With all of the media handwringing about the potential for violence at Congressional town-hall meetings in Augutst — potential only realized when unions and counterprotesters began attacking ObamaCare opponents — one has to marvel at the lack of any such speculation at the G-20 protests in Pittsburgh. Of course, the media didn’t bat an eye at the larger implications of the real violence from the same leftist crowd in Saint Paul, Minnesota, during the Republican convention, either. It seems that conservatives exercising free speech in a passionate but responsible manner freaks out the national media far more than leftists engaged in actual political violence.

Case in point — this report from CNN’s Brian Todd to Wolf Blitzer yesterday (via Doug Powers):

The key moment in this clip comes late in the clip. After noting that Todd got teargassed as a consequence of reporting from the protest, Blitzer emphasizes that Todd has a press credential to cover the protests. Um, okay, but that doesn’t mean Todd won’t get teargassed if he’s standing at the front line of the protests, as he was. Does Blitzer hold the police responsible for Todd being in the vicinity — especially after the clip clearly shows that police warned the crowd (and Todd) several times before firing the teargas canisters? I had no idea press passes were that magical.

Compare this to Susan Roesgen’s reporting from the Chicago Tea Party in April, when CNN warned that the report was not “family viewing”:

CNN eventually dumped Roesgen for this, but they aired her report at the time. Notice that Todd doesn’t challenge any of the protesters around him (which is the professional way to report on the event, of course). However, CNN and Todd also didn’t go around looking for the nuttiest signs they could highlight, and no one in this clip ever starts speculating as to whether this violent protest means that the Left is inherently violent or could start attacking politicians at the drop of a hat — unlike how the media has treated the Tea Party movement.