PrintApril 20, 2007
Blaspheming Barack
Charles Krauthammer may soon need a new secretary to respond to reader e-mail. As I learned this week, when one writes a critical article about Illinois Senator Barack Obama, the furies descend on you. Krauthammer , Ben Smith, Mickey Kaus, Cathy Young, Isaac Chotiner and Yours Truly were all critical of the Senator's speech on the night of the Virginia Tech shootings. He appeared to have trivialized the mass murders that day by comparing them to other kinds of non-violent unpleasantness that he mis-labeled "violence" - such as outsourcing of jobs and Don Imus' comment on the Rutgers' women's basketball team.
The large volume of e-mails that came into the American Thinker editor's mail box about my opinion were nearly all of a particular form. I was accused of seeking to trash Obama, of not having read or listened to his speech (not true), of having misstated what he said (I disagree), of having no regard for the poor, of ignoring Obama's message of unity, reconciliation and hope. Some of the Senator's fans seemed to ignore his message of lowering voices and elevating the political discourse with a string of personal insults directed at me for daring to challenge the Senator.
Dr. Krauthammer is forewarned.
Update: Jeff Dobbs has concern for yet another victim of violence.
I hope that Richard is coping with the "verbal violence" to which he has been subjected.
I hope that the e-mailers are ashamed at contributing to the "coarsening of the culture".
I want to personally step forward and apologize "because all of us have become a little complicit in this kind of relaxed attitude toward some pretty offensive things", evidenced by these e-mails.
And "I hope this prompts some self-reflection on the part of all of us"
