Regarding the Pundits
(This is adapted from a comment I posted over on Blondesense relating to the cop-killer in Pittsburgh.)
Regarding the pundits ...
There's two types of propaganda, according the anarchists - Propaganda of the Word, which includes agitprop and the airing of hate speech (which we've seen a lot of), and Propaganda of the Deed.
The latter is looked upon as the spark to trigger the great revolution in aid of whatever ideology you care to name. Manson wanted the Tate-LaBianca murders to be Propaganda of the Deed, in order to start the racial civil war (or revolution) he knew was coming. If only the Beatles had held off releasing the White Album until after CD technology came into use - could've saved a lot of trouble ...
The pundits can try to flee from their Propaganda of the Word, try to dissociate themselves from the fact that their writings littered the home of the Unitarian Church shooter in Tennessee and helped feed the paranoia of the cop-killer in Pittsburgh.
They can't.
They are morally and ethically tied to these people, joined (as it were) at the hip, and all it would take is a decent state attorney to agree that the Glenn Becks and Stormfronts of the world are guilty of culpable negligence for their inflammatory rhetoric.
And don't give me that First Amendment defense. Yes, speech is free and no one is trying to take away your right to speak. A pundit has the same right I do to run his or her gaping piehole.
But with that right comes a responsibility. Like it or not, Glenn Beck, there are people who hang upon your every word as if those words were raining down from On High. Like it or not, Bill O'Reilly, there are people who actually believe every word you say. And like it or not, Michelle Malkin, there are people all too willing to follow your screeds against minorities (while conveniently overlooking your own ethnicity).
So when people actually take you up on your advice - to start a revolution and defend yourself against whatever - be an adult and admit at barest minimum the possibility that your words might have had something to do with it.
Regarding the pundits ...
There's two types of propaganda, according the anarchists - Propaganda of the Word, which includes agitprop and the airing of hate speech (which we've seen a lot of), and Propaganda of the Deed.
The latter is looked upon as the spark to trigger the great revolution in aid of whatever ideology you care to name. Manson wanted the Tate-LaBianca murders to be Propaganda of the Deed, in order to start the racial civil war (or revolution) he knew was coming. If only the Beatles had held off releasing the White Album until after CD technology came into use - could've saved a lot of trouble ...
The pundits can try to flee from their Propaganda of the Word, try to dissociate themselves from the fact that their writings littered the home of the Unitarian Church shooter in Tennessee and helped feed the paranoia of the cop-killer in Pittsburgh.
They can't.
They are morally and ethically tied to these people, joined (as it were) at the hip, and all it would take is a decent state attorney to agree that the Glenn Becks and Stormfronts of the world are guilty of culpable negligence for their inflammatory rhetoric.
And don't give me that First Amendment defense. Yes, speech is free and no one is trying to take away your right to speak. A pundit has the same right I do to run his or her gaping piehole.
But with that right comes a responsibility. Like it or not, Glenn Beck, there are people who hang upon your every word as if those words were raining down from On High. Like it or not, Bill O'Reilly, there are people who actually believe every word you say. And like it or not, Michelle Malkin, there are people all too willing to follow your screeds against minorities (while conveniently overlooking your own ethnicity).
So when people actually take you up on your advice - to start a revolution and defend yourself against whatever - be an adult and admit at barest minimum the possibility that your words might have had something to do with it.
posted by Walt at 12:20 PM
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