The Noise Machine Sputters
Since the tragic events in Tucson Saturday there have been a lot of questions about the political atmosphere right now. Mainly, the left blames the right and the right says “both sides do it.” The right has been in full spin mode and the Tea Party Nation issued the talking points:
TPN founder Judson Phillips, in an article linked off the e-mail “The shooting of Gabrielle Giffords and the left’s attack on the Tea Party movement,” described the shooter as “a leftist lunatic” and Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik as a “leftist sheriff” who “was one of the first to start in on the liberal attack.” Phillips urged tea party supporters to blame liberals for the attack on centrist Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, who was shot through the head and is now fighting for her life, as a means of defending the tea party movement’s recent electoral gains.
“The hard left is going to try and silence the Tea Party movement by blaming us for this,” he wrote. Clinton used the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing to “blame conservative talk radio, especially Rush Limbaugh” and “The tactic worked then, backing conservatives off and possibly helping to ensure a second Clinton term.”
“The left is coming and will hit us hard on this. We need to push back harder with the simple truth. The shooter was a liberal lunatic. Emphasis on both words,” he wrote.
Yes, a leftist lunatic who was anti-government, was obsessed with the gold standard, hated the 14th amendment and was obsessed with grammar mind control. But hey, he said he read the Communist Manifesto and someone who hadn’t spoken to him in 4 years said he was a leftist.
You can see Senator Jon Kyl here deploying the leftist sheriff talking point:
“I didn’t really think that that had any part in a law enforcement briefing,” Kyl said.
In a candid moment at a press conference on Saturday, Dupnik said his state had become ground zero for the sort of political rhetoric that foments violence.
“When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government. The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous,” Dupnik said. “And unfortunately, Arizona I think has become sort of the capital. We have become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry.”
Yet despite all the spin on the right, the public isn’t quite buying it. The Palin gunsight map and the chilling interview that Giffords did calling out Palin stands alone. On the Sunday shows, ABC’s Randi Zuckerberg revealed this:
Earlier this morning Randi Zuckerberg participated in a live ABCNews.com talk about the shootings and told ABC News reporter Dan Harris that the top question being asked on Facebook today is whether Sarah Palin is responsible for the shootings. She also told Harris that over 2 million people on Facebook are communicating about the tragedy in AZ.
Palin isn’t getting a pass this time. Perhaps because Palin’s crosshair map isn’t an isolated event. She’s spent the last 2 years sowing fear and discontent and it’s finally coming back to her. Despite her attempts to deflect () people still remember “pallin’ around with terrorists,” “pro-America parts of the country” and other incidents.
Tags: Gabrielle Giffords, Sarah Palin
UI and all other posters who have shamelessly politicized this tragic event immediately after it took place are an athema to our society.
You appear to have some sort of mental flaw or are simply shameless. No one tries to push a personal ideological agenda based on an unspeakeable tragedy to score political points that isn’t motivated by political hatred.
Your fixation on Palin, Hannity, Limbaugh, et al, shows your cognitive dissonance. This fixation has so poisoned you that you let your politics and world view trump reality.
We will all see the comments made since 1/8/11 in various iterations. A lot of people who let political hatred and raw emotion rule will be embarrased by their words and writings in the future. That is of course unless they are shameless. By these myopic postings thus far, I’d have to say most are shameless.
We are ALL saddened, disgusted and sorrowful for what transpired. No one person or political party has a monopoly on sorrow. And no one person or political party has a monopoly on logic and reasoning.
I’m ashamed at the level of politicized hate seen on here in the last two days. The people who try to keep score by using ridiculous examples of political ideological thinking like posting Olbermann’s appeal to motive based solely on his need to win some kind of political debate is nothing but a pyrhhic victory. The same can be said for Sheriff Dudnik’s totally irrelevant and highly innapropriate remarks (Dude, you’re the Sheriff. Catch the bad guys, investigate every angle, make the citizens of Tucson feel safe by letting us know how you are going to do your job, not campaign based on your hatred for diversity of thought, no matter how vitriolic that thought may be). That’s for society to decide.
I didn’t know I had the power to make 2M people question Sarah Palin’s role in the toxic political rhetoric. I also had nothing to do with TPN writing a memo about how to spin the shooting.
“Diversity” of thought isn’t the issue. Toxicity of thought is.
The motive of the shooter isn’t the issue here. The fact is that thousands of people who share your political ideology have spoken of solving with the bullet what they couldn’t with the ballot. Well, that’s now taken place. Please, by all means, share the diversity of your thoughts on how it feels to have those wishes come true. You’re behaving like a disingenuous asshat.
There is a petition online calling on the FBI to “indict Sarah Palin for incitement to riot”. Thousands have already signed on.
can’t wait to hear what the 2A’ers say about a 60 year old woman with no gun preventing this from becoming worse and not someone with a concealed gun.
Given that AZ has one of the most liberal concealed gun laws I can’t wait to hear what we need next to prevent this kind of disaster.
I am not comfortable assigning a political ideology to the shooter.
Where I’m coming from – and have been writing about for the last two years – is the fact that words have consequences. Does this mean that we can specifically tie the assassination attempt to Palin, Beck, etc. No, I’m not willing to make that leap.
What I am willing to say is this… anyone, in this political climate, who claims to be shocked over what happened in Arizona because they never saw this coming is being dishonest.
I’m also saying that the shooting doesn’t have to be 100% connected to the rhetoric in order for me to say “Stop talking about 2nd amendment remedies and putting targets on your political opponents backs!” These are not mutually exclusive points.
What happened should be a wake-up call. And while the toxic rhetoric may not be directly linked to this shooting, no one lives in a vacuum. People need to tone it the f*ck down. If they hadn’t pumped up the hate volume no one, rightly or wrongly, would be pointing fingers.
Again, this doesn’t mean the shooter’s motives were political. It means political rhetoric mirrored the shooter’s actions. And that’s the problem.
Pandora nailed it. We don’t know what motivated the shooter. We do know that the political conversation has been toxic. We should take the opportunity to discuss this problem.
The question I kept seeing was is anyone truly surprised?
The fact is that thousands of people who share your political ideology have spoken of solving with the bullet what they couldn’t with the ballot.
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Amen. And you can’t escape the greed angle. Sharon Angle was a regular on Sean Hannity where he allowed her to openly ask for campaign contributions. She has a well-documented Youtube where she laughingly snides about not appearing on any other media unless they let her directly ask for money “like Hannity does”. Is it surprising that the call for Second Amendment remedy of bullets if not ballots came out of her smirking inanity? She raised more money than any other GOPer candidate, IIRC. She was being paid to ramp up the rhetoric.
Sarah Palin left her elected office to run around on the corporate-fed Tea Party Express and earn millions along the way. And looking at O’Donnell and her immense fundraising and spending spree here in our state: “Who got the kickback dollars” is a question the feds will answer soon.
I say that ‘dollars in politics’ has to be stopped and that it will take a constitutional amendment to do it in order to get around SCOTUS. ‘Corporations as people’ and ‘dollars as speech’ undergird a challenge to the moral authority of the nation itself. Can we fix this?
And while we’re at it how can we prevent guns sales to mentally deranged people – people who are known to be highly disturbed who buy guns in their own communities.
Pandora: Amen. And I’ll own up to saying, and even more often thinking, that so-and-so should be shot. This is a reminder, for me at least, that as odious as I find her behavior, Sarah Palin is a person who wants the best for her country, and she doesn’t deserve to die just because I disagree with her.
I still hope she gets permanent laryngitis, though.
i think now Palin’s vile spew will finally start turning most people off. She wont stop, she’ll only get louder. Remember DR Laura? Bad things happen and $t $arah get’s more evil. Pretty soon she will will be a sideshow deep down in Dixie where fat white men pay $4000 and hour to listen to her rant about socialism.
One of the very first bills in the new Congress is named “Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act” Do you think the GOP will change the name in the light of recent events?
How about “Killing the Job-Repealing Health Care Law Act?”
How about: ” Killing Obama-Care?”
In a month or two the repubs and their evil minions will jump on this disgusting idea, because it’s shorter and get’s to the point much quicker for the blunt-skulls that follow them.
“The fact is that thousands of people who share your political ideology have spoken of solving with the bullet what they couldn’t with the ballot. Well, that’s now taken place. Please, by all means, share the diversity of your thoughts on how it feels to have those wishes come true. You’re behaving like a disingenuous asshat.”
You don’t know what my “political ideology” is. I’m a lifelong registered Democrat who generally votes with an independent mind.
I guess It somehow makes you feel good to ascribe blame to me for having my “wishes come true.” My wishes? Wow. I don’t lump anyone into any category. I point out weaknesses in one’s argument(s); I try to point out flawed logic; and I try to point out fallacies and other emotional pleas. I try to use factual evidence.
I don’t attack a person or their character. I will use opinion, however, as any human would.
Feel free to attack my reasoning, logic, facts or occassional opinions, but don’t attack my character or my person because you aren’t able to produce a cogent counter-argument. Again, shameful. Btw, I’ve been a huge fan of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
Although I disagree with some of their opinions, at least Pandora and UI don’t ‘attack’ personally.
If you want people to consider your personal character, post under your real name and provide an autobiography.
Otherwise realize that when people on a blog say “you” they are probably talking to your screen name and whatever version of you they have been able to put together based on your stated opinions.
All any of us know about YOU, whoever polemical is, is what you have said here…. and from my perspective you have some wacky opinions that to me, have a disconnect with reality. im sure you’re a nice guy/gal tho.
I dont think you wanted anyone to get shot… i dont think sarah palin wanted anyone shot. I just dont think srah palin is/was smart/informed enough to understand that she helped in large part, to create the climate where people were killed and where I fear people will get killed again.
LOL!
“If you want people to consider your personal character, post under your real name and provide an autobiography.”
Like that really makes a difference. Nice try, though. Nine-eight percent of everyone on here uses a pseudonym, even the blog posters.
I do use my name irl on my personal blog(s) and on a national blog where I manage posters on a political news site (where, btw, we have a code of standards, unlike here). At least I cannot posit the argument that freedom of speech is abridged on DE Liberal – lol.
“Like that really makes a difference. Nice try, though. Nine-eight percent of everyone on here uses a pseudonym, even the blog posters”
Like me. And i dont expect anyone to treat me like anything other than the typical liberal I represent myself as. When I’m compared negatively to other liberals, or generic “liberals” I dont throw a hissy fit because my personal identity is not something I really care if the blogosphere gets right.
Congresswoman Gifford’s Brother-In-Law speaks from space:
Wonder if he’ll receive the Sheriff Dupnik treatment…
Sorry, my mistake. I just assumed a self-satisfied asshat would be a conservative.
“I’m a lifelong registered Democrat who generally votes with an independent mind.”
Wait. Sounds like you are a conservative. I made my points quite cogently. If you don’t share the philosophy I was citing, fine, but the point stands. And you’re the one who tossed all sorts of horseshit about shameful behavior.
Normally I’d try to be nicer, but I”ve had a rough couple of days, so let me cheerfully conclude by asking you to stroke your ideological meat somewhere else.
How dare Scott Kelly politicize this incident.
More politicization:
I point out weaknesses in one’s argument(s); I try to point out flawed logic; and I try to point out fallacies and other emotional pleas. I try to use factual evidence.
Actually, you don’t. You pulled out a response from some wingnut who wants us to think that all of the belligerent crap counts as *debate*. A response that couldn’t even get its characterization of MLK right. You’re just here spinning away for all of the eliminationist rhetoric.