The other foot.
13/1/11 13:53![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
dwer.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
talkpoliticsAlright. There's been a lot of argument about whether or not the rhetoric of the right wing could or would incite an unstable person to take action against someone they have been speaking out against. But let's use a more clear example.
If Sarah Palin had said "Instead of running [to represent Arizona] they ought to have her and shoot her. Put her against the wall and shoot her", it would have been pretty clear, no? That would clearly have been inflammatory.
Well, check this out.
"Instead of running for governor of Florida, they ought to have [Rick Scott] and shoot him. Put him against the wall and shoot him." Paul Kanjorski, Congressman for the Pennsylvania 11th district, 1985-2011. He's a Democrat. He said it on October 23rd, 2003. (http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/01/ex-rep-paul-kanjorski-d-pa-fla-gov-rick-scott-they-ought-put-him-)
Now, I'm going to honestly say, I've never heard of this guy, and I didn't hear him say what he did when he said it.
Had I heard him say what he did, I would have spoken against him. What he said was wrong, and incendiary, and violent, and out-rightly so. People should not speak this way about political opponents.
Even worse, Kanjorski is trying to dodge responsibility, much like many of us believe Palin and Rush and others are doing.
Reached by phone Tuesday, Kanjorski said "only fruitcakes" would take his statement about Scott literally. The 73-year-old Democrat from Nanticoke, who this fall lost in his bid for a 14th term representing the 11th Congressional District, admitted he's well known for using "colorful language." "I probably would never have made the statement if I anticipated anything like this happening," Kanjorski said. "It was obviously not in humor, but not literally." (http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/01/kanjorski-only-fruitcakes-would-take-my-call-shoot-governor-liter)
Again, wholly inappropriate, and we should be thankful that someone didn't take his initial statement seriously. Anyone who calls for violence against political opponents, whether openly or masked in metaphor, left or right, republican or democrat, should be repudiated.
If Sarah Palin had said "Instead of running [to represent Arizona] they ought to have her and shoot her. Put her against the wall and shoot her", it would have been pretty clear, no? That would clearly have been inflammatory.
Well, check this out.
"Instead of running for governor of Florida, they ought to have [Rick Scott] and shoot him. Put him against the wall and shoot him." Paul Kanjorski, Congressman for the Pennsylvania 11th district, 1985-2011. He's a Democrat. He said it on October 23rd, 2003. (http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/01/ex-rep-paul-kanjorski-d-pa-fla-gov-rick-scott-they-ought-put-him-)
Now, I'm going to honestly say, I've never heard of this guy, and I didn't hear him say what he did when he said it.
Had I heard him say what he did, I would have spoken against him. What he said was wrong, and incendiary, and violent, and out-rightly so. People should not speak this way about political opponents.
Even worse, Kanjorski is trying to dodge responsibility, much like many of us believe Palin and Rush and others are doing.
Reached by phone Tuesday, Kanjorski said "only fruitcakes" would take his statement about Scott literally. The 73-year-old Democrat from Nanticoke, who this fall lost in his bid for a 14th term representing the 11th Congressional District, admitted he's well known for using "colorful language." "I probably would never have made the statement if I anticipated anything like this happening," Kanjorski said. "It was obviously not in humor, but not literally." (http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/01/kanjorski-only-fruitcakes-would-take-my-call-shoot-governor-liter)
Again, wholly inappropriate, and we should be thankful that someone didn't take his initial statement seriously. Anyone who calls for violence against political opponents, whether openly or masked in metaphor, left or right, republican or democrat, should be repudiated.
