Network News from Chuck Todd to Brian Williams to Chris Cuomo etc etc etc AKA MSM sound like the parents of the bully trying to justify actions with “they all of do it”……
This “both sides” are responsible for the escalation of violence rhetoric is simply false. No matter how hard the talking heads try to push this meme, it rings false because it is false. Yes, ALL the MSM play the false equivalency game and that in itself is an enabler, something they will never acknowledge.
I am a retired educator. I taught all grades thru college over my career, but the bulk of my years was in the middle school age. While that age is not unique to bullying, it is an age where all behaviors at times are exaggerated. Students, going through awkward puberty, are beset with hormones that are raging, growth spurts all over the place, and for many their “filters” are non-existent. Too often insecure adolescents turn to bullying when their brains shut down. Good teaching and good parenting can nip it in the bud. Sadly the occasionally bully is protected by bullying parents and thus grow into adult bullies. They are the parents who come in and insist “My child does not lie”or the ones that say “but what about the other kids...they all do it.” Er, no they don’t. But these parents echo their child’s whine and we, educators, get that Eureka moment, about why this child behaves as he/she does. *See #45, aka the orange menace.
Also sadly, look at the current republican party. This has been building since Nixon, went into full mode in the 80s, on steroids with Bush/Cheney. In between, we had a muted left from WJC trying to capitulate to what was made to look like the “silent majority” from the already corporatized media. Now we are in the Twilight Zone run by an a republican party that would bring shame to the real party of Lincoln. The republican is filled with bullies, adolescents with no filters in adult bodies. Mostly male but not restricted to them. And yet the MSM, like Chuck Todd insists “both sides are responsible…..” no matter what happens.
It is as if he was not aware that in Denver, right after the shootings at Columbine, one Mr. Charlton Heston speaking for the NRA went there to bully those who showing concern about easy access to weapons. It is as if he had never heard of the republican candidates who boasted in commercials about “second amendment” solutions. Did these network talking heads not see nor hear any of the dog whistles from the right on race as far back as the 80s? Did they not know that the democratic president of the previous eight years, who happened to be African American, was depicted in racially offensive ways?? When that president showed his overwhelming grief at Sandy Hook, after the shooting of Gabby Giffords, what were many of the right saying? “He is politicizing the tragedy.” His grief was politicizing tragedy? Meanwhile the insensitive Palin puts out a map of targeted Dems and has “Bull’s Eyes” over their districts. Yet the MSM insisted that the left was overreacting to Palin. Even now, the right with the help of the MSM, Todd’s network specifically, are giving credence to Breitbart, to Alex Jones.
How many republicans were caught with racist emails depicting President Obama in noose, his wife as an unflattering ape? And of course years of a certain adolescent fool getting attention from the MSM for his “Where is the president’s birth certificate”???? Were republicans out in mass condemning that? Was the MSM not concerned that the right was encouraging racism by their silence to what Trump was doing?? Was their lack of condemnation of Trump’s outrageous behavior not aiding him?
Just this morning some republican, Rodney Davis R-Illinois, says he has reached his breaking point. This three term representative was in office during Sandy Hook. THAT was not his breaking point? Seriously??? Or when Gabby was shot through the head and several others including an 8 year old child was killed was not a breaking point?? As awful as yesterday’s attack was, no one was killed, and hopefully all will recover. At the same time, uncovered on the media yesterday, three killed and two wounded in San Francisco workplace violence. There have been 156 “mass shootings” in this country in 165 days and ONLY now this republican is at a breaking point. How many toddlers have killed others in the past few years cause they picked up and unsecured gun from an irresponsible gun owner??? NOW he has reached his breaking point???
It is nearly impossible to even contact republican senators, and forget the news media. Twitter is it. And I do tweet to Mr. Todd my shock at his ridiculous false equivalencies and have done so as he consistently insisted HRC and Trump were both pushing violent rhetoric. I have been amazed that Mr. Todd and others can watch the Trump rallies and compare them to the Clinton or Bernie rallies as if they were the same.
The Women’s Marches the day after were record breaking large and yet peaceful. Still the MSM compared them to the astro turf tea party marches. HUH???? I wish for Mr Scalise a full recovery, as well as for the others injured when the mentally unstable man with weapons, set out to hurt them. But his injuries do no undo my disgust for the right’s pushing of racist, harmful policies that support mass incarceration of (mostly minorities); mass deportation of those his party leader has maligned; of attempting to destroy access to health care for millions of poor, sick, elderly. And for these sanctimonious hypocrites on the right to attempt to take the moral high ground on this and the MSM allowing and enabling and in some case abetting said hypocrisy is disgusting. FACTS are NOT on the side of the MSM enablers. FACTS are NOT on the side of the sanctimonious right wing.
Democrats can be both sympathetic with those injured and STILL REFUSE TO ALLOW THEM TO USE THIS TO GAME THE SYSTEM.
i beg all of you, write, call, tweet to you senators and representatives and do the same to the MSM. Do NOT let them use this to distract from the bold face greed and corruption on the right that is hell bent on destroying the lives of many.