Been trying to wrap my head around this whole tragic situation in Arizona. This morning, prayers were said in church for Rep Giffords and the other individuals killed and injured in this senseless attack. I thought about posting something here about the attacks, but this is not a hard news site, it is opinions. I wanted to wait a little while to see what developed. And out of respect for the families or those killed and injured, there was NOTHING more important for me to discuss over the past 36 hours.
Disagreeing with someone is certainly no reason to kill them in cold blood. Was Giffords threatening physical harm to Jared Loughner? I’m guessing not. So why did this guy try and kill a sitting Congresswoman and then gun down several more? My hat off to the three individuals involved with taking this guy down. Most often, in cases like this, the shooter takes his own life, denying justice to the victims and the survivors. Not this time. If there is any bright light in this terrible tragedy, it is the fact this guy is going to be held accountable for his actions. He was not given the opportunity to take the cowards way out.
If you are so inclined please say a pray for the families of those who have lost a loved one. Here is a list of those who have died from foxnews.com. More info here.
John Roll, 63, US District Judge
Gabe Zimmerman, 30, Director of Community Outreach for Rep Giffords
Christina Taylor, 9, Recently elected to her school’s student council
Dorwan Stoddard, 76, Pastor
Dorothy Morris, 76
Phyllis Schneck, 79
One thing I have been glad to see is that it appears the media is taking their time in trying to cast blame as to the cause. In previous cases (Joseph Stack, Austin, TX IRS), the media seemed to jump on the conservative agenda (anti-government, tea party, anti-illegal) as the cause of the disgruntlement, only to find out later that the individual had a more leftist agenda. In the past, the media have been quick to assign violence within the political process to the conservative movement. Never mind the leftist seem to have the market cornered on this particular form of voicing displeasure. There are many links here for you to look over. One thing to keep in mind is that you have probably never heard about many of the incidents Michele Malkin refers to here. BTW: In no way am I comparing the shooting in Arizona with the incidents listed in the links above. But when the MSM begins to cite the possible reasons for this guy’s unhinged act, you might want to look these over again and see where the most divisive rhetoric emanates.
There are a few out there who are trying to pin the blame on the media in general and the explosion of media in recent years pointedly. Rep Hoyer (D-MD) said this morning on CBS’ “Face the Nation”:
“..we grew up listening to essentially three major news outlets: NBC, ABC, and or course, CBS. We listened to people like Walter Cronkite and Eric Sevareid, and Huntley-Brinkley, and they saw their job as to inform us of the facts and we would make a conclusion," Hoyer said. "Far too many broadcasts now and so many outlets have the intent of inciting, and inciting people to opposition, to anger, to thinking the other side is less than moral. And I think that is a context in which somebody who is mentally unbalanced can somehow feel justified in taking this kind of action. And I think we need to all take cognizance of that and be aware that what we say can, in fact, have consequences."
If you read between the lines (and you don’t have to try hard), you’ll be able to pick out they are referring to FOX News and the conservative blogs across the Internet. When McVeigh blew up the Murrah Federal Building in OK-City, he didn’t get his information from the Internet (still in its infancy) and FOX News had barely gotten off the ground. And his agenda certainly wasn’t conservative; it was more anarchist, which ties itself to the progressive movement.
Of course, one of the reasons why the MSM hasn’t really jumped on the “conservatives are to blame” bandwagon is that Loughner may have had more lefty than righty in him. From American Thinker (dot) com:
a) Jared Lee Loughner cited the liberal bible Karl Marx’s The Communist Manifesto as one of his favorite books;
b) Loughner was intrigued by flag-burning videos
c) Loughner in of his YouTube videos said ‘No! I won’t trust in God’; and
d) If listing The Communist Manifesto as one of this favorite books wasn’t enough proof of his political inclination, one of his friends confirmed his left-wing views
So far, the only thing I have heard the MSM meniton was that he might have had some connection with some sort of white supremacist group. The leader has denied Loughner ever attend any of the meeting, was on the mailing list, or was a member of the website. At Politico.com there is an interesting article. Within the several pages it reads like the conservative movement are scrambling to distance themselves from Loughner and the progressives are trying to pin this on the Tea-Party and the recent surge in the conservative movement. One veteran Dem operative said:
“They need to deftly pin this on the tea partiers”, said the Democrat. “Just like the Clinton White House deftly pinned the Oklahoma City bombing on the militia and anti-government people.”
Several times throughout the article, politicians and others are saying the rhetoric is to blame
“I put a lot of the blame on…the rhetoric,” said Rep Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), a long time gun control advocate. “You had some pretty high up political people saying, ‘get your guns out-we’re going to take our country back’, you have to be careful.”
“Another Democrat strategist said the similarity is that Tucson and Oklahoma City both ‘take place in a climate of bitter and virulent rhetoric against the government and Democrats.’” NOTE: where were you when some of your supporters were calling for President Bush to be killed or for former Governor Sarah Palin to be hurt?
Former Democratic Senator, Presidential candidate Gary Hart said, “Today we have seen the results of irresponsible and dangerous rhetoric… They cannot avoid the consequences of the blatant efforts to inflame, anger, and outrage.” I wonder what the most famous sailor on the Monkey Business might have to say about this, and this, and this one?
Even MSNBC’s lefty commentator, Keith Olbermann, demanded on a special show Saturday evening “that commentators like Beck and Bill O’Reilly offer ‘solemn apologies for giving oxygen to those deep in the madness to whom violence is an acceptable solution.’” NOTE: the last time I checked in with Keith, he said he was going to give up on his “worst person of the week” segment. That last about three days.
Has anyone thought that this guy might have gone over the edge because Giffords is more centrist the lefty? She is a gun rights advocate, and last week voted against Nancy Pelosi for House Minority Leader. Is it possible this guy voted for Giffords, thinking he was voting for a Pelosi/Obama leftist, and was disappointed to find out she wasn’t a hard progressive?
OK, so after re-reading my post, I have reposted because I am wrong. The media and the progressive are in full-throat trying to pin this on the reinvigorated conservative movement. Just like they did in 1995.
Anyway, enough of this. Over the next couple of days, when you have a moment, please remember those killed or wounded in your prayers.
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