On 5/24, Women With A Vision, a New Orleans-based advocacy group for sex workers, low-income women, women with substance abuse issues, and other at-risk populations, was broken into and set on fire. While no arrests have been made in connection with the fire, it appears to be politically based. Also, the NOFD has classifed it as arson. You can read more on the story at the NOLA Defender.
In the first clip below, Deon Haywood (Exec. Director for WWAV) talks about the incident and how it will not stop her group from continuing with the work they do.
Props to The Young Turks because I probably wouldn't have known about this story if they hadn't covered it. In the following clip, hosts Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian talk about not only the WWAV fire, but also how this type of domestic terrorism is downplayed in the media.
Cenk and Ana make some excellent points in this clip, but I especially love the fiery passion Ana exuded. If you're wondering about her disparaging reference to Bill O'Reilly and Lila Rose (the founder of the pro-life group Live Action), she had a good reason.
Think Progress story on domestic terrorism
17 comments:
And this comes just a few moments after I read about hard left TV commentator Joy Behar calling for someone to commit the crime of arson and set fire to Mitt Romney's home.
Perhaps they were acting on Behar's demand and got the wrong target?
Right wing terrorism? Really? I doubt that very much.
Some fool just decided to burn the place down, period. I am sure they will be caught. It's only property and can be replaced, people can't.
I am just glad no one was injured or killed.
dmarks does make a great point though.
dmarks: Joy Behar did not call for anyone to set fire to Mitt Romney's home. Here is what she said:
"I mean, I’d like to see his house burn, one of his million houses burning down, who is he going to call, the Mormon fire patrol?"
First of all, there are other methods besides arson which start fires. Secondly, I think she was making a joke. Not the most appropriate joke, but a joke nevertheless. If you haven't already, check out the link below, listen for yourself and tell me if you think she was serious. Her comments about Romney's house burning down happen at about the 7:10 mark.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/currents-joy-behar-wants-conservatives-if-they-have-the-balls-to-come-on-the-show/
Also, since Joy made those comments within the last day and the fire that damaged WWV happened last month, I doubt the arsonist was acting on what she said. Unless the arsonist is psychic.
Leticia: Do you doubt there is a such thing as right-wing terrorism or are you just skeptical about who's responsible for the fire?
She certainly did call for someone to commit the crime of arson against Romney and his family.
Any time one of these talking heads says something like that, it is a request for the audience to act on their wishes.
Let's try a "for instance". If Rush Limbaugh said he would like to see someone burn down the Obama White House, and someone did it, would you be placing some of the blame on Rush? For calling for it? I know you would. I would too.
"Secondly, I think she was making a joke."
That's just you rationalizing it. Someone calling for a violent crime to be committed against someone is never a "joke".
"Also, since Joy made those comments within the last day and the fire that damaged WWV happened last month, I doubt the arsonist was acting on what she said. Unless the arsonist is psychic. "
You have a point. Current TV is a failed would-be network that is known for making the news instead of reporting the news. Remember Keith Olbermann's antics. It's a fake vanity network created by a failed Presidential candidate who claimed to have invented the Internet, and hoped to win an election if the votes were counted so voteless ballots went to him.
A true conservative or "right-wing" would never do anything to destroy property or harm another person. It's just not our way. No,it was an idiot that did this is probably trying to lay the blame on a conservative.
Leticia: Your "no true Scotsman" argument just doesn't fly. If there was a discussion of the 9/11 attacks and a Muslim attempted to deflect by saying "no true Muslim would do such a thing", you'd shoot their argument down immediately. Guess what? You'd be right because political/religious beliefs do not determine whether or not a person commits criminal acts. It may not be "your way" to destroy property or harm another person, but how can you speak for every conservative/right-winger?
Below are just a few of the right wingers/conservatives who've committed crimes which were motivated by political/social beliefs:
Timothy McVeigh
Scott Roeder
Byron Williams
Michael F. Griffin
Eric Rudolph
If you wanna believe they weren't true right-wingers/conservatives, you're kidding yourself.
"No,it was an idiot that did this is probably trying to lay the blame on a conservative."
On this point, it's possible you could be right. On the other hand, you could be wrong as well. At any rate, conservatives such as yourself don't do yourselves any favor by employing the "no true Scotsman" defense or by automatically blaming the left when these types of crimes are committed.
"She certainly did call for someone to commit the crime of arson against Romney and his family."
You need to sharpen your reading comprehension/listening skills. Again, what Joy said was:
"I mean, I’d like to see his house burn, one of his million houses burning down, who is he going to call, the Mormon fire patrol?"
Nowhere in her comments did she refer to a hypothetical person calling for them to burn any of Romney's houses down. That's why your "for instance" involving Rush Limbaugh falls flat on its face. I originally didn't think it was necessary to list some of the ways (outside of arson) for house fires to start. Since you're implying that a house burning down=arson, here are some of them:
Unattended candles
Neglecting to put a metal screen in front of a fireplace
Failure to follow the instructions of a grill maker
Being careless with cigarettes
You're putting words into Joy's mouth to fit your agenda. If she said, "I'd like to see someone burn his house down" I'd be condemning her too. Since she didn't, you need to move on because all you're doing is clowning yourself.
The stuff you spouted about Current TV, Keith Olbermann, etc. isn't worth a point-by-point response because it's just more off-topic noise. Here's a challenge for you dmarks... let's see if you can comment on the actual topic of this post. Even though I disagree with Leticia on most issues, at least she does stick to the topic.
No, I did not put words into her mouth. What she said was extremely outrageous. Again, if Limbaugh did the same thing, you and the others on the Left would be all over you... and I would side with you.
The hypothetical person does not have to be named. Someone from her audience would step forward to carry out her irresponsible command. Then the name would be known. She's just lucky that her audience is so small (which is why the Current TV comments are actually on topic).
I didn't even get into the part where she lied about how many houses she has. Is this journalism?
But again, the worst statement:
"I mean, I’d like to see his house burn..."
Yes, that was Joy Behar, in her own words. And yes, she certainly did call for someone to commit the crime of arson against Romney and his family. And you defend this demand for violence, by downplaying it and wanting us to believe Behar didn't say what she said.
The challenge? Yes, the arson was bad. But why is it OK for a left-wing journalist to say she wants people to attempt to kill Romney? Because yes arson is a violent crime. Check into it.
dmarks: Your question is an easy one. Yes, the Weather Underground was left-wing. One thing you'll never catch me doing is playing that "no true Scotsman" BS.
dmarks: If you wanna think Joy called for someone to burn Romney's house down, have at it. Anyone with basic reading comprehension skills and an ounce of objectivity can see she did no such thing. Since I don't have the time nor the interest to teach you reading comprehension, we're done in this thread.
I wouldn't call the Weather terrorists "liberals". They were to the left of liberals, just as the terrorists you mention are to the right of conservatives.
Both groups are violent extremists who have much more in common with each other than they do both liberals and conservatives.
dmarks: I wouldn't necessarily call them liberals either. Please note that I referred to them as left-wing. However, I think their viewpoint was closer to the liberal philosophy than that of conservatives.
One other thing dmarks. Would you deem the following statement a call for someone to murder Sharpton, Farrakhan, et al?
"Time for Sharpton, Farrakhan, and the other racial debris to head to that great big watermelon patch in the sky."
Based on the logic you applied to Joy Behar's comments, I don't see how you couldn't.
I remember that statement, but without Googling I can't remember who made it.
Sharpton, of course is a liberal. He ran as one for the Democratic nomination, and is now one of Fox News' mirrors on MSNBC.
Farrakhan favors an extreme theocracy based on racial supremacy and the cleansing of those his religion says were devils created by an evil wizard thousands of years ago. His views on Jews were borrowed from Hitler, and he supports slavery of blacks in Africa. If anything, he seems far right (extreme fascist) much more than liberal.
Regardless of this, the comment was racist, and was as much a call for violent assault as Behar's was. Do you agree?
As for "If you wanna think Joy called for someone to burn Romney's house down, have at it", she did. Reading comprehension 101.
dmarks: The political beliefs of Sharpton and Farrakhan are irrelevant to what "Free George Zimmerman" said. By the way, the comments were made by "Free George Zimmerman" on an April 1st post Leticia wrote about the Trayvon Martin shooting.
As horrible and racist as FGZ's comments were, I don't think they were calling for violent assault. They just wished death upon Sharpton, Farrakhan, and the other so-called "racial debris". They didn't call for anyone to murder them. Just as there are many ways besides arson for fires to start, there are many ways for people to die besides murder.
As for the Joy Behar comments, we'll have to agree to disagree. It's pointless to debate it any further.
Since you haven't commented on it yet, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the Bill O'Reilly/Lila Rose clip and MM's reporting on it.
Farrakhan's beliefs indeed were relevant, as you were talking about threats to liberals, and you named two individuals in an example. I was merely pointing out why Farrakhan's not a liberal at all.
As for O'Reilly, I avoid watching him on TV for similar (but not identical) reasons that I avoid Maddow and Schultz also. I try not to watch him online also.
dmarks: Again, Farrakhan's political beliefs are irrelevant to what we are talking about here. Although this post is about domestic terrorism directed at liberal institutions, I didn't bring up Sharpton or Farrakhan as examples of threats against liberals. I brought them up because the comments (not threats) directed at them by Free George Zimmerman were somewhat similar to Joy Behar's. When I say "somewhat similar", I mean neither comments called for violence against their targets.
As for what you said about O'Reilly, that's a weak dodge. It seems as if you are trying to avoid commenting on one of the actual topics of this post.
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