After Attempt on Kavanaugh’s Life, NY Times Won’t Give Schumer the Palin Treatment

The New York Times buried the horrible news of a confessed would-be assassin prowling outside Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home, intending to murder him for his opinions on gun control and abortion. It was on the bottom of page 20 inThursday’s edition: “Man With Pistol, Crowbar And Zip Ties Is Arrested Near Kavanaugh’s Home.” (Yes, the anti-gun nut was armed with a gun.)

If you are interested in the Times truly treated both political parties the same, it would have criticized Sen. Chuck Schumer’s 2020 threat to Republican-appointed justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh as possibly instigating the would-be-killer’s actions, in the same manner in which it disgustingly portrayed Sarah Palin as possibly responsible for a schizophrenic’s murder of six people and attempted assassination of Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ).

Although the paper indicated a Palin campaign map of March 2010, with crosshair targets above some Democratic-held congressional district, there was no evidence that the assassin even saw the map or was a Palin fan.

The difference being that Palin’s rhetoric had absolutely no connection to the killer in Arizona, while Schumer did say in a speech, “I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.” And Schumer wasn’t talking about “paying the price” in an election either, since justices are appointed.

In a story about Democrats delaying a bill to bolster security for Supreme Court justices — also buried on A-23 on Friday — Jonathan Weisman at least noted Schumer’s inflammatory comment, but without offering up the whole quote. Weisman also didn’t offer up the comparison itself, but let it come from the mouth of a Republican, while telegraphing for its readership that it was a cynical Republican response, not to be wholly trusted:

Republican leaders accused Democrats of only worrying about political violence, when it was directed towards them. The House sat for one month considering a bill that would be unanimously passed. Hours before a prime time hearing was held on January 6th, when supporters of Donald J. Trump attacked the Capitol. The incitement by Republicans on Jan. 6 was compared to Democratic incitement to Supreme Court justices.

The Times wasn’t too mad about Schumer’s March 2020 rant at the time, thinking it could help Democrats:

Democratic officials said and progressive allies that, while Schumer’s inflammatory remarks may be a bit too much for them, it was not a problem that they were able to draw attention to both the Louisiana case as well as the Republican push in the courts.