Which received more front-page headlines, statements of outrage, condemnation, sympathy, and resulted in apologetic genuflecting: the murder of a 67-year-old man who made his living as a late-term abortionist or the murder and wounding of two young military recruiters on duty?
What do mainstream media and liberal bloggers find more newsworthy: a white, anti-government, schizophrenic “Christian” who murdered the notorious Dr. George Tiller or a black, America-hating, anti-military Muslim who murdered William Long, a young soldier?
Last month Scott Roeder murdered the abortionist “doctor” George Tiller, who referred to babies slipping out of the womb alive during killing procedures as “sloppy medicine” and admitted performing abortions up to the day before the baby’s delivery date.
Within hours of Tiller’s death, pro-life organizations, Christian groups, liberals, conservatives, feminist organizations, etc., condemned the act. The Department of Justice sent federal marshals to protect abortion clinics.
Within hours of Tiller’s death, on a Sunday, the White House released this statement:
I am shocked and outraged by the murder of Dr. George Tiller as he attended church services this morning. However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence.
Within hours of Tiller’s death, on a Sunday, the U.S. attorney general released this statement about a private citizen:
The murder of Doctor George Tiller is an abhorrent act of violence, and his family is in our thoughts and prayers at this tragic moment. Federal law enforcement is coordinating with local law enforcement officials in Kansas on the investigation of this crime, and I have directed the United States Marshals Service to offer protection to other appropriate people and facilities around the nation. The Department of Justice will work to bring the perpetrator of this crime to justice. As a precautionary measure, we will also take appropriate steps to help prevent any related acts of violence from occurring.
The day after Tiller’s death, Muslim convert Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad murdered Pvt. William A. Long and wounded Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula. There hasn’t been anything approaching the outpouring of media attention, condemnation, and sympathy Tiller’s murder generated.
It took two days after the fact for the president to release a statement, which didn’t contain words like shock or outrage:
I am deeply saddened by this senseless act of violence against two brave young soldiers who were doing their part to strengthen our armed forces and keep our country safe. I would like to wish Quinton Ezeagwula a speedy recovery, and to offer my condolences and prayers to William Long’s family as they mourn the loss of their son.
As of this column submission, the attorney general has not released a statement about the murder of a member of the armed forces — an attack against the entire U.S. military — or that his murderer was an American Muslim. But he saw fit to issue a statement about protecting American Muslims:
The president’s pledge for a new beginning between the United States and the Muslim community takes root here in the Justice Department where we are committed to using criminal and civil rights laws to protect Muslim Americans. A top priority of this Justice Department is a return to robust civil rights enforcement and outreach in defending religious freedoms and other fundamental rights of all of our fellow citizens in the workplace, in the housing market, in our schools and in the voting booth. … There are those who will continue to want to divide by fear — to pit our national security against our civil liberties — but that is a false choice. We have a solemn responsibility to protect our people while we also protect our principles.
Protect American Muslims from whom, exactly — gun-wielding Christians? And who’s been intimidating people at the voting booth lately — the KKK or the Black Panthers? Pandering statements, cruel timing, and cold irony.
Pvt. Long was killed by a follower of Allah on American soil, a relevant fact in the age of Islamic terrorism. A blogger at the liberal Atlantic Monthly called out tax-supported National Public Radio for failing to tell listeners Long’s killer was a Muslim:
Why not tell people what is actually happening in the world? We saw this a couple of weeks ago, when the press only gingerly acknowledged that the malevolent though incompetent suspects in the synagogue bombing-conspiracy case in New York were converts to Islam. How is the public served by this kind of silence? The extremist Christian beliefs of George Tiller’s alleged murderer are certainly relevant to that case, and no one in my profession is hesitant to discuss them. Why the hesitancy to talk about the motivations of the man who allegedly killed Pvt. William Long?
Brent Baker of Newsbusters.org cited examples of major media outlets that also ignored Muhammad’s religious motivations. Terrorism against U.S. military recruiters isn’t as outrageous or as shocking as “terrorism” against heroic, “brave,” and “courageous” abortionists.
The lopsided media coverage and government response to both murders merely confirm an infuriatingly counterintuitive double standard only the most obtuse could miss.
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