Arizona Massacre Prompts Political 'Cheap Shots'

[Alpha Mare]

Rather, many on the American Left said the horror could be traced to the malign influence of American conservatives; members of the Tea Party; right-wing pundits Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck; former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin; and Fox News.

Within minutes after the attempted assassination of Giffords -- indeed, at a point when it was still erroneously believed in many quarters that she was dead, and the identity of her shooter was not publicly known -- some commentators, absent any credible evidence, were already busily laying blame for the atrocity in political terms. Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman blogged at 3:22 p.m. ET Saturday: "We don't have proof yet that this was political, but the odds are that it was."

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, a Democrat, also found a political element in Saturday's bloodshed. Dupnik argued that the "vitriol" of the country's harshly polarized political climate was partly to blame, arguing that unbalanced individuals are uniquely "susceptible" to vitriol. Dupnik added, in an interview with Fox News' Megyn Kelly: "We see one party trying to block the attempts of another party to make this a better country."

Krugman, in his blog post on the Times website, went on to mention Giffords' presence last year on Palin's "infamous crosshairs list."  Giffords herself, during her narrow campaign victory over a Tea Party-backed opponent last year, had complained about this choice of imagery,

Unnoted by Giffords then, or Krugman now, is the routine use of similar language and imagery by both parties in a culture obsessed with "battleground" states. Indeed, a nearly identical map, included in a Democratic Leadership Committee publication in 2004, featured nine bullseyes over regions where Republican candidates were considered vulnerable that year, and was accompanied by a caption reading: TARGETING STRATEGY. A smaller caption, beneath the bullseyes, read: BEHIND ENEMY LINES. The map illustrated an article on campaign strategy by Will Marshall of the Progressive Policy Institute.

Krugman's blog post on Saturday linked "the rhetoric of Beck, Limbaugh, etc." to "the violence I fear we're going to see in the months and years ahead," and added: "Violent acts are what happen when you create a climate of hate." Yet in all of the grammatically hobbled writings and statements that Loughner posted on the Internet -- in which, ironically, one of his chief obsessions was others' poor grammar -- the failed student and awkward loner made not a single reference to talk-radio or the TV hosts Krugman cited, to the health care debate or the Tea Party, to Sarah Palin or Fox News.

Without mentioning Palin by name, Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, the number-two Democrat in the Senate, alluded on Sunday to the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee in his discussion of the causes of the violence the day before.

Some prominent commentators objected to these comments.

"To try to place blame before an investigation has occurred is in itself inciting hatred," countered Christian missionary Franklin Graham.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/01/10/arizona-massacre-prompts-political-cheap-shots/


Peter Johnson and Sheriff Babue politely told  Sheriff Dumpdick to STFU hypocrite!

[true_blood]

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, a Democrat, also found a political element in Saturday's bloodshed. Dupnik argued that the "vitriol" of the country's harshly polarized political climate was partly to blame, arguing that unbalanced individuals are uniquely "susceptible" to vitriol. Dupnik added, in an interview with Fox News' Megyn Kelly: "We see one party trying to block the attempts of another party to make this a better country."

All this coming from someone who is supposed to protect and serve the public? Another one that should be ashamed of himself.

[debk]

All this coming from someone who is supposed to protect and serve the public? Another one that should be ashamed of himself.

I saw Megyn Kelly's interview with Dupnik. He was doing what he's accusing other of doing!! I thought Megyn did a good job of pointing it out, though Dupnik was so full of himself, that he didn't even realize it.

[true_blood]

I saw Megyn Kelly's interview with Dupnik. He was doing what he's accusing other of doing!! I thought Megyn did a good job of pointing it out, though Dupnik was so full of himself, that he didn't even realize it.

It's disgusting. It really is.

[debk]

It's disgusting. It really is.

It wasn't just that he was disgusting...I also thought he was a bit off his rocker. He's supposed to be the Sheriff...once elected, apolitical and non-controversial. He's inciting a reaction as much as anyone is...more so, if you consider his comments are going out over the tv and internet, not just countrywide but to anyone in the world with internet access or worldwide news! He was doing everything he could to blame Palin and Fox News, without specifically citing them by name.   

[Alpha Mare]

Sorta OT:  My aunt was shot point-blank in the head by her last husband.  She has a steel plate, and a dent in her forehead. She did get really pissed that she had to give up Budweiser tho, gives her a headache.    Aunt Tootsie is one of a kind.

[Eupher]

Sorta OT:  My aunt was shot point-blank in the head by her last husband.  She has a steel plate, and a dent in her forehead. She did get really pissed that she had to give up Budweiser tho, gives her a headache.    Aunt Tootsie is one of a kind.

Wow, that is one tough lady!

So, does she drink Miller now? 

[thundley4]

Sorta OT:  My aunt was shot point-blank in the head by her last husband.  She has a steel plate, and a dent in her forehead. She did get really pissed that she had to give up Budweiser tho, gives her a headache.    Aunt Tootsie is one of a kind.

It was the Budweiser that gave me headaches the morning after for many years.

[The Hollywood NeoCon]

Sorta OT:  My aunt was shot point-blank in the head by her last husband. 

There is NO WAY IN HELL you can say something like that and NOT give the backstory!!!!!!!

Do tell, do tell....

[IassaFTots]

It was the Budweiser that gave me headaches the morning after for many years.

Could very well be you have a rice sugar intolerance.  AB brews with rice.  ew. 

[thundley4]

Could very well be you have a rice sugar intolerance.  AB brews with rice.  ew. 

Funny, I thought it was the amount that was consumed, not what was in it.  Maybe I should go back and try it with a different brand.

[IassaFTots]

Funny, I thought it was the amount that was consumed, not what was in it.  Maybe I should go back and try it with a different brand.

Good idea.  You'll never be sure otherwise, and it will haunt you the rest of your days.