"Never let a crisis go to waste," urged former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. Immediately after the Tucson shooting rampage, his Myrmidons were on the job.
Within hours of the event, Paul Krugman of The New York Times wrote that although he had no proof the shooter was politically motivated, he probably was. The sheriff of Pima County, who knew the shooter, blamed Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and "hate radio" for infuriating the shooter into action.
Subsequent investigations revealed that the suspect, Jared Loughner, is mentally unstable and did not listen to talk radio or watch TV. He owned copies of "The Communist Manifesto" and "Mein Kampf" and had earlier conveyed threats to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
Loughner was not influenced by talk radio, so that argument should have died right there.
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That scenario did not fit the left's script, so enter Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., who pressed public officials to "rethink parameters of free speech." He believes we need to bring back the Fairness Doctrine to silence talk radio, not because it had anything to do with the Tucson shooting but because it would silence the left's opponents. Coincidentally, Clyburn's daughter is a member of the Federal Communications Commission, which has control over the nation's airwaves.
Clyburn's district was drawn to ensure his perpetual re-election. Perhaps the new South Carolina legislature should redraw his district so that he must make sense to at least 51 percent of new constituents.
Richard W. WalkerSeabrook
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