What Happens the Day After They Spill Blood?
When does inciting violence toward anti-war protesters become real enough to matter?
Does someone have to die? Does getting punched or tackled count?
If you gather a group of people for the express purpose of "fighting back" against peaceful protesters and someone then is hurt or dies, are the people who used the public air waves to assemble them responsible?
Are the bosses of those people, who are aware of and encourage these activities, responsible?
I ask these questions because the other day Phoenix Woman, writing at Fire Dog Lake, wrote about how a peace protester was assaulted by a group from Gathering of Eagles. (link)
I heard another similar story about what happened at the September 15th protest by the Move America Forward Chairman, Melanie Morgan.
Morgan is quite proud of her "Fighting Debs" for punching a die-in protester on Sept. 15 in D.C. (Listen at 3:45 minutes in to this audio link is 7 minutes long (don't want to be accused of being "out of the context!") You can hear how happy she was that an anti-war protester got punched.
Hear how excited she was that "the crowd was so riled up after our rally was over" and since they were all fired up they had to "take it to the streets, I mean they had some 'tudes going on" so of course they go looking for trouble at the die-in. (She sounds like she envisions some kind of Jets/Sharks rumble.)
You will note in THEIR description of Deb Johns punching out this middle-aged member of the "moonbat" contingent, that it was clearly self defense. Is that how it really happened? I don't know, I wasn't there, I don't have video. But in their world when someone shoves you, you escalate it, you punch them.
What if Something Really Happens?
MAF has sponsored counter protest events before and they are planning to do it again. They promise the TV media some shouting and dangle the possibility of violence and the cameras show up. They WANT something to happen. They are the ones setting up the scene.
They were down right giddy the last time the media fell for it in the Bay Area. You can bet they will do it again. The media got their juicy footage of a father of a dead Iraq soldier screaming at the little old woman who owned the land at the Lafayette hillside memorial. With that kind of exciting footage who can resist?
Right now Melanie Morgan of Move America Forward has alerted her "one million member pro-troop" organization to the event below. I want you to note her links to her good friend Michelle Malkin. This was also posted on Malkin's website, Melanie Morgan's website and on the KSFO website.
This following is from Move America Forward's website.
This is not a, "we will use the public air waves to gather people for peaceful assembly" This is "Hey, I'm furious at those smelly hippies. Let's get some angry people together to provoke the hippies until one pokes us back so we can let them have it in "self defense"." kind of message. And if you don't believe me you can check out of some of the comments on Malkin's page:
People told me not to worry about them, they are harmless, they won't REALLY do anything rash, it's all just for show, but with the video that Phoenix Woman had and the audio I have ( link), I conclude that they are just one step away from serious violence.
During the week of the Sept. 15th protests, a group from GOE showed up on the doorstep of Medea Benjamin, of Code Pink. Did they do that so they could have a "market place of ideas" discussion? No. They wanted to let her know they know where she lives and that they can get to her whenever they want.
People ask me if the FCC cares about this. Not really. Not until someone dies, and even then nobody is going to lose a precious license if the management moves fast enough and fires enough people. However, what the FCC may or may not do isn't what the new head of ABC Radio should be paying attention to.
Follow The Corporate Sponsors -- out the door
In the corporate world when your spokesperson does something wrong, spokesperson money dries up and goes away.
If someone is seriously injured at a MAF/GOE event that was promoted on your station by your employees, who do you think they are going to come after financially? Remember the radio stunt where a woman died from drinking too much water? It wasn't just the DJs that got fired.
We do know that James M. Robinson, president of ABC Radio Networks, is aware of all this. He knows that KSFO encourages and supports the MAF activities on their radio station. He knows that KSFO management has given its blessing, its facilities as a meeting space and a TON of free advertising (about 5-7 minutes in every hour) to MAF so they can gather a group of people together for the express purpose of "fighting back"against the anti-war people.
Maybe its because I'm only half human, but I can tell the difference between a group of angry pro-war counter-protesters and a peaceful non-violent protest. (NOTE: I try not to use the word "mob" because it has other connotations, but a group of angry pro-war counter-protesters might be considered a mob to some.)
Of course Robinson probably doesn't care about the inciting violence aspect of this because nothing "real" has happened yet. He's a bottom line kind of guy. Will this cost him money? Will it make him more money than the potential cost? What are the odds? What is the history of these people at this station? Do they follow reasonable guidelines?
Robinson doesn't have to do any preventative action, that is not how corporate managers think. Most wait until AFTER something bad happens, and say, "Nobody could have anticipated..."
If I was a time traveler from the future I could say that Mr. Robinson might consider this his August 6, 2001 PDB. I believe the headline would be, "Morgan determined to strike anti-war protesters".
Does someone have to die? Does getting punched or tackled count?
If you gather a group of people for the express purpose of "fighting back" against peaceful protesters and someone then is hurt or dies, are the people who used the public air waves to assemble them responsible?
Are the bosses of those people, who are aware of and encourage these activities, responsible?
I ask these questions because the other day Phoenix Woman, writing at Fire Dog Lake, wrote about how a peace protester was assaulted by a group from Gathering of Eagles. (link)
I heard another similar story about what happened at the September 15th protest by the Move America Forward Chairman, Melanie Morgan.
Morgan is quite proud of her "Fighting Debs" for punching a die-in protester on Sept. 15 in D.C. (Listen at 3:45 minutes in to this audio link is 7 minutes long (don't want to be accused of being "out of the context!") You can hear how happy she was that an anti-war protester got punched.
Hear how excited she was that "the crowd was so riled up after our rally was over" and since they were all fired up they had to "take it to the streets, I mean they had some 'tudes going on" so of course they go looking for trouble at the die-in. (She sounds like she envisions some kind of Jets/Sharks rumble.)
You will note in THEIR description of Deb Johns punching out this middle-aged member of the "moonbat" contingent, that it was clearly self defense. Is that how it really happened? I don't know, I wasn't there, I don't have video. But in their world when someone shoves you, you escalate it, you punch them.
What if Something Really Happens?
MAF has sponsored counter protest events before and they are planning to do it again. They promise the TV media some shouting and dangle the possibility of violence and the cameras show up. They WANT something to happen. They are the ones setting up the scene.
They were down right giddy the last time the media fell for it in the Bay Area. You can bet they will do it again. The media got their juicy footage of a father of a dead Iraq soldier screaming at the little old woman who owned the land at the Lafayette hillside memorial. With that kind of exciting footage who can resist?
Right now Melanie Morgan of Move America Forward has alerted her "one million member pro-troop" organization to the event below. I want you to note her links to her good friend Michelle Malkin. This was also posted on Malkin's website, Melanie Morgan's website and on the KSFO website.
This following is from Move America Forward's website.
Enough context for ya? If you wish to see the whole alert you can go to the website www moveamericaforward com.STOP Harassment of Military by Anti-War Activists!
CALL TO ACTION:We will rally to support our troops and denounce efforts by Code Pink and others to 'chase' the military out of Northern California. We make our stand at the Marine Recruiting Center in Berkeley which has just been defaced by anti-war protestors.
Code Pink has a rally planned to denounce the miltiary [sic] on Wednesday, October 17th. We are calling on YOU the patriotic mainstream of this nation to join with us and counter their effort with a pro-troop show of support for our military men and women! Bring your American flags and signs supporting our troops and our veterans!
[snip. Location information]
From Move America Forward Chairman, Melanie Morgan:Folks,
I have a favor to ask.
Code Pink has vandalized the Marine Recruiting Center in Berkeley, California and is harrassing [sic] the landlord to cancel the lease for the 'illegal, immoral, unjust' war machine--calling our guys 'TRAITORS.'
Code Pink says it is going to demonstrate there until the Recruiting station is driven out of Berkeley.
I am furious about this insult to our troops, and I am organizing a counter protest for Wednesday, October 17th at high noon. I am planning to bring as many of our KSFO audience as possible, plus do a big Move America Forward push for a large crowd.
Tip of the hat to Michelle Malkin - HERE and ALSO HERE.
This is not a, "we will use the public air waves to gather people for peaceful assembly" This is "Hey, I'm furious at those smelly hippies. Let's get some angry people together to provoke the hippies until one pokes us back so we can let them have it in "self defense"." kind of message. And if you don't believe me you can check out of some of the comments on Malkin's page:
On October 5th, 2007 at 1:34 pm, trinitytim said:
Lock em up!
Code Pink has NO patriotism. They are idiots who can’t spell or think. They are not worthy of the protection we provide them.
Lock em up or better yet, as Fasternu426 said, Fix Bayonets!
People told me not to worry about them, they are harmless, they won't REALLY do anything rash, it's all just for show, but with the video that Phoenix Woman had and the audio I have ( link), I conclude that they are just one step away from serious violence.
During the week of the Sept. 15th protests, a group from GOE showed up on the doorstep of Medea Benjamin, of Code Pink. Did they do that so they could have a "market place of ideas" discussion? No. They wanted to let her know they know where she lives and that they can get to her whenever they want.
People ask me if the FCC cares about this. Not really. Not until someone dies, and even then nobody is going to lose a precious license if the management moves fast enough and fires enough people. However, what the FCC may or may not do isn't what the new head of ABC Radio should be paying attention to.
Follow The Corporate Sponsors -- out the door
In the corporate world when your spokesperson does something wrong, spokesperson money dries up and goes away.
If someone is seriously injured at a MAF/GOE event that was promoted on your station by your employees, who do you think they are going to come after financially? Remember the radio stunt where a woman died from drinking too much water? It wasn't just the DJs that got fired.
We do know that James M. Robinson, president of ABC Radio Networks, is aware of all this. He knows that KSFO encourages and supports the MAF activities on their radio station. He knows that KSFO management has given its blessing, its facilities as a meeting space and a TON of free advertising (about 5-7 minutes in every hour) to MAF so they can gather a group of people together for the express purpose of "fighting back"against the anti-war people.
Maybe its because I'm only half human, but I can tell the difference between a group of angry pro-war counter-protesters and a peaceful non-violent protest. (NOTE: I try not to use the word "mob" because it has other connotations, but a group of angry pro-war counter-protesters might be considered a mob to some.)
Of course Robinson probably doesn't care about the inciting violence aspect of this because nothing "real" has happened yet. He's a bottom line kind of guy. Will this cost him money? Will it make him more money than the potential cost? What are the odds? What is the history of these people at this station? Do they follow reasonable guidelines?
Robinson doesn't have to do any preventative action, that is not how corporate managers think. Most wait until AFTER something bad happens, and say, "Nobody could have anticipated..."
If I was a time traveler from the future I could say that Mr. Robinson might consider this his August 6, 2001 PDB. I believe the headline would be, "Morgan determined to strike anti-war protesters".
Labels: ABC, anti-war, Citadel Broadcasting, corporate guidelines, Gathering of Eagles, GOE, KSFO, Melanie Morgan, Move America Forward, talk radio
7 Comments:
Daily regimen -- Two Minutes' Hate -- "the hippies are ruining Amerika!"
I'm trying to work out how we can play them off against the Fred Phelps crazies who like to picket soldiers' funerals. I mean, these Gathering Of Eagles types are all about defending the honor of the troops, right?
What will happen? The folks in freeperland will give each other high fives and boast about the middle-aged to elderly women in pink they stomped at the last Code Pink rally. The press will do pretty much what they've done in the Graeme Frost case so far -- play dumb, carefully omit any mention of the most egregious attacks, and cover it as though the ethics of attacking nonviolent demonstrators were something upon which intelligent and moral people can disagree.
Any other quesitons?
Hey S,
I was at the 9/15 march and have to say that a lot of anger and animosity was to be had. But to be fair it was not just the right wing folks who spewed it.
As a citizen I was there to support the antiwar effort. But as a photographer fpr a small weekly I was alsot there to catalog it.
In this second role I took the time to talk to some of the right wingers. And I watched them needlessly insulted by some of my antiwar brethren.
While a some on the right were dangerous and very potentially violent, I want to report that some were not.
I don't want everyone bluring the line between the two. Some are patriots (as are many on the left) - the want the best for their country as they understand it (as do we on the left).
What drives me to madness are the mob leaders, people like the Limbaughs and the Malkins who I firmly believe have one foot imfirmly planted in patriotism with most their weight poised on the other foot, the one which is firmly fixed on their raitings, and the money and power that come from that.
Yes, the metaphor sucked, but I haven't got time to come up with a good one now. Hell I haven't even got time to draw this all together.
All I want to say is don't abandon everyone on the right - some are good and sincere people. And I no more what you to forget that than I want them to forget the same about us.
*if you want to see the pictures from the rally go here - http://flickr.com/photos/piczilla/sets/72157602073364943/
Made any Mike: Thanks for the comment. I DO believe there are people of good will on the right. I also know there are people on the left that spew anger and say things that are divisive.
There are plenty of good people on the right. But who is right
Ooops got cut off.
Again, there are plenty of good people on the right.I do think it is important to notice when the peopel leading them keep encouraging their actions as they get more and more radical.
Digby did a post about this recently, and I fear that instead of things getting better they will get worse as they lose more power.
The scary part about all this is that these KSFO clowns and their girly men 'tough' guy followers will have to come to is the realization that if they don't actually do something violent or 'on' purpose to incite peaceful anti-war protesters they will be seen by many as just a bunch of loud mouthed idiot windbags!
We all know that wimpy bullies can't stand being called on their collective wussiness or they lash out because they never actually grew up!
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