Former NYT Editor: Republican “Rage Machine” Responsible For Current Political Climate

MARK FINKELSTEIN JUN 18, 2017 12:30 PM

In the wake of the Scalise shooting, Fareed Zakaria hosted a segment on his CNN show this morning devoted to addressing how Republicans and Democrats can stop their “internecine struggle” and “reconcile.” Two of the guests bought into the premise, discussing the challenges involved and possible approaches to reconciliation.

But the third guest, Jill Abramson, who was fired in 2014 as executive editor of the New York Times, was having none of the kumbaya. To the contrary, she decried a supposed “false equivalency” between Democrats and Republicans.

Abramson put the blame on Republicans for the divisive political climate and accused them of “benefiting from a kind of rage machine that operates in this country.”

So Republicans are disproportionately responsible for current divisiveness?

Let’s review:

• Leftists regularly prevent—violently at times—conservatives from speaking on campus.
• A liberal “comedian”/CNN host displays a realistic image of Donald Trump’s severed head.
• Liberals stage a play in America’s most famous park depicting the assassination of Trump.
• A CNN host denounces President Trump as a “piece of s—.”
• In denouncing their opponents, Dem politicians regularly drop f-bombs.
• Most recently, an ardent Bernie Sanders supporter shoots at a group of Republicans, grievously wounding the #3 Republican in the House, among others.

What’s particularly grotesque about Abramson’s accusation is her specific condemnation of a false equivalency “especially in the discussion over the past couple of days.”

The focus of the discussion in the past “couple of days” has of course been the Scalise shooting. Is Abramson really blaming Republicans for that?

ED LUCE: It’s very hard to imagine how civility can ensue when people don’t even meet each other or live near each other who hold different positions or let their children marry or wish their children to marry people of different views. So that’s my concern, there is no public square.FAREED ZAKARIA: Jill, you’ve written that you think that while all this is true, this is not a situation where both sides are equally at fault.JILL ABRAMSON: I do think that both sides are not equally at fault, and that there’s been a bit of a false equivalency at work, especially in the discussion over the past couple of days. I think that in terms of political leadership right now that both President Trump and the congressional leadership on the Republican side are extremely divisive and that they are really benefiting from a kind of rage machine that operates in this country.

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