Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Should Bill O'Reilly Bare Any Responsibility for Tiller's Killing?







What do you all think? Does O'Reilly deserve any responsibility (moral, not legal) for what happened to Dr. Tiller?

I'd say the kind of hate and vitriol that a lot on the far-right are spewing is what's creating this culture of paranoid extremist maniacs. From those who attack abortion clinics to the Holocaust museum to latinos, all of these killers have been people who received most of their news and information from people like O'Reilly, WorldNetDaily, and FreeRepublic. At some point, these people have to take some responsibility for creating a culture of fear, hate, and paranoia that drives people to violence.

This isn't to say they bare (or should bare) any legal responsibility or reprimand. Freedom of speech is a treasure of this country, and we have to protect that. But we should certainly use our own first amendment rights to call out those who are using theirs to breed extremism and fanaticism.

And while we're here, what's up with O'Reilly repeatedly saying they both needed to calm down and take a deep breath? He was the one screaming the whole time. And the constant use of the "far left" label with anyone he disagrees with is kind of annoying.

0 comments: