Knoxville killer loves the right-wingers

I can't let this one go. This story crystallizes the hate that has been spewing from the likes of Michael Savage, Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly for a long time now. That is just a short list of the inexplicably popular hatemongers on the right.

Should anyone be surprised that someone finally took the Savage message to heart and started killing liberals and/or gays? Have you read or listened to some of Savage's filth? He's a borderline terrorist. Adkisson IS a terrorist.

Gay men have been victimized for years and years by men who are insecure in their own sexuality. And liberals have now been demonized for years by certain right-wing hatemongers. Liberals apparently want to destroy America. What bullshit. What does it say about this country that the top radio hosts daily deride an entire group of people (liberals)?

This nation was founded by liberals. We have a liberal democracy. We have a liberal constitution. Liberalism looks to expand personal freedoms while enabling and restricting the power of the state. The fact that liberalism has been demonized is a truly shameful trend in this nations history.

I think we all know that controversy and conflict "sells" on radio and TV. So we should not be surprised when less-than-stable individuals take the message to heart and act out. If you were to ask me, the purveyors of those sentiments should bear some responsibility. Short of legal action, they should, at the least, be ostracized and lose their jobs. Unfortunately, I have little doubt that they would replaced by another wave of hatemongers. FOX News itself is a haven for hate. I hope some of the family members of the dead and wounded in Tennessee will pursue civil suits against Savage, et al.

I'm sure that we'll hear calls from the right for personal responsibility, as in, Adkisson is personally responsible for his actions, and no one else. But not Hannity or Savage. Oh no. We have free speech in this country. You are free to be hateful, ignorant, greedy, whatever, and the right has it down to a science.

From the left, you hear denunciations of individual "conservatives" such as Savage, Coulter, Severin, Limbaugh, and Hannity. From the right, you hear wholesale denunciations of the entire concept of liberalism, forgetting that liberalism is the foundation for this nation. I still respect conservatism as a paradigm. It has a long history with some exceptional individuals in it. However, the whole movement has been captured by greedy hatemongers that, rightfully, should have no place in the marketplace of ideas. One can hope that the market will indeed be self-correcting and dispense with all this vitriol from these people, and that one day "true" conservatives will re-take their party away from the toxic individuals that are sullying its name.

Speaking of "true" conservatives, are we going to hear John McCain denounce this type of hatred?


Bill O'Reilly, Michael Savage, Sean Hannity on accused shooter's reading list
4-page letter outlines frustration, hatred of 'liberal movement'
By Hayes Hickman (Contact), Don Jacobs (Contact)

Police found right-wing political books, brass knuckles, empty shotgun shell boxes and a handgun in the Powell home of a man who said he attacked a church in order to kill liberals "who are ruining the country," court records show.

Knoxville police Sunday evening searched the Levy Drive home of Jim David Adkisson after he allegedly entered the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church and killed two people and wounded six others during the presentation of a children's musical.

Knoxville Police Department Officer Steve Still requested the search warrant after interviewing Adkisson. who was subdued by several church members after firing three rounds from a 12-gauge shotgun into the congregation.

Adkisson targeted the church, Still wrote in the document obtained by WBIR-TV, Channel 10, "because of its liberal teachings and his belief that all liberals should be killed because they were ruining the country, and that he felt that the Democrats had tied his country's hands in the war on terror and they had ruined every institution in America with the aid of media outlets."

Adkisson told Still that "he could not get to the leaders of the liberal movement that he would then target those that had voted them in to office."

Adkisson told officers he left the house unlocked for them because "he expected to be killed during the assault."

Inside the house, officers found "Liberalism is a Mental Health Disorder" by radio talk show host Michael Savage, "Let Freedom Ring" by talk show host Sean Hannity, and "The O'Reilly Factor," by television talk show host Bill O'Reilly.

The shotgun-wielding suspect in Sunday's mass shooting at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church was motivated by a hatred of "the liberal movement," and he planned to shoot until police shot him, Knoxville Police Chief Sterling P. Owen IV said this morning.

Adkisson, 58, of Powell wrote a four-page letter in which he stated his "hatred of the liberal movement," Owen said. "Liberals in general, as well as gays."

Adkisson said he also was frustrated about not being able to obtain a job, Owen said.
The letter, recovered from Adkisson's black 2004 Ford Escape, which was parked in the church's parking lot at 2931 Kingston Pike, indicates he had been planning the shooting for about a week.

"He fully expected to be killed by the responding police," the police chief said.

Owen said Adkisson specifically targeted the church for its beliefs, rather than a particular member of the congregation.

"It appears that church had received some publicity regarding its liberal stance," the chief said. The church has a "gays welcome" sign and regularly runs announcements in the News Sentinel about meetings of the Parents, Friends and Family of Lesbians and Gays meetings at the church.
Owen said Adkisson's stated hatred of the liberal movement was not necessarily connected to any hostility toward Christianity or religion per say, but rather the political advocacy of the church.

The church's Web site states that it has worked for "desegregation, racial harmony, fair wages, women's rights and gay rights" since the 1950s. Current ministries involve emergency aid for the needy, school tutoring and support for the homeless, as well as a cafe that provides a gathering place for gay and lesbian high-schoolers.

The shooting began at 10:18 a.m. Adkisson was arrested minutes later after being restrained by church members.

The rest of the story is here.