Roeder was hardly a stealth anti-abortion, anti-government activist. His wife told ABC News he had served time: "She said her former husband was a member of the Freemen in Missouri and has a criminal history that includes an 1996 arrest for various parole violations and having bomb making materials. She said he did do some time on charges related to those issues, but was released on a technicality."
The Montgomery-based Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups and individuals, had no immediate posting about Roeder on its website, and Roder's name did not show up in a search of that site. There is, however, a 1998 article about violence against abortion providers that mentions Tiller's earlier wounding in the early 1990's.
[UPDATE: No connection except for the hate and guns involved, but one soldier was killed and another wounded by a man with religious and political motivation in Arkansas.]
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Jun 1, 2009
Tiller Murder
There are statements of regret from some anti-abortion groups and individuals after Sunday's murder of Dr. George Tiller, who was shot to death as he handed out bulletins at his church on Sunday (not as he was "on his way to church" as some Alabama media reported). Operation Rescue is one of them...although the suspect was active posting about Tiller on their web site, which even featured a "Tiller Watch" segment. (O.R.'s statement: "Scott Roeder has never been a member, contributor, or volunteer with Operation Rescue. Mr. Roeder may have posted to our open blog web site, as have thousands of members of the public, including those with pro-abortion views, but he is not affiliated with this organization")
Dr. Tiller had also been a target of FOX's Bill O'Reilly, according to TV Newser.com: "As recently as May 12, O'Reilly discussed Tiller and his support of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. "She supported Tiller the baby killer out there," he said to a guest..." So far no comment from Reilly about the murder. In the realm of talk radio and TV, do hosts have any responsibility for encouraging hate that leads to violence?
Roeder was hardly a stealth anti-abortion, anti-government activist. His wife told ABC News he had served time: "She said her former husband was a member of the Freemen in Missouri and has a criminal history that includes an 1996 arrest for various parole violations and having bomb making materials. She said he did do some time on charges related to those issues, but was released on a technicality."
The Montgomery-based Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups and individuals, had no immediate posting about Roeder on its website, and Roder's name did not show up in a search of that site. There is, however, a 1998 article about violence against abortion providers that mentions Tiller's earlier wounding in the early 1990's.
[UPDATE: No connection except for the hate and guns involved, but one soldier was killed and another wounded by a man with religious and political motivation in Arkansas.]
Roeder was hardly a stealth anti-abortion, anti-government activist. His wife told ABC News he had served time: "She said her former husband was a member of the Freemen in Missouri and has a criminal history that includes an 1996 arrest for various parole violations and having bomb making materials. She said he did do some time on charges related to those issues, but was released on a technicality."
The Montgomery-based Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups and individuals, had no immediate posting about Roeder on its website, and Roder's name did not show up in a search of that site. There is, however, a 1998 article about violence against abortion providers that mentions Tiller's earlier wounding in the early 1990's.
[UPDATE: No connection except for the hate and guns involved, but one soldier was killed and another wounded by a man with religious and political motivation in Arkansas.]
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ReplyDeleteThe "Tiller Killer!"
For me, the dadgum grass (especially the type that propagates by rhizomes, also called "runners') is a tiller killer. Before I summerized it (if an implement can be winterized, it can be summerized), I had to remove last year's accumulated gobbledygook from the roto-tines.
A killer killed at church? Hmmm... Ironic justice, perhaps?
We've read of similarly strange happenings in the Holy Scriptures. For example, Bathsheba's bastard child by King David died shortly after birth. David (as any well-read person knows), had her husband Uriah killed by purposely sending him to the front lines then withdrawing, after he came home briefly - and hopefully conjugate with her - to avoid the embarrassment of discovering her pregnancy in her husband's absence.
Andyway (yes, anDyway)...
I happened to read about a homemade sting by Lila Rose a female UCLA history student who, with a hidden video camera in her backpack, has embarrassed Planned Parenthood by documenting their purposeful ignorance of statutory rape. Though she's 20, she goes to them claiming to be aged 15 and impregnated by her 23-30-something aged boyfriend. She has been routinely told to lie about her age so that they would not have to bother reporting statutory rape.
That's a definite cover-up, fraud, deceit - whatever you want to call it - to ignore their duty to report statutory rape, just to give an abortion. It's called being a party to "sexual abuse."
And guess what else? She posts the videos on her website LiveAction.org.
In an interview with Reuters News Service she said, "Planned Parenthood is looking at these young girls as a plumbing problem: 'We'll get you that abortion and send you on your way. And that's disrespecting two human lives. It's destroying her pre-born child and sending her back to an abuser."
Our northern neighboring state Tennessee, is also being investigated by authorities for their complicity in the accusations.
Anywho...
With regard for your question, "In the realm of talk radio and TV, do hosts have any responsibility for encouraging hate that leads to violence?," the obvious answer is "yes, they do."
In part, here's why:
In an '04 Gallup Poll, it was found that print journalists were considered among the lowest of those with "honesty and ethical standards." A full 50 percent of those polled indicated that newspaper reporters scored average for honesty, while 28 percent scored low or very low. Only 5 percent were either very high (a clear minority) while the remainder, 16 percent, scored them as high on honesty and ethical standards.
Of course, the highest regarded professions for ethics and honesty was in order nurses, teachers, small business owners, military officers and police officers.
The Nashville City Paper (remember that name?) published the news article on December 30, and hypothesized about why print journalists are perceived as having such poor ethics. Television journalists were ranked somewhat higher. Among the reasons was the permanency of reporting, including that many issues raise ire of both sides. So no matter who's right, both sides are gonna' be upset. It's the classic "Catch 22" situation... damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Of course, some reporters do come with preconceived notions, which neither helps. However, the story mentioned that "the vast majority of those being sampled in polls have probably not had direct contact with a print reporter, it's probable that their opinions are based more on perception that actual experience."
So, in the future, avoid the lunatic fringe, reporting about bad stuff, only report about Miss Lula Mae's garden and her kitty cats, and plow (plough?) right down the middle.
ref: http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/content/city-voices/list-ranks-print-journalists-low-trust-ethics