Got to give CNN credit where it’s due: They’re actually following up on Tucson shooting victim Eric Fuller and his public death threat against Tea Party spokesman Trent Humphries. They talked to Humphries this morning:

Kudos to CNN for remembering what that first “N” stands for. It’s news when somebody stands up during an ABC taping and makes a death threat, even if nobody at ABC seems to think it’s a big deal.

And according to Da Techguy, who watches MSNBC so we don’t have to, they’ve dropped Fuller down the memory hole as well:

Now, I’m not a news director, but I’d think that the irony of a shooting victim of Jared Zeitgeist Longhner threatening a tea party member, being arrested and involuntarily committed might actually be a story of interest that might bring discussion.

It would be interesting to see how they deal with this story, wouldn’t it? They have dealt with it alright. They’ve dealt it right out of the deck.

I have not seen a single mention of the event, not even a one-liner in the base news segment. I’ve been watching since 6:04 and not a peep. Not a word.

Well, it’s tough to hail this guy as the conscience of a nation when he’s currently under 72-hour observation in a psychiatric facility. And it’s not like they’re going to admit they were wrong. So they just pretend they never mentioned him in the first place.

Just imagine if Fuller had been a Tea Partier. He’d be the top story on every news show this morning, the front-page headline in every newspaper. “Finally, solid proof that those teabaggers really are crazy!” But unfortunately for the propagandists who’ve been trying to pin all this on the Tea Party, Fuller is one of their own. Isn’t it annoying when reality refuses to conform to the narrative?

For more on this phenomenon, see the ever-quotable John Hayward at Human Events:

Eric Fuller’s career as the new unimpeachable voice of the Left came to an abrupt end on Saturday…

Let’s pause to give the “Climate of Hate” zombie another good, stiff whack in the head with the shovel of reason. Democrats and media liberals aren’t responsible for Eric Fuller’s behavior. He’s a bitter, hateful man suffering some kind of breakdown. I will no more hold their free speech accountable for driving him around the bend than I will allow irresponsible charlatans like the Times editors to blame conservatives for Jared Loughner. No matter how incendiary the rhetoric of media liberals has become, the people who level death threats against Tea Party leaders or Sarah Palin must answer for their own actions.

Having said that, what we have seen over the past week is among the most spectacular examples of media malpractice in our lifetimes, a Great Disqualification which demonstrates those behind the blood libel are unfit to participate in our national discourse…

The media created its “Climate of Hate” narrative out of nothing.

I wouldn’t go that far. They created it out of their hopes and dreams and fondest wishes. They really really wanted it to be true, so in their minds it became true. Isn’t that what journalism is all about?

As always with Hayward, read the whole thing. He analyzes this strange idea that we’re supposed to have a national dialogue on civility or something, even though our free speech had nothing to do with anybody getting shot. The goal is to get you to shut up, and this past week has been a disgustingly cynical attempt to use a mass murder to accomplish that goal.

In other Tucson news, the recovery of Gabrielle Giffords is nothing short of miraculous. Her condition has been upgraded from critical to serious, and she’s breathing without a ventilator. US News & World Report:

“She is beginning to carry out more complex sequences [of movement] in response to our commands, and even spontaneously,” said Dr. Michael Lemole Jr., neurosurgery chief at University Medical Center. “We couldn’t have hoped for any better improvement than we’re seeing now.”

Giffords’ doctors said she has been opening her eyes more often since she first did so Wednesday. That was the day she also touched the wedding ring worn by her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, after being asked by him to do so.

This is great news for people like Newsweek‘s Jonathan Alter:

Sad to say, if Giffords had died, she would have been mourned and soon the conversation would have moved on. But Giffords lives, thank God, which offers other possibilities. We won’t know for weeks or months whether she can function in public. If she can, she will prove a powerful referee of the boundaries of public discourse—more influential, perhaps, than the president himself.

Well, that’s the important thing! Plus, it’s a good thing on general principles when somebody who was shot in the head by an insane murderer survives. I’m sure Alter meant to say that.

P.S. Commenter csm53 points to Fuller’s personal page at something called Hypnothoughts.com. Here’s a taste:

Areas of Specialty:
I use extraordinary persuasive charisma to interest blase, apathetic, oblivious and at times hostile voters to listen to the voice of justice and consanguinity. My experiences encountering public figures and many affluent travelers in person has led me to believe that we all are to blame for George W. Bush.

Oddly enough, you can find the same thing on Keith Olbermann’s resume. Note to the MSM: The next time you find a new hero you want to celebrate, please remember that there’s this thing called Google.

P.P.S. The New York Times, having spent a week blaming conservatives for Jared Loughner, finally gets around to assembling some facts about him. Here’s an interesting tidbit:

He became intrigued by antigovernment conspiracy theories, including that the Sept. 11 attacks were perpetrated by the government and that the country’s central banking system was enslaving its citizens. His anger would well up at the sight of President George W. Bush, or in discussing what he considered to be the nefarious designs of government.

He got all that from Palin, right? (See the PJ Tatler for more: “To the extent that [Loughner] was ‘informed’ by a political worldview, it was that of the left-leaning anarchists — at the exact opposite pole from Sarah Palin and the Tea Party.”)

According to the standard that’s been set by Olbermann and Krugman and all the rest, the last 10 years of unhinged anti-Bush rhetoric sent Jared Loughner on a killing spree. When will they admit the blame and apologize for their hateful words?

P.P.P.S. Times Public Editor Arthur Brisbane: “The Times’s day-one coverage in some of its Sunday print editions included a strong focus on the political climate in Arizona and the nation. For some readers — and I share this view to an extent — placing the violence in the broader political context was problematic.” Yeah, little bit… And elsewhere at the NYT, Paul Krugman’s latest is titled “The War on Logic.” Say what you want about the man, but at least he’s making his intentions clear.