I have no idea if the screwball who went on a killing spree in Arizona was influenced by "right wing" talk radio and aggressive political rhetoric or not. However, it seems to me that the people who are making this leap of faith are from the very same liberal left who pooh pooh any suggestion that there could possible be any link between violent imagery, dialogue and lyrics in film, television and pop music and the increasing violent and aggressive behaviour in society.
Either these things do have an affect or they don't. Which is it?
Personally, I abhor the gutter level politics common in the USA and increasingly prevalent over here (Phil Woolas, anybody?), but I believe it is symptomatic of the general decline in moral standards, self discipline and self control in society which has been encouraged by the liberal left over the last fifty years.
I'm all for a return to a civilised society based on common decency, good manners and politeness and I much prefer people to self-censor than have censorship imposed on them, but I think it's hypocritical for those on the liberal left to complain about something they have brought about.
Before they start criticising, they ought to take a good, long, hard look at themselves.
2 comments:
I immediately made that link too, Stan. The "do videogames encourage violence" question, for example, has been raging amongst Leftist circles for a while now. The simple answer is no, it doesn't.
There are always going to be nutters. Going by the Left's logic on this one, there's actually more evidence the guy was a left-wing loon, given that his classmates have described him as liberal, and the fact his book collection contains "big government" titles like Mein Kampf and The Communist Manifesto helps us figure out where his beliefs lay.
And yes, Mein Kampf is left-wing, IMO. I can't believe the Lefties have got away with painting Nazism as right-wing.
"However, it seems to me that the people who are making this leap of faith are from the very same liberal left who pooh pooh any suggestion that there could possible be any link between violent imagery, dialogue and lyrics in film, television and pop music and the increasing violent and aggressive behaviour in society."
Not to mention the same journalists who were struck dumb when the Fort Hood shooter opened up.
No conclusions were drawn that day, oh, dear me no...
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