MSNBC contributor Michael Eric Dyson filled in for Ed Schultz on The Ed Show on Monday, June 9 and he used the platform to connect the shooting in Las Vegas to conservative media and politicians.
Dyson insisted that “Right wing media and conservative politicians have drummed into the unconscious collectively of this nation, that this is not a country worthy of being led by the man who's been chosen to lead this nation.” [See video below.]
Dyson began his rant:
Late breaking developments in this weekend’s Las Vegas shooting are opening eyes tonight. A shooting rampage in Las Vegas has left five people dead including the two suspected shooters. All signs show this senseless act of violence was committed by anti-government activists. Now, just take a minute to think about that. We are living in a nation where there has been a steady drumbeat and constant commentary about how horrible this nation is. Those who claim to be patriots are leading the charge.
The frequent MSNBC guest host continued to connect conservatives to the tragic shooting carried out by two anti-government extremists:
Even those of us who oppose a political candidate, should not subvert undermine, destroy, distort or otherwise circumscribe the flourishing of democracy, in other words, you and I are still American citizens, let's not beat up on the nation, even as we disagree with one another. When we delegitimate the president, when we deligitmiate the authority of government, when we delegitimate the state, what we're doing is challenging the legitimacy of sworn officials to up hold that law. And we negotiate the difference, not at the polls where we should.
Not in common civil discourse where we should, but we end up engaging in, especially our right wing brothers and sisters and those conservative politicians, in some of the most nefarious and vicious assaults upon the humanity of our opponents and we end up making the state look as if it's the greatest enemy in the world. And when the state is seen as the greatest enemy in the world, those officials like our police people and others, who were sworn to up hold the law, are seen as the likely marks for those who are vulnerable to such vicious rhetoric.
The MSNBC contributor concluded his attack by making one final comparison:
You must stop the constant drum beat of negativity that rolls so easily and so glibly from the tongues of conservative politicians and right-wing media. And guess what, you are not the most vulnerable victims of such vicious assault. It is common, ordinary American citizens who up hold that law. So I call upon you in the name of our common, civil and if you will, engaged democracy. Stop the viciousness.
Mr. Dyson is no stranger to making extreme statements towards conservatives so his latest attack should come as no surprise. On June 25, 2013, Dyson appeared on MSNBC to attack Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas: “Clarence Thomas’s actions here today, though consistent, though tragic to me, are even more so in light of the bulk of decisions he’s rendered in the name of a judicial vote on the Supreme Court: A symbolic Jew has invited a metaphoric Hitler to commit holocaust and genocide upon his own people.”
See relevant transcript below.
MSNBC
The Ed Show
June 9, 2014
5:19 p.m. Eastern
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: A shooting rampage in Las Vegas has left five people dead including the two suspected shooters. All signs show this senseless act of violence was committed by anti-government activists. Now, just take a minute to think about that. We are living in a nation where there has been a steady drumbeat and constant commentary about how horrible this nation is.
Those who claim to be patriots are leading the charge. Right wing media and conservative politicians have drummed into the unconscious collectively of this nation, that this is not a country worthy of being led by the man who's been chosen to lead this nation. So when you attack him, you really attack all of us. Even those of us who oppose a political candidate, should not subvert, undermine, destroy, distort or otherwise circumscribe the flourishing of democracy. In other words, you and I are still American citizens, let's not beat up on the nation, even as we disagree with one another!
When we delegitimate the president, when we delegitimate the authority of government, when we delegitimate the state, what we're doing is challenging the legitimacy of sworn officials to up hold that law. And we negotiate the difference, not at the polls where we should. Not in common civil discourse where we should, but we end up engaging in, especially our right wing brothers and sisters and those conservative politicians, in some of the most nefarious and vicious assaults upon the humanity of our opponents and we end up making the state look as if it's the greatest enemy in the world. And when the state is seen as the greatest enemy in the world, those officials like our police people and others, who were sworn to up hold the law, are seen as the likely marks for those who are vulnerable to such vicious rhetoric.
If you are American and you love this nation, you must stop the banter. You must stop the constant drum beat of negativity that rolls so easily and so glibly from the tongues of conservative politicians and right-wing media. And guess what, you are not the most vulnerable victims of such vicious assault. It is common, ordinary American citizens who up hold that law. So I call upon you in the name of our common, civil and if you will, engaged democracy. Stop the viciousness.
