I am simply stunned and am going to leave much of the analysis to the growing number of commenters and their perceptive points.
The title says it all. But the story springs from the FoxNews website, and so I cannot guarantee the exact same message gets infused into all their programming today, but seems near certain.
The premise of their point, that the shooter was a “leftist” is dubious enough. I am fine with stating that he was not a frothing at the mouth maniacal Far Right Winger. But, the entirely self-serving point of the article leaps from the page.
To start off, from FoxNews:
Police in Dayton say they’re still seeking a motive for Connor Betts’ shooting spree that killed nine people, including his sister. But whatever turns up, we hope no one blames Elizabeth Warren.
We say that because the news site Heavy.com, which gained access to Betts’ Twitter account before it was taken down, reports that his politics appear to have been left of center.
They go on to note that the guy stated everyone should “vote blue.” But they do not give the date, of the tweet. What if it was years ago?. They note he declared himself to be a leftist. Never mind that none of this has been confirmed, least of all by the police.
So, we’re left with a Fox-created thesis written without a motive established by police. Hell, Fox News even states “whatever turns up,” meaning THEY are not positive of the motive, yet they’re quite comfortable simply noting that Heavy.com (have you heard of them?) states that his twitter account makes the guy “appear to have been left of center.”
What does that even mean?
We will all note that that with regard to this shooter’s motive, Fox is not twisting our attention around to video games, not the importance of family, mental illness, anti-nationalism, or abortion. They’re just sayin,’ “left of center,” right? They are just sayin’ it because that’s really all they want to say till they get to their “real point.”
With incredible – meaning not believable – magnanimity, they state they hope no one blames Elizabeth Warren.
Yeah, me, too – since Elizabeth Warren doesn’t spend her time talking about “invasions” of people across the border, the “infestation” of people across the border, nor favor imprisoning people like animals, or even having laughed off a person yelling “shoot them,” when discussing answers to the “problems at the border.” Moreover, whatever else the man’s motives may have been, they were definitely not racial, since he killed both African Americans and white people. He did not leave a political manifesto justifying his attack. People that begin by killing family rarely do.
So, for sure, right? Do not blame Warren, since Warren never encouraged punching someone in the face, talking about good people on both sides, and pretending not to know David Duke, while disbanding the DHS domestic terrorism unit. Someone else did that.
Fox’s only motivation for publishing this essay (which first appeared in the Wall Street Journal, but they are now indistinguishable), is to try to find some room for Trump to wiggle free from blame in the El Paso shooting. I know it, you know it, hell even the Fox audience knows it, they just want cover for Trump, too.
Lest you doubt me, we continue further into the article:
The Dayton shooter’s leftist ravings are notable only because the media and Democratic politicians have drawn a straight line between the El Paso shooter’s anti-immigrant “manifesto” and Donald Trump and the Republican Party. After so many recent mass shootings, it is disheartening to see how quickly the issue of these two highly disturbed shooters was overwhelmed by the urge to assign political causation.
Hold up a minute there. The media and Democratic politicians did not draw a straight line between the shooter and his motives, the murderer did. The shooter wrote a damn manifesto decrying immigration and Hispanics. Sound like anyone you know, Fox News? Hint. It is not Elizabeth Warren.
When history reviews with damnation this entire period and our generation, Fox News will get prominent mention, and be the subject of many doctoral thesis. I would be honored if they start right here, with this essay, as proof that not all of us were fooled.
I am sure you are not. That’s why I sure wanted you to know.
****
Peace, y’all.
Jason
It was not Trumps fault, it was not Warrens fault, it was not Obamas fault, but the left consistently blames the “deplorables” for sins that the left has perfected. When that is pointed out , the left whines. Sorry. We now understand that hypocritical process better than the left understands themselves. The left is too mired in hate and self pity to be rational.
Hatred that leads to the killing of innocent people is a sin of the hater. I fail to see how you can believe that this atrocity has been perfected by the left. What IS important is that it stop…easy to say, extremely hard to do. We can begin the process by stopping the hateful rhetoric, especially that put out by our “leader.”
“The Left” – who the hell is this person you name as “the left”? Is “the left” a he/she/they/us ??? Is “the left” a newspaper/magazine/website/blog — or perhaps just a figment if your imagination?But you got to be the first commenter here so maybe you become the new definition of “the Center”(?)
booyah
You think you’re getting blamed NOW, little troll? Let me assure you that, like the old song goes, you ain’t seen NOTHING yet. When Trump goes away and the carnage is left behind and no one in power feels like you’re worth a second of their time, expect the Mark of Cain to be branded on you and yours for a generation minimum. And you had it coming.
Your hate and fear is turning you into a paranoid isolated puppet. Time the free yourself from the mental prison you have locked yourself within before your amygdala completely hijacks your frontal lobe. Please find some deprogramming help before it’s too late.
Where’s the laughing emoji? ?. Nevermind.
I don’t know that we will ever be able to combat this sort of nonsensical fallacious logic…but we can at least put a scientific label on what Fox is doing here.
They’re purposefully blending several logical fallacies for a desired effect. One is an association fallacy – illegitimately claiming that qualities of one thing (murderous intent on the part of the killer) is transferable to a larger group and is an inherent quality of this larger group (therefore, leftists have murderous intent.)
Secondly is the old ecological fallacy…a favorite of racists…creating false inferences of a group based on the qualities of an individual. One black man commits a crime, therefore blacks are criminals. One Democratic voter does something bad, therefore all are bad. Tribalism and authoritarianism rely heavily on ecological fallacies.
And finally, the sub-fallacies they often resort to – red herrings (what does this shooter’s voting pattern actually have to do with anything) and appeal to emotion (be angry! The left wants to kill you!).
All of these are designed to distract and deflect, and to keep their audience firm in their beliefs despite reason or evidence.
The thing is…on the left, we also need to be wary of this behavior. These fallacies are human nature. It’s tempting to feel that ALL Trump voters are evil and violent when we see so many who are. Our task is actually kinda tricky. We have to convey that the president’s words are immoral and wrong, and that while not all of his supporters are immoral, these words are encouraging an extreme minority of unstable, radical, evil individuals to do horrible things. I say this is tricky, because we have to somehow distinguish Trump’s immorality and the evil of some of these people from the larger population of conservatives….because lumping them all together just makes them stand in solidarity, and part of the problem is that racists and radicals are able to disappear into that larger population in this climate. It’s a tough problem.
It’d also help if we could figure out how to get Fox off the air. Because whatever efforts we make, they’re always there to erode things with their propaganda.
I agree, and used to fight on Daily Kos all the time about the “all people on the right are …” bc I live among them and I know it to not be true. I also know that not all people on the left are saints, ask any of us. I have tried to make a point that I will greet “never Trumpers” with open arms, and I will accept anyone who bails now. Those who continue to support him through all this obvious racist stuff is another matter entirely, as I am sure you agree.