Because he has embarrassed the media and the left. (Pardon the redundancy.)
Don’t recognize the name Floyd Corkins? Then you must watch network news and/or read the major newspapers. They’ve barely reported on yesterday’s shooting at the Washington, DC headquarters of the Family Research Council, and some of them haven’t even mentioned the name of the shooter or his motive, even though both were known within hours of the shooting.
First, here’s the latest on the story. Note that this is local news, not national:
DC Breaking Local News Weather Sports FOX 5 WTTG
And what has the national news had to say about this story? Newsbusters reports:
ABC was the only broadcast network that offered a full story on the FRC office shooting on Wednesday night. They led with the story and gave it two and a half minutes. None of the network newscasts reported the breaking detail that shooter Floyd Corkins volunteered for six months at the D.C. Center for the LGBT Community, adding depth to his political motivation.
On NBC Nightly News, Brian Williams gave the story just 17 seconds: “In Washington today, police say a man with a gun walked into the offices of the conservative lobbying group the Family Research Council, and opened fire. He never made it past the lobby. He shot a security guard in the arm before the guard was able to subdue him.”
On CBS Evening News, substitute anchor Bob Schieffer offered 20 seconds: “A gunman opened fire today at the Washington headquarters of the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian lobbying group. The man shot a security guard in the arm before that guard and others tackled him, and he was arrested. Police say that the suspect made negative comment about the council’s work just before the shooting.”
And what was the name of the shooter, Brian Williams and Bob Schieffer? Just kidding, it doesn’t matter. It’s not like somebody important got shot. Just another wingnut. No, wait, even lower: a guy who gets paid to protect wingnuts.
But that’s network news. They only get 30 minutes per day to tell us what they think is important. What about cable news? How did CNN do?
Oh.
Well, okay, how about the print media?
NYT: One mention in the U.S. section.
WaPo: Two mentions in the Local section, one on the District of DeBonis blog, and one on the Crime Scene blog.
LA Times: One mention in the U.S. section, one on the Nation Now blog.
If Corkins wanted to make front-page news, he shouldn’t have targeted conservatives who have backed up Chick-fil-A, after the press has been demonizing Chick-fil-A for weeks.
Oh, you didn’t hear about that part? Yeah, in addition to his gun and his headful of bad ideas, Corkins also had a backpack with 15 Chick-fil-A sandwiches in it. What a coincidence, huh? He was probably just really hungry. Or maybe he brought them to share with his new friends, but then the security guard was all mean so he had to shoot the guy. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
And before he shot the guard, Corkins said: “I don’t like your politics.” Which might lead you to jump to the conclusion that the shooting was politically motivated. Silly wingnut. We may never know the real motive.
Is the media responsible for enraging Floyd Corkins to the point of attempted murder? Only if we hold them to their own standard. Only if we apply their own rules about hate speech and toxic rhetoric to them.
Guess what? I am, and I will.
Their rules.
Their turn.
Update: The victim, Leo Johnson, is out of surgery. Here’s wishing him a speedy recovery.