Hate Media Have Blood On Their Hands As Police Officer Dies Defending Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood Clinic

Gunman led away in cuffs after killing at least 3 people at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic yesterday.

Hate media have blood on their hands every day as incidents of misogyny, racism and xenophobia move beyond ugly words to fists, bombs and guns. A policeman who was helping defend a women's health clinic from a white, heavily armed male terrorist yesterday died of gunshot wounds. Others died in the attack in Colorado Springs, too.

When a society tolerates violent vigilantes who attack people as they go about their business, the concept of "security" has gone down the drain.

Mercutio Southall Jr. being removed by "security" who failed to protect him
from being punched and kicked for chanting "Black Lives Matter"
at a Trump rally in Birmingham, Alabama last week.

When a society condones, even applauds, violent attacks on citizens exercising their first amendment right of free expression, civil liberties are going down the drain.

Alice Ollstein reporting in ThinkProgress quoted Southall as saying about the incident:

 “A lady kicked me in the stomach. A man kicked me in the chest. They called me n*****, monkey, and they shouted ‘all lives matter’ while they were kicking and punching me. So for all the people who are still confused at this point, they proved what ‘all lives matter’ meant. It means, ‘Shut up, n*****.'”

Southall had gone to the aid of another Black Lives Matter activist who had his phone knocked out of his hand as he began livestreaming the racism fest. Birmingham was the site of an act of racist terrorism during the civil rights movement when a black church was firebombed there in 1963, killing four girls in Sunday school.

The Colorado Springs gunman was aiming for girls, too.

One of my family members has been gathering petition signatures for Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense this fall. The petition would create a referendum next November to close some loopholes in the background check requirements for gun purchases in Maine. She reports that the anger and argumentativeness of men she approaches with her petition is tiring. Sometimes their level of hostility is frightening. Moms Demand Action has trained signature gatherers not to argue if someone declines the offer to sign and wants to engage in debate; just say "thanks" and move on.

There's no sense in exchanging views with someone whose mind has been poisoned with hate language every day for years. If armed, they may very well be dangerous.

Armed men outside a mosque in Irving, Texas this month went on to publish
names and addresses of Muslim families in the area.
Reporting by Avi Selk in The Dallas Morning News.

What do terrorists actually look like in the U.S.? White men with guns. I refuse to fear them all.

The culture of racism, misogyny and xenophobic hate that U.S. corporate media have cultivated is making too many people crazy. And they are suffering, too.

As the winter solstice approaches, I will cultivate compassion and understanding. I will not give in to fear. And I will be prepared to protect myself or others if necessary. Dear Santa, about those tranquilizer darts I keep asking for...