The Left Should Stop Using Murder As A Political Tool

Via Memeorandum

Jeffrey Goldberg wrote at The Atlantic a thought piece titled What Judith Warner Left Out

Reading Judith Warner's column this morning on the recent upsurge in hate crimes, I was struck by what she left out. Two weeks ago, a Muslim extremist shot two soldiers, killing one, outside a recruiting station in Arkansas. Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad acted alone, just as James von Brunn apparently did. He was, like von Brunn, captive to a supremacist ideology that, in his mind, justified the murder of an innocent man. Like von Brunn, authorities said, he had mapped out Jewish targets for potential attack. And yet, no mention of the hate crime committed by a Muslim; only hate crimes committed by white, right-wing extremists were worthy of mention in Warner's column. This is true for other columnists on the liberal side of the spectrum. The murder of Private William Long seems to be of no concern, and without larger meaning.

Has anyone on the Left even heard of Private William Long? Not likely. It simply isn’t useful to the Left’s agenda and therefore, when an American soldier is shot to death on a street in Arkansas by a Muslim extremist, crickets chirp.

On the other hand, when a late term abortion doctor is murdered by a Christian extremist, and conservatives need to be honest and admit that Christian extremism does exist, the Left can’t scream the word “hate” loud enough.

The Left’s reaction to the murder of Stephen T. Johns puzzles me. Johns was murdered by a radical nutcase. Not rightwing; he hates Christians, conservatives, Israel. Not leftwing; he hates African Americans, Jews, liberals. The only thing everything everyone can agree on is that James W. von Brunn is consumed by hate and has been for decades. Why does the Left feel the need to use this tragedy to paint all conservatives as dangerous radicals?

When these types of horrific acts occur people across the political spectrum need to react in an honest and rational manner. Otherwise we will never be able to work together to end the hate.