I’ve been out all day and am just now catching up to today’s shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. The spinning seems to be way ahead of actual news.
Among other things, someone has dug up this “target” graphic published last year on Sarah Palin’s facebook page. Rep. Giffords was one of the Democrats in the crosshairs.
Map Published Last Year on Palin's Facebook Page
See Robert Naiman for more about Palin’s map.
‘
There’s all kinds of stuff coming out about the shooter’s myspace page that makes him out to be an anti-government whackjob, but at least some commenters are claiming that the page was erected after the shooting. So I’m not going to draw any conclusions about him until there is more information.
However, I predict that by tomorrow morning the Right Blogosphere will be stuffed with blog posts explaining why the shooter is a leftist-liberal-Obama supporter.
The congresswoman is stil alive as of this writing, but reports are she was shot in the head. Six other people, including a federal judge and a 9-year-old girl, are dead.
With crap like that being used to sell politics, who’da thunk something would go very wrong?
It’s all fun ’till someone looses an eye……….
Or a head.
If the kid indeed is a Sarahpac supporter or a Becker head, i hope they get the snot sued out of ’em.
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/09/21/new-sarah-palin-video-on-the-tea-party/
The only thing missing is a short Austrian with a funny moustache.
I have my suspicions of at whose feet this tragedy should be laid…Maybe a second amendment solution?…But I’ll keep my powder dry.
I’ve looked at a couple of rightie blogs – they are stumbling around stuttering, looking for ways to blame this on liberals. Let me help them out…
[i]If Rep. Gabrielle Giffords had been carrying a concealed handgun, she could have shot back. Or maybe that 9-year-old kid could have taken out the shooter. But no, thanks to Obama and other leftist liberals, they were disarmed.[/i]
Regardless of what all the 2nd amendment backers/believers say (and we all know the cliche “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people”), how many people would be dead if the only weapon the assailant could have was a club or a knife?
Swami: I’ve been hanging out at Balloon Juice for a few hours (I have three(!!!) active tabs open right now just for BJ). I’ve brought up Sharon Angle numerous times for her damned “2nd amendment remedies” remark. And to fill out the ranks of the diseased minds further, the Republican TPer who opposed Giffords in the last election is a veteran who held a rifle shoot as a fundraiser and used pictures of himself in cammo and holding an assault rifle. I’m sure the captions were all along those lines but the visuals have stayed with me.
Paranoid schizophrenics have been losing touch with reality and sometimes getting violent and deadly for a long time. Mental illness doesn’t have a political ideology.
The problem is, it used to be easier to tell when someone was mentally ill and acting irrationally, and politicians knew there were whackjobs out there, and took pains to distinguish themselves from them. Now that we have a political movement dedicated to acting irrationally, and speaking violently, it’s harder to tell which ones are the paranoid schizophrenics who are off their meds, and which ones are merely right-wing exploiters.
(And, of course, it doesn’t help that, while mental illness doesn’t have a political ideology, one side’s political ideology tends to make treatment for mental illness harder to come by, and guns easier to get. A bad combo.)
I had a long brilliant comment that no one would have read anyway. My computer farted and I lost it. Short boring version. The GOP did not want this to happen.. It’s bad PR – and if it repeats in the nest 2 years, it will cost them elections.
The new, lean GOP, purged of moderates, can only put up ultra-conservatives because in most districts only rabid wingnuts can win in the primary. Independents usually can’t vote in primaries, remember. The strategy in the general is to get moderates who aren’t happy with the teabagger, to vote AGAINST the democrat.
To keep the base ‘energized’, and to keep moderates opposed to all things liberal, FOX will continue to spew hate and lies. But let just one more nut go over the edge, say in August of 2012.. the GOP is toast. They know it but don’t dare turn down the volume of the noise machine. This is going to get worse before it gets better.
BTW, I wanted to share comments a friend posted on a forum.
Here is a commen today on the shooting by the Pima County, Arizona, sheriff”
Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, speaking about Arizona:
“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. And, unfortunately, Arizona I think has become sort of the capital. We have become the Mecca for prejudice and bigotry.
“It’s not unusual for all public officials to get threats constantly, myself included. And that’s the sad thing of what’s going on in America. Pretty soon, we’re not going to be able to find reasonable, decent people who are willing to subject themselves to serve in public office.”
He later added:
DUPNIK: Let me just say one thing, because people tend to poo-poo this business about all the vitriol that we hear inflaming the American public by people who make a living off of doing that. That may be free speech. But it’s not without consequences.
REPORTER: How do you know that that’s what caused it.
DUPNIK: You don’t.
It has recently come out that the 9-year-old girl who was killed was born on September 11, 2001. She was featured in a book titled: Faces of Hope: children born on 9/11. What a bloody tragedy for her family. And the family friend who took her to the constituent event to meet Giffords was also shot. It becomes beyond understanding, it hurts too much.
Let us not forget about the 9-year old child who died today. Her name is Christina Taylor Green, who had just been elected to the student council of her school. According to a Twiiter account, Christina was featured in a book, Faces of Hope: Babies Born on 9/11.
Christina Taylor Green, 2001-2011. R.I.P.
“Christina was featured in a book, Faces of Hope: Babies Born on 9/11.”
Hope is hard to find anywhere these dark days.
Wingnut blogs are all frothing in confected outrage that anyone would dare try to make political capital out of the tragedy by mentioning poor innocent Sarah.
Lots of wingnut blogs are are happily carrying Palin’s Facebook comment on the incident alongside official statements by the president and the House Speaker, as if all three were equally deserving of attention.
Righties will see no inconsistency in condemning the one piece of political opportunism while simultaneously boosting the other.
My heart goes out to everyone. And especially that young girl – thank you PurpleGirl for letting us know that she was born on 9/11. I don’t even know what to say to that…
I hope that maybe her death, and the death of the Judge, and the deaths others, won’t be in vain. That maybe THIS shooting, THIS killing, THIS assassination, will be the one to put the brakes on the eliminationist rhetoric. But then, I’m sure we all wished the same after Oswald.
Or, at least, most of us…
And biggerbox, the problem today is not that the Travis Bickle’s of the world are out there driving cabs, and thinking horrible thoughts – they’ll always be out be out there. What concerns me is that there seems to be little difference between Bickle and some of the people not just in the Tea Party, or even leading it, but those that are running for office.
And can we make it just a little let easy for any lunatic who isn’t visibly insane, drunk, or high to get a gun? I don’t want to to on a long tirade about this, most of you know what I’d say anyway. If you can’t ban most handguns, how about the automatic kind, so that, kind of like the creiminals in the old Superman TV series, after they shoot all six bullets, the only recourse left it to throw the damn gun? I doubt there’s much of a body count where thrown guns are concerned.
gulag said:
If you can’t ban most handguns, how about the automatic kind, so that, kind of like the creiminals in the old Superman TV series, after they shoot all six bullets, the only recourse left it to throw the damn gun?
You made me curious to find out how many cartridges a clip could hold. Figuring a 9mm is a pretty standard size, I googled and found this:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080118191243AATOwrC
For those to lazy to click on the link, 15 to 18 is not unusual. Some people suggested there were oversized clips that could hold up to 50 rounds. Guess you need that for home defense – never know when you’ll have to fight off an army.
As I’m typing this, I hear the sound of gunshots from duck hunters on nearby Big Lake Toho. I have no problem with those guys or their hobby, though it eludes me why they want to be out in a boat in 50 degree weather at daybreak. I’d rather be here in my jammies sippin coffee.
The following photos show the scary people, they’re very scary because thay have been whipped into a fury over fantasies, like someone jamming hearthcare down their throats, Crazy shit, man…..
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/
To Sara Palin’s hit least & the “hemlock party.”
From the book “AN AUTISTIC WORLD (1)”
Reasoning wasn’t in most people’s agenda even though quite a few agreed with his defense. The fear it produced to let go of their past was stronger than judging Socrates innocent of instigating a rebellion, so a selected group that wanted his head on a platter moved the minds of many with hard words and slim evidence. Nevertheless, during the trial he stood defiant, loyal to his honest beliefs of giving good advice to anyone that wanted to listen. Even after his sentence, he resisted the impulse of presenting himself as a selfish philosopher, advancing the future demise of those that judged him. Socrates probably knew it was just matter of time until Sparta would make his prediction real. After all, a state without morals is like going to fight a war without soldiers.
I seem to see so many people, who aren’t the sharpest tools in the shop, but were able to make a decent life for themselves until things started to unravel. They were functional, productive people without a pronounced violent streak or an evil temper. They have been cookng in a stew of fear, misinformation and dark fantasy. They are not one of the one in three Americans who are on anti-depressants, they probably need to be, but I am not qualified to make that determination. As a layman, I can just say they are BSC. Some have begun to live in a state of continuous outrage, just waiting for a straw to break the camel’s back. The economic decline has added one huge source of stress to a long list. Many people are angry and stressed beyond the capacity for rational thought. Some were never capable of rational thought. They are desperate for some anchor for their free floating fear and anxiety. They need a bogeyman to take up arms against.
“The sleep of reason, breeds monsters.”
Sorry, maybe I need some anti-paranoia pills. I’ll call my doctor tomorrow.
Candide,
“Guess you need that for home defense…”
Yeah, I guess you might need 18 if the Lakers or Celtics invade your home. But if it’s the Yankees, Red Sox, Patriots or Eagles, you might need a 2nd and even 3rd clip. 🙂
Look, if you need 18 bullet’s to protect your house, either you ain’t shootin’ right, you live in a REALLY shitty neighborhood, or you garnered more enemies than almost anyone OUTSIDE of politics can possibly earn, without have shot a few people yourself. And, while I lived in some pretty shitty neighborhoods in NYC, I never owned a gun, and got along just fine. How did I do that? Probably by not being an asshole. Something the anonymity of the internet allows me to be on a daily basis. If I said the crap I say here from a soapbox in Washington Square Park, I’d have long been buried in Potters Field.
“Some people suggested there were oversized clips that could hold up to 50 rounds. Guess you need that for home defense – never know when you’ll have to fight off an army.” – Candide
Actually I think it is because they know, somewhere deep down inside, that they really are losers and inadequate, and couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn at 5 feet with fewer than 50 shots…
The Daily Kos targeted Gifford in a June 2008 ad, using crosshairs from a gun to point at her district. Based on that evidence, you obviously concluded that every liberal wants to shoot her, and that this shooter was a liberal? Of course not. Your logic and post is simply a way of using a tragedy to try to score sick political points.
A Conservative Teacher — I sincerely hope you aren’t a reading teacher — as the post says, the graphic was from one of Sarah Palin’s websites, not Daily Kos.
Your logic and post is simply a way of using a tragedy to try to score sick political points.
I know this will fly over your head, but a lot of us are sincerely concerned about the level of implied violence in political rhetoric.
This is why I wondered what in the hell the TPers were thinking, bringing their guns to political rallies.
I guess it made them feel less like the Lone Nutjobs they are when they’re at home.
Great comment, goatheard. If any passed by it – go back and read the last six sentences.
Love how you ignore all the violent left wing rhetoric, Maha, like, when Obama said “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun.”
This wacko had rhetoric from the extremes of both sides, and was representative of neither. But, I guess I should expect anything better from you folks on the left, who seem more concerned with assigning political blame and scoring points than with the victims.
Ever look in a mirror, Teach? Anyway — see my most recent post.
The economic decline has added one huge source of stress to a long list. Many people are angry and stressed beyond the capacity for rational thought.
Goatherd…That’s a factor that needs more illumination. The whole Tea Party movement and the militant rhetoric that accompanies it is born of economic insecurities. It is a manifestation of the financial stresses that have been placed on our nation.
Teach,
OK, so show us the all of the examples of violent rhetoric coming from the left on TV, or the radio, the Op-ed pages, the magazines, etc.
B-and-C-list blog’s and fools like me commenting, don’t count. Find an A-lister like maha, BJ, Steve B or Steve M, etc. But again, comments don’t count, because if they did, the ones on rightie sites blow us out of the water. You should know. You’re in that cesspool all of the time – did you ever wade through the comments?
So go ahead. Please come back with carefully researched examples. We’ll wait. And if that lame quote from Obama is the best you’re got, you’ve already lost the argument.
We’re waiting…
Unsurpisingly, Keith says it best:
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/special-comment-violence-and-threats-have-
I wonder what Beck, Palin, Orally, Sean, Radio Rushwanda, and the rest of the rightie pund-twits will have to say, besides of course, “‘T’ain’t me! ‘T’ain’t my problem. I had nothin’ to do with it. He was a lunatic, and I have no responsibility for his actions.”
It will be interesting if the other person “of interest” they’re looking for had anything to do with this, and how, what, and why if they did.
True, Swami.
From the book “AN AUTISTIC WORLD (1)”
Socrates didn’t sacrifice himself for his country; he sacrificed himself for his beliefs, which where the closest aspect to his soul. Societies, like soldiers, fight for what they feel its worth it. If you ask a soldier in a battlefield what he is fighting for, the answer would likely be that he fights for his buddies in the trench, not for a flag or for his mother. The human connection between individuals is what keeps societies alive. If that connection is severed due to a conscientious lack of fairness and an ambiguous trust, the beliefs that could keep each others back safe could be worthless, because the differences between the people that have, and those that have not, would be too great to render a meaningful future.
(My goodness, Teach is back. How about that.) That knife/gun fight comment is sure getting a lot of play by the right this morning, in a way that suggests they couldn’t find more than one good example.
I’ve browsed a couple of rightie blog posts that claim to “prove” that the rhetoric is on both sides, and none of the selections involve using guns against political rivals or seeking “Second Amendment remedies” to political problems. Though I did get a renewed sense of how bad the right-wing is at understanding metaphor and nuance.
It’s not about “ignoring all the violent left wing rhetoric”, it’s about the sad fact that the most violent rhetoric, the kind that seems to promote using violence to solve political problems, comes from the right.
And, if they don’t like having fingers pointed at them when some crazy person goes on a shooting spree, maybe they shouldn’t talk about picking up and using guns so much.
Hey Teach… we’re not assigning political blame for no apparent reason. You go where reason leads you, and so far everything is pointing to Tea Party rhetoric. Was it her support of Gay and Lesbian issues? Was it her wanting increase funding for stem cell research? Was it her D- NRA rating? Or did it have something to do with the shooters you- tube ramblings about the Constitution? We don’t know.. but we do know there is some sort of connection that aligns with Tea Party rhetoric.
Hey Teach,
I think you miss the point ( at least the point I’m making), but this is personal to me because I have a 72 year old friend who has become “radicalized” by Beck and Palin to the point where he sent me emails last week calling for Jane Fonda to be killed, and told me I don’t know “shit about anything” because I “obviously” don’t watch Glenn Beck.He said he’d love to put a bullet in her head.Needless to say, I ripped him a new one over that.Go grow some veggies or something, get a hobby!
He recently moved from Key largo to a trailer outside of Ocala, is hoarding food and bought weapons and ammo, the dude has flipped out thinking Obama is a Marxist born in Kenya.Luckily he has little money and can’t get around well, stuck in the trailer waiting to get shipped off to a FEMA camp.
As far as violent left wing retoric goes, it is rare compared to the constant ranting from the extreme side of the tea party, but I’d condemn that too if it came up..The nutters seem intent on starting trouble with Muslims, blacks, Mexicans, and especially “libtards”. I’m pretty damned sick of it, because I hear it daily.
And Teach, I have no problem with you,sound off, bro; but Palin, regardless if she realizes it or not, is tweaking some pretty screwed up people.
A Conservative Teacher has likely fallen a hoax perpetrated by the conservative website HillBuzz. In an effort to deflect blame from Palin over her use of the target map, they took a Kos post that had a list of Democrats, including Giffords, to consider targeting for primary challenge, and added an image of a target.
Teach,
Still waiting…
Obama said “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun.â€
And yet. And yet, and yet, and yet. William Teach, you are the most phony hypocrite. I have to say this, finally. You disgust me.
Again and again, over the past two years, Tea Party rallies featured attendees bringing actual guns, carrying signs with specific gun threats against the president, candidates on the podium calling for “Second Amendment solutions.”
And now we have ugly nonsense like that described in Dolorous Stroke’s comment, and furthered by another troll commenter here.
Teach, you know perfectly well that Obama was speaking figuratively. A gun actually in hand is not figurative. It’s long past time you dropped your pitiful pretense of “You guys do it too!” Grow up, and own up, son. Until you do, you’ll only go on being a sad, whiny child.
Hey Teach….Don’t retreat..reload! C’mon man, your not gonna let Gulag push you around by demanding a few little facts, are you?
Teach’s busy.
He was probably watching some football over the weekend, and a friend challenged him with the question, “Hey, Teach, if’n you is sooooo’s smart, if’n there’s 11 on da one side, and 11 on d’udder, how many’s players ‘r there on dat field?”
And Teach, after carefully licking the precious Cheeto’s crumbs off his fingers started to count. Nope, not enough.
So he took off both boots and socks. Nope, not enough.
So he undid his fly, realized that he was still short, but he figured he’d bluster his way through it, “Uhm, 20 and 1/2!”
His friend told him he’s wrong, and he’s been trying to figure it out ever since.
But Teach, when, or if, you do finally figure that out, please do feel free to come up with the examples.
We’re still waiting…