To follow up on the earlier article today, now we have the NY Times editorial board. As it is portrayed on the front page
Bloodshed and Invective In Arizona: Arizona should take the lead in quieting the voices of intolerance and imposing sensible gun control laws.
Obviously, when they talk about taking the lead, they mean worrying about all the harsh political rhetoric, right?
It is facile and mistaken to attribute this particular madman’s act directly to Republicans or Tea Party members. But it is legitimate to hold Republicans and particularly their most virulent supporters in the media responsible for the gale of anger that has produced the vast majority of these threats, setting the nation on edge. Many on the right have exploited the arguments of division, reaping political power by demonizing immigrants, or welfare recipients, or bureaucrats. They seem to have persuaded many Americans that the government is not just misguided, but the enemy of the people.
See? The entire thing is the fault of people on the Right. Obviously, the Left is full of sweet little things that never go overboard and never threaten anyone. Obviously, we never saw any “hate” speech and vitriol aimed at Bush and the Right. Climate realists have never been threatened with execution for not believing in the cult of Gore. The Left never throws around death threats, right?
Not to be outdone by the Times (but he is), E.J. Dionne is calling for the same thing, and, yup, blames the Right, and goes with
The point is not to “blame” American conservatism for the actions of a possibly deranged man, especially since the views of Jared Lee Loughner seem so thoroughly confused. But we must now insist with more force than ever that threats of violence no less than violence itself are antithetical to democracy. Violent talk and playacting cannot be part of our political routine. It is not cute or amusing to put crosshairs over a congressional district.
The point is not to blame, but, he just did. He blamed Palin, the TEA Party, and all conservatives.
Liberals were rightly pressed in the 1960s to condemn violence on the left. Now, conservative leaders must take on their fringe when it uses language that intimates threats of bloodshed. That means more than just highly general statements praising civility.
I guess that is not “blaming” American conservatives.
In honor of Giffords, the effort to drain the rhetorical swamps should be as nonpartisan as she was in her interview. It is wrong, at any point on the spectrum, she said, to “incite people and inflame emotions.”
In other words, welcome to 1984, and control of speech that politicians do not like. Just be careful that that doesn’t come around to bite you in the butt, E.J. Expect to see plenty of emails from me whenever the Left ups their vitriol.
And, do I really have to mention that the shooter was neither a lefty nor a righty, but, in his own little political world, having nothing to do with our politics?
Sorta more: after I was done writing this, and setting it to post at noon, I took a walk around the blogosphere, and came across Michelle Malkin’s post about Left wing hate speech: The progressive “climate of hate”: an illustrated primer, 2000-2101. (which I also linked earlier) And here’s one I forgot about
and this one
Obviously, those were motivated by right wing hate speech, eh?
anyone on the left killing people for political reasons ? Anyone on the left killing anti abortion people? Teach who has the guns? the right or the left? Deayj threats against Obama are happening at TWICE the rate of those against Bush.
A couple come to mind: Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong. JFK’s killer was on the left. Sarah Jane Moore was a liberal, and shot Jerry Ford a little over two weeks after Squeeky Frome, another Liberal, pointed a gun at him.
Conservatives are not marching out in the street with signs calling for Obama’s death, like they did with Bush.
Regardless, John, I don’t blame Liberals/Democrats as a whole for the derangement of a few bad apples. They are responsible for their own actions. And, really, if you want to debate it, Giffords’ shooter held more left side beliefs than right side beliefs.
PS: You should really take the time to read the Michelle Malkin post I cited in this post, and the previous one, for a look at what YOUR side is doing, John. And then try and defend it.
“I am not here to point the finger of blame squarely at the Republican party for these tragic senseless deaths, but I want to point the finger of responsibility at Republicans.”
Quote:
“But it is legitimate to hold Republicans and particularly their most virulent supporters in the media responsible for the gale of anger that has produced the vast majority of these threats,”
Ummm.. No, it is not since the Vast Majority of threats and attacks have come from lunatics that tend to hold Far-Out viewpoints and beliefs. NOT liberal or Conservative.
And, to claim that when a PAC or candidate is trying to ramp up their supporters by using “war” analogies is synonymous making death threats is to me, tantamount to defamation.
Jim Hoff has an excellent post showing how you idiotic left just can’t point the finger of blame at the one person who committed the crime…
Shall we point out that the DEMS also had bullseye images on who to “attack” at next election cycle????
But then, using the LIB-LOGIC, which hurts my mind when it does that 180, Pres Obama is more to blame for this horrific act than anyone else!!!
Talk about evil, hate-filled, murderous rhetoric.
What we need to do is to implant a device in every American’s brain that forces us to obey the president. Then, I want to become the president. – Jack Handy
We should not humor this totalitarian left-wing fantasy that vitriolic political speech is in any way relevant to the events that transpired in that Safeway parking lot Saturday. When some nitwit blames Sarah Palin or Glenn Beck for events that are obviously unrelated to their statements, we are mistaken if we attempt to defend what they or anybody right of center say. The argument or retort should begin with the premise that whomever is attempting to create linkage between political speech and random insanity is at best a despicable political opportunist. Those who constantly decry “conservative speech” as inflammatory vitriol are only interested in violating freedom of speech that they disagree with. To pretend that those who accuse people from the right of criminal speech are anything but Fascists is just plain silly. While they are not as disturbed as Jared Lee Loughner they are infinitely more dangerous to this country.
of course there are/were excesses on the left BUT no member of Congress was killed by a skinhead like Loughner
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA
I love it when people try and tie murderous lunatics to the Nazi party and then trying to tie that ASSUMED veiled association to the Conservative Party\Tea Party.
hahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahaaaaa
Can you say, that’s like comparing acorns to … squid.
John,
Wrong again. Most of the political killings in our country were committed by the left. This nut was left. Now lets examine some facts.
This guy was crazy. In the past, we locked this sort away before they could harm someone. But guess what, the liberals did not feel that was right so they did away the the mental health institutions in the 60’s. See all the homeless on the street? Those are actually mentally ill people with no where to go because of the liberals. This guy should have been under care but did not get it due to —- the liberals.
Now who is driving the dvisive rheotoric? That is the progressives/liberals/communist/our president. As conservatives, we have set targets of elimination of bad politicians, throught the electeroal process. Just as in the War of Northern Agression, we did not want to fight, but were forced into the action by the progressives. The same is happening now.
Instead of a leader, Obama is inflaming everyone trying to get his base to mobilize, it is not working. But he is making the country very unstable with his words and actions.
It is a shame what occurred, but I fear more is on the way as the left becomes morte unhinged.
Dear Lord People! This isn’t about left or right. If you want to get specific the FBI is investigating his relationship with the American Renaissance group which is way far right. So far right that I would bet many of you can’t even see that far. He isn’t liberal or conservative, he is an extremist, plain and simple.
People died, neither the right nor the left seriously advocate the death of their fellow citizens. You guys are being so pessimistic about the majority of people. To try and classify one party as evil because of something a complete psycho did is evil in itself. Yes, the left has said inappropriate things and so has the right, we both need to become accountable for that. But now, now is NOT the time to be doing this. Let the investigation continue, get the results, see if Giffords survives, and then, maybe you can take time away from prayer to start blaming. I know it is easy, and maybe even necessary to blame someone, but you need to realize, the only person to blame for the death of these people is one lone gunman.
Look, there are crazies on each end of the spectrum. Don’t classify a liberal based on the extreme’s in their party, and don’t classify a conservative based on the extreme’s in their party. Do you really believe this pointless conversation will ever end? I can identify a conservative for every liberal you identify and vice-versa. It is pointless.
The fact is that even if you completely got rid of all violent rhetoric, which I believe is a mature and valid step to try and take, on both sides, the crazies will still find something to attach themselves to. That is what they do. They need psychiatric help (note I did not say psychological), and as much as you can try and create a perfect world where there is never any incitement and everybody gets along, there will still be the few, not the many, that will find a way to screw things up. Read about the stories of the people that were there that day, you will find that there was some true heroism. Focus on that. Please.
I know personally people that died in this tragedy, and maybe that helps me to more easily blame this man. But, seriously, stop with the blaming.
I’m a Centrist Left, but the comment about the skinhead thing is ridiculous. This is what happens when murderous criminals are transported. Their heads are shaved. You don’t have to take my word for it, look it up. Stop trying to draw conclusions to back your party and somehow vindicate it of all wrong doing.
I just learned that they have even dismissed the American Renaissance group as a connection, which further emphasizes my point. There is no connection between left or right. Just mentally unstable.
Well said, Kevin, well said. There are crazies on both sides, and people who go overboard on their rhetoric. But, 99.9% of the time, those who take violent actions like this are beyond the extreme, and we both want nothing to do with them, and deny them. Plus, Loughner seems to be in his own little world, and is not a part of either the left or right.
Here here Teach!!