell of bullshit, Rep. Stockman then sent the following tweet: "Wolf Blizter should immediately apologize. The mainstream media once again exploit killings to attack political opponents."
Blitzer's actual words can be heard here. April 15 is indeed a holiday in Massachusetts and any responsible journalist would surely note that fact. “Who knows,” as Blitzer says, about possible connections between the observance and the bombings. It’s for sure most of those watching were wondering, too; terrorists of every stripe do often choose symbolic dates or targets for their acts.
That Twittering idiots heard an attack on the Tea Party is more a reflection of their own self-absorption and whining self-pity than of anything that came out of Blitzer’s mouth.
Now where’s your apology, Rep. Stockman?