The Left quickly assigned blame for this weekend’s tragic shooting in Arizona to Sarah Palin, the Tea Party, conservative talk radio, and Fox News. Left-wing pundits are screaming for an end to the “heated rhetoric” surrounding immigration reform, tax policy, and health policy. According to the Left, this weekend’s mayhem is symbolic of the “culture of violence” the “right” inculcates.
Quite surprising to the Left must be the revelation by a former classmate of Jarod Loughner that he is actually “left-wing” and “quite liberal.” In fact, the would-be assassin’s Youtube page lists several diverse literary influences including George Orwell (socialist), Adolph Hitler (Nazi), Ayn Rand (objectivist), Aldous Huxley (humanist), Karl Marx (Communist), and Lewis Carroll (Christian). This list hardly reads like a library of one steeped in conservative political theory. From the initial evidence gathered, It turns out this killer wasn’t a young man motivated to act out on his bizarre fantasies by conservative thinkers. Rather, this tragedy appears to have been committed by a mentally unstable young man with somewhat Leftist political views juxtaposed with wild conspiracy theories.
Now let’s take a look at Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. The congresswoman is not the liberal Democrat the media are portraying her to be. In fact, she belongs to the Blue Dog Coalition which seeks to restrain the more radical Leftist elements within the Democratic Party. Congresswoman Gifford’s moderate and conservative stances so enraged the extreme Left, that the Left-wing blog site DailyKos actually insisted a “bullseye” be painted on her district, marking her as an incumbent worthy of defeat in this past Democratic primary. After winning re-election, Rep. Giffords was one of just nineteen Democrat representatives to oppose Pelosi election as minority leader in the House vote earlier this month. Far from a liberal Democrat, Congresswoman is one of the most conservative elected officials in her Democratic Party!
Considering a mentally unstable young man with mostly unknown, but possibly "liberal", views attempted to assassinate a Democrat so conservative that liberal activists attempted to defeat her in the Democratic primary, why are the media so intent on blaming conservative thinkers and speakers for motivating the killer to commit this heinous crime?
According to the Left the “heated rhetoric” must stop because such rhetoric is responsible for this madman’s heinous actions. While the evidence contradicts their analysis of this situation, let’s pause for a moment to reflect on who is actually guilty of morphing rational dialogue into incendiary rhetoric. Consider Keith Olberman’s daily "Worst Person in the World" segment where he launches personal attacks on those who oppose his political agenda. Of course, who can forget how Democratic Representative Alan Grayson shockingly compared his Republican congressional opponent to the Taliban? Grayson even delivered a stunning speech which summarized the Republican health plan for the poor as “die quickly.” How can we ignore the exchange on Journolist where an NPR affiliate producer joked about her fantasy of watching Rush Limbaugh die in torment? Then again, our President recently stated regarding his political opponents, “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun.” How’s that for “violent rhetoric”?
If you actually take a moment to listen to just a few hours of conservative talk radio, read an issue of National Review, or process a few editorials in the Wall Street Journal, you’ll find that the alleged “rhetoric” on the right focuses on policy and constitutional issues. On the other hand, Left-wing blogs, MSNBC commentators, and Leftist speakers on the House floor often personalize their attacks. The harsh reality is that Left often replaces logic with passionate emotion.
In no way am I suggesting any leftist pundits are responsible for the attack. In addition, the information regarding this madman's views and motivation is sparse. However, these pundits should be ashamed for blaming this tragedy on conservative thinkers-- especially when the initial facts suggest this killer's political views were anything but conservative! It's disingenuous and misleading to insist otherwise.
I trust this killer will face the severest of punishments for this crime. He not only committed murder; he also tore the fabric of our republic. Let’s not dampen the exercise of our First Amendment freedom of political discourse in the righteous goal of seeking justice for the victims.
"If you actually take a moment to listen to just a few hours of conservative talk radio, read an issue of National Review, or process a few editorials in the Wall Street Journal, you’ll find that the alleged “rhetoric” on the right focuses on policy and constitutional issues. On the other hand, Left-wing blogs, MSNBC commentators, and Leftist speakers on the House floor often personalize their attacks. The harsh reality is that Left often replaces logic with passionate emotion. " So you say-interesting that you don't mention Fox News, for one. Also what about:
ReplyDelete"Recall that at the same time, a surge of political violence erupted across the county as Democrats became the target of what were essentially terrorist attacks.
* Rep. Tom Perriello's (D-VA) brother's address was erroneously posted online by a Tea Party blogger who invited activists to descend on the house. A gas line outside the brother's house was cut.
* Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) was the target of threatening faxes and phone calls, including death threats.
* A brick was thrown through the window of the Democratic Party office in Rochester, New York.
* Rep. Anthony Weiner's office in Kew Gardens, New York, had to be evacuated after suspicious white powder was found in an envelope mailed to the office.
* A thrown brick smashed a window at Rep. Louise Slaughter's district office in Niagara Falls, New York.
* Slaughter also received a message claiming that "snipers were being deployed to kill those members who voted yes for health care," according to Politico.
* The FBI arrested a California man for making threatening phone calls to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
* A tossed brick demolished a window at the Sedgwick County Democratic Party headquarters in Wichita, Kansas.
* A devoted Glenn Beck fan left a serious of death threats (“Kill the fucking Senator! “) on the voice mail at the office of Sen. Patty Murray
And of course, there was the attack on Gifford’s Tucson office last March. Hours after voting in favor of health care reform, vandals smashed the front door, along with a headquarters window. Days later, Gifford spoke about being targeted"
Looks like you are favoring the right just a tad and not facing the facts. (all of the above from: http://mediamatters.org/blog/201101100012)
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ReplyDeleteJoel, it's fair to say Loughner is not a conservative, but it's not fair to label him a leftist. Look at the characters that influenced him: they're all fringe figures, radicals, or eccentrics. Orwell's writings aren't socialist, they're paranoid. Rand is a fringe intellectual who promotes good ideas and impractical policies. Carroll may be a Christian, but in his writings he portrayed illusion and nonsense. Huxley was mystical and psychedelic. Hitler's twisted hunger for power led to bloodshed. Marx's negligence of the consequences of his proposals led to suffering. It's clear that all of these people tried to change reality in ways both compelling and ugly. After seeing Loughner's actions and watching one of his videos, I see why he admires those characters. It's not for their politics. -Brad Hoganson
ReplyDelete"...I don’t think that mere hyperpartisanship is to blame. It was not Democrats and Republicans battling one another that led to yesterday. But while yes, it was a deranged individual, it was a deranged individual living in a time and place where anger and vitriol had reached such a fever pitch that we had dehumanized those in public life. That’s what Sheriff Dupnik was talking about.” -Andrei Cherny, Arizona Democrat
ReplyDeleteThis cuts both ways. Things are frequently politicized on both sides in order to reach each elected official or party's own political goals. You have to throw Keith Olberman and Rush Limbaugh both out since they are political entertainers and are on left/right extremes.
ReplyDeleteOn this shooting, I've only seen statements of sympathy, so I'm not sure how the media or left is politicizing it. And, I watch CNN since I'm too cheap to upgrade my cable plan to get Fox. :-)