Sarah Palin's Language of Violence

Political viewpoints (no matter how radical) dont kill people, people kill people.   Maybe if "Thou Shalt Not Kill" hadnt been removed from our federal courthouses, maybe he would have "gotten the memo".

Wow, we probably don't want to even get me started about what I think of Sarah Palin.  lol  However, it sickens me that these tragedies happen to innocent people, all because some whacko wants to be on the six o'clock news. 

As of yet, no motive for the crime has been established. In any case, no matter how the media or the politicians portray this tragedy, there is no one more to blame than the shooter. Every one of us needs to take responsibility for our own actions.  If we are going to blame Palin for this, someone could also make the case that the current government is to blame for any violence due to its policies that have rendered millions of Americans jobless and homeless.

No matter what the reason, we all know that violence is never the answer.

Oh, Stewart, you've kicked the hornet's nest....!  I hadn't heard about this map with the crosshairs.  That shooting is so sad and tragic.  I think the only blame can go to the demented shooter.

This is an example of a disgusting and vile attempt to blame the right for the idiot that acted yesterday.  The obvious message of your post is that Sarah Palin is responsible.  That is simply ignorant of the facts.

The hatred of Sara Palin and her family by those on the left is getting amazingly disturbing.  Where is the outcry for the movie about assinating GW Bush?  What about all the movies coming out of hollywood that blame soldiers for everything? 

Gary De Pury

Hi Stewart,  Your post is absolutely on target.  The mind numbing hatred and bigotry ( the local sheriff said they were the mecca of hatred and bigotry ! ) is all it takes for a demented mind to put that rhetoric into action.  Also, her political opponent offered to have contributors to his campaign practise shooting a machine gun !

It is also interesting to note that the idiot is classified by a former classmate as a "left of Center creep", and that his favorite reading is all Marxist socialist propaganda.  We have PROOF of this....but you assume that he was on Sara Palins website.

Gary

Do you realize that you are all celebrating the deaths yesterday with your hopes (and delusions) that you can blame the right wing? 

Tedd Kennedy is/was actually guilty of a homicide, yet the left is OK with that????  Grow up!  This is the fault of a man who lost his marbles.

Very creepy!

Good bye

Here is a picture for your celebration.

She was nine.  Her mother blames the shooter!

Stewart,

This isn't political.  Pray for Gabby's recovery; she's a wonderful woman, and she (and people like her) need to serve their constituency in our congress.  I think the world of her; I've met her more than once and was invited to help with her campaign effort in 2006.  Did I mention that I'm registered Republican?  This isn't political.

Mike in Tucson

Jared Loughner has been making death threats by phone to many people in Pima County including staff of Pima Community College, radio personalities and local bloggers. When Pima County Sheriff’s Office was informed, his deputies assured the victims that he was being well managed by the mental health system. It was also suggested that further pressing of charges would be unnecessary and probably cause more problems than it solved as Jared Loughner has a family member that works for Pima County. Amy Loughner is a Natural Resource specialist for the Pima County Parks and Recreation. My sympathies and my heart goes out to her and the rest of Mr. Loughner’s family. This tragedy must be tearing them up inside wondering if they had done the right things in trying to manage Jared’s obvious mental instability.

This is not about politics and those who attempted a victory lap over this should be ashamed.  I am all for politics as usual and will debate anyone.  My background makes it somewhat unfair sometimes, but this is reprehensible.

Arizona Shooting Victim Criticizes Palin, Beck and Fox News

January 14, 2011 5:47 pm ET by Joe Strupp

One of the victims of the Arizona shooting today criticized the violent rhetoric employed by Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, and Fox News.

Eric Fuller, a 63-year-old Navy veteran who was shot in the knee and received fragments in the back last Saturday, said the rhetoric of Sarah Palin and others can impact "demented" people like suspect Jared Loughner.

Fuller, who said he has been interviewed by several national news outlets, added he would not appear on Fox News if they sought him, predicting it "might develop into a screaming session." He added: "I don't like what they're selling."

In a phone interview from his Tucson home Friday, Fuller spoke about the shooting, saying he had appeared at the event as a supporter of Giffords and had worked for her campaign last year.

Fuller went on to harshly criticize Palin:

"Sarah Palin doesn't bother to learn the spelling of repudiate and tosses out 'blood libel' like it was a jar of peanut butter, but does she know anything? Probably about as much as (former Giffords opponent) Jesse Kelly."

Asked if he thought Palin or other media commentators had an impact on the shooting, he said:

"Definitely. Let's say through some fluke Jared Loughner never ever heard of Sarah Palin or [Glenn] Beck or Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity and the rest of the crime syndicate, and dreamed it all up on his own, that he'd go over there and wack her.

"There are still plenty of demented people that are in need of a good spanking who are out there and plenty of access with the gun shops to assault weapons thanks to the son of privilege letting that expire. There is the matter of the media attention to it. It is going to make this even more desirable yet.

"If you are going to scream hatred and preach hatred, you're going to sow it after a while if you've got a soap box like they've got. We've got a surplus of demented dingbats, wackos."

Fuller went on to criticize national media outlets that allow violent rhetoric on the air: "I would put Sarah Palin in first place there. I think, really, she should be incarcerated for treason for advocating assassinating public officials. That map I saw that she published on the Internet had crosshairs on it and one of them was meant for Gabrielle Giffords.

"This woman is a spotless, purest, sweetest lamb in the world, gunned down ... The only word I could think of is outraged."

Fuller, who said he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, is a disabled U.S. Navy veteran.

He said he drove himself to the hospital after the shooting and has been visited by numerous reporters and news outlets at his home:

"I've gone through at least a dozen video sessions. I've got ABC, CBS and NBC and The New York Times and the New York Post." He also spoke with Democracy Now.

Asked if he had been approached by Fox News, he said, "No, I haven't, come to think of it."

Fuller said he would likely decline to appear on Fox:

"I am afraid that might develop into a screaming session because I think they promote the war, I think I ought to pass on that, talking to Fox, I don't like what they're selling.

"I would stand up and just scream 'whores' at them, with my leg bleeding, and shock and with the congress lady laying on the pavement after having a slug pass through her head.

"I know they're just going to attack, they would probably attack me. They'll distort. Particularly Miss Blood Libel herself. The spoiled princess party. I am willing to take them on. I want to call them out and see if they have a peep to say.

Jane, I also listened to that interview.  The discussion we should be having is about how politicians have gotten so out of control.  It is not appropriate to use crosshairs in your imagery, it is not appropriate to talk about bringing weapons to rallies.  It is not appropriate to compare other politicians to Hitler, etc.  It's gotten beyond out of control, it's insane.  I can't believe ANYone listens to Sarah Palin or takes her seriously, and that scares me quite a bit.  (Same with Glenn Beck and Fox News).  The fact is, however, people do listen to them.  All public figures should be careful about the terms they use.  There are unstable people in this country.  There are weak minded individuals who are easily led and scared.  To take advantage of that is inexcusable.  To discount it and become careless with your propaganda speech is even worse.  How about we act like human beings and discuss issues rationally?  Is that really too much to ask?

This was a horrible tragedy, and the shooter is obviously a very disturbed individual.  As a human being, however, Ms. Palin could have had the decency to immediately react with compassion rather than defensiveness.  Seriously, whether it was my fault or not, if I spoke out loud that I wanted someone to be hit by a bus, for example, and then they were, I would actually feel bad about that.  Thoughts and words create reality. 

As non-politicians or public figures, most of us are aware of our surroundings and who we are talking to.  If we became aware we were talking to an unstable individual, we would probably take on a benign subject in order to not incite them to violence or disturb them further.  Public figures need to understand they don't EVER know who is listening and they need to speak with intelligence and rationality.  Period.

If this was not a wake up call for many who need one, it is a very sad statement about them and this country.  I'm not talking about right or left, I'm talking about people behaving like human beings rather than propaganda machines.

Chris