The indisputable fact that the deranged shooter's beef with the Annapolis Capital Gazette predated Donald Trump's entry into politics was no obstacle to blaming the president for the newsroom massacre on CNN's airwaves.  But it's one thing to irrationally attribute causality for a cable news anchor.  It's quite another to attempt to lure a near victim of the shooting into that obsession.

But such considerations were of no moment to Brian Stelter, the ex-New York Times writer who now finds a home on CNN.  His first question to Capital Gazette employee Joshua McKerrow gives away the game.

Rush transcript via Grabien:

STELTER: "Joshua, do you feel this was just an isolated incident? A suspect with a grudge against the paper? Or do you think there's something about anti-media rhetoric becoming louder and more dangerous?"

McKERROW: "I think there have always been threats to newsrooms. It's always been something you've known in the back of your mind. It's not for me to report whether the rhetoric has raised this or had anything to contribute with this. I don't know the facts. I know our job as a newspaper and journalists is to create empathy. That's how I've always viewed my job. And I think we're lacking that. We're lacking — we've never talked and yelled at each other more than we do now. And yet we're not — it's not working. Nothing is sinking in. You know, I want to rededicate the rest of my career in helping to create more empathy and dedication. Because that's where we're missing. That's where the shrill chaos seems to be winning. But it's not winning and it's not going to win. I was talking with the camera man, you know, five days ago I showed up on an assignment and they said somebody from the crowd repper here. I wasn't under any illusions that we were beloved by the community. We could be a pain in the ass to a lot of people. And then after Thursday to see thousands of people show up in Annapolis and, you know, that's us. That's America. That's who we really are. It's not Twitter and it's not Facebook. It's not even newspapers. You know, it's not even what we report. It's us — we're genuinely good people. And we need to get back to that. We need to get back to commuting that. I want to get back to reporting that. I'm still going to report on the crooked politicians and I'm still going to report on the criminals and I'm still going to do my job like we all are. But, you know, it's also my job to report on the love and kindness, kindness in our community. Boy, when you talk about who we lost, that's what Wendi did. Wendi lived and breathed empathy and communication and she just wanted to share, you know, the wonderful things in our community. We are better than this."