David Gergen warning the LEFT about making accusations

[RandySF]

On CNN, said that the left should watch the tone of its rhetoric in leveling accusations against Sarah Palin and the tea baggers. Also, John King suggested that she was not a major target just because she was a moderate Democrat.

[TheKentuckian]

1. Wash my taint, David.

[Drale]

2. "John King suggested that she was not a major target

just because she was a moderate Democrat." What I hear is that its ok to attack Democrats if they are further left than "moderate". Anyone hearing that?

[EFerrari]

4. Exactly. Digusting. nt

[RandySF]

6. What I hear

is the idea that tea baggers won't target a moderate Democrat.

[RainDog]

19. really? Jesse Kelly was a teabagger and her opponent

seems he had no problem targeting her.

[Doctor_J]

37. That's right - teabaggers will only kill liberal Dems

so stop saying otherwise!

[RainDog]

42. iow, John King is a lying pos since Kelly already used such ideation to raise money n/t

[Jamastiene]

50. Loud and clear. n/t

[EFerrari]

3. Gergen and King, enablers of domestic terrorism. n/t

[eShirl]

5. only RWers have freedom of speech

[dkf]

7. Well depending on how messed up he was, pinning it on Palin may blow up in our faces.

If we are measured and accurate we will be better off.

[RKP5637]

11. Good point! We still don't know the whole story of what triggered him and

all of the ramifications.

[Rectangle]

18. But bear in mind, regardless if Palins' targeting directly caused this idiot to

shoot Rep. Giffords or not , just the fact that Palin put
a Rifle-Scope-Crosshairs, a symbol of assassination, on Democratic
Reresentatives heads, should be enough for most resonable thinking
Americans to connect-the-dots.

[RKP5637]

21. Yes, the Rifle-Scope-Crosshairs was way over the top. n/t

[Enthusiast]

68. Correct. nt

[Cassandra]

25. Wouldn't be prudent...

would it?

[RainDog]

29. I see your concern here

and, you know what?

this site is a lot of individual voices, not one voice. this site has a lot of people who are not professional politicians, and, occasionally, some who are.

people have the freedom to state an opinion. it's better if it's an opinion that's backed up with some sort of verifiable evidence, a link to a source that has a good track record, a link to a respected voice...

but that's not the only way people engage on this site.

it's better for us to be responsible in our words - just as we talk about the right wing doing so.

but there are so many people on this site - many, if not most of whom, I do not know at all.

I am in no way responsible for the things they post here.

I may express my disagreement (and it's best to back that up with sources) but I cannot control the debate, especially after emotionally trying events.

however, your voice also serves a purpose, to urge caution and restraint. just don't take it personally if others don't choose to use the same tactics that you do.

take care.

[Faryn Balyncd]

31. I think you are right....He appears to be a paranoid schizophrenic whose delusions incorporate RW..

...anti-government, gold standard, Ayn Randian rhetoric, and who may have been influenced by the White Nationalism of American Renaissance.


But it appears that:
--- He is a severely distubed individual primarily motivated by personal demons, and
--- The right wing needs to be held responsible for consciously exploiting an Overton Window strategy (successfully) to shift the framing of public discourse, resulting in working class rednecks voting against their own interests (which could only be accomplished by jingoistic, nationalistic, immigrangrant-bashing hatemongering (even with the known risk of the violence these tactics cause).

[anAustralianobserver]

60. Well stated.

[Ikonoklast]

35. No, it won't.

Palin is in bunker mode, right now, trying to figure out how to stem the coming shit-storm.

Looks like she already knows that it doesn't matter what reason that murderer uses, she's going to catch hell for it, and not just from the left.



Always nice to tell other Democrats to be 'cautious', though, that's some good advice right there.










:eyes:

[kath]

61. yeah, as if Dems aren't cautious enough -- the stores of dry powder are so frickin' HUGH!1! that it

boggles the mind.

(And I hope you're right that the Half-Term Governor is facing a HUGH shitstorm.)

[athenavxx]

70. Charge

I hope that the state or municipal prosecutor brings some charges against Palin for the violence she incited. The literature distributed by her is practically a hit list.

She is guilty of depraved indifference attempted homocide at the very least.

[PhillySane]

57. It doesn't matter what we say about her now

she's done. The crosshair thing comes up everytime there's a discussion of rhetoric. The media will pounce on her, if she ever comes out of hiding.
There's absolutely nothing she can say about this without it haunting her further. Seeya Sarah.

[WilliamPitt]

63. Fail.

It is the heated-up over-the-top violence-suggesting rhetoric of people like Palin that attracts a mind like Loughner, increases their paranoia, and ultimately pushes them over the edge.

"Reload." "Second Amendment measures may be necessary." "Secret Muslim." "Terrorist."

It's like dropping guns into a schoolyard.

Don't tell me people like Palin are not responsible. Play Rusian Roulette long enough and someone's brains will wind up on the floor.

Words matter.

[bushisanidiot]

8. The assassin could admit that he was a tea bagger and the right would still be crying

and saying that we aren't being "fair".

they are idiots and they are in complete denial of who the members of their party are and what they are capable of.

[CatWoman]

9. THEY are part of the problem

they are so fucking QUICK to condemn Democrats, but not ONCE have I ever seen them take the right wing to task for their dishonesty and filth.

[DJ13]

10. This is a great test to determine who is a closet conservative in the MSM

They cant help themselves, they reflexively become protective of the right in times like this.

[old mark]

12. K&R...Gergen is another one on my "NO WATCH" list, along with Buchannan

and Tweety.


mark

[Matariki]

13. Blah Blah Blah. It's always 'moderation and caution' when it's one of their own.

[randr]

14. These guys work for right wingers

and they are scared to death they may lose their jobs.

[Supersedeas]

15. Same marginalizing rhetoric with OK City, Anthrax, and now this

Another free pass to those who incite violence on the Right, when violence is finally realized.

[David__77]

16. Fuck him and his "pragmatic centrism."

Worse than Fox News.

[AdHocSolver]

17. Let their own words of the right wing "convict" them.

Put their TV and radio interviews, their website rhetoric, their tweets together into a concise format and spread them far and wide. Let people see this and judge for themselves.

[seabeyond]

20. so is king implying there are other "major" targets that are more liberal? and he didnt

call them out for that? wtf?

[me b zola]

22. It is because of Gergen's rhetoric like this...

...that we will have other events like what happened in Tucson. People in the media need to stop treating hate inciting speech as normal or acceptable--it is not.

[LiberalFighter]

23. Gergen is one of those that thinks he is better than others.

As one of those in the beltway experts he is an elitist.

[AsahinaKimi]

24. Why is it the Right is always warning us

That we should watch our tone of rhetoric when they are the ones doing all the damage? Oh..wait. This is a threat, isn't it?

[Cleita]

28. Controlling the message.

They can say any outrageous thing they want but we must be careful with what we say. What a crock!

[Jamastiene]

52. It's an alpha dog trick to assert dominance.

It is a very subtle threat, but a threat nonetheless.

[Greybnk48]

26. He's become a joke over the past several years.

I no longer trust anything he has to say.

[Cleita]

27. Really, we should watch our tone of rhetoric but

but they don't have to watch theirs at all, ever. They have been trying to make us shut up for the last twenty four hours. Words like tone of rhetoric, inappropriate comments, not being in your right mind, need to be careful about what we say. Hell with them. We have First Amendment rights too.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

30. The "Librul Media" in full effect! n/t

[lonestarnot]

32. Fart in a bag and put it on your head Gergen. I can't stand you! Why would I do anything you have

to say about anything anyway?

[Skittles]

33. I am tired of people telling the left what to think and how to feel

they don't do this to repukes

[City Lights]

34. The burden is always on the left.

The "right" can say or do whatever the hell it wants. The left must never, ever even come close to stepping over the line. Watch what you say. Watch what you do.

Fuck you, Gergen.

:nuke:

[unkachuck]

36. watch the 'tone' of your rhetoric, folks....

....only the Right can inspire hostility....

[madinmaryland]

38. STFU, Gergen. You are clueless, as usual.

[PurityOfEssence]

39. Or else what? No more Mr. Nice Guy?

I've always liked Gergen and seen him as one of the few ethical and fairly considerate conservative voices, but he's really gone off the deep end recently.

There's a very dangerous feeling emanating from the right recently, something darker and more retaliatory than even the reactionary days of 1994 and 1980, and it's making me quite uneasy.

Why should we watch our tone? This sounds like a threat. Is he saying that he and other moderates won't be able to contain their reactionary allies or that they won't be responsible for their actions? Our rhetoric hasn't been anywhere NEAR the rhetoric of the right; it's COMMON to hear the accusations of socialism bandied about, has anyone been called a monarchist or a fascist in the major media?

There's a nasty streak of privilege that runs through conservative rhetoric, painting all who aren't of their ilk as shirtless savages, and they DEMAND that the assumption of their being more civilized be the unchallenged given of any dialectic with them. Fuck them. They've been the ones embracing the vocabulary and imagery of violence, not us, and too bad if they don't like hearing it.

I'm very disappointed in him, and I'm getting more and more worried about the next few steps this country will take. Things traditionally get messier as economies get worse, and ours is GETTING WORSE.

For shame, David Gergen.

[Jamastiene]

53. I swear I think they are trying to ramp up another civil war.

The good thing to that though is that they are finding nonviolence on our side. It's kind of hard for them to start their little war with no one retaliating. They see that. So, they are trying this tack to subtly threaten us to shut up about it. They've been assassinating Democrats for 50 years now. Yet, they tell us to pipe down and not point out their reign of terror. I got news for them. I'm sick and damn tired of their violence and their violent rhetoric. It's time we point it out to them. For fuck's sake, they kill us and we say Hey, stop doing that and they act like we are doing something wrong? :wtf:

[Fuzz]

40. Not a target? Read FR, idiot.

[gauguin57]

41. I turned off CNN tonight because of that discussion. Normally I like Gergen, but I think ...

... I think tonight those gin blossoms that are always on his nose indicate recent heavy drinking.

Gergen and King BOTH talked about how the media needs to not jump on the bandwagon and connect this violent act with Sarah Palin and other hate-speechers; BUT, they're talking about the SAME MEDIA that make headlines out of every twitty Tweet or FB post from the half-wit mind of Half-Governor Palin. So, it's OK for the media to publish all the hate speech spewed by Fox News and RW radio and the Tea Party (cuz it's NEWS?), but the media CAN'T comment on how hate speech has the crazies all torqued up? Gimme a break, Gergen and King. Get your heads out of your asses.

[Arrowhead2k1]

43. We must stand up and take control of the message.

We're steaming angry, and we're not going to take it anymore!

[Lint Head]

44. Gergen is senile.

[deacon]

45. Um, where was this guy when Angle was spewing her garbage? n/t

[Rex]

46. Gergen is a Reagan funky, sometimes he can make sense

but most of the time he licks clean his GOPuker paymasters.

[Amonester]

47. Who?

Who cares?

[Fleshdancer]

48. and how bad does it have to get before my anger is justified?

A Democratic Congresswoman took a bullet to the head. A nine year old girl and a federal judge are dead among several others. I'm extremely angry and I think the asshole who did this was encouraged by the insane political climate that exists on the right today.

Why should I expect this guy to live in a bubble? I'm suppose to assume that he never turned on faux news or hate radio or went to a bookstore that featured crap from coulter, palin, beck, or whatever else? I'm suppose to assume he posted weird crap on youtube but never read crap on newsmax or free republic?

It's not that he picked up the gun because he thought Palin told him to, it's that he felt he was justified because of the bullshit that is spewed on a daily basis by more than half of the political outlets that exist in this country.

This will only get worse if we don't force the debate on our terms. Until that happens, I'll make all the damn assumptions I want.

[Jamastiene]

49. Or else what?

Sounds like a threat to me.

That reminds me of the almost quiet way alpha dogs assert dominance. They don't quite growl or act overtly aggressive in that stance. They just tend to barely show their teeth and give a look to the more passive dog.

I, for one, would rather be accused of accusing someone of ramping up violent rhetoric than issuing threats, however low in tone and sneaky they are.

The blood is on the right's hands in this. It always is when another Democrat gets assassinated...or in this case an attempt at assassination happens. They've been assassinating Democrats for quite a while now. Anybody remember a president named JFK or his brother. MLK? Yeah, they've been assassinating Democrats for around 50 years straight now. What we accuse them of is not without a mountain of evidence from recent history.

[sabrina 1]

51. David Gergen thinks he's some kind of nanny and that people, outside

their little club in DC actually listen to him. He can quit wagging his finger and get on board with those who have tried to prevent violence like this without the support of either major party. THEY, Gergen et al, let them off the hook every time and in that sense have contributed to the escalation of the violent rhetoric and the end results, which we have seen over and over again.

Can't stand that guy. I have no idea why is on the air at all. He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

[Bluebear]

54. Watch my tone, David:

Fuck off.

Pardon my French.

[Quantess]

55. Those guys can fuck right off!

They are sucking wall street cock, as The Frank Factor is so fond of saying.

[Overseas]

56. Disgusting David Gergen. Really stupid and anti-American. //nt

[Waiting For Everyman]

58. So the left makes accusations and the right shoots people.

Which one should commentators like Gergen be criticizing?

But gee whiz, he hasn't quite gotten around to doing that yet, has he? In my book, that makes him an accomplice... at the very least, an enabler or promoter - of violence and murder.

And this so-and-so has the colossal nerve to be "warning" the left? As said above by another poster, "or what?". Or he might shoot us? Or have his minions shoot us? Seems to me, that's already happening. It's been happening for 50 years. What does this chump have left to threaten us with?

Our leaders are murdered, our laws are hijacked, phoney wars are done, our people are impoverished... just what do we have to lose by criticizing what's happening to us? Yeah Gergen, go ahead, "warn" (threaten) us. What a joke that guy is. (A sick one.)

[PhillySane]

59. This will be the end of Sarah Palin's political career.

Show's over. Gergen knows it. The media is partly to blame anyway for giving her lunatic rantings so much coverage. Tea Party too. My only hope is that it damages their image as well.

[OneGrassRoot]

62. I agree.

I posted that yesterday morning on FB and it generated a huge discussion thread, including teabaggers, of course.

Bottom line, regardless of whether the shooter was influenced by her or not, her target graphic and violent rhetoric which became a mantra -- "don't retreat, reload" -- was way over the top, and the lack of judgment in showed, especially in light of Saturday's shooting and Rep. Giffords being on that map, is the focus. Finally. Between her show being canceled and now this, she's history, imho.

It's truly time to start ignoring her and move on to another destructive media force that started the extreme rhetoric: Limbaugh.

[athenavxx]

71. Responsible Controls

There should be some type of responsible controls to ensure that the media is portraying the truth.

[upi402]

64. The media is guilty of airing him too. They push the incitement to violence

and now they push the repressers of truth. Either way, they attempt to immunize themselves with 3rd party dirty hands.

Gergen would love the truth to just STFU. But from now on, the media will STFU and so will ccfascists like him, unless they can stop themselves from inciting and enabling murder for political solutions to their problems.

[xchrom]

65. i wish david gergen would read this thread.

eat shit gergen.

[mmonk]

66. So its ok to kill us liberal or progressive Democrats, eh Mr King?

[Raine]

67. I used to think that he was one of the reasonable

ones but he's no better than the others of that kind.

[butterfly77]

69. Gergen can kiss my ass..

hypocritical bastard its always the President and the lefts fault no matter the issue in his eyes..