Remember Rwanda. Radio was used to incite genocide.

[Toucano]

If it is proven that the TN church shooter listened to Limbaugh, Savage, Hannity, etc., will they be brought up on charges?

[Captain Angry]

1. Nope.

None of those people ever advocated killing people on their show.

If you believe something, are unhinged to begin with, listening to those kinds of people will only reinforce your beliefs.

But you still have to decide to go shoot people.

[Toucano]

6. Not even this, attributed to Limbaugh in 1995?

“I tell people don’t kill all the liberals. Leave enough so we can have two on every campus — living fossils — so we will never forget what these people stood for.”

[Captain Angry]

9. Yeah, I remember that one.

I think he was left alone because it would have been free advertising for him if the "liberal" Clinton administration went after him.

THEY'RE TRYING TO STIFLE MY VOICE, COME TO MY AID! No, it would have been a disaster.

[ikojo]

8. Hal Turner and G Gordon Liddy have both

encouraged the murder of political opponents. In the 1990s Liddy gave people detailed instructions on how to take out a federal agent wearing a bullet proof vest. Hal Turner is a neo nazi radio host who routinely talks about killing

Sure Limbaugh and his kind may not come out and explicitly say kill a liberal or a gay but they contribute to an atmosphere where some might think it's a good idea

[Captain Angry]

11. That is true, they do contribute to that atmosphere.

This is where we have to put up with those people to preserve the First Amendment. They hide behind it. But it has to stay.

[BOSSHOG]

2. But that wouldn't be FAIR

reagan did away with the fairness doctrine so hate could prosper in the land of the free. And those you mention are members of the party of responsibility so of course they aren't responsible for anything.

[Hydra]

3. Of course not

The shooter wasn't listening to Olbermann.

[HEyHEY]

4. Rwanda vrs this is a bit different

As much as I hate Limbaugh and such, they can't be held responsible for every fuckknob out there.

[aspergris]

5. that's ridiculous

people are responsible for their own actions.

See: talk radio w/ eric bogosian for a good movie on this topic (kind of)

there are plenty on the left and the right that engage in vicious criticism of the other side. they are not responsible for people who murder out of hate.

the murderers are.

[truedelphi]

7. Sure, I agree they are not responsible, but why are our airwave mgrs

Giving carte blanche to the hate mongers.

Janet Jackson flashes a boob for one third of a second, and there is concern about the huge fines the TV station will receive.

But Savage can say autism doesn't really exist - it is just parents and kids seeking attention.

[aspergris]

10. I think savage

is getting rightly shellacked for what he said.

Iow, people are listening and responding.

I would be dollars to doughnuts he regrets it too.

Maybe he can commiserate with Bill Maher :)

[HEyHEY]

12. Let's look at the difference...

Savage says, "Autism doesn't really exist, it's just parents and kids trying to get attention."

Savage says, "Autism doesn't exist. Anyone who claims to have it is a cockroach and should be killed."

The first is just him being an idiot. The secondis him advocating for genocide.

[truedelphi]

20. He makes this type of statement all the time

"Anyone who claims to have it is a cockroach and should be killed."

Substitute anyone as being "anyone who protests this justified war against Iraq is a cockroach," "anyone who thinks blacks need affirmative action," "anyone who advocates for illegal immigrants" etc.

He has had this kill 'em like they are cockroaches key statements as one of his memes for years now.

[HEyHEY]

24. Has he actually advocated for the murder of people?

Has he said, "Kill them"

That's the most important part.

[mmonk]

13. No but unlike others here, I see direct cause and effect.

Some examples:
http://www.newshounds.us/2007/02/09/foxs_new_show_red_eye_jokes_twice_about_killing_liberals.php

http://www.freedom2008.com/reader/archives/001566.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-feldman/dsouza-and-the-violent-r_b_42464.html
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1575934/posts
http://www.irregulartimes.com/rightwingstuffviolence.html

http://www.nationalledger.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=1&num=5619&printer=1
http://www.michnews.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/216/9988
Time to get a handle on this homegrown hate.

[redqueen]

15. Thank you for providing those exampes!

:yourock:

[mmonk]

16. Anytime. The sad thing is I could have made it much longer

[redqueen]

17. Yes... no shortage of it... which is why I wonder why people here

seem not to know that it is done on a regular basis.

:shrug:

[mmonk]

19. Yes. It seems its becoming more institutionalized

which means hatred of liberals and blaming them for everything is pronounced repeatedly from radio, TV, books, non-liberal churches and evangelists, etc..

[redqueen]

14. Yup. We would do well to remember...

But no, they won't be blamed.

[Andy Canuck]

18. When I hear Limbaugh, I think Rawanda.

They are glaringly similiar.

Or Reagan or Beck or Savage or Coulter. There is no free speech if one person's speech destroys another's right to speak safely.

[Sheets of Easter]

21. No it wasn't.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_genocide#Background


This is not the same, not even close. The Rwandan genocide took months of secret planning and preparation- it didn't just happen because some schmuck on the radio made a call to arms. The Tennessee church shooting was a random, single event.

edit- I am certainly not defending right-wing radio. For that matter, I am secretly hoping that the TN shooter was somehow inspired by that bastard Michael Reagan, who called for the shooting of war protesters. Still, it is not the same thing as Rwanda. To think it is is laughable.

[mmonk]

22. The use of using the radio to spread an ugly message is the same.

The church shooting was random but the message is not.

[Sheets of Easter]

23. You'll get no argument from me,

but likening a lone shootout to one of the worst mass killings in human history is absurd.

[redqueen]

25. The comparison is in the use of hate speech to foster an atmosphere

in which large amounts of people are more accepting of / willing to participate in crimes targeting the subject of the hate speech.

Incitement to violence - that is what we're discussing.

[Sheets of Easter]

26. But it's hyperbolic, and hyperbole makes the argument look foolish,

as it does with the umpteen Nazi analogies one sees on the internets these days.

[redqueen]

27. It is hyperbolic... but whether it somehow negates the argument...

I disagree that that's a natural consequence. That's up to the reader, if they wish to dismiss something because of the way it is presented.