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The politics of hate

Jack Kelly

By Jack Kelly

Published Dec. 24, 2014

  The politics of hate

The assassination of John F. Kennedy was fostered by the "climate of hate" created by conservative critics of the president in Dallas, many liberals said.

The assassin was a communist from New Orleans, so this was a stretch.

Sarah Palin's "inflammatory rhetoric" was to blame for the shooting in Tucson in January, 2011, in which Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz, was severely wounded, and six who'd come to hear her were killed, many liberals said.

The shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, was mentally ill, had no ties to conservative groups, no political motive for the shooting.

Ms. Palin had never said an unkind word about Ms. Giffords. But the March preceding, she had posted on her Facebook page a map marking with the crosshairs of a gunsight the locations of the districts of 20 Democrats she thought could be defeated because of their votes for Obamacare. Rep.Giffords was one.

The Democratic National Committee has used bull's eyes to mark the districts of Republicans it had targeted for defeat, but no liberal has ever accused the DNC of "inciting violence."

The Kennedy and Giffords shootings aren't examples, but incendiary rhetoric often does incite violence. In the wake of the murder of two New York City police officers Saturday (12/20), prominent Democrats are fearful Americans will hold them accountable for theirs.

These "barbaric acts" are a "predictable outcome of divisive anti-cop rhetoric of (Attorney General) Eric Holder and Mayor (Bill) de Blasio," tweeted former New York Gov. George Pataki.

"What do we want? Dead cops! When do we want it? Now," chanted protestors after a grand jury in Staten Island chose not to indict a police officer in the choking death in July of Eric Garner.

Two police lieutenants monitoring a crowd on the Brooklyn bridge were assaulted when they tried to stop a man from hurling a garbage can onto the roadway.

Mayor de Blasio held a secret meeting with protest leaders, during which he lent a sympathetic ear to their demands. His comments after the grand jury's decision was announced "threw police under the bus," said Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch Dec. 12. He asked the mayor not to "insult" the memory of officers killed in the line of duty by attending their funerals.

When the mayor walked into a police press conference Saturday night about the murders of Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, the cops in attendance turned their backs on him.

Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, had announced in an Instagram his intention to murder cops in retaliation for the death of Mr. Garner and the shooting of black teenager Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. Few news accounts of the murders mentioned his motive, or that he's a Muslim.

Attorney General Eric Holder has "disgusted" him with his race baiting after the Ferguson shooting, said Milwaukee County (Wis) Sheriff David Clarke, who is black.

"He comes out with these scurrilous claims that law enforcement officers hit the streets every day with some nefarious intent in their heart to deny people their constitutional rights and indiscriminately just shoot black males as if it were some sort of sport," Sheriff Clarke said.

Blacks commit about half of all violent crimes, but more than twice as many whites were killed in police shootings between 1999 and 2012, noted radio talk show host Larry Elder, who is black.

So far this year, 112 police officers have died in the line of duty.

"To those who have chosen to incite violence against law enforcement through the reckless vilification of police officers - shame on you," said former FBI Assistant Director Ron Hosko, president of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund.

"From race provocateurs looking for five minutes of fame, to those in the media who wantonly mischaracterized and sensationalized recent criminal cases, to the government officials who have repeatedly made statements designed to undermine legitimate law enforcement efforts across our nation --- it's time to reexamine your

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JWR contributor Jack Kelly, a former Marine and Green Beret, was a deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force in the Reagan administration.

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