Civil discourse and political fire
Updated: As medical personal worked frantically to save the victims of the Arizona public shooting January 8, The David Arnett Show went live on Tulsa’s KRMG taking calls on that tragic event. In the first hour, a local Democrat Activist asserted “talk radio and Sarah Palin’s cross-hairs map was the cause” of the killing – the same refrain screamed nationally by the Left for weeks in remarkable unison – thus one proof the accusation was coordinated and prepared in advance.
As host, my reaction was immediate and angry. How dare the caller politicize insanity and effort promotion for political gain! As discovered facts clarify; the aggressor was a liberal, not interested in talk radio or politics. His booking photo captured a big smile on a beaming face with a newly shaven head. I can almost hear him gloating in infamous glory.
The cross-hairs graphic and other similar images have been used by all sides of political debate for generations. Michelle Malkin documents the Left’s current angry rhetoric even as they are damning the Right, click here for more. Never did the Left or their pet media complain of the lack of civil discourse when union thugs and George Soros funded lackeys attacked President George Bush. That discourse was much less civil than anything Sarah Palin or talk radio has said since.
“The worst, uncivil discourse in the last decade occurred in the Bush years when the president was vilified and attacked and demonized, compared to Nazis. He was called Hitler. … I do not remember times when the mainstream media wagging a finger and pulling a chin about the rise of uncivil discourse at the time. So I don’t take any of this seriously,” said Charles Krauthammer on “Special Report with Bret Baier.”
Maybe it is time to take “this” seriously. Books have been written on the failure of traditional media to properly vet candidate Barack Hussein Obama and on his incompetence and continuing betrayal of American economics and values. He spoke during the campaign in glittering generalities, but the cold hard fact of his administration is the setting aside if not the overthrow of the Constitution of the United States of America.
While some national readers may presume that Tulsa, Oklahoma is a conservative bastion based on our voting patterns; the daily newspaper here is populated by want-a-be “Times-ers” bitter not to be in New York or L.A. writing for the so-called standards of the industry. Editorially, the Tulsa World weighed in on the Tucson shooting January 11 with an official unsigned featured editorial titled “Words.”
“It would be wrong to begin pointing fingers in the aftermath” they wrote just before pointing fingers. Blaming “the Internet, the blogosphere, where there is little if any restraint, and the 24-hour news channels” they go on to say “the goal turns from news reporting and serious commentary to hits and ratings.” They point more fingers to demonize personally, “Glenn Beck spews his hate and lies condemning government and proclaiming that Democrats and liberals are enemies of the country…”
I have monitored the Glenn Beck television show on Fox News for over a year and randomly check his facts. I have found no lie, so if the Tulsa World can not specifically state a mistaken fact, then, in fact, they lie. I have been pleasantly surprised by the high level of wisdom and enjoy the humor, satire, and expert guests appearing on Glenn Beck’s show. The Left is also targeting the new Fox Business Network and John Stossel in particular which signifies to Conservatives, they have another effective hero with a clue.
Frequently mentioned by Glenn Beck and a well known long visible icon of the Left, Frances Fox Piven, is actively campaigning for violence. Her calls for “angry” revolution have been covered by the New York Times and the Nation, but only as a way to attack Beck who opposes and exposes Piven. Click here to read more on Piven with video of her public statements
The Tulsa World goes on in their “Words” editorial saying “deceit and intolerance are the true enemies” demanding dialogue. “An assessment of our true American values seems to be in order,” they wrote. I accept. Let’s debate.
Aside from the fundamental failure to address national questions of the Obama Administration’s historic secrecy, unconstitutional usurpation of power, crony capitalism, communist redistribution of private property, and the national conversion to an entitlement state; the Tulsa World has failed to offer dissenting opinions on publicly proposed changes in city government, efficiency studies to reduce the cost of local government or even provided balanced coverage of State issues. Will these lying leftists have the courage to debate?
The Tulsa World has also yet to respond to a challenge of their 2010 Christmas Day editorial. Believe it or not, on the day Christians celebrate the birth of their savior, that newspaper published, in another featured editorial, that “the forces of capitalism” were the “bad actor” as a “transforming force at work on Christmas” in the “disappearance of Christmas from Christmas.”
“The profit urge pushes a constant message of mass indulgence, a seasonal bacchanal that uses the Christian holiday as an excuse for a secular orgy of waste,” they wrote. Did they really use the word “orgy” on Christmas? Yes, they did. Did they appear to promote the greatest killer of humanity, totalitarianism with it’s controlled markets? Yes, they did. What other alternative did they suggest to replace free market capitalism? None, so maybe they love communism. That is a "value" their readers should asses.
As I wrote December 28, “It is a valid public question: what wisdom from what ideology leads the paper's newsroom and their editorial positions? The masthead of the newspaper quotes Jeremiah 50:2, ‘Publish and set up a standard; publish and conceal not.’ Great. What is the standard? Is it more than greed in a "hands off" policy covering idiotic rantings by ‘editor's gone wild?’ Is there a video of that lack of editorial propriety?” Click here to read the December 28 piece.
On AM 740 and FM 102.3 news, talk KRMG I spoke with listeners about the Tulsa World’s editorial on Christmas Day, New Year’s Day and every Saturday since. Mine is just a two hour (Saturday, 4 to 6 pm) weekend show, but on the most powerful talk station in Northeastern Oklahoma. I am a novice in radio, but I have been a writer for thirty-years now embarrassed at the current state of journalism in America. Maybe I can’t fix the New York Times, but I can keep speaking and writing about the Tulsa World and general journalism for as long as I have breath (assuming the EPA doesn’t arrest me for breathing).
Further, I pledge to accept every speaking engagement for any group of five or more at any location within the region at my own expense. I will meet to debate the Tulsa World Publisher, Editorial Page Editor, or any writer they may select. I will speak individually or in group with Churches, civic and social organizations or any home coffee group – free on a first booked basis for the next two years. I am not running for office, but will speak on the state of journalism locally and nationally and how the disemboweled honor of the current state of the craft threatens the fabric of our individual lives.
However, it is not national or local media that truly sets the agenda in America. You do. Individual participation in the political process begins soon nationwide. In Tulsa County, both Republicans and Democrats will select their leadership in the coming weeks and registered members of each are welcome to their party’s meetings.
The Tulsa County Democratic Party general meeting will be held in the Conference Center at party headquarters, 907 South Detroit Avenue at 7:00 pm February 3. For more information, click here for www.TulsaCountyDemocrats.org and then click on the link “calendar.”
Tulsa County Republican Party meetings will be in each voting precinct where elections for precinct offices will be held February 1. More information on exact locations may be found online at www.tulsagop.org.
If you are not registered to vote or wish to change parties or update other information you may visit the Tulsa County Election Board at 555 North Denver, Tulsa or online by clicking here.
Tea Party people may attend both sets of meetings to observe, participate and report back to their own organizations, the David Arnett Show on AM 740 and FM 102.3 news, talk KRMG and Tulsa Today. This is your country and if you want to know which way it is going from the ground up, these are the meetings that set the path.
Now let the civil discourse begin.
About the author:
An individualist, Publisher David Arnett began a traditional journalism career untraditionally in an Aha Moment you can review thirty years ago. Arnett has long argued that government is incompetent if not corrupt at the Federal level. He has placed his life on the line to fight corruption on the state level and questioned almost every “authority” in Tulsa at some point. Passionately belligerent in the demand for equal treatment under the law, Arnett fought for racial integration of Tulsa Public Schools and equal rights as youth liaison to the Community Relations Commission before he graduated from high school. Arnett is an equal opportunity aggravator, former reporter for The Tulsa Tirbune, and has been awarded two national awards as a First Amendment Advocate. He has published books, newspapers and recently finished his first documentary film project.
You are encouraged listen and welcome to call-in between 4 and 6 pm each Saturday on The David Arnett Show on AM 740 and FM 102.3 news talk KRMG to discuss this story and others. You may also register free on Tulsa Today and comment below. E-mail of news tips are welcome to editor@tulsatoday.com. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (or use our contact form at the top of the page). Arnett writes here as often as opportunity allows. Other recent works you may enjoy include “Top Down or Free Up?” and "Obama's Christian Experience" and "Obama's Thinking Revealed."