In the long tradition of conservative attacks on dissent since 9/11, Rep. Spencer Bachus has likened some fairly innocuous comments by Bill Maher to treason (via Josh Marshall -- see also the Bachus press release):
Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., takes issue with remarks on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, first aired May 13, in which Maher points out the Army missed its recruiting goal by 42 percent in April.
"More people joined the Michael Jackson fan club," Maher said. "We've done picked all the low-lying Lynndie England fruit, and now we need warm bodies."
Army Reserve Pfc. England was accused of abusing prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
"I think it borders on treason," Bachus said. "In treason, one definition is to undermine the effort or national security of our country."
..."I don't want (Maher) prosecuted," Bachus said. "I want him off the air."
And on an even darker note, Newsmax reports on a disturbing Bill O'Reilly "fantasy" (their word) about the decapitation of Los Angeles Times op-ed page editor Michael Kinsley:
It all started with a [Los Angeles] Times editorial urging the shutdown of the terrorist detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and access to attorneys for detainees.
That set off O'Reilly. During the broadcast of "The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly" on May 17, he declared:
"How can they think this way? How can anyone think this way? You know, 'Shutting down Guantanamo and giving suspected terrorists legal protections would help restore our reputation abroad.'"
Said O'Reilly: "That's like saying, 'Well, if we're nicer to the people who want to kill us, then the other people who want to kill us will like us more.'"
Then he fired off the big gun, saying the paper's editorial board will "never get it until they (the terrorists) grab Michael Kinsley out of his little house and they cut his head off. And maybe when the blade sinks in, he'll go, 'Perhaps O'Reilly was right.'"
The Times counterattacked in a May 24 editorial. Questioning why people the U.S. has liberated from tyranny "don't love us," the paper stated: "It doesn't seem worthy of decapitation to suggest that ghastly stories (not all fabricated by Newsweek) about abuse of prisoners don't help."
...For the moment, O'Reilly is in the liberal paper's crosshairs, warning: "O'Reilly should be careful. Any further decapitation fantasies could get him in serious trouble with the Secret Service."
It seems the paper has difficulty distinguishing between a threat and a "fantasy." And when it comes to actual threats against its employees, the paper may want to check with its lawyers on whom to contact.
The Secret Service deals with threats against the President and Vice President, not editorial writers.
This is the Coulter-ization of political discourse. It's not normal -- or acceptable -- to "joke" about the murder of your political opponents. When will we cast these people out of public life?
Its nice of you liberals to stick up for each other. Someone has to stand up for the spineless people of the world.
Posted by: Conservative Dan | May 26, 2005 at 10:01 PM