Here we go: MSM insinuates that all post-ObamaCare threats are the fault of right wingers

The Hill, Politico, and other mainstream media new outlets are on fire today about stories related to threats that lawmakers have received ever since the passage of ObamaCare on Sunday. Some of them are very scary, including this one:

Law enforcement authorities are investigating the discovery of a cut propane gas line at the Virginia home of Rep. Thomas Perriello’s (D-Va.) brother, whose address was targeted by tea party activists angry at the congressman’s vote for the health care bill.

[…]

The FBI would not disclose the details of the incident but said that they have been to the home.

β€œThis is very preliminary at this point, so we’re not making any comment at this time,” local FBI spokesman M.A. Myers told POLITICO.

Lee Catlin, community relations director for the Albemarle County Fire Marshal, said in a statement to POLITICO that the office is β€œinvestigating a suspicious incident” at the home of the congressman’s brother. β€œThe Fire Marshal’s Office is conducting the investigation in cooperation with the FBI,” Catlin said. β€œWhile officials are not willing to characterize the exact nature of the incident because of the ongoing investigation, it did not involve an immediate threat to occupants of the residence. However officials are taking the incident very seriously and conducting a vigorous investigation,” the statement said.

POLITICO reported on Monday that Mike Troxel, an organizer for the Lynchburg Tea Party, posted on his blog what he thought was the congressman’s address, encouraging tea party activists to β€œdrop by.”

The address has since been posted on websites of at least one other local tea party activist.

It goes without saying that if what is alleged to have happened at Perriello’s home is true, then whoever did it should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, whether it was a “Tea Partier” or whoever. I have decried in the past targeting politicos at their homes – no matter the party, unlike the far left, who make it a routine habit of posting the private contact info – including addresss of Republicans they don’t like in order for their side to stalk, harass, intimidate, and badger people with whom they have strong disagreements. And when it gets to the point of violence on either the right or left hand side of the aisle, I condemn it all the more.

Unfortunately for us, though, the MSM doesn’t seem too concerned when the threats come from left wingers, as demonstrated by this CBS News piece on what Bart Stupak has faced since he flip-flopped and voted for ObamaCare:

In the wake of his vote in favor of health care reform legislation, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), a strong opponent of abortion rights, has been on the receiving end of a string of extremely hostile and threatening messages, including death threats.

Stupak’s office released some of those messages to CBS News, and you can listen to them in the video at left, which is also available here.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said today that more than 10 members of Congress have received threats in the wake of the health reform vote, and the FBI and police are investigating, CBS News Capitol Hill Producer Jill Jackson reports. The chief of the Capitol Police, the Sergeant at Arms and a representative from the FBI met with members this afternoon to encourage them to report all threats.

While the Capitol Police is in charge of security for members of Congress, the FBI is the lead agency in investigating threats against members and their families.

“All threats and incidents directed against Members of Congress are taken seriously and are being investigated by the FBI, U.S. Capitol Police and other law enforcement agencies to identify and bring to justice those responsible,” FBI Public Information Officer Katherine Schweit said in a statement. “Anyone with information about those who may be responsible or are connected to these incidents should contact their local FBI office or police department.”

The calls placed to Stupak’s office reveal the extreme anger members of Congress are facing.

“Congressman Stupak, you baby-killing mother f***er… I hope you bleed out your a**, got cancer and die, you mother f***er,” one man says in a message to Stupak.

“There are millions of people across the country who wish you ill,” a woman says in a voicemail, “and all of those thoughts that are projected on you will materialize into something that’s not very good for you.”

CBS News also obtained copies of faxes sent to Stupak, which include racial epithets used in reference to President Obama and show pictures of nooses with Stupak’s name.

When the House was first considering health care legislation, Stupak led the fight to insert stringent abortion coverage restrictions into the Democrats’ health care bill in the House. Last week, however, he agreed to support the Senate version of the bill, despite his objections to its language on abortion.

Stupak negotiated with Democratic leaders over the abortion language until the eleventh hour, finally agreeing to support the legislation when President Obama agreed to sign an executive order reaffirming the existing ban on federal dollars being spent on abortion.

Anti-abortion rights activists and Republicans said an executive order was not good enough since it can easily be reversed. Democrats, by contrast, maintain that the original Senate language did not allow taxpayer money to go to abortion.

Stupak said last week his life had become a “living hell” because of the onslaught of threatening messages he has received. Numerous other congressmen who backed the bill also report receiving threatening messages and seeing violent actions from citizens.

The Weekly Standard’s John McCormack, no stranger to left wing violence himself, makes an excellent point here:

Yes, threats are despicable and should be denounced by all. But wouldn’t it have been nice if CBS had informed readers that the “onslaught of threatening messages” he received last week were from those who supported the health care bill? Isn’t it odd that CBS didn’t cover this story last week?

Indeed. When Stupak was “anti” the bill, just what types of calls and threats was he receiving? Isn’t that worth looking into? Apparently not to the liberals at CBS.

Not only that, but remember: It’s not just Republicans who hate this bill. There were many on the left who hated it because they didn’t think it went far enough. NOW, for example, was outraged over the meaningless EO Obama promised Stupak (which Obama signed today without fanfare). Unions are angry at the Democrat no votes on ObamaCare, and we know very well what some of the more radical union members will do when they’re upset. In fact, even though the AFL-CIO ended up endorsing ObamaCare, many union members still had “Cadillac tax concerns” with the bill – concerns which kept them from endorsing it until the 11th hour.

Many folks have an axe to grind over this bill, and it’s not just “Reich wingers.” But you wouldn’t know that if you only listened to the media spin on these stories. They – in concert with Democrats in Washington, DC and in the blogosphere – know that if they can unfairly demonize all the opposition to Obama and his agenda then they can win the “message battle,” and that Obama effectively would be able to do pretty much whatever he wants, because people who don’t know any better would just chalk all opposition up as nothing more than crazy rantings from “right wing racists,” etc. Which is pretty close to being as despicable as the use of violence itself to get a point across, because both are detestable ways at attempting to silence the opposition by any means necessary (a retrospective on the left’s “tolerance” for free speech can be found here) – a vile tactic that is about as unAmerican as you can get.

CBS again demonstrated their ability to smoothly fear without evidence once again with the following reporting later in in the same piece:

At least one congressman, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) is trying to use the hostile incidents to rally his supporters. Anti-reform protesters yelled gay slurs at the openly-gay congressman last weekend, as well as racial slurs at some black members of Congress.

Note the word “allegedly” is no where to be found in this piece. The accusations of the Congressmembers in question are taken at face value, even though they have no proof to support any allegations of supposed racial/anti-gay chanting that took place this past weekend. In fact, a video has been posted online of when Frank, Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN) Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) and others were being escorted through the crowd and you don’t hear any racial/anti-gay chanting at all in the video clip, but you do hear a lot of “Kill the Bill” chants. At most, they might have heard one or two anti-black/gay slurs, but it doesn’t appear to be as widespread as it’s being made out to be.

Not surprising, of course, since Democrats used most of last year to accuse any and all opponents of President Obama’s agenda of racism, taking the words and actions of a tiny few and broad brushing everyone opposed to his radical ideas.

In any event, this is just the same sh** different day from the MSM, most of who are loathe to report left wing threats against right wingers even under a Republican administration, as we saw with Bush. Apparently it’s only left wing politicos whose lives are worth protecting – along with their agendas.

Update 1 – 10:21 PM: Mithridate Ombud at Newsbusters has an absolute must-read on the issue of political violence: The Media’s Myth of Right Wing Violence. If you read nothing else tonight, please read that.

Update 2 – 10:47 PM: And a reader reminds me of the bomb threats at Senator Jim Bunning’s Kentucky offices received during the standoff earlier this month between him and the Senate on unemployment benefits and how Congress was going to pay for a thirty day extension. The MSM was where on this disturbing story again? 8-|

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