Commentator attacked by Mob.... (Page 2)

StuckInTheSixties:

This is usually the sort of treatment I give stuff in the Politics forum.

I read Lois' post, finding it interesting, making no assumptions, just reading it. It was obvious that it was a written piece that Lois read somewhere, and copied it here for us to read. That was pretty obvious from the structure of it, etc.

I wasn't giving it all that much thought until I got to the end of it, where it said:

"Ann Coulter writes in her latest book Demonic, the threat that the ‘mob’ poses to society. That reality truly sinks in when it leads to a friend being attacked for taking a picture."

My antennae immediately went up. I thought:

"Hmm ... an Ann Coulter reference. Kind of a plug for her new book. Hmm ..."

(Ann Coulter, for those unfamiliar with her, is a bombastic, hyperbolic … well … crazy … arch-conservative pundit/writer/ranter/etc.)

"Hmm ... There’s a reference to her book, and her last book, called 'Treason,' was written for the specific purpose of accusing any and all liberals of being traitors. Hmm ... an Ann Coulter book is being cited as a context for this story. Okay, this needs to be Googled."

So, as I would typically do if I came across this in Politics, I copied the first sentence of the story, and Googled it. That led me to the original story, and the author's name: Andrew Lawton.

I Googled Andrew Lawton. He’s the “Editor-in-Chief” of the website where this story originates: LandmarkReport.com. It’s one of the zillions of news websites on the web … well … sort of news … news interspersed with obvious arch-conservative slanted stories … and he is the co-host of a radio program called “Strictly Right Radio,” which describes itself as “meaner, stronger conservatives.” Umm … okay …

I noticed that Lawton’s story appears in a number of places online. There were also some YouTube links. I looked at one of those:

It was some sort of television show, or perhaps an internet-video program, hosted by one Charles Adler.

I Googled Charles Adler.

He’s a Canadian, which is not surprising, since the incident happened in Toronto. He’s an arch-conservative pundit that, according to Wiki, has, among other things, substituted for arch-conservative Fox News personality Sean Hannity on his show.

Hmm … everyone connected to this seemed to be an arch-conservative of one sort or another.

More Googling. I Googled David Menzies, the guy that was (allegedly), as the story depicted, attacked by the mob of Muslims in Toronto. Well, he seems to be a freelance writer that focuses on automotive issues. Okay, one guy so far, and the guy that this revolves around, that didn’t seem to be another arch-conservative. Oh … but wait … again, in Wiki, it says that he makes a weekly appearance on the radio show of … arch-conservative Charles Adler. Okay. So while he might not be an arch-conservative himself (I can’t find enough information to say that outright), at a minimum, he’s a regular on the radio show of an arch-conservative.

More Googling. Back to checking out the various places this story appeared on line. Not surprisingly, it’s being posted on MANY arch-conservative websites.

Okay. Here’s the upshot to all of this:

I personally would take this story, and the validity of it, with a HUGE measure of skepticism. The nature of a situation like this is that the credibility of the story must be questioned just on the basis of the predominance of “arch-conservative” connections to it. I’m not saying it’s bullshit. I’m saying that given the rather arch-conservative nature of all of the coverage being given to the story, and the actual connection to one of those arch-conservatives by the person that was supposedly attacked by the supposed Muslim “mob,” it would be foolish to just accept it for face value, to assume it’s a truthful, balanced story that’s not being slanted to promote a particular political agenda. If this were being presented in a court, the jury would find that there is “reasonable doubt” about the veracity of the story.

~LoisLane~: You know before I even finish reading your post...Im sooo sorry that Ann Coultures name is even in this..Shes the Devils bitch and thats my opinion of her....Anything she says should be read like its in a bad joke book.

JeanYves72: The only type of stuff I DON'T read is stuff that is biased. Whether conservative or libral it is always on a biased slant. I try to make my own determination if possible from an overview for anything can be twisted if you get into it too microscopically.

~LoisLane~: Yes that is true Stuck O (most of the googling) BUT I did not have time to google everyones name in the story and pick it to pieces as it can be done just like anything else. What did bother me about this whole thing (even if the guy is a prick) is that the women didnt get charged for anything. Now even if it wasnt a full on punch in the face/head whatever, she should have kept her hands to herself. I did see the pictures with it...Meh nothing special and also having his little boy there must have been brutal. NOW more then a few people yelling in your face is kind of like a mob coming at you. I think that would be scary even if you are a dickhead.

NOW all the conservative this and that means nothing to me. Of course people are going to sway a story in their favor. Anything ann coulture says is poison and her views are really sick and un american from what I have heard. (I have seen a lot of her speeches and what not, the women is satan). So reguardless of all the googling and conservative BS Oh and anything to do with FOX news is a joke. I still found this story craziness. Even if he is one of the idiots who provokes people into anger,(The guy sounds like a real tool BUT..) I dont care the women shouldnt have put her hands on him. I read this story actually on CP24 and then talked about it with a few people who also heard/saw th story. Was wondering who else heard about it and what they thought about it. The artical I put up was the LEAST of the 10 evil stories I read about it.(if you catch my drift!) So there you have it.

JeanY So now that you have read it. what do you think? Should the women have been charged if what the guy says is true (keep in mind its in Toronto Canada). I think if its a true story then yes there should have been some sort of action taken. I know if I was the person to slap the camera away I would have been making a phone call from the Jail!

Thanks for the comments everyone.

~LoisLane~: I agree, but you dont go hitting people you know

Sables: it has gotten to the point where we are the minorities and have lost all our rights...I think that is why everyone is so upset when stuff like this happens

~LoisLane~: I also thinnk that people were missing the point really. You cant just go and hit people, even if you dont want your picture taken. This is what I am not understanding. Even if the guy is a goof you still cant go and break peoples things or wack them in the head.

Sables: totally but the whole point is because she was muslem it was pretty much let go..or so it seems...if anyone else had of done it they would have been written up...it has gotten to the point that this christian country cannot express themselves for fear of insulting someone or for fear that someone takes something the wrong way

~LoisLane~: God forbid if our religion or what we believe in is insulted tho.

Sables: I don't think we are as crazy about it as some countries...i.e. Ireland...I was raised catholic (not practicing) we had cathecism in the a.m. while the protesants got to play...there was no fighting amoungst us....
we generally live and let live
but we had neighbours that were sikhs and the young boy went on and on how the hindus did not deserve to live....

I think that generally if you were another religion we let others do their thing, unless we are harassed by them

Sables: I never thought oh those protesants if you get my drift

JeanYves72: Lois I totally agree with you. She should not have over-reacted like that. That simple. She should have been charged.