Most readers by this point will be aware of the murder of two New York police officers, Officers Wenjain Liu and Rafael Ramos, yesterday by a madman, Ismaaiyl Brinsley apparently motivated by a desire to avenge Eric Garner and Michael Brown. Today, the news media and the talking heads shows (I refuse to call them news shows) have been filled with right wingers like Rudy Giuliani blaming Democrats, in particular President Obama and Bill de Blasio, for the killings because they dared to suggest minor reforms of the police.
My Gut Reaction (Part One): When looking for an opinion about the police, it's probably best not to go to a man whose name was used as a battle cry by a group of cops while they sodomized a man.
My Gut Reaction (Part Two): Why is it that when a right winger kills a bunch of people, the media bend over backwards not to connect his political views to it, but when someone who is nominally left wing kills people, the media rush to blame politicians?
The usual gang of reactionaries has been out in force today blaming President Obama, Mayor DeBlasio, and protestors in general for the deaths of Officers Liu and Ramos. The head of the New York police union, the Patrolman's Benevolent Association, claimed that de Blasio had "blood on his hands," and members of the NYPD turned their backs on the Mayor at the hospital when he came to comfort them.
Strange thing is, a few months ago, when followers of rogue rancher Cliven Bundy murdered two Las Vegas police officers, nobody seemed eager to blame Sean Hannity or Fox News for promoting Bundy and his gun toting mob of extremists. Similarly, right wingers reacted with outrage when people suggested that their Islamophobic statements may have inspired Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik, even when confronted with Breivik's citations of their work in his manifesto.
I also remember how the media played down the political elements of Jared Loughner's rampage. I turned off an episode of Nightline, a once great news show, in disgust after a commentator argued that Republicans like Sarah "Surveyor's Symbol" Palin could not be held responsible for the acts of a madman like Loughner.
There is a big difference between these cases and the recent killings. Unlike Bundy, the protestors didn't march around with guns and state their readiness to take up arms against the government. Unlike Palin, Mayor de Blasio never sent out a fundraising e-mail with people, let alone cops, in a gun sight.
So why the difference in reactions from the so called liberal media?