Media Play Blame Game With Our Lives

Which one of the following statements is false?  There was terrorist attack Monday in Arkansas.  The victims were US soldiers, specifically recruiters.  The alleged killer is a Muslim convert from Tennessee.  Islamic leaders have held press conferences to denounce the actions of the killer. And they still, at this writing, haven’t. This is in sharp contrast to the murder of Dr. Tiller Sunday where you had an immediate denunciation from pro life groups, the attorney General stepping up security measures at abortion clinics and condemnation from our President.

Media coverage has been dramatically different with Dr. Tiller’s murder.  Mainstream media outlets seem to think that that the blame belongs to anti-abortion commentators and groups: NY Times piece, “Doctor’s Killer Not Only to Blame, Some Say.” NBC Nightly News chose to highlight Bill Reilly’s comments/criticisms regarding Dr. Tiller’s practice of late term abortions.  Then there was MSNBC commentator Rachel Maddow who impugned the entire prolife movement: “There’s an anti-abortion terrorist movement in the United States that operates relatively openly. They advocate and their members commit acts of violence, including murder, against Americans who are not breaking the law, who are engaged in protected legal activity on American soil. These acts of violence are politically motivated. They are designed to change American policies and to terrorize Americans. They have succeeded in making providing abortion services to American women so dangerous, so intimidating that there are only a handful of doctors in the entire country who provide late-term abortions–as Dr. Tiller did–abortions late in pregnancy.”

Before Maddow’s smear, Keith Olberman chimed in on the murder: “Finally tonight, our number one story and the very serious, very unsettling part the Fox News Channel played in the assassination of Dr. George Tiller, a horrifying realization that a television figure can be a facilitator for domestic terrorism.”

There you have it. From the New York Times to Keith Olberman; the blame belongs to anti-abortion groups, Bill O’Reilly and Fox News. Look, Keith Olberman is a coward, an obnoxious blow hard who is has become a joke since he decided to turn his show into far left, hate fest with childish put downs that are more fit for sandbox than major network studio.   I realize that he is the Louis Farrakhan of television commentary but on this one; he is regrettably not alone. The narrative of media is deeply troubling especially when you consider the comparative threats posed by individual criminals (ostensibly having pro life views) and Islamist who are using the doctrine to slaughter unbelievers.  Let’s examine the differences:

Body count:

• o Murders by Muslims in the name of Islam 9/11/2001-6/1/2008 3,294
• o Murders by extremists in the name of Anti-Abortion 3/10/1993-6/1/2009: 9

Responses:

• o Delayed and equivocal statements, and the universal condemnation of violence made by a small portion of Islamic leaders.
• o Immediate rejection and total condemnation of murder by all pro life groups and leaders.

Any honest measure of the threat posed by Islam vs Pro Life movement clearly demonstrates that the mainstream media is being totally irresponsible at best, and protecting a violent ideology at worst.  Reflecting on the 2008 election, Victor Davis Hanson wrote The End of Journalism (http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=OGFhOWY3YTZkMzliYjFjYTlkMjNjMGNhMTc3ZjYyMWM=&w=MQ==). Unfortunately, I think it died long before, and the only way to revive it is to tell the truth.  Evidently, the mainstream media is not interested.