Back to Basics

In the wake of the wicked acts of one deranged individual, we must be careful not to give ground to the silly notion that the debate and advocacy of ideas in the political arena is a danger to our society.  In fact, if time has proven anything, it’s that our society suffers from a lack of debate on the issues that really matter.

But the last few years have seen a slight reversal to that trend in that more Americans – especially conservatives – have begun to pay attention to how things are transpiring versus what they understand of how our society and government are supposed to function.  This explains the liberal cries of a coarsening of public debate, which seem directly proportional to any conservative participation in public debate at all.

Censorship is the raison d’être of political correctness.  It’s purpose is to cower conservatives from entering the verbal playing field for fear of being labeled as _________, (insert: “racist”, “bigoted”, “homophobic”, “religious zealots”, etc.).  It is their only effective weapon, as the reality of their ideas only serves to undercut their arguments.

It is precisely because of this that, before the bodies were even cold, liberals and their handmaidens in the press could (with a straight face) blame conservative rhetoric for causing a lunatic to pick up a gun and kill six people.  Of course the fact that the killer is later identified by close friends to be an apolitical, nihilistic pothead doesn’t stop them.  They never let a little thing like the truth get in the way of smearing the opposition and gaining some political ground.  Again, it’s all about cowering the opposition.

For his part, Obama demonstrated himself to be little more than an enabler.  For several days after the shooting, (which is to say days after the “blame the conservatives” rhetoric began), Obama said nothing to discourage it.  Contrast this to the short hours it took for him to tell the country not to “jump to conclusions” after Major Hassan murdered a dozen of his fellow soldiers at Fort Hood just over a year ago.  In fact, Obama’s first major address on the issue didn’t happen until after the first poll came out verifying that the majority of the American public wasn’t buying what liberals were selling.  (No sense in fishing with bait that doesn’t work, huh?)

Those who blame violent political rhetoric and imagery for the Arizona tragedy are the same people who regularly defend the gutter trash that passes for entertainment on free speech grounds.

They are the same people who had entire organizations dedicated to spreading hate and violence filled rhetoric about George W. Bush and said nothing while supporters publicly fantasized about his assassination.  They had no comment about pictures (for sale by Getty Images) of a gun pointing at the head of a Sarah Palin cutout, or comments among their supporters wishing she were gang raped.