By Tom Toth
Last week, the Obama administration decided to barricade open-air national memorials from everyone–including veterans.
This spurred a non-political march of veterans on Washington D.C. to demand the veterans’ memorials be opened.
Last weekend, servicemen and women like the man pictured to the left (who lost both of his legs in combat) marched onto the public memorials, took down the barricades, and hauled the disassembled pieces of the barricade to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
The weekend’s event was the story of outraged heroes who peacefully marched not against partisan politics, but against disrespect from federal leaders.
Predictably, it was reported on (or at least mentioned) by most news outlets covering the District. The story was straightforward.
Unfortunately, the peaceful march wasn’t what one ideological side of the media decided to report.
The notoriously liberal Washington Post wrote about the demonstration. Wanting to defend the president and paint the attending veterans as hateful crazies, they directing the story’s focus on one man. Commenting on the rally, they coupled a racially tense headline with the photo of the single confederate flag-flier next to “Impeach Obama” signs and lamented the “ugly rebel yell” of the overall demonstration.
Rather than reporting on the veterans’ demonstration against dishonor, the story was spun to bury the march under accusations of widespread racial insensitivity by using a single attendee.
The Post concluded its commentary noting, “[the flag holder] Ashmore’s actions . . . are just the latest in a series of displays of disrespect directed at President Obama,” adding “[t]hat flag . . . is no better than a Swastika.”
Politico contributed to the vitriolic rhetoric through their Chief Political Columnist Roger Simon. Simon joked that America would be saved if John Boehner and Ted Cruz faced the fate of a sinking ship. Immediately thereafter, the Politico writer focused his commentary exclusively on the same man to conduct his attack on the veterans’ march, before taking his anger to Twitter.
Racism came out of closet (as if it were ever in) as protesters hoisted a Confederate flag outside WH Sunday.
— Roger Simon (@politicoroger) October 14, 2013
An honest report of the weekend surrounds American veterans rallying to open their own memorials. Instead, the leftist media spun the story for their crusade to paint the Tea Party and anyone associated with them as racist extremists who hate Barack Obama for a single, morally reprehensible reason.
There shouldn’t be any question about why red and blue America can’t engage in thoughtful, civil discourse.
Through each news cycle, Conservatives are angrily painted as irrationally hateful, racist, sexist, anti-[every Democratically-targeted voter group] jerks.
Those on the right aren’t given the time of day. Those reporting for the left are unremittingly contemptuous toward their opponents.
Last weekend, those opponents were American veterans. That is more shameful than any closed memorial.
Tom Toth is the Social Media Director for Americans for Limited Government
