Corporate media fuel terrorism again

When I hold you in my arms
And I feel my finger on your trigger
I know nobody can do me no harm
Because happiness is a warm gun mama
—John Lennon and Paul McCartney, “Happiness is a Warm Gun“

A terrorist named Robert Lewis Dear killed three people at a Planned Parenthood clinic on Friday, assisted by the corporate media, as will be made clear in this piece. This is the latest in a long line of murders at clinics catering to women’s health.

In the Land of the Free, such terrorism is accepted as part of the gun culture, with psychopaths routinely encouraged to buy guns (it’s your Second Amendment right!) and murder large numbers of people in shopping malls, movie theaters and schools.

As if this weren’t enough, corporate media do their best to mislead the public, as they do on most issues, by putting their microphones in front of right-wing zanies to allow excuses disguised as legitimate opinions, even if they are outright lies. People pretend they must hate because it is required of their brand of Christianity, and that we don’t need fewer, but more guns.

When terrorist Timothy McVeigh killed 168 people by blowing up a federal building in Oklahoma City, the blast destroyed or damaged 324 buildings within a 16-block radius, destroyed or burned 86 cars, and shattered glass in 258 nearby buildings.

“Many initial news stories hypothesized the attack had been undertaken by Islamic terrorists, such as those who had masterminded the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Some responded to these reports by attacking Muslims and people of Arab descent. Before any evidence could be introduced to say otherwise, the media presented stories to the public that accused individuals within Middle Eastern groups.”

After it was discovered that the terrorist was a self-identified Republican and Christian, there were no warnings by the corporate media that we should fear either Christians or Republicans which may have caused violent acts against Republicans or Christians, as happened to Muslims. There were no apologies to the Muslim community by our out-of-control mainstream press.

In recent months, corporate media have stuck a microphone in front of anyone who would dish the lie that Planned Parenthood supports cutting up living babies and selling their body parts. Of the many stirring hatreds with this lie, Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina got the most media attention, repeating that she had seen a film showing this.

In one of her tirades, “During the second GOP presidential candidate debate on September 16, Carly Fiorina falsely claimed that the anti-choice Center for Medical Progress’ videos targeting Planned Parenthood contained footage of ‘a fully formed fetus on the table . . . while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain.’ Even though multiple fact checkers subsequently noted that the videos contained no such footage, CNN nevertheless rated the false claim as ‘true, but misleading.’”

Fiorina spoke out against Planned Parenthood a few months ago in South Carolina. Robert Lewis Dear is originally from South Carolina and may have been exposed to the hatred-stirring lies through his associates or television. Indeed, as he was arrested, he was quoted saying, “No more baby parts.” CNN reported on Sunday that he also expressed anti-abortion views.

After the murders in Colorado Springs, Fiorina did not apologize for her lies, nor did corporate media representatives apologize for spreading the lies about Planned Parenthood which appear to have spurred the violence.

Fiorina and others of her beliefs are often identified as “pro-life” by the mainstream media, misleading the public. Most of those who identify as pro-life are right-wing religious conservatives who would be more accurately described as “anti-life,” since they fervently support war and capital punishment, as does Fiorina.

The accurate term with which to identify them is “anti-abortion,” because that is their true position. By misleading that these people are pro-life one is insinuating that their opponents are somehow anti-life, helping to stir hatreds leading to the violence we continue to experience.

Any rational person would hope that every pregnancy could result in a healthy child who is loved. This is the view of every pro-choice person I’ve ever met in my long life. To call them “pro-abortion,” as do many anti-abortion people given microphones by corporate media, denies this truth and enflames hatreds all the more. The term pro-abortion implies that one would promote abortion for every pregnancy, which shows how extreme is the debate at times.

The mainstream “journalists,” as they call themselves, have a fear of reporting the truth about how out of the mainstream many anti-abortion people are because most of their owners, board members and advertisers are Republicans, and the Republicans need ignorant “conservative Christians” with which to win elections. Corporate media never point out that these voters actually vote against their own economic interests in voting Republican, thereby maintaining one of many election scams which prevent any semblance of democracy from breaking out in the land.

Corporate media could do a lot to end the violence by getting their facts right, and correcting people who use terms like “pro-life” or “pro-abortion.” They should also note that this is not a balanced debate. One does not see pro-choice people murdering those who disagree with them on this issue. We are often led to believe by the mainstream press that terrorists who murder people at abortion clinics are pro-life, because that is how they are identified by the guests corporate media carefully select for their “news” presentations. Until they clean up their act, I will believe they have blood on their hands.

Jack Balkwill has been published from the little read Rectangle, magazine of the English Honor Society, to the (then) millions of readers USA Today and many progressive publications/web sites such as Z Magazine, In These Times, Counterpunch, This Can’t Be Happening, Intrepid Report, and Dissident Voice.