Last updated on August 10th, 2014 at 05:29 pm
Glenn Beck railed against those who are blaming Bill O’Reilly for the murder of abortion doctor George Tiller, and those who are blaming Keith Olbermann for the Army recruiter shootings in Arkansas. Beck said that it is an intellectually dishonest argument to blame either of them. The only people responsible are those who pulled the triggers.
Here is the audio from Media Matters:
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Beck said, “Well, let me ask you this. I had to really search the news long and hard to find out about the two recruiters — the two soldiers that had been killed by the Muslim convert, that were gunned down in Arkansas. I had to really look hard for that. Is anybody asking is Keith Olbermann responsible for the death of those two soldiers? Keith Olbermann has railed against recruiters. Keith Olbermann has railed against the baby killers that our U.S. soldiers are. He’s railed against this war. MSNBC was right all over the story about how our troops are torturing and killing innocents. Has anybody asked if he’s responsible?”
He continued, “By the way, the answer is no, he’s not. Has anyone asked if he’s responsible? No. Why? Because it’s an intellectually dishonest question. It was dishonest when they did it about Bill O’Reilly, and it’s dishonest if anybody does it with Keith Olbermann. The only ones that were responsible for the guy who is killing the abortion doctor in Kansas is the guy who killed the abortion doctor in Kansas. The only one that was responsible for killing the two soldiers in Arkansas is the Muslim convert crazy nutjob that killed the two soldiers in Arkansas.”
As far I know Olbermann has never called the military baby killers, or has railed against recruiters. Beck’s last two points are correct though. Olbermann has ranted against the war, torture and killing of innocents, so on the Beck Scale of Distortion this is a 5. This is the first time that I may have ever written this, but Glenn Beck made a good point.
The only people who are responsible for the killings in each situation are those who pulled the triggers. It isn’t left or right wing media’s fault. To trivialize killings and put them in their partisan boxes is dishonest. This is a variation of the old blame the media argument. The difference is that the people making the argument are other members of the media.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
