The Tragedy of Modern Life

Posted on January 12, 2011 by George Scaggs in Opinion

Unfortunately, it seems everything is political. In reaction to Saturday’s shooting in Tucson, Arizona in which six innocent people were killed and Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, among 12 others, was wounded, a familiar routine is quickly unfolding.

Any appropriate measure of solemnity in the face of a mass murder has immediately given way to mindless political rhetoric. Right on cue, media sources jumped to amazing conclusions about the motivations of the murderous shooter, Jared Loughner, and a feeding frenzy ensued.

The oft repeated drill is a reactionary broad-brush approach of smearing anyone or anything on the political right by associating them with the violent perpetrator de jour.

As one among many examples of the tactic, the Associated Press reported on Sunday, “…after her (Giffords) office was vandalized, she referred to the animosity against her by conservatives, including Sarah Palin’s decision to list Giffords’ seat as one of the top “targets” in the midterm elections.”

“For example, we’re on Sarah Palin’s targeted list, but the thing is, that the way that she has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district. When people do that, they have to realize that there are consequences to that action,” Giffords said in an interview with MSNBC. “

From what we know about this kid Loughner thus far, there are no indications that he is a Sarah Palin supporter, nor a consumer of Fox News or Limbaugh or anything else remotely smacking of conservatism for that matter. Even if he were, people cannot be held responsible for the impressions of a mad-man.

With scatter-shot precision, the AP continued, “Giffords is a moderate Democrat who narrowly won re-election in November against a tea party candidate who sought to throw her from office over her support of the health care law.”

While tying in the health care battle, AP conveniently scooped up the Tea Party in the process. By the end of the day, the internet was rife with inferences that somehow they, too, bore responsibility in the crazed actions of a disaffected dope-smoking loner.

Contrary to the accusations of commentators, politicos and their followers, ultimately, it is the scumbag killer who is responsible for his actions, not anyone else, certainly not Palin, Beck, Limbaugh or any other popular target of the left.

But the absurdity goes far beyond left-wing finger pointing and delves into the bizarre when the Communist thug Fidel Castro’s utterances on the matter are given weight. By Sunday evening, AP obviously found the Cuban dictator’s views relevant, reporting that he also denounced the attack.

“Even those of us who don’t share at all the politics and philosophies (of the Obama administration) sincerely desire that no children, judges, legislators or citizens of the United States die in such an absurd and unjustifiable way,” Castro said in an opinion piece titled “An Atrocious Act,”

The vaunted AP didn’t bother to point out the irony of such a point of view, given that it comes from a man who is responsible for imprisoning, torturing and killing political dissidents for over five decades.

In sum, Big Media’s coverage of the massacre and the accompanying leftist responses throughout the blogosphere and comments boards are telling.

The left’s accusations always reveal their methods and perspective. As in many previous instances, the left’s denouncements of “hate speech” from the right are full of mindless invective that sounds an awful lot like hate to everyone else. One can only imagine what they’re slinging around at places like The Huffington Post, the Center for American Progress or MoveOn about now.

As for Big Media itself, it is a curious thing. Their leftist tilt has been obvious for so long, their decline in both public esteem and wealth so steady, that their insistence in staying their chosen path seems to defy all logic.

Having observed this phenomenon for some 30 years, and having lived different phases of my life both within and outside the media’s sphere of influence, I have come to believe that there are, in fact, two worlds; one universe in which reality rests and then another one parallel to it.

In that parallel universe, perspective is shaped by AP, The NY Times, The Washington Post, all the major networks and 24-hr cable news outlets (just about anything consumed through television), most of what comes out of Hollywood, probably everything created by HBO, etc.

These outlets distribute a brand of “conventional wisdom” that is created and supported by leftist think-tanks, political operatives, unions, propaganda mills and government officials. Collectively, they constitute most of what Angelo Codevilla correctly deemed as “The Elite Ruling Class” in his prodigious essay on the subject.

Too many times now, I have stood and witnessed events with my own eyes and ears (including physical assault) only to find others perceive that something completely different took place. I have come to count on that opposing “point of view” always being the one propagated by the Elite Ruling Class.

In this modern age, it seems life is the accumulative experience of being continually marketed to. Whether it’s a product or service, a brand or fashion, an ideology or a candidate, it’s really all the same. The story of the mindless massacre in Arizona is no different. We are being marketed to.

You Are What You Read? Tucson Killer Favors Hitler And Marx

Posted on January 10, 2011 by Brian Reilly in Articles

The shooting rampage in Tucson, Arizona that severely wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and killed six others was a horrible event. Like everyone, I want the person or persons responsible to be brought to justice as soon as possible.

Jared Lee Loughner, the alleged killer was a fan of couple of ideological books: Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler and The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx. I made a simple diagram to help describe where these books and philosophies are politically.

You’ll notice I didn’t accent the left vs. right, rather the amount of government control based on a particular political philosophy. Many people make the mistake that fascism is a product of the right. Not so. Fascism and Marxism are closely aligned since they are both based on socialism, a society where there is no private property.