[livius]

The context is freely available and it doesn’t make it look any better.

Fox reported the things that were unusual about the speech, which is what news reporting does, and while it is pretty normal for union organizers to get up and yell about jobs, it’s not normal for them to call their political opponents “son of a bitches” and threaten to “take them out.” And those were his literal words, and no amount of leftist massaging can make that go away or claim that Fox did anything but report them.

[WhistlingPastTheGraveyard]

I can’t believe FReepers are playing the MMFA “context card” on this one. Not one thing Hoffa said prior to his war cry to “take out” us “sons of bitches” mitigates those words in the slightest. Sometimes we really are our own worst enemies.

[Cboldt]

-- The context is freely available and it doesn't make it look any better. --

It took me awhile to find the context. A good part of the online print reports don't contain the "vote" and "November" parts of Hoffa's remarks.

While I think his rhetoric was over the top, the context does change the tenor, at least slightly. Absent "vote" and "November" (which is the way the remarks are reported), the remarks are a pure call to violence.

-- those were his literal words, and no amount of leftist massaging can make that go away or claim that Fox did anything but report them. --

I believe that in its broadcast news, Fox reported his literal words outside of context. Perhaps I'm mistaken, and they have always mentioned the sentences that included "vote" and "November." This FoxNews print story does ... Hoffa On Tea Party: 'Take These Son-of-a-Bitches Out' | FoxNews.com - Sept 5, 2011

[Lazamataz]

Hoffa said he’d say the exact same words all over again.

Then it is time to escalate into proactive action.