Attacking Howard Kurtz

Breitbart's John Nolte went after Howard Kurtz's reasoning in the article: Top Five False Statements in Howard Kurtz's Christopher Dorner Column. Here are his 5 points on Kurtz:

1.  Kurtz Invents Straw Man that Right Is 'Blaming' the Media for Murder Spree
2.  Kurtz's Only Example of a Media 'Blamer' Didn't Blame the Media
3.  Kurtz Pretends Dorner Is 'All Over the Map' Politically
4.  Kurtz Is Reduced to Citing Anonymous Tweets
5.  Kurtz Pretends Only the 'Left' Attempted to Link Palin to Tucson

In Kurtz's article he finds the "explosion of conservative comments on Twitter trying to tie his alleged rampage to ... liberals." and goes on to say:

That's right, even with three people dead, one wounded and a manhunt under way, the ugly game of ideological finger-pointing was under way.

Is this not exactly what Kurtz is doing in this very article? He is quick to defend the media against the right whom he characterizes as "nuts." Sounds like a finger point to me. Kurtz moves on to describe the comments of Brent Bozell, the president of the conservative Media Research Center, to Fox's Sean Hannity which is what Nolte cites as his 2nd point. This is what Kurtz writes:

"This is very telling that you've got a direct association of liberal luminaries with this killer," Brent Bozell, president of the conservative Media Research Center, told Fox's Sean Hannity.

Actually, it's not telling at all. At least Bozell added that the luminaries should not be held responsible for Dorner's actions just because his screed invoked their names.

Nolte is right in saying that Kurtz makes a very lukewarm argument by immediately acknowledging that the media should not be held responsible for the actions of one of their murderous viewers. Kurtz us right that this is not telling since what one individual feels about a massive industry doesn't lead to a very direct association at all. I watch Democracy Now regualrly and hold personal views about Amy Goodman but I wouldn't say that I have any direct association with her.

So far I would have to say that Nolte's first two points hold water if you take into account what Kurtz said in his article. That doesn't mean that the right didn't blame the media, it is possible but without a doubt Kurtz never bothered to piece together any information to support his point. The guy makes $600K a year so I would think he would at least back up his assertions.

In his 3rd point Nolte states:

Only in Kurtz's sheltered, provincial media-bubble does being an admirer of Democrats and media-approved Republicans mean you’re "all over the map" politically.

 Here I would have to say Kurtz proved enough of his point to warrant his "all over the map" insight. In addition to the "media approved" people on the left Dorner's manifesto also mentioned a soft spot for Chris Christie, George H W Bush, and Colin Powell. Dorner may limit himself to the "media approved" personalities across the spectrum but he does stretch across the map enough to give Kurtz his point here.

The 4th Nolte point is how Kurtz uses anonymous tweets as the reasoning behind his right blames the media for the Dorner rampage. Nolte jumps to the 4th tweet cited and dubs Kurtz's reaction as more than pathetic. Since we are tossing around insults I guess it is safe to say that it is more than pathetic that Nolte deems it unimportant to even mention the other tweets used by Kurtz. Here are all 4 of the tweets as presented by Kurtz:

"Would you care if he loved Fox News, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh?" one Twitter user asked. "My guess is you would, hypocrite."

"Entire MSM would feed on this if it were linked to any right-wing cause."

Oh, and someone said I was "a sick, twisted freak and a liar" for saying that Scarborough, the former Republican congressman turned MSNBC host, is a conservative.

Some blatantly promoted the notion of payback: "You guys smeared Palin over Tucson. Now it's your turn to be linked to a murderous madman. Only this time the link's legit."

Nolte is right that these tweets don't prove Kurtz's Conservatives are blaming the Left media for Dorner's killing spree. He very conveniently though jumps right to the one that leads him into his next point about Palin being attacked by the entire mainstream media after the Tuscon Giffords shooting. As if we have been running in place we now end up once again where we revolved the whole time which is at the mudslinging end of the spectrum only this time with an event of 2 years ago thanks to both Nolte and Kurtz. I guess it is safe to say that this Dorner killing spree truly is opening old wounds.

In terms of points I'd say Nolte made a little more sense than Kurtz but when viewed as a whole that isn't really saying much.