Opinion: A Lefty Killer?242 comments

Remember when liberal journalists and politicians tried to incite a moral panic by blaming a series of violent crimes on the Tea Party, Rush Limbaugh, Fox News and assorted other bugbears? If you don't, Michelle Malkin has a refresher:

The 2009 massacre of three Pittsburgh police officers (which lib journos falsely blamed on Fox News, Glenn Beck, and the "heated, apocalyptic rhetoric of the anti-Obama forces"); the 2009 suicide insurance scam/murder hoax of Kentucky census worker Bill Sparkman (which New York magazine falsely blamed on Rush Limbaugh, "conservative media personalities, websites and even members of Congress"); the 2009 Holocaust-museum shooting (which MSNBC commentator Joan Walsh blamed on Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, and yours truly); the 2010 Times Square jihad bomb plot (which Mayor Michael Bloomberg falsely blamed on tea-party activists protesting Obamacare); and the 2011 Tucson massacre, which liberals continue to blame on former GOP vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Not all of these crimes were without political motive: The Pittsburgh and Holocaust Museum killers reportedly were white supremacists, and a "jihadi bomb plot" is political by definition. But the claim that conservative media figures or the Tea Party was somehow to blame was a scurrilous lie designed to stigmatize critics of the party in power.

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Dorner in a police photo

The case of Christopher Dorner seems tailor-made for conservatives who would like to start a moral panic about left-wing violence--or just to enjoy a little payback. As the Los Angeles Times reports, Dorner, an erstwhile officer in the Los Angeles Police Department, "is wanted in connection with a double homicide in Irvine on Sunday and the shooting of three police officers, one fatally, in Riverside County on Thursday":

In an online manifesto attributed by authorities to Dorner, he ranted against Los Angeles Police Department personnel who he said fired him unfairly. He threatened revenge and "unconventional and asymmetrical warfare" against police and their families, saying he would stalk them "where you work, live, eat, and sleep."

But the manifesto, which the LAPD issued with a request that "some names be redacted for safety reasons," also contains extensive commentary on politics and the news media. As Malkin's site Twitchy.com notes, some media have published only part of the manifesto, leaving out such gems as these (quotes are verbatim, except for the redaction of words unsuitable for a family newspaper):

� Dorner's statements in support of gun control ("Who in there right mind needs a f---ing silencer!!! who needs a freaking SBR AR15? No one"),� his attack on President Barack Obama's critics ("You question his birth certificate, his educational and professional accomplishments, and his judeo-christian beliefs"),� his adoration of First Lady Michelle Obama's hair ("I love your new bangs, Mrs. Obama"),� his admiration for Joe Biden ("I've always been a fan of yours and consider you one of the few genuine and charismatic politicians"),� his support for Hillary Clinton ("You'll make one hell of a president in 2016?),� his fondness for former President Bill Clinton ("He was always my favorite president"),� his confidence in San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro ("He's [good people] and I have faith and confidence in him"),� his love of MSNBC and CNN ("Chris Matthews, Joe Scarborough, Pat Harvey, Brian Williams, Soledad Obrien, Wolf Blitzer, Meredith Viera, Tavis Smiley, and Anderson Cooper, keep up the great work and follow Cronkite's lead"),� his criticism of the National Rifle Association ("Wayne LaPierre, President of the NRA, you're a vile and inhumane piece of sh--") ,� and his hatred of George Zimmerman ("Too bad Trayvon didn't smash your skull completely open, Zim").

This list, however, also leaves out a few things that can be found in the version posted by Fox's Los Angeles station, KTTV, which seems to be complete except for the LAPD-requested redactions. Dorner praises several Republicans, including Gov. Chris Christie ("America's no sh-- talking uncle" and "the only person I would like to see in the White House in 2016 other than Hillary"), Jon Huntsman ("my choice of candidate" in 2012), George H.W. Bush ("you were always one of my favorite Presidents").

He voices regret over the resignation of David Petraeus: "You are human. You thought with your penis. It's okay." He urges gay activists to respect Chick-fil-A's "right to voice their beliefs," adding: "They make some damn good chicken!" And although he has cheers for the bumptious gun-hating CNN host Piers Morgan, he doesn't think much of one of Morgan's colleagues: "Revoke the citizenship of Fareed Zakaria and deport him."

There's also a lot of apolitical rambling about popular culture. All in all, Dorner comes across as a man of the center-left. He also comes across as deluded, among other things into thinking that others will find all this stuff interesting. But there's no indication his politics are related to the crimes he is suspected of committing.

On the other hand, it's hard to deny that Floyd Corkins had a political motive. CNN.com has his story:

He'd bought a gun and learned how to use it. He'd loaded three magazines. And he had stopped by Chick-fil-A to pick up 15 sandwiches, which he planned to smear in the dying faces of staffers he expected to kill at the Family Research Council in Washington.It would be a statement, he said, "against the people who work in that building," according to documents filed in U.S. District Court, where Corkins pleaded guilty on Wednesday to three charges related to the August shooting at the conservative policy group.Corkins told Judge Richard Roberts that he hoped to intimidate gay rights opponents.

Corkins told the judge that, in CNN's words, he "had chosen the research council as his target after finding it listed as an anti-gay group on the website of the Southern Poverty Law Center":

The Southern Poverty Law Center has listed the Family Research Council as a hate group since 2010, pointing to what it describes as its anti-gay propaganda and legislative agenda.On his nightly radio show on Wednesday, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins mentioned the plea deal and accused the Southern Poverty Law Center of playing a role in the shooting by inciting hatred and violence rather than fighting it--a claim he has repeatedly made since the shooting."The Southern Poverty Law Center is dangerous. They are inciting hatred, and in this case a clear connection to violence," he said on the radio broadcast. "They need to be held accountable, and they need to be stopped before people are killed because of their reckless labeling and advocacy for homosexuality and their anti-Christian stance."

The SPLC's labeling of the FRC does not fit the legal definition of incitement, which requires both an intent to provoke lawless behavior and an imminent threat of such lawlessness. And the problem here isn't the SPLC's opposition to the FRC's policy agenda (which doesn't necessarily constitute "advocacy for homosexuality" or an "anti-Christian stance").

But it is shockingly irresponsible for the SPLC to apply the inflammatory label "hate group" so promiscuously. As we've noted, it is an institutional imperative for the center to overhype the prevalence of "hate groups," both by exaggerating the reach of actual ones and by falsely accusing groups like the FRC. If journalists want to encourage civility, a good place to begin would be by treating the SPLC with the skepticism, not to say scorn, it deserves.

Ms. Bad Example Suzi Parker, an Arkansas writer, is unhappy that feminism has a bad name. In a Washington Post piece that runs under the ungrammatical heading "She the People," she tells the story of a clash between two women: Sharon Kirk, a marketing analyst for the website Beliefnet.com, and Kristine Holmgren, whom the site had offered a job as a blogress.

Holmgren wanted to use the F-word word in the title of her blog. Kirk advised against it because of what she called "the negative connotation that our readers may associate with the word feminism." Holmgren turned down the blogging offer, upsetting Parker:

Have conservatives so corrupted the word "feminist" that is now tainted like the word like [sic] "liberal" or "environmentalist"? The fact that this is even in the realm of discussion in 2013 makes my head ache terribly--and makes me angry.

First, what do conservatives have to do with this? Later Parker complains about the Rush Limbaugh portmanteau "feminazi." Does she really think that is the central reason for feminism's wide disrepute?

Second, read the second quoted sentence again. Does Parker mean to object to the stereotype of feminists as oversensitive and angry, or to demonstrate it?

They're for It as Long as It's Free "Should the United States give away a public asset and allow the creation of free wireless networks all across the nation?" asks an editorial in the Portland (Maine) Press Herald, which answers: "It can't afford not to."

The paper explains the reasoning behind the ringing endorsement:

The chairman of the FCC, Julius Genachowski, has designed a plan that would free up some of the nation's unused broadcast airwaves to cities and towns that want to create large-scale wireless networks, which could be used by people to connect to the Internet at no cost.�.�.�.This sounds like great news for everyone except for the telecommunications companies that are in the business of charging steep prices for wireless connections.

The evil telecom companies, according to the editorial, have undertaken "a lobbying blitz" to stop a plan that promises such miracles as "allowing one driverless car to communicate with another or letting a doctor watch a patient's heart monitor in real time from miles away."

Just one problem: There is no such plan.

ArsTechnica.com explains:

The frenzy began Monday morning when the Washington Post reported that "the federal government wants to create super Wi-Fi networks across the nation, so powerful and broad in reach that consumers could use them to make calls or surf the Internet without paying a cellphone bill every month." Best of all, network access would be free. "If all goes as planned, free access to the Web would be available in just about every metropolitan area and in many rural areas," the Post reported. The clear implication: this was a bold--and entirely brand-new--plan.Unfortunately, the piece was basically nonsense. What had really happened was in fact unbelievably boring: the Post simply observed an incremental development in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) at the Federal Communications Commission over the issue of incentive auctions that might free up some additional unlicensed spectrum for so-called "White Space Devices" (read our explainer) operating in and around the current over-the-air TV bands. (I told you it was boring; in addition, the basic debate over White Space Devices was actually settled in 2008.)From this thin material, which basically consisted of Internet service providers and tech companies sniping at each other in long legal documents, with no decisions being made by anyone and no new proposals of anything, the Post then reported--on the front page, above the fold of the country's eighth-most highly circulated newspaper--that the FCC plan could lead to free Internet for most US residents.

Oh well, at least we're all going to get free health care.

Great Moments in Socialized Medicine "Shockingly bad care and inhumane treatment at a hospital in the Midlands led to hundreds of unnecessary deaths and stripped countless patients of their dignity and self-respect, according to a scathing report published on Wednesday," reports the New York Times's Sarah Lyall from London:

The report, which examined conditions at Stafford Hospital in Staffordshire over a 50-month period between 2005 and 2009, cites example after example of horrific treatment: patients left unbathed and lying in their own urine and excrement; patients left so thirsty that they drank water from vases; patients denied medication, pain relief and food by callous and overworked staff members; patients who contracted infections due to filthy conditions; and patients sent home to die after being given the wrong diagnoses.

We certainly hope the Times's public editor sets Lyall straight. After all, as former Enron adviser Paul Krugman points out: "In Britain, the government itself runs the hospitals and employs the doctors. We've all heard scare stories about how that works in practice; these stories are false." And we read it in the New York Times.

Fox Butterfield, Is That You?

• "Consumption of coal also has leapt in Spain and Italy, with much of it supplied by the United States. That comes despite extensive efforts to harness Spain's sun and Italy's wind in the name of power production."--Washington Post, Feb.�8
• "Report: Despite Campaign Video, Lena Dunham Didn't Vote"--headline, BuzzFeed.com, Feb.�6

We Blame George W. Bush "Blame It On Barney: Student Perceptions of an Upright Tyrannosaurus Rex Remain Obsolete"--headline, Cornell University press release, Feb.�7

We Blame Global Warming "North Dakota Offers Warm Climate for Home Lenders"--headline, American Banker, Feb.�7

That's When He Isn't Busy Doing Skeet Shooting "Obama: 'I Often Search scripture to Figure Out How I Can Be a Better Man as Well as Better President'�"--headline, CNSNews.com, Feb.�7

The Other White Meat

• "For Defense, Less Beef, More Chuck"--headline, ForeignPolicy.com, Jan.�14
• "Grill Chuck Hagel, Then Confirm Him"--headline, Bloomberg, Jan.�30
• "Is Hagel Toast?"--headline, National Review Online, Feb.�8
• "Time to Stick a Fork in Hagel"--headline, PowerLineBlog.com, Feb.�7
• "Hagel Was Just the Appetizer"--headline, Slate.com, Feb.�7

Santa Is Putting This Headline Writer on His 'Naughty' List "Menendez Can't Escape Mounting Reports"--headline, RollCall.com, Feb.�7

He's Mellowed With Age

• "FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD"--headline, Daily News (New York), Oct.�30, 1975
• "Ford to City Employees: Watch Porn on Your Own Time"--headline, CBC.ca, Feb.�7, 2013

Helen Thomas Rides Again "Earliest Placental Mammal Ancestor Pinpointed"--headline, BBC website, Feb.�7

Life Imitates the Onion

• "Bronx Zoo Opens New Loitering Teens Exhibit"--headline, Onion, Feb.�20, 1996
• "Hong Kong Poor in Cages Shows Dark Side of Property Boom"--headline, Associated Press, Feb.�7, 2013

Longest Books Ever Written "Lefty Nonsense: When Progressives Wage War on Reason"--headline, New Scientist, Feb.�4

Why Doesn't the Mint Deliver Letters? "Why Doesn't the Postal Service Make Money?"--headline, Slate.com, Feb.�7

So That's What They Mean by Powder? "Cocaine Found in Cosmetics Containers"--headline, Boston Herald, Feb.�7

The Big Bang Took and Shook the World "Astrophotos: An Amazing Rush From the Sun"--headline, UniverseToday.com, Feb.�8

But Will He Play in Peoria? "Man Accused of Spying on Folks From Toilet Not Funny in Boulder"--headline, Los Angeles Times website, Feb.�6

Hey, Kids! What Time Is It?

• "It's Time to Talk About the Future of U.S. Water Infrastructure"--headline, Puffington Host, Feb.�8
• "Time to Lance That Boil on the Bottom of Sport"--headline, Sydney Morning Herald, Feb.�9

Answers to Questions Nobody Is Asking

• "Yes, That's a Former Sexy Single Dressed in a KKK Costume"--headline, Philadelphia Inquirer website, Feb.�7
• "No, We Don't Need a White History Month"--headline, WBEZ-FM website (Chicago), Feb.�8
• "No, America Does Not Have a 'Genius Glut'�"--headline, AEI-Ideas.org, Feb.�8

Question and Answer

• "Do People Still Care About What Michelle Obama Wears?"--headline, New York magazine website, Jan.�16
• "Rose Garden Shorts: DCP Unveils New Report"--headline, San Jose Mercury News website, Feb.�7

Someone Set Up Us the Bomb "Dead Space Cheat Undermines In-Game Micro-Transactions"--headline, BBC website, Feb.�7

Breaking News From 1899 "Immigrant Share of the Population Could Reach Huge 1900 Levels"--headline, NationalJournal.com, Feb.�7

News You Can Use

• "Don't Take Medical Advice From the New York Times Magazine"--headline, Slate.com, Feb.�7
• "Be Careful if You're Offered a Hottie to Warm the Bed"--headline, Daily Telegraph (London), Feb.�6

Bottom Stories of the Day

• "House Democrats Release Gun Proposals Largely Mirroring Obama's"--headline, RollCall.com, Feb.�7
• "Nothing New"--headline, WorldJewishDaily.com, Feb.�8
• "The Horrors of Butt-Dialing"--headline, CJAD-AM website (Montreal), Feb.�7

Most Blokes, You Know, Will Be Playing at Ten McClatchy-Tribune Information Services has a story on a perennial problem of public administration: personalized license plates that are subject to multiple interpretations. It opens with a story of a man whose plate was unsuccessfully challenged:

When Tony Cava got a letter from Washington state about somebody complaining that his personalized license plate came across as "vulgar, profane or offensive to good taste and decency," he was, well, "pretty befuddled."The plate on his white 1989 BMW says, "GOES211."He thought, what's so vulgar about that?�.�.�.Last October, [Johnny] Dixon emailed the Department of Licensing: "I find it in poor taste that the great state of Washington would issue a plate that allows a driver to insinuate in public that his penis grows to 11 inches in length. The rest of the citizens of Washington should not be subjected to this vulgarity."

The unwieldily named Washington State Department of Licensing's Personalized License Plate Committee reviewed the complaint and ruled that Cava could keep his plate. Meanwhile, we know two things about Johnny Dixon, one of which is that he hasn't seen "This Is Spinal Tap."

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(Carol Muller helps compile Best of the Web Today. Thanks to John Sanders, Steve Thompson, Hillel Markowitz, Michele Schiesser, Kevin McElhinney, Rod Pennington, Eric Jensen, Jeanie Ribble, John Bobek, Joel Strauch, Mark Zoeller, Irene DeBlasio, Skip King, David Dansky, Eric Jensen, Bruce Goldman, John Hockert, Scott Steinke, Miguel Rakiewicz, Daniel Foty, Ethel Fenig, John Williamson, Stuart Creque, Trayl Giessel, T. Young, David Hallstrom, Bob Bentley, Mark Hendershot, Arlene Ross and Leonard Peirce. If you have a tip, write us at opinionjournal@wsj.com, and please include the URL.)