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By Scott Tibbs, July 21, 2017
I have asked this before, but does the Herald-Times actually have content standards, or are those so-called "standards" simply the whims of the editors and comment moderators on any particular day?
On July 10, a guest column was published referring to health care legislation as "murderous" and "murder for hire." Keep in mind that I have had comments deleted for referring to abortion as murder, and the H-T justified that deletion by saying murder is a felony and saying that abortion is murder is therefore defamatory. HeraldTimesOnline moderators have made it very clear that word is not allowed to be used to describe the actions of others, but the Herald-Times approved a guest column claiming that the United States Senate is considering legislation that will "murder" people.
Since the word "murder" is not permitted in HTO comments, it should not be in the print edition. Full stop.
Furthermore, referring to the health care bill as "murderous" is an absurd abuse of language. Murder is the unlawful, intentional termination of a human life. Not one single person who wrote the bill and not one single person who voted for it in the House intend on killing anyone.
Whatever side you are on, there are arguments about whether ObamaCare or the ACHA would be better overall for this nation and her people. Argue your point, but to accuse those who simply disagree with you of being "murderers" degrades the discourse. Even if the American Health Care Act causes people to lose access to health care and they die as a result, that is not "murder." And it is highly debatable whether that will happen. It certainly is not a fact.
Shame on the Herald-Times for their hypocrisy in allowing Leftists to use much more harsh and extreme language than conservatives and in a much more visible format approved by the editor. Shame on the Herald-Times for degrading the dialogue by publishing that guest column. Shame on the Herald-Times for encouraging an uncivil environment by allowing a guest columnist to accuse members of the Bloomington community of "murder." And yes, I mean "our community," because Senator Todd Young lives in Bloomington.
The Herald-Times should do two things. First, they should apologize for poisoning the well. Second, they should stop being hypocrites and apply their so-called "standards" to everyone, not just conservatives.
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