The state department has been warning us against this kind of violence from extremist political groups, and everyone just turned the other way. While people stand around wondering how this could happen, I remember a line from the Rolling Stone’s song, Sympathy for the Devil,
“I shouted out, Who killed the Kennedys? When after all It was you and me”
What will come of this? My prediction is that the government will have a typical knee-jerk reaction in which they will target any political group with a Facebook page or Blog, which is unfortunate.
We can solve this problem in a couple of hours. Get a patty wagon and go pickup Rush, Beck, Coulter, Palin, The Koch brothers, Dick Cheney and Malkin and throw them in a rubber room somewhere, and throw away the key. Oh, and shut down FOX News.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT1KRZOK4VE[/youtube]
lol, so you automatically presumed he was some right wing nutjob. Why can a person not be simply off their damn tits? Something I didn’t know though, she is Jewish.
At first I was willing to agree, just a nut (which he is) but if you read some of his postings on the internet you can tell he was influenced by someone.
So, how is the government’s “typical knee-jerk reaction in which they will target any political group with a Facebook page or Blog…” different from your typical knee-jerk reaction of “Get a patty wagon and go pickup Rush, Beck, Coulter, Palin, The Koch brothers, Dick Cheney and Malkin and throw them in a rubber room somewhere, and throw away the key. Oh, and shut down FOX News.”?
Well I came across one bit saying he read Mein Kampf and the Communist Manifesto. Either that is proof he was out of his mind or he is just that stupid he didn’t understand either one. His primary influence was the real mean sounding voice in his head……or his neighbors dog.
The first instinct of tyrants anywhere and anywhen is to arrest innocent people for the crimes of others. Its pretty convenient: “Arrest everyone who disagrees!”
Here’s the complete list of his favorite books:
Animal Farm, Brave New World, The Wizard Of OZ, Aesop Fables, The Odyssey, Alice Adventures Into Wonderland, Fahrenheit 451, Peter Pan, To Kill A Mockingbird, We The Living, Phantom Toll Booth, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Pulp,Through The Looking Glass, The Communist Manifesto, Siddhartha, The Old Man And The Sea, Gulliver’s Travels, Mein Kampf, The Republic, and Meno.”
Leaked DHS memo says he may be a member of anti-immigration hate group “American Renaissance”.
lol, American Renaissance is a hate group.
Don’t forget Sharron “resort to second amendment remedies” to the roster.
Palin’s crosshairs are now off her website and the whitewashing begins.
Add Bachmann to the 2nd amendment remedies list. She said she is crying her eyes out today.
The right wingnut whitewashing will include the faux argument that he was a nut, that out of 308 million citizens a few a deranged. Deranged was Hinkley who tried to assassinate Reagan to get Jody Foster to love him – that was deranged.
This Jared reacted to stimulus he was ill-equipped to understand – hate, vitriol, second amendment solutions, etc. In the same manner the Westboro Baptist Church clowns are prompted by their supporters and apologists. This assassination and near assassination is the result of right wingnut rhetoric.
Hate speech is never constitutionally protected speech. Let the round-ups begin.
I must laugh that you cry about one type of speech not being protected because you disagree with it or find it offensive. When some religious group wants to ban some form of free speech they find offensive they are automatically in the wrong. Let the round ups begin, indeed perhaps they should start with those who think a strong double standard is the moral high road. This incident has nothing to do with the 2nd amendment. What this guy did is illegal, so any law preventing this is moot. As the investigation goes perhaps we will find out why he did this, if he could legally posses a firearm and whatever else may be there to find out; until then perhaps we should check our political ideologies at the door and remember that a child and judge were also shot.
Jim, you are laughing at the US Constitution and the US Supreme Court. I’ve prosecuted fools in and outside the military for communicating a threat. It’s not about my or anyone else’s subjective like or dislike of speech – it’s about a threat, fighting words, or hate speech.
Go take a constitutional law class on the First Amendment. Read Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, 315 US 568 and Cohen v. California, 403 US 15.
The First Amendment protects political speech. It doesn’t give license to threats and hate. Move on.
John2 is right. While I can be a real dick on here with my words and statements, I do not condone violence. In fact I have had to block people who talk about it. The pen is mightier then the sword. It’s one thing to have crass political discourse with someone you do not agree with, it is entirely different to show up to a grocery store and shoot them in the head.
Like I said at the top of this thread. The state department warned us about hate speech, and our worst fears are coming true.
Politics should be about politics, not the name calling and threats that have occurred in the last few campaigns. Discuss the issues and quit trying to stir up trouble and hate towards the opponent.
As I have often said, “I don’t hate politicians, because once that happens, they are not funny anymore.”
Ok, so the Cohen v Ca was about being vulgar and Chaplinski v NH was about being verbally abusive, what does this have to do with the labeling of hate speech that which is not hate? Anyways, came across an article from USA Today, the dude was a tad mental. It’s odd that you mention the Constitution but also say round them up.
Straight lines
A straight line from Bill O’Reilly to Scott Roeder – who murdered Dr. George Tiller while he was attending church.
A straight line from Glenn Beck to Byron Williams, the intended shooter of the Tides Foundation, and another straight line from Beck to Richard Poplawski – the cop killer in Pittsburgh.
And a straight line from Sarah Palin and her hate speech to Jared Loughner – the guy that shot up all those people in the Safeway parking lot, wounding more than a dozen and killing six. Including a federal judge and a nine year old girl.
…remember: Charles Manson never killed anyone.
“but also say round them up”
I was being sarcastic, you guys really need to stop being so thick. When Glen Beck tells me he is an entertainer, I believe him, because most of what he says is ridiculous.
Uhhh that was John2 that said it, are you trolling your own blog?
One has to admit that Sarah Palin graphic showing crosshairs on all of the politicians (including Giffords) could easily be construed as a hit list.
The vitriol, rhethoric, and blatant hatred being spewed in Washington, on talk radio, and on cable news IS responsible for this type of thing when it happens. I’m not drawing a specific link to a specific person here, I’m merely saying the tone set by many of these people ends up infuriating the weak minded until something like this happens.
I’d much rather go back to the days of real investigative reporting instead of the “infotainment” crap we have now. When the line between journalist and entertainer becomes so blurred it is harder to recognize than a wrinkle on Joan Rivers’ forehead… we know we have problems.
Palin has been in hiding since the event has happened. Maybe this will finally be the nail in her coffin (I don’t want anyone to think I was making a reference to Palin dying by using that pun)
Oh please. Its pretty clear this guy was lunatic who politically could at best be described as a pot smoking leftist.
Mea Culpa line starts to the left.
He WAS a ‘pot smoking leftist’ at one time, and guess what, he never shot anyone when he was. That didn’t happen until he put down the pot pipe and leftist views.
Dave – not sure your comment was directed at my post or not, but keep in mind I didn’t suggest this was something that is only an issue from the right.
We all know the left has their fair share of talking heads which can and probably do push people into such violent acts. Maybe it doesn’t happen as often because lefties tend to be pacifists and don’t like guns and don’t join militias, but it does happen.
My point is the tone set by cable news, talk radio, and politicians in Washington is the problem. Not just the left, not just the right… but all of them.
In this case the guy obviously had an issue with this particular politician. In this case there is some information coming out which shows she was a “target” (for lack of a better term) from the right. We’ve seen this type of thing before with white powders being mailed to politicians, gas lines being cut on politician’s homes, threats of violence, people showing up to campaign apperances wearing visible sidearms or carrying rifles slinged over their shoulders.
People can pretend this is just another “bad apple” and isn’t indicitive of a larger issue all they want (as they are doing in an effort to distance themselves), but I think he is merely an effect to a much larger cause. He isn’t the first one to do this type of thing and he surely won’t be the last.
Guess what? When all the knees on all sides of this tragedy stop jerking, it will most likely turn out that this punk ass loser is just a run of the mill nut-job. It wasn’t Limbaugh, Beck, Boortz, Hannity, O’Reilly, Ingraham, Palin, Thompson, Savage or any of the other immensely popular and influential conservatives any more than it was the liberatti of Olbermann or Maddow that made him do it. I believe the clinincal term is “fucked in the head”.
I agree he was mentally ill. But he didn’t target you and me. He targeted a Jewish Democrat and anybody else in the way.
And he targeted a Jewish Democrat because of the mean things crazy right wing conservatives say? Or was it because she voted against Nancy Pelosi as minority leader and the crazy left wingers made him do it? No, he did it because he’s a lazy fucking nut-job loser — PERIOD.
Seems someone is a little upset because all of their party’s fringe group’s hate speech is encouraging people to kill politicians.
Those on the right attempt to distance themselves from him claiming he was just a lone madman who acted alone and the shooting was in no way political in nature.
Those in the NRA attempt to distance themselves from him claiming he was a lunatic who wouldn’t follow gun laws anyway (even though he purchased his pistol and high round magazine legally).
Those in the Tea Party distance themselves saying although there was some violent speech in some (not all) rallies, it was all in the tone of needing change in Washington rather than a call to arms and it wasn’t meant to be taken literally.
Sarah Palin distances herself by removing any trace of her “target” graphic from her websites and issuing a (very scripted and manufactured) statement reminding us this guy was just a crazed gunman acting alone… and claiming those on the left are using this for political gain. Yet she makes no apologies for her tweet that was sent during the healthcare debate that read “Don’t Retreat, Instead – RELOAD!”.
Just remember that it was Giffords herself who made the following quote about Palin’s “target” graphic: “The way she has it depicted has the cross hairs of a gun sight over our district. When people do that, they’ve got to realize there’s consequences to that action.”
So with all of these people distancing themselves from the shooter… who is actually stepping up in an attempt to prevent it from happening again?
Surely none of the above.
It is time we started reacting to the hate speech and vitriol before something like this happens rather than after. A call for violence is a call for violence and is no less dangerous than yelling “fire” in a crowded theater. Someone like Palin cannot be personally held accountable for the shooting obviously, but she can be held accountable for her words. She has solidified the fact that she will never succeed in running for public office and will soon fade away into oblivion from which she came.
Just remember what we were all taught in elementary school: Words Matter.
I also have to admit the very same people telling us this is just one man who acted alone and that he is not indicitive of the entire party / group etc and those who continually try to convince us that all Muslims are terrorists.
Be careful what you wish for I suppose.
The pen is mightier then the sword. The teabaggers don’t realize that the BS they spew can have really terrible consequences. It’s sad really.