We think you're near Los Angeles

Currently in Los Angeles

Location: Los Angeles Current temperature: 59°F: Current condition: Clear See Extended Forecast

Is class warfare rhetoric to blame for Massachusetts arson?

Joe Newby's photo
Spokane Conservative Examiner

The Blaze reports that upscale homes in Massachusetts are being targeted by arsonists with a clear political message.

In two incidents, the message “f*** the rich” was found, and "incendiary devices" were discovered in one home set ablaze.

As disturbing as these reports are, one aspect is not being examined - the impact of charged political rhetoric used by the left in attacking the compromise deal between the President and the GOP.

Liberal Democrats, like Washington's Jim McDermott, have engaged in class warfare in a concerted effort to demonize the plan.

McDermott went so far as to call the compromise Obama's "Gettysburg" and compared the GOP to the Confederate Army.

"He's going to have to decide whether he's going to withstand Pickett's Charge ... I worry," McDermott said, according to Politico.
Advertisement
 
The President himself referred to Republicans as "hostage takers" - a clear reference to terrorists.  Incoming Speaker John Boehner took offense at the reference and explained the time for rhetoric was over.
 
Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison called for a political crisis over the deal:
“I think that we need to create a real crisis here so that the Republicans will have to answer for denying Americans unemployment benefits on the eve of the Christmas holiday,” Ellison said. “We let them off the hook, in my opinion.”
But is the arson in Massachusetts a result of the left's class warfare rhetoric?
 
Certainly, the so-called mainstream press would be howling with indignation if the crime was committed by a person spouting Tea Party language.
 
One can easily imagine Chris Matthews' head bursting with demands for investigations and calls for silencing those on the right.
 
But a crime that references liberal talking points as a motive is barely mentioned by the media.  And don't hold your breath waiting for the talking heads at MSNBC to call for investigations to determine the connection between left wing talking points and criminal violence.
 
In September, a Florida man was sentenced to more than two years of prison for threatening a member of Congress.  At his sentencing, the man claimed he watched too much MSNBC.  Predictably, the media turned a blind eye.
 
The left in this country is clearly itching for a fight.
 
But burning down people's homes is no way to make a political point.
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

On Monday, December 13, 2010, at 7pm Pacific time, Joe will discuss this and other issues with Sharon Russell at blogtalkradio.com.  Be sure to listen and call with your thoughts - we want to hear from you.  The call-in number is (917) 932-1661

Massachusetts home burned, obscenity scrawled on fence
Massachusetts home burned, obscenity scrawled on fence
Photo credit: 
WCVB

Related topics:

Suggested by the author:

, Spokane Conservative Examiner

Joe Newby is an IT professional who has been involved in conservative politics for years. In 1991, he ran for City Council in Riverside, California, and has served as a campaign manager for local conservatives in California and Idaho, including former Idaho State Representative Jeff Alltus. For...

Don't miss...