Left, right face off over Von Brunn

Bloggers on both sides are blaming each other for the shooting at the Holocaust Museum

Published June 11, 2009 3:12PM (EDT)

In the blogosphere, everything is political, even -- or, maybe, especially -- tragedy. So bloggers on both ends of the political spectrum are battling over the shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Museum Wednesday, arguing about blame for the alleged actions of white supremacist James Von Brunn and putting their own spin on things.

On the right, Debbie Schlussel, who can find a way to blame Muslims for pretty much anything, blames Muslims:

it is because of Muslims--who are the biggest contributor to the worldwide rise in anti-Semitism to Holocaust-eve levels--that neo-Nazis feel comfortable--far more comfortable!--manifesting their views about Jews. Until 9/11 and our resulting new tolerance for Islam, the neo-Nazi types were marginalized and howling at the wind. We know who has been targeting Jewish museums and centers affiliated with Jews in recent years. And it hasn't been, in general, 89-year-old White guys... No, it's guys with names like Mohammed and Ahmed on our own American streets who make Mr. Von Brunn far more at ease in 2009 than he was even in 1999 to attack places associated with the Jews. They created the comfort zone for James W. Brunn to engage in today's shooting.

At the Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg took that post apart, pointing out, "In fact, it is Muslim Jew-haters who rely on the publications of European and white American anti-Semites -- most notably the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and the International Jew -- for inspiration."

On Twitter, two leaders in the blogosphere are going at it. On one side, there's Daily Kos' Markos Moulitsas, who wrote Thursday morning, "Muslim extremists share lots with the US Right--love of war, disrespect for science and women, hatred of gays, desire for theocracy." In another post on Twitter, he poked at Red State's Erick Erickson, who has responded, and is not exactly taking it calmly.

In one message to Moulitsas, Erickson wrote, "Poor Markos. Christians bathe in the blood of the lamb and you bathe in the blood of murdered Americans." In another, Erickson asked, "Anyone know how the planning is going for Daily Kos's ticker tape parade to honor the Holocaust museum shooter?" Erickson also linked to a blog post he'd written in which he says:

You only thought leftists got excited when American soldiers got killed. As I’ve written before, leftists celebrate each and every death of each and every American solider because they view the loss of life as a vindication of their belief that they are right.

Well, I didn’t think it was possible, but the gunning down of guards outside the Holocaust Museum in Washington has Markos Moulitsas and his band of leftist brothers positively demanding a ticker tape parade for the deranged shooter.

Kos, best known for celebrating the deaths of American contractors in Iraq and saying “screw them,” is now declaring the right is to blame for the shooting at the Holocaust Museum.

For the record, both Moulitsas and Erickson have the ear of their respective party's elected officials. It's a great country.


By Alex Koppelman

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon.

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