Even before details were clear about the Arizona shooting, Left-wingers tried to assess blame for the tragedy to Sarah Palin, the Tea Party, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and the Second Amendment. When it became clear that the gunman was a deranged lunatic whose political philosophy was more in tune with the loony Left than the Tea Party, liberals continued to cry out against a so-called climate of hate perpetuated by Right-wingers. Perhaps those making that charge have forgotten the hatefulness and violent words coming from their own. Here are the Top 10 Examples of Liberal Hate.
(1) Palin Derangement Syndrome: The Left’s obsessive hatred of Sarah Palin is well-chronicled and is often accompanied by violent rhetoric. Let these three examples suffice: (1) Keith Halloran, a New Hampshire Democratic candidate, said on a Facebook thread that he wished Palin had been aboard the Alaska plane that crashed, killing five including Sen. Ted Stevens; (2) Another New Hampshire Democrat, Timothy Horrigan resigned from the state legislature after writing this gem on Facebook: "Well a dead Palin wd be even more dangerous than a live one . . . she is all about her myth & if she was dead she cldn't commit any more gaffes"; and (3) foul-mouthed comedian Sandra Bernhard warned Palin she would be "gang-raped by my big black brothers" if she tried coming to New York.
(2) Obama packing heat: Barack Obama has repeatedly sprinkled his political campaigning with words more appropriate to a street thug than the President of the United States. During his 2008 campaign he said in June, “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun,” and in September, “I want you to go out and talk to your neighbors. . . . I want you to argue with them, get in their faces.” He kept it up during the recent midterm election with this comment: “If Latinos sit out the election instead of saying, ‘We’re gonna punish our enemies and we’re gonna reward our friends . . . .”
(3) Courtland Milloy’s spit wish: Washington Post columnist Courtland Milloy said that after the health care vote he wanted to spit on and assault Tea Party members: “I know how the ‘tea party’ people feel, the anger, venom and bile that many of them showed during the recent House vote on health care reform. I know because I want to spit on them, take one of their ‘Obama Plan White Slavery’ signs and knock every racist and homophobic tooth out of their Cro-Magnon heads.”
(4) Krugman’s flip flop: New York Times columnist Paul Krugman was first out of the box connecting the Arizona shooting to Right-wing speech that created a climate of hate, intoning, “the purveyors of hate have been treated with respect, even deference, by the GOP establishment.” He must have forgotten his own words in December 2009 during the health care debate when he wrote, “A message to progressives: By all means, hang Senator Joe Lieberman in effigy.”
(5) Bush Derangement Syndrome: Before it fades into history, the liberal hatred of President Bush should be recalled. Codepink, Michael Moore, rap stars and Hollywood comedians hurled vitriol against the President. A movie was made about his assassination. But as an example of violent rhetoric, special attention should be given to remarks made by New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi, who later apologized for describing fellow Democrat Sen. Charles Schumer as "the man who, how do I phrase this diplomatically, who will put a bullet between the President's eyes if he could get away with it."
(6) Daily Kos’ hypocrisy: Markos Moulitsas, of the liberal Daily Kos, was also quick to indict the Right for the Arizona tragedy, tweeting that Sarah Palin had “accomplished her mission,” a reference to her midterm elections bulls-eye target of politicians that included Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. However, his Daily Kos website blog also included Gifford's district on a list of congressional districts "bulls-eyed" for primary challenges. And just last week, the website included a post declaring that Giffords was “dead to him” after she voted against Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the House.
(7) Exterminate Republicans: This is what passes for a theater review in the Village Voice: Michale Feingold, while reviewing the play "King Cowboy Rufus Rules the Universe," wrote: "Republicans don't believe in the imagination, partly because so few of them have one, but mostly because it gets in the way of their chosen work, which is to destroy the human race and the planet. Human beings, who have imaginations, can see a recipe for disaster in the making; Republicans, whose goal in life is to profit from disaster and who don't give a hoot about human beings, either can't or won't. Which is why I personally think they should be exterminated before they cause any more harm."
(8) Hang Drudge: Liberal talk radio host Mike Malloy suggested stringing up Internet king Matt Drudge, saying, "Drudge? Aw, Drudge, somebody ought to wrap a strong Republican entrail around his neck and hoist him up about 6 feet in the air and watch him bounce.”
(9) Outright assaults: Sometimes the hatred on the Left exceeds talk and escalates to violent assaults. Cases in point: In August 2009, members of the Service Employees International Union beat up Kenneth Gladney for distributing "Don't Tread On Me" flags at a Missouri town hall meeting. In June 2010, Nathan Tabor was punched in the face by a Democrat during a Tea Party protest in North Carolina. Last October, Human Events reporter Emily Miller was physically assaulted while interviewing Rep. Charlie Rangel during the “One Nation Working Together” rally at the National Mall in Washington.
(10) Greenpeace "knows where you live": Greenpeace advocated mass civil disobedience last April with this blog item on its website:“The proper channels have failed. It's time for mass civil disobedience to cut off the financial oxygen from denial and skepticism. . . . If you're one of those who have spent their lives undermining progressive climate legislation, bankrolling junk science, fueling spurious debates around false solutions, and cattle-prodding democratically elected governments into submission, then hear this: We know who you are. We know where you live. We know where you work.”
