Washington Post Dana Milbank, columnist for the Washington Post was raising alarms in numerous national radio and TV interviews. The rage-filled tone of pro-Trump commentary after the FBI raid on Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago was going to lead to violence, possibly catastrophic violence, like the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995, which killed 168 Americans.
In an hour-long interview on NPR’s Fresh Air Milbank warned there’s too much hot talk about rising authoritarianism. “It doesn’t take a whole lot where we are right now for things to get out of hand. Rising violence has been seen from right-wing extremists. We really need our leaders — opinion leaders and lawmakers — to step in and calm things down.”
It would be nice to feel calm. You may laugh at the insincere joke. Because Milbank works for a newspaper whose melodramatic motto for the last five years has implied impending despotism: “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” The hyperbolic title of Milbank’s new book is The Destructionists – The Twenty-Five Year Crack-Up Of Republican Party
Milbank believes we should tone down the rhetoric. He should start with his own book title – and the Post motto. However, he is deeply influenced by the motto. “Admittedly, I’m partisan,” Milbank writes, “not for Democrats but for democrats…Republicans have become an authoritarian faction fighting democracy.”
Milbank’s dangerous-GOP rant can be interviewed on PBS, which is why it was possible for him to interview.Amanpour & Co.), an hour on NPR, and a favorable book review on NPR.org by their political editor Ron Elving tells you once again that public broadcasting is a taxpayer-funded sandbox for the Left.
Milbank is making the old accusation that Republicans and conservative radio hosts were responsible for the Oklahoma City bombings with anti-government speech in this interview and one with MSNBC. It was quite a common accusation at that time. Time magazine called them an “unindicted co-conspirator in the blast.”
David Broder, the late David The Washington Post huffed then that Rush Limbaugh using the slogan “America Held Hostage” under Clinton was “dangerous” and could “inflame twisted minds with statements that suggest political opponents are enemies.” Unlike “Democracy dies in darkness.”
In a recent column, Milbank is also re-circulating the smear that Sarah Palin using rhetoric like “Don’t Retreat, Instead — Reload!” caused the shooting of Rep. Gabby Giffords in 2011. Milbank and other liberals never had to prove that the Oklahoma City bomber saw Palin’s rhetoric or that he loved Newt Gingrich. You don’t need any proof.
Milbank did not mention smearing Rachel Maddow and Bernie Sanders in 2017’s shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise. They were both big fans to the shooter. The Unabomber had Al Gore’s book Earth Balance in his hideout. But they can’t be “destructionists.” They’re not Republicans.
Liberals apparently can’t be blamed for political toxicity. “Donald Trump didn’t create this noxious environment,” Milbank writes in his book. He is the Republican’s monster for a quarter-century.”
Milbank’s not the man to be taken seriously in serious situations. He’s the columnist as jester. Milbank appeared on Keith Olbermann’s show wearing an orange hunting vest, stocking cap and a gun when Dick Cheney inadvertently shot a friend in his face during a hunting accident. Olbermann asked if the shooting of his friend would become Cheney’s legacy. Milbank joked “Well, we’ve got two and a half more years of hunting trips. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
Milbank could mock Glenn Beck or Limbaugh, or Gingrich. He can make fun of them as unsavory characters who turn political figures into hateful cartoons or replace civil discourse by witty humor. Milbank can mock a Gingrich, Limbaugh or Glenn Beck as a noxious presence turning political figures into vicious cartoons and replacing civil discourse with callous humor. But he cannot reflect on that criticism.
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