After passage of the healthcare bill, the new (or continuing, perhaps) narrative seems to be to portray civil disagreement and nonviolent protest (sometimes called "democracy") as violence. I'm writing this because it seems almost every one of these claims, as I'm looking into them, turns out to be deceptive or misleading in some way.

First, I heard allegations from Congressman Emmanuel Lewis that protesters were yelling "homophobic" and "racist" slurs. This was widely reported in the press. Less reported (or reported at all?) was the fact there was a video of the event (as well as photos, and numerous eyewitness accounts) which showed no such thing happening. We also heard that he had been spit upon. Once again, the charges were widely reported. Once again, video showed otherwise. And, once again, no similarly visible corrections were forthcoming.

Then there were reports that "gas lines" to Rep. Tom Perriello's (D-Va.) brother's house had been cut. This incident actually happened, but boiled down to some unknown person vandalizing the barbecue grill on his porch — which is deplorable and criminal, but certainly not the same as cutting a gas line leading into the house, an impression the news articles apparently were glad to leave.

And there have been the usual reports of hateful voice mails: Bart Stupak's wife said someone called and said "I hope you die", Louise Slaughter claimed she'd received a voicemail which mentioned "snipers." If true, these are certainly examples of stupid (perhaps even criminal) behavior, but such reports pale in comparison to the hate mail a conservative pundit like Michelle Malkin, Dennis Prager, or one of the posters at NRO receive every single day. (Again, a phenomenon which doesn't at all similarly interest the press, it would seem.)

Today, we hear reports that a coffin was placed on Missouri Democrat Russ Carnahan's lawn — "another in a string of incidents against lawmakers after their vote Sunday on a health care overhaul" — clearly implying a death threat. (The Politico article further puts in this the context of other alleged death threats.) The local St. Louis TV news also uncritically forwards this narrative: "A spokesperson for the congressman says 'it's a s[h]ame [sic] people cannot disagree and still have civil discourse.'"

Once, again, this is a deception: While a coffin existed, it was not a threat of any kind against Carnahan, and he himself apparently knew that all along. Moreover, it wasn't left there anonymously, as the reports also imply. Health care protesters carried a small coffin to the sidewalk in front of his house, as part of a prayer vigil, to mourn the deaths of those who would die of inadequate health care, and then left, taking the coffin with them.

... And, as we stood outside his office in the rain, we prayed for our country and for the democrats in Washington DC who were stealing away our freedom at that very moment. We brought a coffin with us to represent the millions of Americans who will suffer from inadequate treatment and perish under Obamacare.... After our prayer service we took our coffin and went and prayed on the sidewalk outside of Russ Carnahan's home. [Gateway Pundit]

Moreover, the incident happened before the bill was passed, not as a reaction to the passage of the bill, as the "conservative violence outbreak" narrative would have it.

The irony here is that this is exactly the sort of peaceful, praying-for-your-enemies protest Carnahan's spokesman said wasn't happening, when lamenting "people cannot disagree and still have civil discourse" — and yet this is the exact same Carnahan who sent union thugs to harass, yell racial epithets at, and physically assault protestors — another incident which has received almost zero press attention.

Meanwhile, a scheduled speech by Ann Coulter in Canada is shut down because of threats of violence from left-wing protestors. "In an unusual move, the University of Ottawa had sent Coulter a warning before her speech, cautioning her to watch her words lest she face criminal charges for promoting hatred in Canada." [link] Only a few articles appear in the US press.

I wish the media really cared about the things they imply they care about: criminalization of dissenting views, attacks against one's opponents, verbal threats of violence and hatred, and lying about one's opponents. But a selective concern is simply a feigned concern.

UPDATE: Politico retracts its echoing of Carnahan's claims. Cute comment on Instapundit: "Guys? Unquestionably and uncritically reprinting Democratic party press releases like this is not going to be a viable business model, come January 2011."

And yet another claim that a rock was heaved through an Ohio Congressman's office window — on the thirtieth floor? Clearly another fraud. "Which is too bad, in a way, as the Reds could use a guy with an arm like that..." Keep this up, and the American people are going to see they're being had. Oh, wait, they don't even hear these follow-up reports, do they? Nevermind.

Charlie Martin takes a walk down memory lane, recalling many vile things left-leaning citizens have been saying in the past eight years — and the utter silence such grotesque statements elicited from now-hysterical Democrats and members of the media. If, as Steny Hoyer claims, "Silence is consent," he and the media have a lot of hatin' to answer for.

UPDATE 2: Michelle Bachman notes her property has also been vandalized and that, like almost everyone in public life, she's received several threats. She notes that it's unhelpful to play up such attacks. (Though I suppose that would depend on your specific goals, no? Most respected authorities on crime prevention recommend issuing a press release as a crucial first act in response to a nasty voice mail or criminal incident.)

Didn't we just leave an election where the conservative VP nominee's church was torched, while children were still in it? The media (correctly) didn't blame all Palin-haters for that action. But if something identical (or much milder) were to happen to some leader on the left, they'd would be (are, in fact) front and center with a narrative about Republican leaders "enabling" or "encouraging" violence — by, you know, daring to disagree with their opponents.