We’ve learned quite a lot about how loathsome a commentator Lawrence O’Donnell is from his “Rewrite” segment on James Hudnall’s and Batton Lash’s “Obama Nation” cartoon. His hilariously uptight lecturing and blatant hypocrisy have already been documented, but one element of his “Rewrite” that needs more attention is his shocking violation of journalistic ethics. Not only does O’Donnell make a fool of himself here, but he crosses several lines, going from pompous to downright menacing.
First of all, check out how O’Donnell introduces Batton and Lash to his audience. The “Rewrite” segment usually includes a comic-style graphic with the title of the segment and, if he’s talking about a right-winger, an unflattering picture of his target next to the word (no picture when it’s a left-winger). However, this particular instance of “Rewrite” went a step further, pasting each author’s picture in the “Rewrite” graphic as well as their names. The formatting turns the graphic into a phrase/sentence: “Rewrite James Hudnall” and “Rewrite Batton Lash.” Am I splitting hairs? Not as finely as those who called for a “New Tone” because of Palin’s target map. From the deluge of death threats these men have received in the wake of O’Donnell’s show, these graphics (and the uniqueness of their layout in this instance) clearly violate the rhetorical standards that pundits like O’Donnell haughtily demanded in the wake of Gabrielle Giffords’ horrendous shooting.
Furthermore, O’Donnell divulges the name of Batton Lash’s wife– not once, but twice. She is a private citizen who had no role in the creation of the cartoon. That fully constitutes an unwarranted breach of privacy on its own, but he goes even further by naming the city in which she and Lash live, directly asking his viewers to confront them in public about Lash’s cartoon– in effect, commanding them to personally harrass a private citizen.
Did any conservative commentators do this to Nir Rosen for his truly despicable tweets about Lara Logan? Did Glenn Beck say, “He lives in [town]; if you find him, say ‘Shame on you!'” Did Sean Hannity directly address his family members? What about Chauncey DeVega and his demonstrably racist screed? Were his family members dragged into right-wing responses to his disgusting attacks on Herman Cain? Was there a talk show host on Fox who scrambled to post his real name and face onscreen?
As James Hudnall originally stated, Lawrence O’Donnell should be disciplined for his indiscretions. Giving out the name of a private citizen who was not involved in the story, giving out the home city of that private citizen, and putting up a graphic which, in effect, reads “Erase this person”– this is totally unprofessional behavior. Who on the right responded to offenses far greater than “Obama Nation”‘s cartoon with such egregious intimidation and personal endangerment? Perhaps we’ll find some angry leftist commenter who can point to an obscure example of a right-wing host doing one of these things, but what about all three in a single outrageously sanctimonious segment?
Also, I’ll be waiting patiently for SNL to mock O’Donnell for not looking into his camera the same way they did Michelle Bachmann.