The story of an employee of an ostensibly West Allis-based company sending a rude email to a U.S. soldier in Iraq has raised hackles across the country.(For the record, the Brawler found it offensive.)
For the MSM -- Milwaukee's stupider media -- it provided occasion to knock liberals (you know, the two-thirds of the country that's opposed to the occupation).
Jeff Wagner weighs in with his typical bland malevolence:
The next time you hear someone from the Left proclaim that while they "don't support the Iraq War, they support the troops", please understand one thing: at least some of them aren't telling the truth!
The way Viet Nam veterans were treated when they returned from their "unpopular war" remains a national disgrace. In almost all cases, the people heaping the most scorn on the returning soldiers were the "compassionate Liberals" who professed moral superiority over the troops who were serving their country. For many of today's Left, those days of protest remain their "salad days" - the high point of their lives. Unfortunately, it appears that many of these folks haven't learned a thing after all these years.
The Brawler's not a failed state AG candidate. But that seems a lot to read into a single email.
Patrick McIlheran, Jessica McBride and Lying Charlie Sykes, meanwhile, rip into a peace activist who gave this quote to the Journal Sentinel:
Anti-war and free speech advocates were equally offended, by the widespread criticism of the company and the individual who responded to the soldier.
"This is a matter of free speech," said Julie Enslow, an organizer with Peace Action Wisconsin in Milwaukee. "It is totally irresponsible for radio stations and bloggers to attack a person for his personal political views."
She's talking about taking away OUR free speech, whined the responsible members of the MSM.
All of these worthies, however, don't put the quote in context. Which probably (the Brawler is making an assumption here) informed Enslow's comment:
Military supporters were outraged[by the company's comments], calling it disrespectful and urging one another to flood the company with e-mails and calls.
Several posted Khetani's name, telephone number and address, which is also the business address, though Nasir insists it's for mailing purposes only.
Many of the messages invoked anti-Middle Eastern or anti-Muslim sentiment. (Khetani is Muslim, Nasir said.) Others vowed to shut the company down, and a few suggested they might make a personal visit.
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West Allis police said Monday that they were aware of the controversy.
"We're monitoring the situation, in case somebody decides to retaliate," Capt. Tom Kukowski said.
"But we're hoping people use good judgment."
Charlie played a clip of a WTMJ story which included a profane, racist and vaguely threatening message that was left on the Khetani answering machine.
Now, the Brawler believes in freedom of speech. But he would suggest that those on the right, who regularly bash Muslims in general (McBride, who famously doesn't want to learn about Islam, whined about Muslim groups complaining about stereotypes on 24 immediately prior to writing about the mats company), should take into account how their readers will react.
Charlie said the caller captured on WTMJ was an idiot -- but he didn't sound dumber than Charlie's average caller. Is it responsible to attack somebody, implicitly or explicitly encourage your audience to do so as well, with reasonable knowledge that they're going to be threatened. If Charlie et al believe so, fine. But be honest about it.
But of course the MSM's demonizing of liberals is nothing new.
Remember the Pendleton 8? The guys accused of the Haditha massacre? Charlie and company rushed to their defense last summer as I recall. But that wasn't only about defending people who hadn't been found guilty. It was also about attacking the press for reporting the massacre.
Of course, Of course as more facts have come to light, Haditha looks as bad as reported.
And, of course, who could forget about the rallies to support the troops -- but also to demonize those who opposed the war.
From the 4/13/03 Journal Sentinel:
The "In Our Name" rally for the troops was organized by Just Cause Wisconsin, a privately funded, grass-roots group, and aided by radio talk show hosts Charlie Sykes andJeff Wagner, of WTMJ-AM (620). Just Cause Wisconsin has collected 50,000 signatures on a petition supporting the troops.
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U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) told the crowd that the troops in Iraq are aware of media reports from the U.S.
"They have seen the protests," he said. "They have heard from the anti-war movement, and today they're hearing from us."
The crowd cheered U.S. Rep. Mark A. Green (R-Wisconsin) when he said that "for too long I think too many of us have allowed other voices who claim to speak for us to go unchallenged. We've heard from the Hollywood half-wits who confuse their fame with intelligence or, worse yet, relevance. We've seen the peaceniks marching back and forth at our campuses carrying signs that say anything and everything, everything except for things like 'Saddam must disarm' or 'Freedom for Iraq' or 'We support our troops.'
"My friends, the folks who are here today, we don't have agendas," Green continued. "We have mortgages. We don't chain ourselves to trees. We drive our kids to school. We don't burn our flags or block the traffic. We pay our taxes, and we try to make payroll. We are the silent majority. Today, we are speaking up."
Did Mark Graul write that?
The Mats-com email was contemptible. But instead of leaving it at that, it became the latest excuse for the MSM to wave the bloody shirt -- the shirt they themselves have bloodied -- and accuse their political enemies of trying to stab our country in the back.
UPDATE: Michael Mathias hates America.So does Tim Rock.
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