Former one-term Republican Congressman Joe Walsh sent out a series of tweets Wednesday calling for Islamists to target the “appeasing cowards” at CNN and MSNBC first if the United States was to suffer another terrorist attack. Walsh, who is now a right-wing radio host, is apparently upset that many media outlets have decided against showing many of the controversial cartoons from Charlie Hebdo that were the basis for the terrorist attack on the publication last week. Therefore, in typical Tea Party moral absolutist fashion, Walsh feels that the appeasers at the networks need to be killed for making an editorial decision.
Below is the tweet he sent out early Wednesday afternoon calling for beheadings.
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Let’s hope that when the Islamists next strike they first behead the appeasing cowards at CNN, MSNBC, etal who refused to show the cartoons.
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) January 14, 2015
After that tweet, the criticism started pouring in. Apparently, Walsh got some hear from Glenn Beck’s right-wing website The Blaze as he sent the following tweet criticizing them for being upset with his comment.
Oh, The Blaze is upset by what I said? Okay, guess there’ll be a “You Won’t Believe What Joe Said Now” post. #AwfulClickBait
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) January 14, 2015
He continued with more tweets, some profane, defending his initial comment. He stated that he didn’t wish for another terrorist attack on US soil, but he knows one will happen eventually, so it is best that those who work for CNN and MSNBC get hit first due to their cowardice.
Get real. I don’t hope for another act of terror but I know it will happen. And the appeasing cowards at CNN etal only endanger all of us.
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) January 14, 2015
I’ll say it again. Islamists have declared war on us and the appeasing cowards at CNN, MSNBC, etal will get more innocents killed.
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) January 14, 2015
Now, there are a couple of things you need to know about Joe Walsh. One, he will do anything, ANYTHING, to get some attention. He craves the limelight, and now that he is no longer in Congress, he has to try extra hard to get noticed on the national scene. Another thing you need to know about Walsh is that he is nothing more than a tough-talking chickenhawk who wraps himself in the flag extra tight as a form of overcompensation. Remember, this is a man who once claimed during a campaign event that Tammy Duckworth was no true hero. The same Tammy Duckworth who lost limbs in Iraq as a helicopter pilot.
Last month, Walsh was on CNN and told host Carol Costello that Muslims are “animals” who engage in beheadings and genocide. Therefore, we shouldn’t be ashamed the CIA tortured people. Instead, we should be proud of it. When Costello pushed back on Walsh’s description of Muslims as animals and asked whether Americans should act like animals as well, Walsh merely said you have to act like an animal to defeat one.
That is Walsh in a nutshell. He is a full-fledged right-wing nutjob who says deeply offensive and inflammatory things for the sake of media attention. The scary part is he was once an elected official representing hundreds of thousands of people in Washington. The even scarier part is that there are dozens and dozens more on Capitol Hill who are just as extreme and irresponsible as he is, if not more.
Justin Baragona is the Managing Editor at Politicus Sports as well as Senior Editor at PoliticusUSA. He was a political writer for 411Mania.com before joining PoliticusUSA. Politically, Justin considers himself a liberal but also a realist and pragmatist. Currently, Justin lives in St. Louis, MO and is married. Besides writing, he also runs his own business after spending a number of years in the corporate world. You can follow Justin on Twitter either with his personal handle (@justinbaragona) or the Sports site’s (@PoliticusSports).