Why Are Liberals So Angry?
Because a proud, patriotic conservative such as myself on TV, in the newspapers, and co-hosting a radio show on KSFO 560 in San Francisco dares to call people who leak/and or publish national secrets those who should face prosecution. And if TRIED AND CONVICTED, should face the ultimate punishment that the law specifies. Death.
The folks who are crying about civil liberties being infringed upon by the Bush Adminstration during a time of war - when American soldiers lives are on the line - now want to shout down, silence and blackball people like me.
First Amendment freedoms only apply to liberals - or haven't you heard?
It all started with an article written by Joe Garofoli at the San Francisco Chronicle.
Republicans in Congress, conservative commentators and like-minded bloggers have taken an aggressive, blame-the-media tone after recent newspaper articles that detail how the administration is monitoring international bank transfers to track terrorist financing.
Some want to charge reporters and editors with treason and espionage for publishing stories that they say compromise America's national security. Click here to read the entire article...
Now check out the mischaracterizations of my comments at the blog by The American Prospect.
A blog about the reporting of politics - and the politics of reporting.
By Greg Sargent
OK, let's see what MSNBC says about this. As I noted below, this morning's San Francisco Chronicle quoted conservative talk show host Melanie Morgan of KSFO-FM saying she'd have no problem if Bill Keller were executed for publishing the big Times piece on the U.S.'s secret financial surveillance program.
As per the Chronicle, Morgan said: "If he were to be tried and convicted of treason, yes, I would have no problem with him being sent to the gas chamber." Morgan is a sometime guest on MSNBC's Hardball. So I contacted Hardball spokesperson Leslie Schwartz to ask Morgan would still be welcome on the show despite having said she'd countenance the slow and agonizing execution (which gas chambers specialize in) of a fellow journalist. Schwartz, who was very polite and professional, said she'd get back to me.
For those who don't have a full grasp of the implications of the use of the term "gas chamber," here's a helpful primer from Wikipedia:
WILL MSNBC WELCOME BACK MELANIE MORGAN AFTER SHE SAID SHE'D HAVE "NO PROBLEM" IF BILL KELLER WERE SENT TO "GAS CHAMBER"? LOOKS LIKE IT.
"Many claim that the gas chamber is inhumane. Reports of gas chamber executions include:
- September 2, 1983: Jimmy Lee Gray, Mississippi. Officials had to clear the room eight minutes after the gas was released when Gray's desperate gasps for air repulsed witnesses. His attorney criticized state officials for clearing the room when the inmate was still alive. Says David Bruck, an attorney specializing in death penalty cases, "Jimmy Lee Gray died banging his head against a steel pole in the gas chamber while reporters counted his moans."...
- More notoriously, gas chambers were used in the Nazi Third Reich during the 1930s as part of the so-called "public euthanasia program" aimed at eliminating physically and intellectually disabled people, and later the mentally ill.
...Later, during the Holocaust, gas chambers were modified and enhanced to accept even larger groups as part of the Nazi policy of genocide against Jews, and others...A journal read that when the doors to the chamber were opened, the bodies of the dead had been clawed at and looked as though they had bitten at each other in pain and horror."
You get the idea. Melanie Morgan wouldn't simply countenance the execution of Keller. She'd countenance him dying a horrible, agonizing death. Is this who MSNBC really wants on its programs?
The reason I emailed MSNBC is that its execs have in the past shown guts and pulled the plug on such hateful nonsense. Some years back they fired Ann Coulter after she sneered to a Vietnam Vet: "No wonder you guys lost." In this case, Morgan didn't make the remark on MSNBC, but still, it's a more hateful and vicious remark by far than the one that got Coulter canned.
Again, Morgan said she'd happily accept the slow and agonizing execution of a fellow journalist. Is this the sort of person MSNBC wants on its shows?
- Greg Sargent
UPDATE: MSNBC spokesperson Schwartz just got back to me. The answer: No comment. So apparently Melanie Morgan won't pay any kind of price for this. After all, what's another hateful, vicious diatribe among friends?
Here's my response to Greg Sargent in an e-mail dated July 2, 2006
If the Left ever wonders why so many conservatives are outraged by what they read from Liberal publications (such as the American Prospect) one need not meander any further than Greg Sargent's interview with me last Thursday.
No, I am NOT backing away from any of the comments I made in the "Horse's Mouth" blog.
But I am pointing out that the summarization of my comments is completely misleading, and totally in character for people who despise those of us who work ceaselessly to stand-up for our troops in time of war, and who are outraged when others refuse to do the same.
First, folks, to the headline:
TALK SHOW HOST MELANIE MORGAN SAYS 'ANY NEWSPAPER EDITOR' WHO PUBLISHES CLASSIFIED INFO SHOULD BE 'LOCKED IN A STEEL CAGE,' MURDERED BY FAMILY MEMBERS OF SLAIN TROOPS, AND SENT TO THE 'HOTTEST CORNER OF HELL.'
The truth: I pointed out in my comments that if a person is TRIED AND CONVINCTED of committing treason then obviously they should face the punishment for that crime.
That includes the death penalty.
I never suggested murdering Bill Keller of the NY Times or anyone else. Period. Look up the definition of murder. It's in Wikipedia, by the way.
The protest by The American Prospect and other anti-war liberals in the blogosphere over my statements shows either a naivete concerning the law, or more likely it demonstrates once again that those in the 'Blame America First' crowd are rabidly against the war on terrorism, and are blinded by all logic and reason.
And then there was this by Mr. Sargent "Now she's basically said that any editor printing classified national security information should be murdered, maybe it's time to check in with the corporate owners of her local station."
Again - a complete mischaracterization of my quotes. A more accurate summary should have read "Any editor who is responsible for leaking classified information and results in the deaths of American soldiers at a time of war should face the ultimate punishment for that crime, including the death penalty."
The exact quote to Mr. Sargent is "Let me answer your question with a question. If by leaking classified information that resulted in the deaths of American soldiers - let's just say that a terrorist purchased all the ingredients necessary for an IED and detonated it against a convoy of 18, 19, 20-something Marines, killing them - do you honestly think I would give a rat's rear-end how the editor who leaked that information dies? ....NO. I DO NOT CARE."
Because, after all, he or she is recieving the ultimate penalty for the charge of treason.
My WISH list for traitors who undertake to subvert national security interests that results in the deaths of American Soldiers is "to be locked in a steel cage with the family members of slain troop members who would happily deliver the ultimate punishment of death, and then sent to the hottest corner of hell."
As a journalist of over 30 years experience covering the Mideast, the uprising for Democracy at Tiannamen Square in China, the return of hostages from the hijacking of a jetliner, I have a bit of experience in observing media convention, classified secrets, and the rule of law. And apparently Richard Valeriani, a long time former NBC reporter agrees by saying that the New York Times decision to publish is akin to 'giving Anne Frank's address to the Nazi's.'
I might also point out to Mr. Sargent that his squealing over my comments most likely would evaporate if one of his friend's or loved one's were to suffer harm at the hands of the terrorists as a result of the repeated attempts to undermine the war effort by deliberately leaking/publishing classified material, and in doing so provided aid and comfort to the enemy.
One other thing. The people within the United States government who actually leaked to the NYTimes, WaPo, LAT, and Wall Street Journal such a successful, worthy program as the SWIFT database should join the folks I have suggested in taking up residence in the hottest corner of hell.
Finally, I'm delighted to report that your efforts to have me blackballed from Hardball with Chris Matthews on MSNBC were entirely unsuccessful. And my radio station KSFO AM in San Francisco, owned by ABC/Disney, has no intention of firing me.
After all, there is a First Amendment. And it works both ways. Much as the Left hates that.
I look forward to seeing my comments in print.
Melanie Morgan,
KSFO, San Francisco
Co-Host, Lee Rodgers and Melanie Morgan Show