Washington Post Writer: Internet Journalism Is “Sort Of Like Terrorism”

Steve Watson
Prisonplanet.com
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

A Washington Post columnist who appeared on CBS’ Face the Nation on Sunday described tea partiers as potentially violent and decried internet journalism as “sort of like terrorism”

When asked about her views on the Tea Party by host Bob Schieffer, Kathleen Parker, a Pulitzer Prize winning commentator, declared it to be dangerous:

“…this heated rhetoric and some of these words…that are pretty loaded, ‘reload,’ ‘targeting’…there’s a danger there.” Parker said.

After describing the movement as dangerous Parker then said she wasn’t saying that it was dangerous:

“I’m not saying the tea party people are violent or racist or any of that….I’m not saying that the tea partiers are bad people or dangerous, I just think we have to be very vigilant….and be extremely careful, because I do think there is a lot of anger and it could become something else.”

Schieffer then injected the talking point of the internet as a source of such “danger”:

“Some of this really nasty rhetoric that shows up on the Internet….the only vehicle to deliver news that has no editor….And that is the added factor to the volatility of this stuff and where it goes.”

To which Parker replied “It’s, sort of, like terrorism. You know, we don’t know where to aim our bombs, so we can’t go after a country because there are – you know, there’s no one place to focus on it. And it’s the same thing with – with the Internet. You can’t really – you don’t know who to go after.”

Classic. A mainstream media fixture warning grassroots activists not to use “loaded” rhetoric before describing the alternative media as “sort of like terrorism”.

Parker, who also often appears as the token “conservative” pundit on The Chris Matthews Show, then further warned of hate speech emanating through internet journalism:

“People who are not well-grounded and who may have these more violent tendencies suddenly find a place where they can convene and find validation and even find company. And I don’t know where that all leads, but it’s – it’s, kind of, scary.” she said.

Watch the video:

Later on in the segment, Parker accused the Tea Party of being associated with “sort of birther attitude” and being dominated by “sort of fringy elements” – a notion totally out of step with reality according to scientific national surveys of the American people.

• A d v e r t i s e m e n t

Parker’s column from Sunday entitled “What Americans can do to discourage future McVeighs” contains more of the same anti-government sentiment = extremism clap trap.

She waxes lyrical about how political anger in the current climate “could escalate into action beyond the ballot box”, seemingly having forgotten that for eight long years under Bush very pissed off Americans have been marching in their millions in protest of illegal foreign occupations and the erosion of domestic freedoms. Nothing has changed, that’s why they are still out there.

It is clear that like the rest of the establishment dinosaurs, Kathleen Parker is “sort of” spewing phony pre-programmed talking points.

Which is precisely what we’ve “sort of” come to expect from these “sort of” corporate media mouthpieces.

Parker ends her column with a valuable suggestion:

“When someone spews obscenities, shout them down. When politicians and pundits use inflammatory language, condemn them. When you choose to remain silent, consider yourself complicit in whatever transpires.”

Thanks for the advice Kathleen.

This article was posted: Wednesday, April 21, 2010 at 7:57 am

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