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Saturday, February 13, 2010

Proposed TPM and LGF Headlines

Amy Bishop, who killed three fellow professors at the University of Alabama - Huntsville because she was denied tenure, obviously was a disturbed person. Her politics, whatever they may have been, are irrelevant. She did the crime, and now she needs to do the time (or face the needle).

One thing about Bishop's politics seems likely, however. And that is that she must never have attended a Tea Party or said something nice about Sarah Palin, or we would have heard about it by now.

Had Bishop's politics been within 100 miles of a Tea Party, Talking Points Memo and Little Green Footballs would have been all over the case making the connection. Just like they did with the similarly disturbed Gregory Girard, who never shot anyone but who "stockpiled" weapons.



This is the not-so-new tactic. If someone attended a Tea Party rally and later committed a crime, TPM and LGF hype the connection even though there was no connection. Or about as much connection as there was between Bishop (who attended Harvard in Cambridge, MA) and Girard (whose wife is a psychiatrist in Cambridge, MA).

This is quite different from Nadal Hasan, the Fort Hood shooter, who was in direct communication with al-Qaeda and whose anti-American sentiments were based in al-Qaeda's radical Islamist ideology. There was a connection there, but to have pointed it out left one open to charges of anti-Islamic bias.

There was a moment in time when I thought TPM would attempt to make the transition from left-wing niche site to legitimate news site, much as HuffPo is attempting to do. The coverage of Girard and unending attempts to smear the Tea Party movement at TPM make pretty clear that TPM has found its niche and does not plan on leaving it. As to LGF, it now is what it is.

I breathlessly await these headlines from TPM and LGF:

  • "Alabama Shooter - The Cambridge Connection"
  • "Biology Profs - The New Menace"
  • "Tenure - It Only Was A Matter of Time"
Instead, we probably will get these headlines:

  • "Her Name Was 'Bishop' - The Religious Right Menace Exposed"
  • "Alabama Shooter Knows Someone Who Attended A Tea Party"
  • "Palin Tea Party Speech Preceded Shooting"
Either that, or complete silence.

Update: Yep, she was an extremist:
A family source said Bishop, a mother of four children - the youngest a third-grade boy - was a far-left political extremist who was “obsessed” with President Obama to the point of being off-putting.
And her victims were all minorities.

--------------------------------------------
Related Posts:
Dems' Strategy of Crazy
A Warning For The Next Scott Brown
Ghouls Preparing To Dance on Sparkman's Grave
So, Mr. Krugman, Who Incited This Violence?
Because Only The Far Right Incites Violence

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13 comments:

  1. An SFGate online article about the Alabama shooting wonders why it's relevant the alleged shooter was Harvard educated, but then the reporter decides it's appropriate to put forth a speculative theory about the shooter's possible motive.

    Harvard educated neuroscientists have a priveleged place in society and don't typically engage in mass murder. Why would that detail NOT be included in the story?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm glad you're posting on this. Every time a violent outrage occurs, we conservatives have to hunker down and hope the suspect doesn't have a McCain/Palin bumper sticker or some other affinity with the GOP. It is so hard to overcome the false impressions intentionally broadcast by the MSM.

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  3. How odd that Jake Tapper has outed her as a socialist:
    jaketapper RT @KBAndersen So here's killer-prof Amy Bishop @ RateMyProfessors: http://tinyurl.com/ydnptvv Nice! Hard! Disorganized! Hot!...Socialist!

    And, that she killed her brother 26 years ago:
    jaketapper RT @MeMo07 http://bit.ly/cd7Orx // man.

    Gotta give Jake credit.

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  4. Thanks for providing another clear example of how sharp the double-standard razor is with the MSM.

    I wonder how much coverage there would be if she had been wearing "Code Pink", or one of those "Hope" T-Shirts.

    Old-Man-Tex

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  5. The leftist media probably won't offer much comment about Amy Bishop's politics if the second comment at RateMyProfessor.com is accurate.

    Apparently, she is a socialist.

    http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=392617&page=1

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  6. since LGF went off on creationists, id'ers, etc, he's lost it, who cares what he thinks?
    let him ride his bike around like a little hamster on his wheel, thinking he's actually getting somewhere.
    thanks, I feel better.
    re: the actual subject -
    I agree with you. All the usual suspects, including the Southern Poverty Law Center would be having a fit.

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  7. TPM seems to be clearly advertising the direction they're coming from - I mean, when one of your offerings is titled 'Muckraker'...

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  8. It's surprising the number of Americans who think it's illegal to have guns. I don't think it will be much of a jump for the left to smear tea partiers as mere "gun owners" in the future, if they aren't already.

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  9. More likely:

    "Well-regarded, Harvard-educated neuroscientist has breakdown after living in Alabama."

    After all, living amongst teabaggers, Republicans, and the KKK would drive anyone from MA crazy.

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  10. Here are a couple of my posts on this. I predicted that the MSM would either find a link to something they hate or just spit it out like a bitter pill. How can they justify the case that a leftie, socialist, Haaaarvad graduate, female was a shooter. A gun, a GUN mind you!!

    http://truthandcommonsense.com/2010/02/13/three-shot-dead-in-school-shooting-suspect-a-haaavard-graduate-and-woman/

    http://truthandcommonsense.com/2010/02/13/so-it-starts-nyt-looks-into-an-twenty-four-year-old-crime-and-denial-of-tenure/

    They will chew on it for a while, but you watch. It will suddenly go away with a quick coat of "she was under a lot of stress" paint.

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  11. I'm surprised this eagle eye site failed to make the connection on Ann's right wing ideological basis for the shooting. Her last name is BISHOP. Direct proof that the Pope and his Catholic following are behind this shooting! This was a religiously inspired shooting! And this site is covering up this connection just like the bitter Bible thumpers that you are! /HuffPoDKos asininity.

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  12. She also shot her 18 year old brother to death with a shotgun in 1986 and was a suspect in the attempted bombing of a Harvard professor in 1993.

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  13. It seems to me that when a killer's political beliefs are brought up in news reports, it is usually because their killings were at least plausibly politically motivated. There is no plausible political motivation for Amy Bishop's murders, and that's why her political beliefs are mostly not being brought up.

    ReplyDelete