Hoist Them Upon Their Own Petards

After wrestling with the happening of the cold blooded murder of George Tiller, M.D., as well as the dearth of an acceptable response from the likes of those who had labelled Dr. Tiller in the past as a "killer," and in light of the the purely vitriolic yet vapid rhetoric from the right aimed at, among other things, President Obama [for example, by continuing to maintain he is not an American born citizen, inferring he is not the lawful President], I have settled on a solution of sorts.

While reasonable minds may disagree, political discourse has become poisoned.  Now we have to hear, with the party's imprimatur, actor Jon Voight term the President a "false prophet."  Really, Mr. Voight?  Really?  Like you would know?

Anyway, I am getting off track.  

My very targeted solution, and I admit it is a flawed solution, is for Mrs. Jeane Tiller, grieving widow of the murdered doctor, to sue Operation Rescue, Fox News and Bill O'Reilly.  Sue their nattering pants off.  

On what grounds, RayRay, you, my gentle readership might ask?  I say take a page from the playbook of the Southern Poverty Law Center and sue them for incitement to commit violence.

Recent lawsuits by the SPLC has gone to great lengths to bankrupt, and thereby defang, such hate groups as the Aryan Nations and sects of the Ku Klux Klan.  These successful suits use as one of their causes of action the incitement of certain individuals to commit violence.

Operation Rescue uses Biblical Apocalyptic language in their exhortations, taking its political cause outside the realm of political rhetoric.  When invoking the name of God to come and smite a baby murderer, where is the possibility of political discourse?  When past violence is but prologue to even more bloodshed, where can reasonable minds come together?  And more importantly, what can the reasonable mind infer will be the rational result of such admonitions?

Is not the "lone wolf" the intended consequence?

Bill O'Reilly is another phenomenon altogether.  Loudly self proclaimed to be the most popular man in his genre of cable "news," Mr. O'Reilly occupies another stratosphere than Operation Rescue.  He is well monied as a result of his often vitriolic and bombastic opinions.

But maybe with respect to the murder of Dr. Tiller, and perhaps the issue of abortion in general, Mr. O'Reilly has crossed the line.

Here is a Youtube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYulgba5BPE to but one discussion between Mr. O'Reilly and a pro-choice advocate, Amy Richards, speaking in depth about Dr. Tiller, his work, and abortion.  You will notice the choice of words Mr. O'Reilly uses, namely "execute babies."  He also uses the classic fallacious argument about "irrefutable evidence" which he does not deign to disclose, and therefore it is unchallengeable, yet somehow always inures to the benefit of his side of the story.  He also conflates the argument of having an abortion with permitting a rapist to "get away with" rape, without seeking to discuss the complex issues of criminal procedure and privacy.  Finally, when confounded by his opponent's intransigence, he becomes an ogre and screams at her.  Truthfully, this segment is illuminating as to O'Reilly's personality.

But his closing remarks that his opponent, Amy Richards, was working to "allow babies to be killed for any reason at all" only highlights my point.  If that were the real issue involved, then how can any right thinking person not hunt Ms. Richards down and kill her, if only to save those innocent babies.

And it is not as if Bill O'Reilly doesn't know who his audience is.  It is no secret that he is popular among the more conservative segment of the population, tending more toward the anti-choice, pro-gun crowd.

So, what is Bill O'Reilly's intended consequence when he uses such words and phrases?  I can with confidence say it is not the well being of Ms. Richards.

I for one have had enough of this baloney.  Bill O'Reilly, with his extra high soap box and his ultra self righteousness has finally crossed a line.  He, and his patron, Fox News, must pay.  This is not a matter of free speech.  This is a matter of incitement to commit violence, which is most certainly not protected free speech.

So, Mrs. Tiller, with the highest of respect for the graveness of your situation, when the terrors in your mind have quieted but a little and you can muster the strength, I ask you to bring suit against Operation Rescue, Bill O'Reilly, and Fox News.  Bring suit for their part in the incitement of that animal Roeder to kill your husband in cold blood.  Bring suit to bankrupt their bank accounts like they have already bankrupted religion and their own souls.  And even if you cannot win in Court, you will make them have to defend, on the national stage, their disgusting words about your husband.  And if you make them do that, it will be as good as if you won a verdict.  Because they will have to take off their masks of self righteousness and defend the indefensible.

And then, with a little luck, no one will listen to them anymore.  And you will have won but a small piece of solace, for yourself and us all.  

Right to Life Movement Exposed as Farce Once Again.......

Scott Roeder, avowed believer in an unborn fetus' right to life brutally and premeditatedly gunned down one of the three doctors in the United States who provides late term abortions to women. According to the conservative newspaper, The Washington Times, Dr. George Tiller's clinic has been the site of two decades worth of protests, and was bombed in 1985. The doctor was also shot in both arms in 1993.

Also reported in the same paper was the founder of Operation Rescue, Randall Terry, called the murdered doctor a mass murderer and stated: "He was an evil man - his hands were covered in blood." No, sir, your hands are covered in blood. Dr. Tiller was an upstanding member of his community and church, devoted husband and father of four.

The Right to Life Movement, if I can stomach to call it such a thing, has revealed itself again to be a terrible sham. I shall know them by the company they keep, and Roeder is their company.

This is not to say that the issue of abortion is not terribly divisive, and reasonable persons can disagree a great deal. It is also not to say that good people cannot oppose abortion. It is a very tough issue, as no matter how compelling the needs of an unborn child might be, the needs of the mother, to whom that unborn child owes not just its life, but very existence, are greater. It is a tough call in a zero sum game, but when I am forced to make the decision on whose call it is on what to do, I go with the right of the mother to choose.

No, what I am saying is the Right to Interfere With a Woman's Womb Movement is an industry based upon hatred and dividing Americans. Mr. Terry, I thought you read the word of God. Am I not now quoting Jesus, Matthew 7: Judge not lest ye be judged" ? Or do you construe that very clear dictate as meaning something else?

A funny thing about the multitude of those who oppose a woman's right to choose whether or not to carry a child to full term is that they are most often pro-death penalty and pro-gun. Now, I have made no secret of my pro-gun attitudes here on the Witch Hunt, but I am diametrically opposed to the death penalty.

I always found it funny - funny peculiar, not funny haha - that the so called right to life movement was filled with so many pro-death penalty hypocrites. And not for nothing, but being pro-gun means at some level that you are pro-ability to kill. Just pointing that out.

Therefore, I don't accept the moral high ground the anti-abortion crowd attempts to talk down to me from. Rather, I tend to ignore them. Apparently, I was wrong to do so. Let's get something clear: since the 1960's there has been both left and right wing violence that we now call domestic terrorism because it gets local sheriffs more Homeland Security dollars.

The left wing variety has largely been aimed at either laboratories to free animals or environmental, attacking the logging industry and such. People have been hurt and some killed by these acts, but they are few. Not that numbers excuse such things.

On the other hand, the right wing violence has been anti-abortion and anti-government, and has consisted of many OB-GYN clinics being bombed, as well as the Centennial Park bombing during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, and of course the Oklahoma City bombing. And lest I forget, the cowardly murder of Dr. Barnett Slepian, the fourth abortion provider to be murdered, shot in his home by anti-abortion activist James Charles Kopp. Kopp of course did the brave thing and tried to flee to Canada.

Another quixotic aspect of the anti-abortion crowd is their general disdain for universal health care, which stems from the right wing belief in small government. So, the government can't pay doctors based upon set fee schedules, like it does for the Veterans' Administration and Medicaid, but it can regulate the contents of a woman's womb? Huh?

Therefore, it is clear that the anti-abortion crowd doesn't care much for life, just the unborn. And to really hit this home, I checked out the major pundits today, going to some of the biggest right wing bloviator's websites to see what, if anything, they had to say.

Hannity: nothing.

Rush: Nada.

Levin: Zip.

Malkin: focused on how "every mainstream pro-life organization has condemned the killing." She even said it twice. What about you, Michelle?

Coulter: Niente.

Savage: yes, an article by a David Kupelian, decrying violence in the name of Right Wing goals because it may hurt said goals, and the real danger was being labeled as extremists, which could lead the establishment [read: Obama] to exploit such a label the way Hitler [!!!] exploited the Reichstag Fire against the Communists in 1933. Nothing, nothing about the tragic murder of a father of four!

O'Reilly: yes, a line saying "Infamous abortion doctor Dr. George Tiller is gunned down in church. Bill and our guests react." Infamy is usually reserved for things like the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defined infamy as "evil reputation brought about by something grossly criminal, shocking or brutal." Gee, a husband and father of four is gunned down at the door of his church and HE is the infamous one? Could this be defamation?

So, it appears that the punditry had nothing to say about this except 'Don't let it ruin our movement.' Therefore, the only soul searching I am seeing from the punditry is self preservation. Real Christian of all of you.

Then I checked Operation Rescue's website, and clicked on the "Tiller Watch" link [I am not kidding, go see: http://www.operationrescue.org/archives/operation-rescue-denounces-the-killing-of-abortionist-tiller/] and got this:

Operation Rescue Denounces The Killing of Abortionist Tiller

Wichita, KS – It has been learned today that GeorgeTiller was shot and killed while entering his church on Sunday morning, May31.
Operation Rescue releases the following statement: We are shocked at this morning’s disturbing news that Mr. Tiller was gunned down. Operation Rescue has worked for years through peaceful, legal means, and through the proper channels to see him brought to justice. We denounce vigilantism and the cowardly act that took place this morning. We pray for Mr. Tiller’s family that they will find comfort and healing that can only be found in Jesus Christ.

Was this the denunciation Ms. Malkin was so adamant about she said it twice on her website? That Operation Rescue who was legally trying to bring Dr. Tiller TO JUSTICE ? Who the heck are they?

I know who they are. They are accessories before the fact. They fed millions of people, 99% of them good and decent people, this divisive crapola for decades now, hoping, no, praying that someone of a fragile mind like Roeder's will act on their command to bring such physicians to justice. Allow me to quote another member of Operation Rescue, Flip Benham, in response to calls for peace after Dr. Slepian's murder:

"we are in store for more bloodshed in the streets—the likes of which willsicken even the sturdiest among us."

Kopp was one of these "pro-lifers," just like Roeder. And Randall Terry knows it, and he is the one that needs to be brought to justice. The legal way. Not the way involves murdering a father of four children and running away.