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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

The Media & The Shooter

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  January 9th, 2011 at 06:00 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

“The tea party movement won in November. Winners don’t go on shooting sprees.”

This morning we pray for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, her family, and the other victims of the heinous violence in Arizona.

It should not be, but the media, under the guise of “a full exposition” of the evil in Arizona, is back to subtly and not so subtly pinning the blame for the attempted assassination of the Congresswoman and the related shootings on the tea party movement, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, me, you, and everyone right of center.

Let’s be crystal clear: this is the supposedly objective news media doing this, not the openly, partisan left, though it is fueling the media witch hunt. And from what we now know, it is not just media malpractice, but a lie.

Ironically, by perpetuating the lie — by even treating it as a legitimate topic of consideration to revisit the accusations of violence and hate the media tried to run with prior to the November election — that the right and the tea party incited this evil act, the left and media may very well incite violence against the right.

Today, the Sunday Shows will all be from Arizona. There will, I have no doubt, be many of them wanting to know if “rhetoric” and “tea parties” and “opposition to Barack Obama” did this.

They will also bring up, as they did yesterday, Sarah Palin putting Gabrielle Giffords on her target list for defeat with a rifle scope symbol over her district.

Here is what will either not be brought up, or if brought up, will only be mentioned in passing.

Markos Moulitsas of the Daily Kos, the largest left-wing community online, put Gabrielle Giffords on a target list with a bullseye. Just as Sarah Palin removed her post, Markos has removed his.

Another Daily Kos writer, just the other day, penned a post saying Congresswoman Giffords was dead to him.

But then there is the real culprit — the shooter himself.

A friend of the shooter’s described the shooter as decidedly “left-wing” as recently as 2007.

On YouTube, he flagged as a favorite video one of a person dressed as a terrorist burning the American flag. Only a lunatic or a leftist would do that.

His favorite work was not a Glenn Beck book, but a staple of every left-wing bookshelf, the Communist Manifesto.

In the Communist Manifesto, there are numerous, frequent calls for violence against the bourgeoisies.

Left-wing cartoonist Ted Rall’s most recent book calls for a violent response from the left against the right.

Barack Obama himself told left-wing activists, “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun.”

The point of all of this is not to blame Ted Rall, Mr. Obama, Media Matters, MSNBC, any other particular person or group on the left, or the left in general. It is also not to say in any way, shape, or form that the guy is of the left. If, however, we take the evidence as presented and not as the media and left would have it presented, the shooter very clearly is not of the right.

More precisely, the shooter is neither left-wing nor right-wing. He is crazy and evil — a word not used enough. The guy is very clearly not of the tea party movement, not a Dittohead, not led by Sarah Palin, me, or anyone else on the right.

But the media, at least as of this morning and its accumulated coverage so far on this matter, could not care less. The media is intent on yet again exploring right-wing rhetoric and tea party hate. Left-wingers yesterday were falling all over themselves to blame everyone on the right for the horrific shooting.

The media today, as it begins more expansive reporting, will not let the facts get in the way of making the right, yet again, responsible for violence it neither incited nor enabled. In the process, the media’s credibility will continue to shrink.

By the way, as an exit thought, the tea party movement won in November. Winners don’t go on shooting sprees.

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  • proudmarinemom

    also was “targeted” by this deranged, probably schizophrenic individual. So were dozens of other people whose political beliefs could not have been known to the murderer.

    We must have faith in the American people that they will see the hypocrisy and unfairness in politicizing this crime. Judging from comments on a variety of news sites, one can infer that most understand that it was mental illness, not political philosophy, which drove this man to kill.

    This is a time for all decent Americans to stand up to those who would exploit tragedy for their own political gain. We cannot lower ourselves to their standards. We have a moral obligation to future generations of Americans to demand that the truth be exposed and we cannot allow the enemies within to prevail.

  • proudmarinemom

    also was “targeted” by this deranged, probably schizophrenic individual. So were dozens of other people whose political beliefs could not have been known to the murderer.

    We must have faith in the American people that they will see the hypocrisy and unfairness in politicizing this crime. Judging from comments on a variety of news sites, one can infer that most understand that it was mental illness, not political philosophy, which drove this man to kill.

    This is a time for all decent Americans to stand up to those who would exploit tragedy for their own political gain. We cannot lower ourselves to their standards. We have a moral obligation to future generations of Americans to demand that the truth be exposed and we cannot allow the enemies within to prevail.

  • Christine (Trelaina)

    I hope as we learn more and more, that he turns out to be pure 100% loon. I pray there is no distinctive “right” or “left”.

    Regardless, this was a another example of how the left does not care about the truth or about being accurate. They care about their message. Their goal is to destroy their enemy, which unfortunately is us…and the word “fair” is not in their vocabularies.

    VERY FEW of them will retract the horrible, vicious things they said yesterday while at least two people died and others fought for their lives. More likely they will either scramble to spin their words so they still apply (“it’s the whole political climate…”) or they will just go silent. They will not pay for their words.

    As I read reactions yesterday, I was struck by the “Palin is to blame” theme that was prominent on the left even among those who had the decency to add that they were “thinking” of the victims. On RedState, there were two prominent themes: Prayers for the victims, and disbelief at the immediate, ugly reactions by PDS sufferers.

    The right gets the blame for the ugliness in politics because the left has the microphone and because we don’t permit ourselves to play the game their way. We desperately need to find a way to fight back, because no one on the left learned a lesson out of this.

  • EagleWatcher

    It’s a sad state of political discourse when you have to constantly be distancing yourself from the nut jobs in society.

    Did the Beatles have to apologize because Crazy Charlie Manson was inspired by their song “Helter Skelter”?

  • taxmaiden

    when the Congresswoman’s father was asked if she had any enemies, his response was “the whole tea party”. I understand he is absolutely devastated about his daughter being shot; who wouldn’t be? But when is this tea party, conservative, right-wing bashing going to stop? And when is the blame going to be put where it belongs, squarely on the nut jobs who do these things? Whatever happened to personal responsibility?

  • bilduff45

    As sure as the sun shines, this episode will bring out the anti-gunners across the nation.

    I was particular interested in one note by the AP that he had an automatic handgun. Having studied the evolution of weapons and shot many different ones, I cannot recall any fully automatic handgun. In large calibers, it is difficult to control full auto fire on larger rifles. The auto handgun would be impossible to control. But, who cares about such small details as this.

  • christinakfjeffrey

    Hee we go again: the media technique is old and well-practiced. They own the television and print medias. They write the first draft of history. That is why school children are still exposed to the myth of “right-wing hatred” killing JFK, even though said right-winger was close to Cuban and Soviet communists and as far from the JBS as day is from night. The truth gets noted, later, in what amounts to footnotes to history. As a Cox Reporter admitted on C-Span after another wrong-headed, conservative-bashing media feeding frenzy, “Truth is quiet.” At least he admits there is such a thing. Conservatives had better stop being cheap and buy their own TV stations and printing presses – make our own headlines – or lose the chance to write accurate, on the spot, history. Buy Erick a big Georgia newspaper! Or a TV station!!

  • michaelbowler

    The attempted assassination of congresswoman Giffords is an insult to the public discourse that serves no honest purpose. No matter the political bent of an elected official the only acceptable means of removal from office is the ballot box. What the shooter has done is to poison the public’s ability to debate the issues. This is an attack on every citizen of this country as well as the persons shot by this man.

    The insult is compounded by the news media’s decision to hang this act on one side or the other, currently the TEA Party being the primary target of all but FOX. This kind of overt disinformation is a shameless partisan ploy that demeans the people broadcasting it more than the TEA Party groups, but is also a clear disservice to the public. There simply exists no viable excuse for reporting so irresponsibly.

    My prayers and hopes are focused on congresswoman Giffords recovery. I hope yours are too.

  • josephusmyer

    … one of the articles in the NY Times (at least the online version) points out that the best description of the shooter is probably schizophrenic and points out that he had been suspended from community college for mental health reasons. He was also rejected by the Army, although they’re not allowed to say why.

    I suspect that the issue that will come out of this is guns & the mentally ill. I think that, like felons, that’s a group that we can legitimately agree shouldn’t be able to get firearms. The issue is how to draw the line without putting too much of a burden on everyone else. Just an idea off the top of my head, but when an educational establishment suspend or the armed forces reject people for mental health reasons, I think they should put a note on a background checks requiring such a person to see a psychiatrist and demonstrate mental health before buying a firearm. Is that about right, or does it give the government too much power?

  • proudmarinemom

    disclose the records of an individual’s physical or mental health examination. The military is subject to HIPAA laws, just as all institutions are.

    Had the Army violated Mr. Loughner’s HIPAA rights, there would have been grounds for him to file a complaint and he would have prevailed. Neither colleges nor the military have the obligation or the legal ability to require psychiatric care for anyone.

  • minncon

    You can name them without hesitation, those who are about to receive the brunt of the blame for this shooting:

    1) Gun manufacturers
    2) Gun lobbying organizations
    3) Right-wingers (everyone more conservative than John McCain)
    4) Talk radio hosts
    5) Veterans

    Within the first few hours of reportage yesterday, I heard:

    - the shooter may have used an automatic weapon (he hadn’t)
    - the shooter was possibly an veteran of the Afghan war (he wasn’t)
    - the local Arizona sheriff blame the event on the tone of modern political debate, especially in Arizona (he had no business pontificating so)
    - something that Sarah Palin did or said must have contributed to the murder
    (she is blameless)

    Is anyone going to examine the possibility that the actions of Congress itself – particularly where it had directly ignored the clear will of most Americans, as in the passage of the health care bill – might have contributed to the unbalancing of the shooter? How about the cramming through of various bills in the recent lame duck session?

    Of course, now it’s coming out that, if anything, the assassin had leftward political leanings laced with acute lunacy (is that redundant?)

    No matter the direction of the shooter’s politics, the actions of Washington representatives most certainly have contributed to a rancorous tone in political debate – not the other way around. When elected representatives bestow upon themselves a “ruling class” status and proceed without regard for the wishes of their constituents, especially in an explosive era of high unemployment and financial devastation, what do they expect will happen?

    And when mainstream media add to the frustration of many by ignoring obvious corruption and spewing forth nonstop propaganda, shouldn’t they too, understand that they are part of the problem?

    As we’re finding out, the shooter may have just been a nut who had his own personal demons driving him to murder his victims. But those demons weren’t born and nurtured in a vacuum.

    Media, Congress, and the rest of the Washington crowd… look in the mirror and accept some of the blame. The rest of us are tired of assuming it for you.

  • dac6803

    This will probably be miss-interrupted, but it needs to be said: “this is what you get when you politic with a strategy defined by the ‘Rules for Radicals’ and when you can never let a crisis go to waste!”

    What eventually happens, is that the loony tunes out there, which are incapable of understanding differences in ideology, assume they are destined (perhaps even chosen) to carry rhetoric forward into violence.

    Let’s face it, the media doesn’t operate to focus on the truth, it’s too busy printing evil decent because it sells papers; the radical left posts and media outlets out there can’t wait to blame someone or something as long as it fits into there ‘insane radical mindsets!’ They can’t take the time to pray for the injured and deceased and get the facts behind what has motivated this schizophrenic nut case; their message would be lost, and they wouldn’t want that to happen!

    Calm down everyone; think of the possible end results that could come out of this: peace, understanding and logic or irrational thought, and/or worse yet potential insurrection! We’re divided enough and the fires of discontent are fueled by hate mongers; don’t let them take advantage of this horrible incident to further their irresponsible cause!

    Please pray for the injured and the deceased families and extend a helping hand; we’re Americans and that’s what we do; that’s who we are; don’t let the sickos define us as they will attempt to do!

  • http://www.rebelyid.com rebelyid

    One who attempts to make political points from the acts of a murderous lunatic lacks basic civil decency. It is the mind set of one who never holds an individual accountable for their own actions, failures or successes.

  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

    and it is not any more right to do so as to blame the right.

    This guy was a lunitic like the character Travis Bickel from the movie Taxi Driver. He was not sane and he alone bears all of the blame. (unless he had an accomplice, which I doubt)

  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

    and it is not any more right to do so as to blame the right.

    This guy was a lunitic like the character Travis Bickel from the movie Taxi Driver. He was not sane and he alone bears all of the blame. (unless he had an accomplice, which I doubt)

  • dvdmsr

    I saw this link on facebook – http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/01/flashback-giffords-opponent-had-m16-shooting-event-help-remove-gabrielle-giffords-from-office.php

  • popster

    that we live in, when events like this are able to occur.
    No blame should be cited to anyone but the shooter himself.

    It is sad when the only way to communicate with your constituency,publically, is with a security company’s oversite.This, I hope, is a wakeup call against all the viciousness that has surfaced in the political world.
    We have no more room for hatred.

  • woodbridgeva

    I posted the comment below on a website (GovLoop.com) in response to the usual accusation that hateful rhetoric from the right had caused the shooting. We need to not only remind the left of their own hateful rhetoric but also the restraint shown by the right in the past under similar circumstances. Also, we need to emphasize that accusing innocent people of being accessories to murder is equally hateful.

    ” I still remember the Welfare Reform debates that lasted from 1980 to 2000 during which Republicans were accused of stealing food from the mouths of children and actual enactment of legislation in 1996 was attacked on the floor of Congress as “a second holocaust”. In 1998 a crazed gunman stormed the Capitol, killing two police officers before being brought down at the door of the Republican leadership office. I do not recall conservatives trying to claim the gunman’s action had been motivated by the highly hostile food stealing second holocaust rhetoric.

    The first step in making our political life less hostile, disgusting and perverted might be to refrain from accusing those whose views we do not share of being accomplices to murder.”

  • southcoast

    True enough, just as the left tried to blame conservative talk radio for Oklahoma City, they will try the same this time. We however must recall that in the weeks and months leading up to the November elections, it was the left and the notable protagonists amongst its ranks who have called for violence in the name of repelling Americans’ desires to restore Constitutionality to the republic.

  • JadedByPolitics

    a kind of neo nazi anti-Jew group and lets be clear that is FASCIST and of the left!

  • http://teapartisan.wordpress.com Socrates

    We should not step back from saying that. I do not know why people insist on saying he is simply nuts; at best he is nuts and liberal.

    He is a liberal — not just a liberal, but a Kos-style lefty. The idea that he is neither left nor right simply doesn’t square with reality.

    He was a hard-core leftist in high school. He was a hard-core leftist after high school. He attacked a conservative federal judge and Member of Congress known for her anti-immigration stance. He loved Mein Kampf and The Communist Manifesto. He was a conspiracy dweeb. All of that screams leftist.

    There is a point, and I don’t know where it is, beyond which liberal philosophy becomes nuts. In this case we see the results.

  • http://vladenblog.tumblr.com Vladimir

    There have always been paranoid delusional nut cases. They are not a new phenomenon.

    Just Google “McKinley assassination” if you don’t believe me.

  • jorgen

    This just proves how much the left fear Rush, Palin, the Tea-party movement etc. The guy was anyway a leftist – as was to be expected. The left’s reaction is – as is the case of accusations of racism – pure projection: they are the people of shootings and racism and they always try to blame the right for either.

  • chbroussard

    The public would be well-served by a media led by Sgt. Joe Friday that would provide us with actual facts rather than their own interpretation or worse yet bald-faced lies. I was appalled by how quickly the media started blaming the Tea Party and those associated with it before any facts at all were available. Just because you want something to be true, doesn’t give you the right to report it as such.

    Everyone is entitled to an opinion. But facts are facts, and it’s the media’s responsibility to report *facts*, not their opinion. We the People deserve nothing less and we should demand it.

  • harlan

    While the media and the rest of the Left have been attempting to portray conservatives as “extremists”, their work has been facilitated and enabled by many republican pols.

    Best example, (and there are many)…

    George W. Bush declared the grannies and grandpas in lounge chairs monitoring the border with binoculars as “vigilantes”.

    Shameful.

  • izoneguy

    I saw this last night – Geraldo should really go to work for NPR…..

    Fox News gives Leftist, Geraldo Rivera, two hour platform to stir up hate against Palin during Arizona Shooting coverage

    http://freedomist.com/2011/01/09/fox-news-gives-leftist-geraldo-rivera-two-hour-platform-to-stir-up-hate-against-palin-during-arizona-shooting-coverage/

    Was Fox News irresponsible to put Geraldo Rivera on for two hours and at least at the beginning of it possibly incite leftist loons to physically attack Sarah Palin? His two hours have much more to go. Rivera and his guests were complaining that rhetoric from Sarah Palin and the Tea Party may have incited Jared Loughner, Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford?s assailiant. Rivera is guilty of inciting strife in our nation, committing the same acts he is accusing others of.

  • pastisprolog

    This is not the first time a group of people, unpopular among another group of people, have become the scapegoats of choice for anything bad that happens. As placing blame on the scapegoats gets more frequent, one-sided and louder, public outcry against them increases into a tidalwave of fierce opposition. It has almost always worked out badly for the scapegoats.

    Blaming the scapegoat is as old as history. It is easy and very, very, efffective. It has led to genocide and the destruction of nations. Blaming the scapegoat has propelled many evil men to power and helped keep them there.

    Being the scapegoat is very dangerous. Dividing people into scapegoats and their victims turns people against each other. People don’t want to be scapegoats. Over time, many people try to stop being scapegoats, if they can, by denying their scapegoat identity. This approach may succeed for some individuals but usually hasn’t for the group at large. Most of the time.

    It was probably a mistake to treat communists like scapegoats during the “Red Scare” of the1950′s. It was too easy and prone to abuse. Progressives successfully turned the tables on their political oponents and haven’t had to relinquish the high ground they claimed for themselves when Edward R. Murrow defined the whole era as shameful. What is taught in schools about that era, and every discussion and presentation of the events of that period is framed by progressives to show how they were unjustly made scapegoats.

    What is going on now, the way every bad thing that happens is the fault of conservatives, is nothing more profound than revenge for the Red Scare and the Hollywood Blacklist.

    Conservatives have to take control of who defines them to the publc. As long as progressives get to scapegoat conservatives for everything bad that happens, even things progressives themselves have done (like who caused the mortgage crisis and all that followed) expect conservatives to be blamed for events like yesterday’s.

  • izoneguy

    Already, people are pointing fingers at Sarah Palin and her “target map” for fostering the tragedy in Arizona?but Howard Kurtz says military terminology has been part of politics for ages.

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-01-08/gabrielle-giffords-shooting-dont-blame-sarah-palin/

    And here we go again in Arizona, as people with political agendas unleash their attacks even before the victims of this senseless shooting have been buried. I find it depressing beyond belief.

    This isn’t about a nearly year-old Sarah Palin map; it’s about a lone nutjob who doesn’t value human life. It would be nice if we briefly put aside partisan differences and came together with sympathy and support for Gabby Giffords and the other victims, rather than opening rhetorical fire ourselves.

  • kowalski

    There is one simple question I have that is not being asked in all of the coverage of this event that I’m reading:

    How is it that Tuscon can allow a member of Congress to host an open-attendance, pre-announced event in the parking lot of a Safeway with upwards of hundreds of people expected to attend…

    …and not, apparently, have a single police officer or plainclothes officer or armed security presence within any kind of proximity to protect the Congresswoman and the audience?

    From what I’m reading this simply walked up to her, shot her at point blank range and then turned his gun on the crowd, and had to be subdued by members of the crowd.

    Why isn’t anyone asking where the police/security was prior to the shooting?

    I know that in my town, there was an event a couple of years ago where two members of the *state* legislature appeared to host a grand opening. It was attended by about 60 people and there were a large contingent of town police and State police on hand.

    We see all of the pictures of the police with guns *after* the shooting but why wasn’t there a single officer or security guard present in close proximity to the Congresswoman, who might have had a chance to stop the shooter?

  • NeoKong

    Rahm Emanuel and a bigshot media type.

    It was there that Emanuel, then Clinton’s chief fund-raiser, repaired with George Stephanopoulos, Mandy Grunwald and other aides to Doe’s, the campaign hangout. Revenge was heavy in the air as the group discussed the enemies – Democrats, Republicans, members of the press – who wronged them during the 1992 campaign. Clifford Jackson, the ex-friend of the President and peddler of the Clinton draft-dodging stories, was high on the list. So was William Donald Schaefer, then the Governor of Maryland and a Democrat who endorsed George Bush. Nathan Landow, the fund-raiser who backed the candidacy of Paul Tsongas, made it, too.

    Suddenly Emanuel grabbed his steak knife and, as those who were there remember it, shouted out the name of another enemy, lifted the knife, then brought it down with full force into the table.

    ”Dead!” he screamed.

    The group immediately joined in the cathartic release: ”Nat Landow! Dead! Cliff Jackson! Dead! Bill Schaefer! Dead!”

    Gee….nothing violent there.

  • PaladinLostHour

    Obama’s reaction to the shooting:

    “Obama said he wasn’t surprised that Giffords was meeting with her constituents, “listening to the hopes and prayers of her neighbors.”
    “That is why this is more than a tragedy for those involved,” he said. “It’s a tragedy for Arizona and a tragedy for our entire country.”

    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/01/08/giffords-shooting-prompts-bipartisan-support-grief/#ixzz1AXyfj8lB

    This guy is a true believer through and through. Politicians aren’t fellow citizens who’ve taken on a limited job – they are a priestly class, endowed with the ability to actualize ones hopes and dreams. Or Santa. Either way, it points to the reality that this guy is very dfferent from any other President we’ve ever had, and not in a good way.

  • smitch61

    Fantastic post, well written, the last paragraph really brings it all home.

  • gwalt

    Although I haven’t seen it, I read that Kos had her district as a shooting target as well. Both Palin and Kos have taken down those maps in light of this tragedy. But don’t expect anyone in the oft wing media to point that out.
    The first account I read of this off Drudge was NPR—- shameful to say the least. NPR should be defunded. Immediately.

  • kowalski

    As I read the accounts – and someone correct me if I’m wrong – all of the shots at this event were fired by the gunman, and he was tackled by ordinary people who were members of the crowd.

    Apparently there wasn’t a single armed law enforcment or security person on the scene, in close enough proximity to do anything, until after all the shooting stopped. How does that happen?

  • kowalski

    As I read the accounts – and someone correct me if I’m wrong – all of the shots at this event were fired by the gunman, and he was tackled by ordinary people who were members of the crowd.

    Apparently there wasn’t a single armed law enforcment or security person on the scene, in close enough proximity to do anything, until after all the shooting stopped. How does that happen?

  • izoneguy

    You know that the left will now scream & howl about how unfair that would be “in light of this tragedy”. Just as Obama has blamed Bush for the last 2 years, we will now see the left “use” this tragedy until 2012 to justify how “evil Palin & the Tea Party’s” are. Although Palin & the Tea Party HAD NOTHING to do with it.

  • proudmarinemom

    the treatment of conservatives as scapegoats may be a mistake that the progressives will regret. Can we claim the high ground soon, as well? Where is our own Edward R. Murrow?

    I wonder if, during the second half of my hundred years on this planet — optimistic, I know — I will see the day when school children are taught the truth about what happened to America back in the early 2000s. I wonder if the e-books they read on their Thinkpads (or whatever they’ll be called) will tell the story of how the conservative scapegoats of 2011 rose up against the lying, hypocritical propagandists in the old media and turned the tables on them.

  • proudmarinemom

    the treatment of conservatives as scapegoats may be a mistake that the progressives will regret. Can we claim the high ground soon, as well? Where is our own Edward R. Murrow?

    I wonder if, during the second half of my hundred years on this planet — optimistic, I know — I will see the day when school children are taught the truth about what happened to America back in the early 2000s. I wonder if the e-books they read on their Thinkpads (or whatever they’ll be called) will tell the story of how the conservative scapegoats of 2011 rose up against the lying, hypocritical propagandists in the old media and turned the tables on them.

  • sandrarobles

    Whether or not the shooter is connected in any way (which he is not) to the conservative movement, this will be a ?let no crisis go to waste? media field day against all spokespeople of constitutional restoration. Loughner will be the poster child of why “we the people” are incapable of “managing” personal liberties outside of a nanny state government’s control, protection, and authority . Personal responsibility does not exist, cannot exist, when government knows best and freedom must be squashed for the good (they will call it safety) of the “village.”

    Once the connection is made between Loughner and the progressive left, all will quiet down because he will miraculously become ?mentally ill? and an isolated “nut case.” In fact, the media will not connect the shooter to the left?because they are controlled by the left. Had the shooter been connected to the right, the circus would be a perpetual Cloward Piven attack into infinity.

    The media will portray this as only one of two scenarios…either Loughner is the “tea party” or a nut. The progressive left, the left owned and controlled media, or the Obama/Pelosi/Reid administration will never admit THEIR responsibility for the growing political unrest, racial tensions, and violence in America because personal responsibility is incompatible with their vision of socialist nirvana.

    Like Obama said in 2009, “if they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun” and “get in their faces.” This administration has CALLED for union thuggery. Union thuggery is the EXAMPLE set by Washington…the media…the Justice Department…the EPA…the FCC…. Yet, they portray horror when union thuggery is what they get.

    Liberalism is a mental illness. Count Loughner as a carrier of this deadly “disease” and America one of its victims.

  • scottb

    is no time for politics or pointing fingers. it is a time we should be praying for the survivors and the families of both the survivors and the dead. May God help them through this.

  • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine
  • wannabeanncoulter

    I hold only one person responsible for yesterday’s massacre in Tucson, and that’s Jared Lougher.

    HOWEVER, when politicians, pundits, and bloggers choose to use certain types of images and metaphors, they have to understand that the day might come when there’s some politically embarrassing (forgive me) BLOWBACK.

    Really, how was Jesse Kelly supposed to know when he scheduled his target shoot/campaign event that a couple months down the road some guy was going to blast a bullet through Giffords’ brains? Kelly’s not some vile inhuman beast, and he’s got to be feeling just awful now….

  • youcanthavemyfreedom

    We should all take a moment to pray for the victims in this horrific act of violence. Secondly, we should remember that there is a small percentage of people who have studied mental illness so the rest of us shouldn’t presume to know what was going on in this guy’s head at the time of the shooting, especially not the “journOlists”..

    The one thing we can do is to make sure we spread the “facts” as far and wide as possible using all social media outlets…e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Instead of letting the liberal kool-aid drinkers assume everythng they hear from the MSM is gospel we need to get the truth out. I’m tired of being called a hater, a racist or whatever name they come up with this week and I’m tired of being seen as a terrorist or one who incites violence when there is no basis on which to judge me as these.

    We also need to remind the liberals that almost 100% of violence associated with political views is perpetrated by far-left liberals. In our dignity, we want to rise above all the name-calling and finger-pointing but as long as we sit by and try to be “the better person” the media will continue to paint us as the party that incites violence, racism and hatred and divides the nation. As long as we don’t defend ourselves the public will continue to believe these things are so.

    Let the truth be known! God bless America.

  • gwalt

    I read Krugmans disgusting “post” on his blog. Then he shut down comments because the “crazies” were coming out. Coward.

    There is absolutely ZERO POINT ZERO use for the media today. They all lie and insinuate.

    Even after it was revealed that the Discovery Channel assault was an eco-terrorist, the left at MSDNC still portrayed him as a right-winger. No matter what we find out, no matter what this guy says himself.

    He could even say that Markos Moultsas inspired him as well as Ted Rall and Bill Ayers, he will still be portrayed as a right winger. Because we all know the “left” is not violent (sarc off).

  • avgjo

    The commies weren’t scapegoats, they were guilty as charged. Murrow’s ‘reporting’ was either incompetent or disingenous, using Alinskyite (even if Alinsky hadn’t yet written the book) tactics against a patriot.. McCarthy was right on all but I one, if I recall correctly.

    The mistake was bowing to the treacherous media. McCarthy should have been helped, leading to the rooting out and destruction of the Communists in our country. If this had happened, we full well might not find ourselves in the predicament we now do. They certainly wouldn’t be in a position for revenge.

    I agree with your last paragraph; we need to out-Alinsky the Alinskyites. But this time, when we win, we need to make sure it’s for good. Completely discredit them using the school system, the media and academia, teaching and promulgating American Constitutionalism in direct, stark opposition to socialism/communism. Pass laws making it near if not outright impossible to pass communist legislation and make sure all of our public school grads understand why communist ideas are dangerous, so they don’t fall for such demagoguery again in the future.

  • steebo77

    after someone sent him a justifiably snitty email about it.

    You can find a cached version here:
    http://web.archive.org/web/20080803220453re_/www.dailykos.com/story/2008/6/25/1204/74882/511/541568

  • steebo77

    “That Scott down there that’s running for governor of Florida,” Mr. Kanjorski said. “Instead of running for governor of Florida, they ought to have him [sic] and shoot him. Put him against the wall and shoot him. He stole billions of dollars from the United States government and he’s running for governor of Florida. He’s a millionaire and a billionaire. He’s no hero. He’s a damn crook. It’s just we don’t prosecute big crooks.”

    (http://spectator.org/blog/2010/11/09/kanjorski-on-gov-elect-rick-sc)

  • nohype

    What you call a “rifle scope symbol” is called a “position indicator” by the unicode consortium, which assigns position 2316 to this character. This character is probably on some font on your computer so that the character can display correctly when it is used on a web page. Whoever did the map that Sarah Palin used probably thought using the position indicator symbol to show position was the logical thing to do.

    Google “unicode 2316″ for more information the character.

  • outbackjon

    The Glock 18 is a fully automatic handgun. But an individual needs special permits to own one.

  • pastisprolog

    The mistake in the 1950′s was scapegoating communists. Communists deserved more careful and reasoned opposition than that. Sooner or later, someone would be accused of being a communist in such an unjust manor and for such base reasons (which is exactly what happened) that anti-communism was permenantly tainted by the aftermath of the Army-McCarthy hearings.

    If the only way to help McCarthy was to expose Venona, then McCarthy had to be allowed to suffer the consequences of going allong with Roy Cohn’s vendetta. McCarthy had to prove what he needed to without any evidence that even hinted atVenona, and he couldn’t. Cohn’s folly simply allowed Murrow to make anti-communism shameful.

    Ever since, progressives have owned the common public perception of the Red Scare as scapegoating at its worst, fearful, mean, unjust, stupid, unnecessary and, wrong.

    This is why I wrote that it was wrong to scapegoat comminists during the Red Scare. It was the wrong tactic to use against something that dangerous, and it proved to be the undoing of anti-communism for thirty years.

  • http://norunnyeggs.com steveegg

    Honestly, I don’t see any difference between the supposedly objective news media and the openly-partisan left. Yes, there were a couple of calls to not rush to judgement on the motives (including one from, believe it or not, Rachel Maddow), but it sure looks like they got their marching orders from Kos.

  • edintexas

    There was the Mauser 712/M1932 variant of the C96, and there may have been Spanish or Chinese copies of the 712 (there were of the C96).

    The Beretta 93R is a rare fully auto pistol. And some would count the Czech Vz. 61 Skorpion as a pistol. The MP5K is just a little bit larger.

  • kowalski

    The British press reports that the Sheriff of Tuscon confirmed that there was no security at the event. So far I haven’t read this in American press accounts:

    The sheriff confirmed that there was no security at the event. He would not confirm if the rampage was caught on CCTV cameras, or what the suspect was yelling as he fired the shots.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1345386/Gabrielle-Giffords-shot-Congresswoman-fighting-life-Arizona-gunman-identified-Jared-Loughner.html

    I don’t want to point the finger of blame, but there’s a real question that needs to be answered here: Most public, open attendance events expected to draw crowds of people (not to mention members of Congress) usually entail some form of police presence. Apparently there wasn’t any security at this one, and I think it’s an important question to ask: “Why?” In most towns across America, you can’t have a little league game or a cookout or a public fair or festival, not to speak of a political rally or event, without there being at least a token police presence. Tuscon is a city of more than 500,000 people and this event was pre-planned and announced on Twitter, and yet there was no security present whatsoever. I find that unconscionable and disturbing.

  • edintexas

    Years before HIPAA, there was a Federal statute (and I’m sure state statutes as well) protecting people’s mental health and drug abuse treatment records and information.

    And so the problem remains balancing the vast majority of people’s health records (mental and otherwise) against the value of possibly eliminating the LEGAL sale of a firearm to a person with a history of mental health issues. We all know, or should know, that eliminating the legal sale of a firearm does not eliminate the ability to obtain a firearm.

    Further, where do we draw the line on what constitutes a diagnosis which is a disability for 2d Amendment purposes? Untreatable schizophrenia is one most all can agree on, but what about with treatment? Or what degree of depression is acceptable to eliminate 2d Amendment rights? How many medical opinions are required (we all know there are mistaken diagnoses made), Would it require a psychiatrist, or only a psychologist to make the diagnosis?

    This is not a simple issue.

  • Wayne

    I tried to read through all the posts so as not to be guilty of redundancy, but most I read followed the same vain and as a result, I’m giving my two cents again.

    The Tea Party is not about hate. It is about civil discourse and respectful education of genuine American cultural values. Just ordinary people doing extraordinary things because these are extraordinary times when Patriotic citizens are compelled to remind or teach those that have either forgotten or unaware that this country was founded on the principles of individual freedom.

    I could go on, but for now I believe that is all that needs to be said.

    My thoughts and warm regards go out to the victims, their families and friends of the senseless violence in Arizona yesterday.

  • steebo77

    Reads the main headline at the New York Daily News.

    An editorial proclaims:

    And, now that Palin may have the blood of more than some poor caribou on her hands, I wonder if she will continue putting people in cross hairs and calling on folks to RELOAD!

    You can also take a poll:

    Blood on Palin’s hands?
    Do you think Sarah Palin shares responsibility for the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Gifford?

    Yes, she put a cross hair on Gifford’s district, encouraging gun-toting lunatics.
    No, you can’t hold Palin accountable for other people’s actions.

    Keep on keepin’ it classy, Daily News!

  • sharonmcp

    If one has read diaries and comments at DailyKos, it doesn’t take long to realize that a great many of the posters there are not very fond of, or tolerant, of the Blue Dog caucus of the Democratic party.

    In fact, on Thursday, January 06, a Kos member posted a diary titled,

    “Alan Grayson CALLS OUT Obama’s Blue Dog Only Cabinet”.

    In that post was a video of the former congressman in which he said this

    The White House is packed, the executive branch is now packed with blue dogs and other people who just aren’t comfortable in taking steps to help with a conscience.

    On his MySpace page, which has since been removed, the shooter, Jared Loughner, lists Conscience dreams as one of his interests, stating, “Conscience dreams were a great study in college!”

    In his first youtube video he states

    Hello, my name is Jared Lee Loughner. This video is my introduction to you! My favorite activity is conscience dreaming; the greatest inspiration for my political business information. Some of you don’t dream – sadly.

    While appearing on FOX News the day before the shooting, Congresswoman Giffords stated rather matter-of-factly, that she was blue dog.

    In the DailyKos posting that I mentioned above, the diarist, wrote…

    …in my honest opinion, Blue Dogs are just Republicans who can trick Democrats into voting for them.

    Now, I would like to ask a question to the members of this community, and though I know this community on the whole is far to the left of America’s body politic, I would be interested to see the opinions of the people here whom I respect.

    The question is

    If the Democratic Party is dominated by Blue Dog/DLC banker friendly conservatives who use Republican frames

    And

    If the Republican Party is dominated by total freaking nut jobs who use racism, xenophobia and hate to perpetuate a class war on behalf of their billionaire masters while using Republican frames

    Then

    How do we have a REAL choice in our Representative Democracy?

    And, if so

    How do we fix it?

    IF Loughner were even just a casual reader of DailyKos, he no doubt would have come across comments and stories vilifying the blue dog members of Congress. With his obviously unstable mind, could even something as innocuous as Grayson’s and the Kos member’s comments been enough to ignite his explosion?

    Something to think about IMHO.

  • steebo77

    From Politico:

    One veteran Democratic operative, who blames overheated rhetoric for the shooting, said President Barack Obama should carefully but forcefully do what his predecessor did. ?They need to deftly pin this on the tea partiers,? said the Democrat. ?Just like the Clinton White House deftly pinned the Oklahoma City bombing on the militia and anti-government people.?

    Another Democratic strategist said the similarity is that Tucson and Oklahoma City both ?take place in a climate of bitter and virulent rhetoric against the government and Democrats.?

  • edintexas

    Wasn’t it opposition to the Health Care Bill the cause of the Times Square car bomber’s plot? Must be so, the blooming idiot in the Mayor’s office said so (or at least that is what was reported). I guess he couldn’t figure out how to blame “Right wing gun nuts” for the attempted bombing.

  • p3dot14

    This morning on CBS Sen Kyle spoke well, ?to ascribe a political motive to the shooter is probably greatly overstating his capacities. There are many unstable people in the country and no one know why they do the things they do?[paraphrase]. To blame conservative for the shooting is wrong and those who attempt to do so are being blatantly partisan.
    That being said, in hindsight, many people will consider the cross hairs on Palin?s website as a lack of judgment. She needs to raise her game to demonstrate the ?gravitas? needed to be a leader or spokesperson of a major movement.

  • Scope

    I think it is Rush that says that when you see Riveras face, someone has died or there has been a terrible tragedy. Yup, here he is playing the grim reaper yet again.

  • Warrior

    and I’ve been advocating it for years…(although I have little money to contribute.)

  • smagar

    I don’thave time now to look up the link—but the Tucson police has good relations with the Tucson Tea Party.

    Some reporter should ask what opinion, overall, the Tucson police had of the Tucson Tea Party.

  • Mike Ferguson

    It doesn’t make it the police’s fault, the gunman is the only one to blame. However, I have been reading that many congressmen and women, and rightfully so, are now more concerned for their safety. If nothing else this tragic event should remind them that they need to make sure to inform police and The Sergeant at Arms about these events.

    It would appear that the Congresswoman held these events fairly frequently and sadly perhaps, as with many things that we become comfortable, we also become complacent and don’t take the steps to protect ourselves like we should.

    I think in the end we will find that the shooter is a deeply disturbed man and has been for quite some time. So his excuse for his actions will not make any sense to us.

    To the members of Congress I say to please take steps to protect yourselves. It is not paranoid to have a couple of cops around during an event such as this, even if they are just off duty cops working as security. Public figures will always be more of a target because they are public figures and need to take steps to protect themselves.

  • izoneguy

    I think you will see beefed up security around all members of Congress. At all the Tea Party events I attended there was a least a police presence around.

    I smell a new bill in Congress being written right now…..

  • smagar

    It hosts bloggers who blog about whatever they want to blog about. Some are political muckrakers—-proudly and openly. That’s OK on TC.com.

    So, if you cite TC.com as your source, you REALLY should cite the blogger whose work you’re using/referring to. You should also check the rep of that blogger…you might have latched onto a muckraker.

  • Mike Ferguson
  • silentcal2012

    Should send the Obama “if they bring a knife, we’ll bring a gun” and “get in their face” quotes to them all day. Just saturate their mailboxes.

  • runner12

    I am not trying to blame anyone here but the shooter, but it may be wise in the future to have at least a small security detail and/or a police presence.

  • kowalski

    1) It would satisfy common sense if a Congressperson hosting an open-air rally, talk or chat at the local shopping mall in a big city asked the police force of that city to devote an officer or two to Protecting and Serving. I can’t help but think that a single armed security guard or officer at this event could have drastically altered what happened. As could have a single responsible, armed citizen in the audience.

    2) Ascribing any kind of coherent political motive to 22 year old killers who also have thoughts of mind control and post rambling incoherent philosophical diatribes on YouTube, who may be working with an older accomplice, jam packed with cultural noise and word salad, is a very risky proposition and people shouldn’t play that game. But they will, because they want a scapegoat.

    3) More people should protect themselves by owning a firearm.

    4) People need to be mindful that words aren’t just empty vessels. Using words like “target” and “bulls-eye” and a lot of the terminology that has seeped into our everyday political talk is at the very least coarsening it. There are going to be violent, crazy people regardless of what we do: on the other hand, we can control our own speech and our own rhetoric.

  • uselogic

    I’d bet 90% of their reporters actually couldn’t tell the difference between a revolver and a magazine fed semi-auto. AP reporter…. “Let’s just go with automatic; it sounds more ominous.”

  • uselogic

    I’d bet 90% of their reporters actually couldn’t tell the difference between a revolver and a magazine fed semi-auto. AP reporter…. “Let’s just go with automatic; it sounds more ominous.”

  • http://www.helpawhiteguy.com livefreenh

    And again, the truth will set you free. Some people are too concerned about WHO is right instead of WHAT is right. This explains the insistence on grouping us into something that can be named artificially, such as “teabaggers”, “right wingers” etc. These are the group(s) that they put is into. And they are simply trying to force one more member into this synthetic group that they have made. If they stuck with natural groupings such as “truthful” and “liars” and “murderers” they would remain accurate, although maybe disappointed in which group they found themselves. But at least they wouldn’t be “forced” to listen to Rush any more.

  • carolina

    He was pushed to blame contentious politics (on CBS) and he refused. He said that we don’t know what was in the mind of the shooter.

    A dem who is not trying to make political hay out of this tragedy. I respect him all the more for this.

    Juan Williams is also tamping down the political rhetoric approach, but he is on Fox………. so not as diverse an audience.

  • carolina

    He was pushed to blame contentious politics (on CBS) and he refused. He said that we don’t know what was in the mind of the shooter.

    A dem who is not trying to make political hay out of this tragedy. I respect him all the more for this.

    Juan Williams is also tamping down the political rhetoric approach, but he is on Fox………. so not as diverse an audience.

  • steve010

    This guy was just another Eric Harris, Dylan Kiebold klone. Any kid who get rejected for enlistment in the Army has a problem. This wasn’t political. Just as political as Columbine or any other wackjob with an automatic weapon.

  • audax

    …..

    http://oi56.tinypic.com/2apvzk.jpg

  • carolina
  • izoneguy

    http://kyl.senate.gov/

  • audax
  • carolina

    I guess I was hoping there was a reasonable dem. shucks

  • carolina

    I guess I was hoping there was a reasonable dem. shucks

  • kowalski

    The language of the political class itself, particularly in the way consultants advise campaigns and whip up their grassroots “gate smashers” to speak, is also extreme.

    You don’t have to search far to find references to killing and decimation in our political discourse as it applies to raising money for candidates:

    Actively supporting dropping “money bombs” on candidates
    “Targeting” and “sniping” and “drawing bulls-eyes” on races and candidates
    The now ubiquitous political phrase “holding [something] hostage” which at one time was nonexistant but now is almost a reflex among both parties
    The constant insinuation that people who disagree with you are “traitors” or “enemies.”

    What do we do with traitors? We execute them.

    These are just a few examples. We’re increasingly using words in our policital discourse that do relate to the business of warfare, murder, traitorous betrayal, killing, etc., etc. But those words are not content neutral – they’re terms of violence, of irreconcilable difference that can only be solved through violence. In some sense we’re all pushing the boundaries of what can be called political discourse without also being viewed as a violent threat. This goes for Kos’ scrubbed posts and the Money Bombs we are implored by political action committees to “drop” on our “enemies.”

  • izoneguy

    I am sure there are reasonable dems out there….

    They are just being drowned out by the unreasonable one’s right now.

    Demonizing Palin & the Tea Parties will only backfire.

    Paging Geraldo Rivera…..

  • dano509

    Remember that we educate our children that they are animals, nothing special just here by chance the ends justify the means and then when they turn out like we educate them we blame everyone but ourselves. WAKE UP AMERICA.
    We ask ?were was God during this evil event? He?s right were we put Him, out side our lives, the ACLU a leftist group bent on the total destruction of this nation made sure of that and only when things like this happen do we infer His name as if He were a rabbits foot and when this passes we will put Him back in our pockets because after all we don?t want Him to really get involved with our lives we?ll keep Him there for good luck. Remember the judgment of God is not always horrific natural disasters or plagues but the worst is when He removes His Presents and Protection from a nation.
    Think on this, we as a nation may have gone to far and God has left us on our own what a horrible thought??.

  • chbroussard

    They’ll be working 24-7 to cement the blame on this incident.

  • avgjo

    If you make it clear that He is not welcome in your home, He won’t make a nuisance of Himself.

    Although He does have a funny way of pulling you out of your burning House, even when you haven’t done right by Him. (He is faithful even when we’re not..)

    That and that we as a country haven’t turned on Israel are the only reasons IMHumO that He hasn’t let us drown on the wine of our iniquity.

    Let Hussein Obama keep up this pressure on Israel to give up land God Himself gave her; that might be when the Almighty says, ‘enough’. God protect us from such a day.

  • avgjo

    If you make it clear that He is not welcome in your home, He won’t make a nuisance of Himself.

    Although He does have a funny way of pulling you out of your burning House, even when you haven’t done right by Him. (He is faithful even when we’re not..)

    That and that we as a country haven’t turned on Israel are the only reasons IMHumO that He hasn’t let us drown on the wine of our iniquity.

    Let Hussein Obama keep up this pressure on Israel to give up land God Himself gave her; that might be when the Almighty says, ‘enough’. God protect us from such a day.

  • Read Chesterton

    for making the Giffords shooting about “the public discourse” and the dangers of “conservative rhetoric.” I mean you Brett Baer.

    The Fox News Sunday brand has just slipped to the level of the its ABCNBCCBS cohorts.

  • jdw4america

    to start blaming the shooting on the Tea Party, Palin and, well, us. It must have been 30-40 seconds after the assault, which really, is an act of restraint on their part.

    Sad, really, really sad. It’s as if they expect the people to say, “hey, wow! I see it now! MSNBC, CNN, The Times, they were all right! The conservatives are dangerous! Let’s void the last election and put the good guy Democrats back in power!” Good luck with that.

    Anyway, I see only one person who should be held responsible for this vile action, and that’s the guy who pulled the trigger. I don’t concur with the opinion that he did it because he was mentally ill, although there seems evidence that he is disturbed. The overwhelming majority of people with mental illnesses are a danger only to themselves – especially schizophrenics.

    This man may be sick, but that’s not what made him shoot innocent people yesterday. He’s evil, and his action was evil, and he freely choose to do this evil thing. He was not in a confused fog, acting blindly, believing that it was something he had to do. The postings online indicate that he enjoys the idea of eradicating those who do not share his opinions. It’s time we stop minimizing the evil that men do, out of some pseudo-psychological sense of human powerlessness. He IS responsible for his actions, mental state be damned. Mental illness and willful evil are not mutually exclusive, and we should stop acting as though they are – or else start emptying the prisons.

  • josephusmyer

    But it’s one that should at least be considered, even if we ultimately conclude that privacy & 2d amendment concerns mean that we decide that the status quo is better.

  • Scope

    No reason for the left to hate FOX so much, seeing that their “news” and commentary has now gone to the left of center, and then some. Fair and balanced would be 50/50. They are now more like 60/40 in favor of the Democrats, and 0 for conservatives.

  • http://www.gmsplace.com/ civil_truth

    With the media deliberately provoking suppression of the right with amplification of accusations without a shred of support, one or two more of these tragedies will lead to a crackdown.

    What is so disturbing is the father’s immediate blaming the tea party movement. This suggests the passions are so high that our country is approaching the point of no return in terms of an irreparable schism.

    A tragic, tragic day for the future of our republic – not just the tragedy of the assault, but the response of the left and the media and their Manichean mindset that has been exposed.

  • donnybrooke

    Something I’ve believed for a long, long time. We should be concentrating on taking back the “media”. Of what use is taking back the reigns of government when the liberal media will merely trash everything done by conservatives in the minds of the American public, placing blame on us for incidents such as this? I would rather see a conservative media than a conservative government, for one will surely follow the other.

  • http://www.ohioheidi.com ohioheidi

    Yes it’s a wake up call! Just look at the hate spewing from the LEFT! And this happening in Arizona where the LEFT has exploiting illegal immigration, pushing the DREAM act….

    Just because it was a Democrat victim doesn’t mean the criminal came fromt he RIGHT! I dare them place blame on the RIGHT!

    Just like them, exploit any situation to their advantage. A 9 year old is dead! A judge is dead! A Congressman is dead!

    Glenn Beck is NOTHING compared to the crap coming out of the left. I’m surprised Palin hasn’t been whacked from the unhealthy obsession they have with her Saturday Night live!

  • gekster

    guilty because of mental illness, not innocent because of mental illness.

  • gekster

    it might give a clue as to where he got his left leanings from.

  • runner12

    but I was glad that he called out those in his own party this morning. To paraphrase, he basically pointed out that the base of the Left is trying to do what Clinton did with the OKC bombing and that it is wrong.

    He also defended Palin stating that just because someone believes in 2nd Amendment does not mean they wish someone dead. He pointed out that having a viewpoint on the 2nd Amendment is well within the framework of poltical discourse.

    So there are sane liberal Democrats out there who are not engaging in hateful rhetoric. They are just being drowned out by their radical base.

    My concern is that this vitriol from the Left may incite more violence. They need to calm down and quit using a tragedy for poltical gain.

  • runner12

    but I was glad that he called out those in his own party this morning. To paraphrase, he basically pointed out that the base of the Left is trying to do what Clinton did with the OKC bombing and that it is wrong.

    He also defended Palin stating that just because someone believes in 2nd Amendment does not mean they wish someone dead. He pointed out that having a viewpoint on the 2nd Amendment is well within the framework of poltical discourse.

    So there are sane liberal Democrats out there who are not engaging in hateful rhetoric. They are just being drowned out by their radical base.

    My concern is that this vitriol from the Left may incite more violence. They need to calm down and quit using a tragedy for poltical gain.

  • caboose

    got away with blaming the so called right for the Oklahoma bombing in 1995. Each time there is a tragedy in this country they immediately blame the right. Bush did not fight back and now Cantor and Boehner are falling flat of their A$$eS in giving in, to the Democrats on legislation. Why in the world would they give credibility to the Dems and their LSM. To delay a vote on the repeal of Obama healthcare takeover, is pure capitulation. Its that simple. Gabe, God bless her, will be a long time recovering. It makes one wonder if Boehner and Cantor are mediocre or worse leaders. Another thing comes to mind is whether they are serious about repealing this socialist bill, and are looking for anything to get out of doing it. Republicans must not only repudiate, and condemn the propaganda from the left, including the LSM, but out right call them the liars that they are. They can no longer wait for Rush and Sean to do it for them.

  • Lesstressrx

    I am so sorry that Ms. Gifford and victims had such a horrific attack. I pray for all of them.
    For 2 days now, all we are hearing is about this terrible crime, but no one is talking about Veteran Republican official John P. Wheeler III that was found dead in Delaware landfill. Nothing. I wonder how his family must be feeling with all the news about the victims in Arizona and no one is talking about what happened to their loved one.
    Today on Fox News Sunday, the Representative from Delaware, was talking about Gifford, but not a word about the man in his own state that was for sure murdered.
    If I am missing something here, please let me know. My prayers are also for his family.

  • lanettetay

    Life is not always a box of chocolates nor is it always political.

    Wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, daughters, sisters, sons, friends, colleagues, neighbors, Americans, died yesterday. One victim, a Congresswoman, is still alive by the grace of God and sheer will. Fatally injured in the shooting was an honorable Judge. A nine year old child, involved in school politics, died from gunshot wounds reportedly upon arrival to a hospital whose staff has shown valor and professionalism at a level that should be sung and praised.
    A man who held a Masters Degree in helping others died well before his time. More than one of our seniors lay dead, family members lost and grieving.

    As so many of our fellow Americans, our friends, fight for answers through their tears, what are we doing? We, WE, are fighting over politics!
    What if the shooter worked at a grocery store as a Grocery Bagger?
    Should we not turn the fight to, “Paper or Plastic?”
    Asking whether the gunman preferred to bag groceries in, “Paper or Plastic?” makes as much sense as asking whether or not a 22 year old boy had a firm, educated, and conscious answer to his political questions and views while clearly fighting with mental instability.

    Psychological instability is more often than not the catalyst in mass murder. If we don’t wish to ask, “Paper or plastic?” perhaps we should ask, “Where the hell is the mental health community?”
    Reports have stated that the man who open fired on innocence in the midst of a great day in Tucson had been removed from college and asked to seek mental help. If reports are accurate, where was that help?
    Where were Loughner’s parents as his troubles built?
    Was law enforcement alarmed in any way of Loughner’s mental stability during their alleged run-ins in the past?
    Many, many questions exist. And, for societies safety sake, the truly important questions must be answered. And the truly important questions have nothing to do with Sarah Palin, Rush LImbaugh, and Glenn Beck!
    Pundits, bloggers, active political citizens on both sides must get over themselves. Life exists outside of politics. Whether Loughner “Was,” a Leftist, a Rightest, or a Nazi is irrelevant, categorically.
    Mr. Loughner had deep seeded and ultimately malignant to others, psychiatric and/or psychological illnesses.

    People have died and people have been shot in the parking lot of a neighborhood store. Who gives a damn how he registered to vote or whether he prefers paper of plastic?

    *No trees or recycling plants were harmed in the writing of this article.

  • Martin Knight

    And according to Caitlyn Parker, his former friend from high school, Loughner wasn’t exactly happy with the end-result of that meeting.

    “As I knew him more and more after high school, he got a little bit more odd,” Parker said. “I mean, he was obsessed with the 2012 prophecy. I mean, he met Gabrielle Giffords once in ’07 and told me he asked her some question that made absolutely no sense to me, but he said, ‘I can’t believe she doesn’t understand it. Politicians just don’t get it.’”

    Considering that the mentally disturbed (as this guy certainly was) have the tendency to obsess over perceived slights and grow them totally out of proportion to anything resembling reality, it’s fairly obvious to me that was a personal thing Loughner had against Giffords.

  • http://www.buckforcolorado.com bjwilson83

    I just wish someone in her staff or the audience would have been packing heat so they could have prevented some of the deaths.

  • melissatx

    They were at the round table discussions with the liberals.

    The voices of reason and truth, sadly, are few and far between.

  • disintelligentsia

    of anything that will bring balance to the discussion – they leave all the comments on about the “right-wing” being the reason for this loon, but when I’ve posted about the facts – and done so in a respectful fashion without vulgarity, they purge it very quickly. What I stated there was:

    Really tired of the relentless finger pointing and politicking. This guy was not a “tea bagger” nor was he right-leaning. Palin is no more to blame for this thing for putting cross-hairs over Gifford’s district than Markos Moulitas is for doing the EXACT same thing! This guy was an unhinged nutjob. End of story.

    Saying otherwise just makes you look like a fool – just like the girl that twittered that “Sarah Palin *liteerally*[sic] put a gun sight on @Rep_Giffords.” But when she found out who the shooter actually was she was horrified that it was not some tea party-right-wing-McChimpBushitler dittohead, but a friend that she had been in a band with who was, in her words: “a political radical”, “left wing, quite liberal” and “a pot head & into rock like Hendrix,The Doors, Anti-Flag” (see http://volokh.com/2011/01/08/what-were-jared-loughner%E2%80%99s-politics/). Oh, and his favorite book was that right-wing favorite, The Communist Manifesto.

    Sure sounds like a flaming right-winger now, doesn’t he? His execrable acts were not motivated by rational political thoughts but were the product of a sick mind.

  • http://www.redstate.com/tnjim TNJim

    simple disagreement with their policies. No matter how thought out, or heated, that disagreement is, they equal it with hate. This is particularly true over the last 2 years. Sadly, the press goes right along with it, because that is the view of way too many of them. Yes, some of the townhalls during ’09 and ’10 got a little or a lot heated, but the biggest reason for that was the Representative or Senator was not listening, even dismissing their constituents’ objections. Thus the meme was set: Disagreement = hate = disagreement.

    The aftermath of yesterday’s shooting just, to me, drives that point home even more.

  • blacktrain

    @rebelyid: Your comment needs to be one of Pres. Obama’s opening statements at his State of the Union addrress.
    I salute you.

  • ladyimpactohio

    http://www.verumserum.com/?p=13647

    And the Kos one isn’t a map, but I downloaded the list in case they took it down. And yes, Gifford’s name is one it.

  • kowalski

    This isn’t even a small town: it’s a city of 500,000+ people. They couldn’t spare a single plainclothes officer for a member of Congress, in an outdoor, open-to-the-public event, talked about online where, let’s face it, you have no idea who you might be inviting?

    People with mind control fantasies and delusional thought processes, for example?

    As I say elsewhere, where I grew up it’s impossible to imagine holding any kind of rally/talk/gathering tha might bring 100 people or more without at least a police cruiser being in the immediate vicinity. It just doesn’t happen, and I’m glad it doesn’t happen. A couple of duty officers whose beat this was would have made sense to me…but I don’t run the police force in Tuscon.

  • bus2dc

    My stomach hit the floor when it first aired, that her own father would be this reckless. Also Sen. Linda Lopez (to whom now many have written, including myself), being interviewed not a half-hour past the shootings, proclaimed the “Tea Party vitriol” for the incident, citing recent vandalism to support her claim. Of course, she couldn’t know then that the investigation would almost immediately uncover a Bible-hating atheist with favored books including “The Communist Manifesto”, and utter psycho-babble filling his online sites. “Tell a lie long enough and it becomes the truth.”

  • http://westforwestwing2012.com heartlander

    But I wonder if we’ll ever hear about THAT from any of her friends or anyone in the LSM. It’s the same reason Kos had her on his bullseye list — i.e., she wasn’t left-wing ENOUGH.

    PDS is starting to remind me of BDS at its worst — EVERYTHING, from the 9/11 attacks to the mere existence of a hurricane, was Bush’s fault. In similar fashion, we are now hearing that EVERYTHING, including rampages by leftist loonies, is Sarah Palin’s fault.

  • kowalski

    It just seems like good police work and common sense to me:

    PD Supervisor: “What’s going on in town today?”
    PD Clerk: “Well, there’s this and this, and this, and oh, over at the Safeway Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is having a meet/greet/talk with a bunch of constitutents outside.”
    PD Supervisor: “Any patrol units going to be in the area there? Maybe we should have a plainclothes on hand for that.”

    I’m not a cop of a medium-sized metropolis nor do I play one on TV, but it makes sense that somewhere this conversation should have taken place. It’s a terrible tragedy and I am trying to resist the urge to point fingers, but the Sheriff of Tuscon has been widely publicized for characterizing his city as being full of bigots, etc., etc. Well, then if it’s such a hot zone, how come there wasn’t a cop on the beat at the Safeway to protect and serve a member of Congress and her constitutents?

  • http://westforwestwing2012.com heartlander

    Indeed, most “journalists” are terrifically ignorant — even of basic facts in their areas of supposed specialization. I’ve seen “science reporters” mangle the most basic scientific information, and “religion reporters” — oh, let’s not even go there!

    Most Americans probably don’t realize that during the ’80s, at a lot of universities merged their journalism departments into the same schools/colleges as their public relations and marketing departments. So, no wonder we have a crop of journalists who think their job is to shill and spin and propagandize, rather than dig up the FACTS and faithfully report them!

  • http://westforwestwing2012.com heartlander
  • redneck_hippie

    to:

    “Medill faculty members voted earlier this month in favor of changing the name of the Medill School of Journalism to “The Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications,” professors confirmed last week.”

    …

    “”Everybody agreed without discussion that we cherish Medill and the name journalism and we always will,” Lavine said. “We decided not to change the name of the school, but we would just include what we’re doing. We do journalism and we do marketing and we do communication.”

    Some IMC students said they are in favor of a name change because “school of journalism” does not adequately describe their field.”

  • carolina

    invited to this ‘Corner Congress’ event – so he showed up.
    It seems like her office would be able to specifically identify his ‘complaint’, based on prior discussions with him.

  • melissatx

    Here: http://nation.foxnews.com/gabrielle-giffords/2011/01/09/dems-urge-obama-pin-shooting-tea-partiers

    Reminds me of the fistfight that broke out at Wellstones funeral. Sad. Not letting a moment of this tragedy go to waste.

    A Colossal Failure of Journalism: Jared Loughner is crazy: http://nation.foxnews.com/gabrielle-giffords/2011/01/09/colossal-failure-journalism-jared-loughner-crazy Unhunnnn.

    With all due respect, Dick Durbin and Linda Lopez and Sherifff Dunpnik are uselful idiots, tools.

  • Scope

    where you heard that “the shooter hated Giffords’ relatively tough stand on illegal immigration”? From what I’m hearing is that he apparently at least read the American Renaissance website that is very very anti-illegal immigration. I believe that info has come to light after the authorities seized his computer, and obviously did computer forensics on it.

  • nvrepub

    nt

  • carolina

    The feds opened a safe in his home – and found letter(s) between him and Giffords dated in 2007. Another handwritten note mentioned his planned assasination of Giffords.

    Funny thing how 2007 was BEFORE the TEA party even existed. Wonder if the lamestream media will ever mention this……..

  • kowalski

    Looks increasingly like another alienated, decompensating “injured poet” with a leftist streak and an enormously confused mind, a history of drug use, combined with really awful police protection in Tuscon – by a Democrat sheriff.

  • kowalski

    I’ve noticed that both the Washington Post and the New York Times have ratcheted waaaaaay back on the “blame the Tea Party!” angle to this story in the past 8 hours as more details about the gunman, his background, and his possible motives are becoming clearer.

    As well they should.

    The President has called for a National Moment of Silence and I agree with him.

  • kowalski

    But we do know that this particular member of “this generation” was interested in poetry classes at his local community college and apparently didn’t fit in very well there.

  • Scope

    was a reply to Heartlander.

  • kowalski

    It’s not gratuitous to revisit the history of the shooter at Northern Illinois University a few years ago:

    A student at the “Marx….Weber….Durkheim…..” NIU Sociology department, an extremely disturbed young man who nevertheless was regard as “well liked” at least within the NIU Sociology department, with a tattoo of Danny Glover’s “The Saw” movie on his arm, who lived in a halfway house in Chicago…because of difficult and unruly behavior…and who was discharged from the military…(the shooter in question in this event never made it past the drug screen.)

    Another very confused, mentally unstable and odd-fitting young man, who lashed out and killed so many people…but not a Tea Partier….

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Illinois_University_shooting

    It is worth noting that on the day that shooting took place I took a snapshot of the NIU Sociology home page, and the scrolling banner across the top of the page was…. “Marx….Weber….Durkheim…….” etc., etc.

    There are a lot of significant parallels between this shooting and the NIU shooting. And they really tend to cluster this guy with the confused and anguished, destructive Left, not the Right, much less the Tea Party or anyone in it.

  • kowalski

    According to new information that is constantly emerging all the time from the Washington Post, he also didn’t fit in well in his math classes.

    http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2011/01/jared-loughners-behavior-recor.html?hpid=topnews

    So he was pretty well in trouble in terms of conventional academic achievement regardless of what he was trying to do, from mathematics to poetry, and quite a few people had caught on to the fact that there was something very wrong with him.

    My educated guess is that he is a late-onset, untreated adolescent schizophrenic with a tremendously discombobulated mind that could have been influenced by almost anything he was reading or doing.

  • Scope

    Tuscon Sheriff, Clarance Dupnick, who, shall I say is well into his medicare years, has now, several times made some very very unprofessional statements, while being interviewed about the tragedy on FOX. He’s probably doing the same on other channels as well, I don’t know, I don’t watch them.

    It appears to me that Linda Sanchez, an AZ State Senator, and a very good friend of Mrs. Giffords, talked on FOX yesterday, not very long after the incident, and said that the tragedy was the result of the Tea Parties. She mentioned the large amount of vitriol, coming from the Tea Parties, who were supporting Mrs. Giffords mid-term challenger. I wonder if she ever heard Alan Grayson’s Taliban Dan ads. I wonder if she was around to hear the names flung at Bush, and the incendiary language coming from those with BDS.

    Thankfully, Meghan Kelly, who interviewed the Sheriff a little while ago, reminded him, that as a Sheriff, it was not his place to make this into a political soap box, I am para-phrasing. He didn’t stop, but rather doubled down. He said that he didn’t grow up in a country like this. He said that there was a time when politicians could sit down and work together. He said, and this is the shocker- “there is a party in this country that is trying to stop the other party from making this a better country.” Previously the Sheriff made the statement that Tuscon was becoming the Mecca of prejudice and bigotry.

    Meghan Kelly just had a Peter someone on and he also was appalled at the words being spoken by this Sheriff. Peter said that Prosecutors and Sheriff have no place making extra judicial statements, and, that his statements could actually harm the case. He has an obligation to report the facts, period. He proposed the idea that it’s possible that a GAG order should be put on this old coot. Let’s hope that happens soon.

    It’s interesting that Mrs. Giffords herself is an anti-illegal immigration supporter. She lives in a border county and no doubt knows the damage being done by the influx of the illegals. She has called for tougher penalities for employers who hire illegals. She wanted the IRS to get tougher on the illegals. She was against the DOJ lawsuit against AZ when they passed the illegal immigration laws, which mirrored the Federal law. She was against the boycott of the state. When DHS promised to send more border agents, she said it was about time, as they have been begging for that assistance for a long time.

    OTOH, when the AZ illegal immigration law was passed, Sheriff Dupnick said that he would not enfoce those laws. He called them racist, unnecessay, disgusting and unconstitutional. I saw an article that called him the anti-Sheriff Arpaio.

    Let’s hope a GAG order is issued against him making any further statements very soon.

  • gunsrus

    starting with Micheal Moore and the rest of the Hollywood left

  • gunsrus

    They are never seen with a police officer in uniform as they are unpopular with their target constituency. This also apply’s to soldiers in Uniform unless its a well orchestrated photo op, usually with some negative spin.

  • kowalski

    It’s stupid because the officers on the police force are there to protect and serve the public. I really never mind having police officers at any event I’m going to: in fact it tells me,

    “This thing is at least well known, documented and the municipality has dispatched some officers to make sure it doesn’t get out of hand.”

    People who have problems with the presence of law enforcement officers at political or other events need to think again: If I was hosting an event that could involve potentially hundreds of people, the first thing I would do is to call the local police and let them know.

    Also, the Sheriff is a Democrat himself. I think he dropped the ball and then wanted to displace the blame.

  • Warrior

    how else does anyone get away with blaming Bush a full TWO YEARS after his presidency is over??

  • runner12

    any more unprofessional than what he appeared to be yesterday. He is a sheriff that is a part of a large investigation into the murders of multiple people, including a Federal judge. He has an obligation to report the facts as they come in, not make it a soap box for his own political views. Quite frankly, I believe that he should step down from his position. He is embarassing himself and the great state of Arizona by his behavior.

    The sad part is that the victims of this tragedy have been completely forgotten by some on the Left in their eager rush to place blame on those who they feel are their political enemies. Six people lost their lives yesterday, one was a Federal judge and another a nine year-old child. A United States Rep. is fighting for her life in the hospital. Our main focus should be on praying for healing those who survived and for comfort for those who lost loved ones.

    Our second focus should be on providing better security for our Reps that still allows for access by their constituents. We also need to explore how this shooter, who showed multiple signs of serious mental illness, slipped through the cracks like this.

    P,S. On a separate note, Britt Hume on Fox just took on those on the Left who are blaming the Tea Party and conservatives. He is a much needed voice of reason and truthfulness at this time.

  • kowalski

    There was a guy here on Redstate a long time ago who I haven’t seen recently…who would have done a great job of dissecting the “shiny object” quality of what happened with this Sheriff in Tuscon.

    Basically what happened is that a Congresswoman was shot in the head by a crazy man and many, many other people died and were injured on his watch, because there was no police protection at the event in his municipality, and his answer was to go immediately on television and blame “bigots” and latch onto the shiny Tea Pot and wave it around.

    The blame is his, for not having a single police officer at the scene beforehand, and I suspect he knows it very well.

  • Warrior

    and the Berlin wall came down. No one is going to be happy when they are outed and crushed, whether it was done heavy-handedly and stupidly (McCarthy) or elegantly and wisely (Reagan).

    They hated Nixon because he successfully prosecuted Alger Hiss. They hated William F. Buckley because he resurrected Conservatism. They hated Reagan because he crushed them. And Reagan was not treated with kid gloves at the time. I remember drawings of him with horns and a tail in the mainstream media.

    Your intention may be right, but practically speaking, no enemy is going to love you for defeating them.

  • Warrior

    stated breathlessly on Sat. that “Gifford was a supporter of gun rights,” immediately after reporting that she had been shot.

    Gee, if some female congressperson dies during an abortion, is the ABC lead off going to include that fact too?

    “Congresswoman Smith died today during a botched abortion. Congresswoman Smith was a supporter of abortion rights.”

    It kind of makes you sick…

  • redgrayandblue

    We don’t yet know the facts–so we are bringing to the conversation all our preconceived notons. That there is a left wing press that distorts things. That the tea party or the right is to blame. That the left is to blame. That the shooter is evil.
    The person who committed this act this bears the most responsibility for the act–no question.
    However, everyone is busy using the incident to make themselves right and others wrong. My words weren’t to blame because the other side did it too. Everybody willing to point the finger elsewhere.
    But no one seems to have the courage to say–I am willing to examine my conscience and consider whether my words or acts contributed in some way to this deed It really isn’t appropriate for either side to use violent words or imagery in campaigns. The uncivility of recent elections is indeed appalling. The politically slanted broadcasts go way too far in their outrageous claims and rhetoric.
    There is an indication that the shooter may have been mentally ill. If it turns out to be true, we all have some responsibility for this incident because our system for treatment and our neglect of the mentally ill in the United States is disgraceful. As in this Red State piece we find it convenient to throw off any responsibility and just call these folks with an illness “evil.”
    It was the local Sheriff who first voiced his concerns about the vitriolic political rhetoric–and considering that the Congresswoman had received prior threats, rightly so. The press just repeated what he said.
    Words do have consequences–and both sides of the political dialogue should tone down their over-the-top emotional rhetoric, instead of writing long pieces denying any responsibility and trying to lay it at the feet of everyone else and using it to fan the fire of even more divisive dialogue–like this piece.
    We all bear some responsibility no matter whether the shooter was left or right or just very confused. This incident is tragic–and we should be looking for how to prevent similar incidents, not pounding our chests and cheering “for our side.”

  • Jack_Savage

    …I know the left has again failed to pin the blame for the latest incident on the right. “Both sides should tone down…”.

    You first.

  • aesthete

    See KGUN9 (Tucson’s local news outfit), as it is much more accurate than the national news on this story.

  • aesthete

    but not in the context of this recent tragedy. Laws passed as a reaction to tragedy tend to be poorly thought-out and poorly-written (I would fully expect such a law passed now to fall into the pratfalls mentioned by edintexas).

  • donnybrooke

    I was merely echoing what Christinakfjeffrey and you had previously posted. Really, its nice to own talk radio and have a serious presence on the web, but the main means of information distribution is still network television.

    Shutting down the PUBLICLY funded left-wing propaganda machines (NPR, etc.) by defunding them would be a good start. But, in the end, we will need the media outlets (or at least have an equal voice on-air) to get our message out.

    I despair that in our haste to win the political battle, we will lose the information war. Of the political field, the “fourth estate” may be the most powerful. We need more conservative journalists.

    (I am becoming disenchanted with Fox News, which seems to be hiring more and more “failed” liberal commentators, when they should be kicked out into the dustbin of obscurity that their views deserve — I’m sort of hard-hearted that way.)

  • aesthete

    but it is plausible. Giffords is Jewish and supports Israel, so motivation may have lay somewhere in her ethnicity.

  • aesthete

    This guy was conflicted: he believed several (contradictory) things that leftists believe (what you mentioned above, plus flag-burning), that rightists believe (he was anti-immigration, from what I’ve been able to tell, Constitution stuff), some things that fringe rightists and fringe libertarians both believe (government mind control, currency stuff), and his own stuff (“conscious dreaming” and “grammar control”). All of it was extremely disjointed, and would not have occurred to someone of his right mind.

    This was a deranged, mentally-disturbed individual who could have been triggered by anything, not the act of a sane political operative of any stripe. Making it about politics sh*ts on the graves of those who died.

  • Scope

    who has been more vitriolic in his statements heard nationally, is telling of where you are coming from. You can’t possible take one’s vitriolic statement’s and approve of them, then accuse both sides. Not smart. Not at all. You are as guilty as the Sheriff and the left.

  • izoneguy

    http://www.redstate.com/moe_lane/2011/01/09/prediction-clarence-dupnik-will-lose-his-next-election/

  • Tbone

    I despise the Left. They are amoral, the scum of the Earth. Baby killers and hypocrites. I share these feelings for the Left with millions of other Americans. None of us has shot anyone.

    This guy is insane. This is also not my fault. You want to feel guilty because it makes you feel self-righteous. Go right ahead. Just don’t try to drag me into your cesspool of self loathing.

    Good lord, you people make me sick.

  • earlgrey

    How?

  • http://teapartisan.wordpress.com Socrates

    And I take offense at the statement that I’m defecating on the graves of anyone.

    But I get your meaning, and will desist.

  • http://www.laborunionreport.com LaborUnionReport

    When you write about the “uncivility of recent elections”…

    http://www.google.com/images?q=bush+hitler+signs&hl=en&safe=off&prmd=ivns&source=lnms&tbs=isch:1&ei=si0pTc64GcP-8Abb5ZmQAg&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&sqi=2&ved=0CAsQ_AU&biw=1280&bih=574

  • jimdim

    The right is never responsible.

  • discerningconservative

    Did you spend all day thinking of that?

  • gekster

    What do yo mean?

  • oblio

    n/t

  • 6eorge Jetson

    Do you hypocrites have any memory?

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens
  • littlehouse18

    ‘mental health’ was often used as a pretext to effectively eliminate political dissidents. I don’t like the thought of lunatics having guns, but this is an area where government involvement must be very carefully weighed.

  • YnotNOW

    This media frenzy illustrates why I appreciate RedState mediators for banning abuse of their comments – everything from profanity to birther craziness. We don’t need to give the Lefitst Media any amunition. We can rightly point to Daily Kos or Huffington Post as the more lunatic side of the spectrum.

    (spoken as a long-time lurker who recently decided the water was nice enough to dip my toe in)

  • YnotNOW

    This media frenzy illustrates why I appreciate RedState mediators for banning abuse of their comments – everything from profanity to birther craziness. We don’t need to give the Lefitst Media any amunition. We can rightly point to Daily Kos or Huffington Post as the more lunatic side of the spectrum.

    (spoken as a long-time lurker who recently decided the water was nice enough to dip my toe in)

  • voxoreason

    There were pix posted online of Diane Feinstein and her barnyard friends sitting there flipping through gun magazines (“lions and tigers and bears…oh, my!”) to see which ones looked the scariest. I would say that they looked a bit like grazing cows… but this would be insulting to cows.

    Maybe dung beetles? I don’t care if I insult dung beetles. But I can see where a “con” argument could be made. Any PETA people here?

  • bluemosque

    Of course, this is another of those “Don’t let a crisis go to waste” mantra of the left. And we all know this, except those perpetrators who persist in their false hope and insane belief that people will never know the truth. These misguided Kool-Aid imbibers inevitably end up dropping their heads in shame. Shame, shame.