Words have consequences, part two

Back when Dr. Tiller was murdered, I wrote a blogpost called Words have consequences, in which I wrote about Operation Rescue

Calling someone "America's Doctor of Death" is dehumanizing him to an extreme degree, allowing people to ignore the fact that he is a person, which again allows people to do things like murdering him. Operation Rescue might not have pulled the trigger on Dr. Tiller, but they created an environment, where someone could pull the trigger on him.

Now, after the Tucson schooting where several people, including a child and a federal judge, were killed, and a congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords, was critically wounded, I want to revisit this theme.

Ever since the Obama election, the rhetorics on the right have been vitriolic, and used violent images. There have been cases where people carried weapons at events where the President spoke. There have been talks of "revolution" and sedition - heck, the Tea Party crowd takes their name from the very concept of an American revolution.

In this sort of environment, it is hardly surprising that someone will follow up on that rhetoric, and take violent action.

The choice of victim is not surprising either.

After all, a public supporter of the Tea Party, and a senior figure of the Republican Party, had used violent imagery targeted specifically at congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.



Before the midterm election, Palin posted the above map, showing which members of congress she wanted people to target, using cross-hairs to show the location of their districts.

After congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords managed to win over tea party favorite Jesse Kelly, Palin posted the following tweet



Combining the image of a cross-hair and using the word "RELOAD" sends a very violent message indeed, even if it is unintended - something which I don't believe it is for a second, given the general usage of such in the current US political environment. This imagery was meant to intimidate, to threaten even. Since the congresswoman didn't hide, someone took the rhetorics to its next logical level, and tried to murder her.

This is the sort of actions that the current US political environment breeds.

Yes, there were vitriolic, perhaps even violent, rhetorics under the George W. Bush presidency, but not as part of the mainstream debate, not from leading political figures. To try to make it seem so, is to make a false equivalent, and to let the people who created this political environment get away with it.

It is no coincidence that militias have been on a rise in the US since President Obama was elected.

At the moment, Sarah Palin and others of her irk are busy trying to distance themselves from the shootings, even to the degree of scrubbing the web from the sort of messages I've posted above. I don't for a second doubt that they are shocked, perhaps even horrified, over the fact that someone did the very thing that they have been implicitly advocating for two years. Yet this doesn't absolve them of their guilt, and we should not let them get away with having creating the environment where this sort of actions happens more easily. The people who uses violent imagery should be shunned by the rest of society, not get their own TV-shows.

Words do have consequences, and it is high time that Palin and her irk started to feel the consequences of their words.

Repost: Words have consequences

Note: This is a repost of an earlier post, originally posted May 31st last year, shortly after Dr. Tiller had been murdered. The original post is the most widely linked post I've ever posted, and the most with most comments. I am reposting it now because of Rachel Maddow's documentary on The Assassination of Dr. Tiller, since that would again raise the issue of how the dangerous rhetorics of anti-choice organizations contributes to an environment where some people feel that it is acceptable to kill doctors who do their duty to women.

In my last post, I shared the news that Dr. George Tiller has been murdered. I have absolutely no doubt this happened because of his willingness to do his job as a doctor and provide late-term abortions to his patients.

Now I see that Operation Rescue, an anti-choice organization, which has tried to stop Dr. Tiller in the past through lawsuits, have put up a post denouncing the murder.

It has been learned today that George Tiller was shot and killed while entering his church on Sunday morning, May 31.

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.

This is an understandable reaction, but it doesn't absolve Operation Rescue of guilt.

One of David Neiwert's points in the Eliminatorists is that dehumanizing of people allows other people to commit atrocities against them, and Operation Rescue has been very busy dehumanizing Dr. Tiller indeed.

I took a screenshot of their denouncing the murder, and posted it below (click on it to see a larger version).



If you look closely at the image, you might notice a image in the lower right corner saying "America's Doctor of Death" bearing an image of the face of a man wearing spectacles. That man is Dr. Tiller, and clicking on the image on their website brings you to a category under their website called "Tiller watch" (the URL is http://www.operationrescue.org/category/tiller-watch/).

Calling someone "America's Doctor of Death" is dehumanizing him to an extreme degree, allowing people to ignore the fact that he is a person, which again allows people to do things like murdering him. Operation Rescue might not have pulled the trigger on Dr. Tiller, but they created an environment, where someone could pull the trigger on him.

Update: Jill Filipovic has written a piece in the Guardian which explains my sentiment a lot better: Who killed George Tiller?

Words have consequences

In my last post, I shared the news that Dr. George Tiller has been murdered. I have absolutely no doubt this happened because of his willingness to do his job as a doctor and provide late-term abortions to his patients.

Now I see that Operation Rescue, an anti-choice organization, which has tried to stop Dr. Tiller in the past through lawsuits, have put up a post denouncing the murder.

It has been learned today that George Tiller was shot and killed while entering his church on Sunday morning, May 31.

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.

This is an understandable reaction, but it doesn't absolve Operation Rescue of guilt.

One of David Neiwert's points in the Eliminatorists is that dehumanizing of people allows other people to commit atrocities against them, and Operation Rescue has been very busy dehumanizing Dr. Tiller indeed.

I took a screenshot of their denouncing the murder, and posted it below (click on it to see a larger version).



If you look closely at the image, you might notice a image in the lower right corner saying "America's Doctor of Death" bearing an image of the face of a man wearing spectacles. That man is Dr. Tiller, and clicking on the image on their website brings you to a category under their website called "Tiller watch" (the URL is http://www.operationrescue.org/category/tiller-watch/).

Calling someone "America's Doctor of Death" is dehumanizing him to an extreme degree, allowing people to ignore the fact that he is a person, which again allows people to do things like murdering him. Operation Rescue might not have pulled the trigger on Dr. Tiller, but they created an environment, where someone could pull the trigger on him.

Update: Jill Filipovic has written a piece in the Guardian which explains my sentiment a lot better: Who killed George Tiller?

Abortion doctor murdered

Well know Dr. George Tiller of Wichita, who was known for being one of the few doctors in the US willing to make late term abortions, has been murdered.

NY Times has the story

Abortion Doctor Shot to Death in Church

George Tiller, a Wichita doctor who was one of the few doctors in the nation to perform late-term abortions, was shot to death on Sunday as he attended church, city officials in Wichita said.

It was not the first attempt on his life - he was shot in both arms in 1993, but unfortunately this time, it was fatal.

Dr. George Tiller was a brave man, and my thoughts go out to his family, colleagues, and friends.

Kansascity.com also has more

Texas keeps murdering

One of the big reasons why I was very much opposed to George W. Bush even before he ran for president, was the fact that while he was Governor in Texas, he carried out more executions than any other Governor - 152 at the time he stopped. To give an impression of how big a number that is, let me just say that no other state have executed that number of people since the death penalty was re-introduced in 1976. The state that has executed the second most, Virginia, has executed 90 people since 1976.

It seems that the current governor of Texas, Rick Perry has surpassed Bush in murdering people - the 200th execution under Rick Perry is slated for June 2nd.

Why do I call it murder? In my opinion, the killing of anyone who you have full and total control over, cannot be considered anything else than murder. Societies can, and should, defend themselves against certain type of people, but when these are safely locked up in prison, murdering them only reduces society to their level.

Protest the 200th Rick Perry execution

Another russian murder

It's dangerous to fight against those in power in Russia, as we've seen demonstrated again and again. Unfortunately, we've seen another example of this last Monday.

Russian human rights lawyer assassinated near Kremlin

Stanislav Markelov had fought the release of a colonel who killed a Chechnya woman. His shooting by a masked gunman means 'anybody can be killed . . . in broad daylight,' his supporters say.

Murder is just one of the tools they use; others include forced exiles, or trials of questionable fairness.

It's hard to see how this can changes in the current Russian climate.

Steve LeVine has more: Murder in Russia

Edit: Natalia Antonova at GlobalComment writes more: In Memory of Anastasia Baburova and Stanislav Markelov

The two later links via Matttbastard on Twitter

Bad news out of Pakistan

Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has been killed by a suicide bomber who first shot her, and then detonated his bombs.

NY Times reports: Bhutto Assassinated in Attack on Rally

She blamed earlier attempts on extremist Islamic groups, and given the attack form (suicide bombing), it would seem likely that this attack was by the same source.

While Bhutto certainly had many flaws, her participation in the upcoming election was important part of the attempt to bring Pakistan back to democracy. Let's hope this barbaric act doesn't lead Pakistan further away from democracy.