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http://i.imgur.com/gs0t7.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/PuQuw.png

You tell 'em Sarah Palin. You probably aren't a domestic terrorist. Keep telling yourself that.

Another step down the road to fascism.

Interesting page on her website.: http://giffords.house.gov/2010/10/us-rep-gabrielle-giffords-calls-for-foreclosure-moratorium.shtml

This might not be related, but consider other people who have stood up to banks: Rod Blagojevich, Eliot Spitzer, Julian Assange, Paul Wellstone.

It would be interesting to compare the rest of the targets on Sarah Palin's hit list: Ann Kirkpatrick (Arizona), Harry E. Mitchell (Arizona), Gabrielle Giffords (Arizona), John Salazar (Colorado), Betsy Markey (Colorado). Allen Boyd (Florida), Suzanne M. Kosmas (Florida), Baron P. Hill (Indiana), Earl Pomeroy (Alabama), Charlie Wilson (Ohio), John Boccieri (Ohio), Kathy Dahlkemper (Pennsylvania), Christopher Carney (Pennsylvania), John M. Spratt, Jr. (South Carolina), Tom Perriello (Virginia), Alan B. Mollohan (West Virginia), and Nick J. Rahall II (West Virginia).

[edit: These people were targeted because of healthcare politics and geographic vulnerability and the shooter seems to be a lone nutjob. I'm withdrawing my conspiracy theory.]

...

I see the buzzards have already started repeating talking points from KOS & HuffPO without even waiting for the body to get cold before trying to wrest a tragedy so it fits into the political fetters forged by years of personal bias. There's little evidence of anything so far except a lone gunman and a sad, tragic attack where 6 human beings died.

Quite honestly, to try and make this about Palin or anybody else shows a similar sort of hate-driven mental outlook to what was motivated the waste of skin pulling the trigger. Those of you guilty of such hate-driven bias really need to take a good long hard look in the mirror. When the first thing that you think of is not, "What an awful human tragedy" but instead "How can I squish this event into my political worldview?" then you have truly lost an important part of yourself. Those of this ilk need to take some time off from hating the 'other guy' and try to piece back together whatever scraps of humanity are left in you.

my sister shops at the store it happened in She called me earlier. scary business. Did you guys see his youtube page?
http://www.youtube.com/user/Classitup10#p/a/u/1/nHoaZaLbqB4

>> ^Winstonfield_Pennypacker:
...
I see the buzzards have already started repeating talking points from KOS & HuffPO without even waiting for the body to get cold before trying to wrest a tragedy so it fits into the political fetters forged by years of personal bias. There's little evidence of anything so far except a lone gunman and a sad, tragic attack where 6 human beings died.
Quite honestly, to try and make this about Palin or anybody else shows a similar sort of hate-driven mental outlook to what was motivated the waste of skin pulling the trigger. Those of you guilty of such hate-driven bias really need to take a good long hard look in the mirror. When the first thing that you think of is not, "What an awful human tragedy" but instead "How can I squish this event into my political worldview?" then you have truly lost an important part of yourself. Those of this ilk need to take some time off from hating the 'other guy' and try to piece back together whatever scraps of humanity are left in you.


I don't blame Palin, she is a self-serving money whore. I blame the rhetoric. I hear tyranny over taxes. Well, a tyranny rapes its people, mutilates opposers, burns chuches... Yet, the talk is that America is headed there. What else are sheeple to do but pull out guns? And reload?

I blame wealth and the hate it causes.

Unfortunate that the report is coming from "KGUN" considering the circumstances.

As for Palin, I don't see how she can be remotely electable at this point with this tied to the "reload" and "crosshairs" rhetoric she's been putting out there the past two years. That and quitting as governor and her constituents. Can't see her even getting past the primaries at this point for 2012.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag.(show it anyway)

Words matter. The things that people say in public have repercussions. This has been an ongoing theme I've tried to promote within VideoSift. I'm afraid someone like Palin will never get it.

Why is everyone blaming Palin? What did she do?

Just curious. I didn't hear anything about Palin in the report, but some of the comments here seemed to allude to her involvement.

She was one of the people in Sarah Palin's Hit List-ish website takebackthe20.com (which is currently offline). Joedirt posted a link to an image from it... which was this one. >> ^blankfist:

Why is everyone blaming Palin? What did she do?
Just curious. I didn't hear anything about Palin in the report, but some of the comments here seemed to allude to her involvement.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094963/

Sarah Palin and the Tea Party have used excessively violent rhetoric and symbolism at their rallies. The detail receiving the most attention is Sarah Palin's map graphic of Democratic 'targets' with sniper rifle crosshairs trained on each targeted opponent - Gifford being one of the targets. There have been warnings over the last couple of years that the influence of this kind of violent rhetoric on impressionable and unstable minds could lead to tragedy.

Here is the graphic: http://i.imgur.com/gs0t7.jpg

Here is an article with more details on this subject: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marty-kaplan/gabrielle-giffords-shooting_b_806232.html>>

^blankfist:

Why is everyone blaming Palin? What did she do?
Just curious. I didn't hear anything about Palin in the report, but some of the comments here seemed to allude to her involvement.

The gunman didn't sound like a Palin supporter from what I've read and heard on CNN. Not that I'm defending Palin.

Palin's crosshair and gun rhetoric is completely tasteless, regardless of what happened. However it's not the reason why this happened. You'd have more luck looking at the guy's upbringing and psyche. Crazy people have always existed, and will always exist. There's no grand reason, political or other, behind this tragic event.

>> ^campionidelmondo:

Palin's crosshair and gun rhetoric is completely tasteless, regardless of what happened. However it's not the reason why this happened. You'd have more luck looking at the guy's upbringing and psyche. Crazy people have always existed, and will always exist. There's no grand reason, political or other, behind this tragic event.


I agree with this. However I would point out what most sane people are saying, Palin isn't smart and shouldn't be listened to. She is a truly pointless human being, that should be ignored.

After reading some of Loughner's writings, it's clear that the guy is extremely nuts and probably schizophrenic, but it does contain right wing sentiment and he is connected with a far right white supremacist group called the American Renaissance. He hates cops and the government, is concerned with 'federalists', thinks law enforcement is unconstitutional and worries about a currency system which is not tied to gold or silver. There is nothing wrong with these beliefs, but it's all tea party talk.

I don't think this guy is a Joe Stack, Tim McVeigh or unibomber. IMO, these shootings had much more to do with crazy than politics, but I can't help but think that the influence of violent rhetoric on his mind did not help.

Analyze it for yourselves if you like. Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/Classitup10

He's posted some truly off the wall stuff on 'abovetopsecret.com' under the name erad3

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread591108/pg1
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread592730/pg1

>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:

After reading some of Loughner's writings, it's clear that the guy is extremely nuts and probably schizophrenic, but it does contain right wing sentiment and he is connected with a far right white supremacist group called the American Renaissance. He hates cops and the government, is concerned with 'federalists', thinks law enforcement is unconstitutional and worries about a currency system which is not tied to gold or silver.
IMO, the shootings had much more to do with crazy than politics, but I can't help but think the influence influence of violent rhetoric on the mind of this crazy person did not help.
Analyze it for yourselves if you like. Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/Classitup10
He's posted some truly off the wall stuff on 'abovetopsecret.com' under the name erad3
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread591108/pg1
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread592730/pg1


Yes I think that's the point. Those who are not held responsible for what they are saying and instead the media may analyze their comments continuously making them reach greater and greater audiences. Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin aren't people out for the destruction of the United States...they're just fake people who shouldn't have ever been put on TV in the first place.

>> ^Winstonfield_Pennypacker:

...
I see the buzzards have already started repeating talking points from KOS & HuffPO without even waiting for the body to get cold before trying to wrest a tragedy so it fits into the political fetters forged by years of personal bias. There's little evidence of anything so far except a lone gunman and a sad, tragic attack where 6 human beings died.
Quite honestly, to try and make this about Palin or anybody else shows a similar sort of hate-driven mental outlook to what was motivated the waste of skin pulling the trigger. Those of you guilty of such hate-driven bias really need to take a good long hard look in the mirror. When the first thing that you think of is not, "What an awful human tragedy" but instead "How can I squish this event into my political worldview?" then you have truly lost an important part of yourself. Those of this ilk need to take some time off from hating the 'other guy' and try to piece back together whatever scraps of humanity are left in you.


Fuck You.

>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:
He hates cops and the government, is concerned with 'federalists', thinks law enforcement is unconstitutional and worries about a currency system which is not tied to gold or silver. There is nothing wrong with these beliefs, but it's all tea party talk.


Or libertarian, though "hate" is a strong word for regard to cops and government, and I'm not so worried about whether cops are constitutional or not.

It is too soon to try and point political fingers here. Really. We are getting conflicting data about the lunatic. There are a lot of people trying to say he was influenced by 'right wing rhetoric', and are using the most tenuous, distant links to justify it. On the other hand, his high-school associate said he was a 'leftie', and his favorite books are Mein Kamph and the Communist Manifesto (hardly right wing material).

Is "radical rhetoric" to blame? Who can say at this point in time. However, I find it very interesting that all the hand-wringing navel gazing about 'rhetoric' is only coming from the perspective of 'right wing rhetoric' while completely ignoring all the poisonous left wing rhetoric out there. President Obama himself said, "If they bring a knife - we bring a gun". How is it any less valid to blame OBAMA then for this guy's actions, than a stupid map with targets on it? Olberman, Maddow, Bahar, and a host of left wing folks routinely engage in "radical rhetoric" at least as vitriolic as anything the right does. Where is the condemnation?

I see this as a rather disgusting and blatant attempt to create a one-sided media story that blames only half of the players in the rhetoric game for the actions of a guy who was probably not directly influenced by either side. Compounding the evil of murder with the evil of propoganda. Pathetic - and those who play along with it are just as pathetic.

(response to blanco) I'm not trying to editorialize. His link to politics was tenuous and confused. He wasn't coherent in the way that Joe Stack or Tim McVeigh were, which leads me to believe this wasn't calculated to have some kind of meaningful effect on the world. I can't imagine this person could even function in society or keep a job, unless he is just really really really bad at expressing himself in print.

Although he used some of the terminology of the right, he didn't seem to have a firm grasp of these politics. If you look at his favorite books, they come from vastly different parts of the ideological spectrum - Hitler, Ayn Rand, Karl Marx, Plato and Orwell. Left right and libertarian extremism are all represented here along with dystopic science fiction fearful of that kind of extremism. If he weren't so clearly insane, I'd think this were some kind of dark trolling.

There is no doubt that both sides have used such points in the past, for many years the comments regarding fighting a war/battle and fighting a campaign have been somewhat interchangable, but there is also no doubt (and Palin is just the most recent/glaring of the lot) that the Right has been the primary source of it. The left has dabbled in it but the right has always glorified its use of guns and targeting opponents and use of violence related speech to wind up its base even if they don't actually condone the use of such in reality. THIS is what the problem is. That these people (even the lefties) need to take a hard look at what they are saying and consider the repercussions.

Should everyone who has ever said "We will defeat them!" or whatever get all PC and worry now? No, absolutely not. But when people like Bachman start talking about a revolution and 2nd amendment repairs to the country etc, something needs to be done. People are emotional, and anyone saying this kind of thing either needs to be dead serious about a genuine revolution or shut their freaking mouths.
>> ^Winstonfield_Pennypacker:

It is too soon to try and point political fingers here. Really. We are getting conflicting data about the lunatic. There are a lot of people trying to say he was influenced by 'right wing rhetoric', and are using the most tenuous, distant links to justify it. On the other hand, his high-school associate said he was a 'leftie', and his favorite books are Mein Kamph and the Communist Manifesto (hardly right wing material).
Is "radical rhetoric" to blame? Who can say at this point in time. However, I find it very interesting that all the hand-wringing navel gazing about 'rhetoric' is only coming from the perspective of 'right wing rhetoric' while completely ignoring all the poisonous left wing rhetoric out there. President Obama himself said, "If they bring a knife - we bring a gun". How is it any less valid to blame OBAMA then for this guy's actions, than a stupid map with targets on it? Olberman, Maddow, Bahar, and a host of left wing folks routinely engage in "radical rhetoric" at least as vitriolic as anything the right does. Where is the condemnation?
I see this as a rather disgusting and blatant attempt to create a one-sided media story that blames only half of the players in the rhetoric game for the actions of a guy who was probably not directly influenced by either side. Compounding the evil of murder with the evil of propoganda. Pathetic - and those who play along with it are just as pathetic.

America, you have lost your mind.

Side note: Yogi, didn't you go on a whole 'bad people should die' speil here on the Sift not long ago? How do you feel about that kind of sentiment now?

the story here is that when people dont have health care, that includes mental health, that which results is the domestic terrorism that kills many Americans... gun laws and politicians don't kill, crazy people do.

pretty obvious.

I'd expect a phrase like "society failed this man" would resonate with a bunch of liberals and, instead, you all go off hunting the arctic dodo.

Ultimately, I'm not so gung-ho on following the blame trail. Jared Lee Loughner did this and Palin is no more responsible for his actions than John Romero and Marilyn Manson are for the actions of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.

Palin makes a lot of comments in poor taste (not to mention poor grammar, poor spelling, and poor intelligence) but it's not possible to speak in a way that's guaranteed not to set off someone who is completely detached from reality.

Calling for Palin's head is the same sort of fear-mongering the Republicans are making a living off of right now and all you hypocrites don't seem to agree with them a whole lot when they do it.

there is also no doubt (and Palin is just the most recent/glaring of the lot) that the Right has been the primary source of it

Completely disagree. The political left is the source of tremendous amounts of hate speech and angry rhetoric. I am not going to say that are the 'primary' source, because both sides are equally apoplectic. I consume media from a variety of sources. I don't just look at MSNBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, AP, Rueters - I also look at a cross section of sites of varying political tilt. From Brietbart on the right all the way to the KOS on the left, I see a swatch of it all. And in all honesty and candor, it is NOT the political right that is "the primary" source of angry rhetoric, and certainly not Sarah Palin. There's plenty to go around all sides in this particular smorgasboard.

Do we forget - or do some choose to ignore - the bile and venom the left has been spewing, especially during the Bush years? My memory is not selective, and I remember very clearly the left was calling for Bush assassinations, burning him in effigy, making threats, calling for violence, and otherwise vomiting out hate speech against Bush & Bush supporters for well over 10 years now.

Pictures of Bush decapitated... Images of him in a guillotine... T-shirts wanting him executed... John Kerry saying he 'could Kill Bush, no problem'... Craig Kilborn saying, "Snipers wanted" by a pic of Bush. Alan Hevesi who said he 'would put a bullet between his eyes'. Charles Karel Bouley who wants Joe the Plumber 'dead'. Fiengold who said "Republicans aren't human beings and they should be exterminated before they cause more harm". Chris Matthews who said, "Someone's going to jam a C02 pellet into Limbaugh's head and he's going to explode like a giant blimp - that day may come and we'll be there to watch." DLC blogs that use the same sort of target map Palin did... http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=253055&kaid=127&subid=171 And I have not even begun to scratch the SURFACE of the left-wing hate that is pervasive in the media and political culture.

So please - no peddling of the liberally biased fantasy that it is "only" the right or "primarily" the right that is wallowing in this cesspool of hateful rhetoric. No. The left has been revelling in the same filth for decades. This isn't some sort of right-wing malady. It is a problem that pervades both sides in equal levels of commonality and severity.

I am not calling for Palins head, nor anyone else's. The fact is though that while there are crazy people in this world, and crazy people will always do crazy things, public speeches encouraging revolution and violence (even if it is indirectly) create an environment in which these people have a much easier time rationalizing such things. Even non-crazy people who are just fed up and getting angrier and angrier at what they are being told repeatedly is the tyrannical takeover of their country will eventually reach the point where violent lashing out seems the only alternative.

This doesnt mean everything has to become all "PC" or whatever, thats just another swing in the extremist direction.
>> ^xxovercastxx:

I'd expect a phrase like "society failed this man" would resonate with a bunch of liberals and, instead, you all go off hunting the arctic dodo.
Ultimately, I'm not so gung-ho on following the blame trail. Jared Lee Loughner did this and Palin is no more responsible for his actions than John Romero and Marilyn Manson are for the actions of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.
Palin makes a lot of comments in poor taste (not to mention poor grammar, poor spelling, and poor intelligence) but it's not possible to speak in a way that's guaranteed not to set off someone who is completely detached from reality.
Calling for Palin's head is the same sort of fear-mongering the Republicans are making a living off of right now and all you hypocrites don't seem to agree a whole lot with them when they do it.

>> ^RadHazG:

I am not calling for Palins head, nor anyone else's. The fact is though that while there are crazy people in this world, and crazy people will always do crazy things, public speeches encouraging revolution and violence (even if it is indirectly) create an environment in which these people have a much easier time rationalizing such things. Even non-crazy people who are just fed up and getting angrier and angrier at what they are being told repeatedly is the tyrannical takeover of their country will eventually reach the point where violent lashing out seems the only alternative.
This doesnt mean everything has to become all "PC" or whatever, thats just another swing in the extremist direction.

And I'm not saying words have zero effect, I'm saying "they're just words!"

A lot of people here seem dangerously close to arguing for large scale censorship, particularly when it comes to those other people who are always wrong.

From a DHS memo, as reported by FOX:

No direct connection, but strong suspicion is being directed at American Renaissance, an organization that Loughner mentioned in some of his internet postings and federal law enforcement officials are investigating Loughner's possible links to the organization. The organization is a monthly publication that promotes a variety of white racial positions.

"The group's ideology is anti government, anti immigration, anti ZOG (Zionist Occupational Government), anti Semitic," according to the memo which goes on to point out that Congressman Giffords is the first Jewish female elected to high office in Arizona. A recent posting on American Renaissance's website on January 7 begins with an article entitled: "Exit poll: Whites are Different." The site goes on to list anti-immigration articles. Investigators are also pursuing Loughner's alleged anti-Semitism. ...

According to the memo, Federal Judge John Roll's wife told law enforcement that he was not supposed to be at the rally but was called an hour beforehand and decided to attend at the last minute. Roll reportedly ruled on a controversial 32 million dollar civil rights lawsuit in February 2010 that elicited death threats for him and his family resulting in added security detail being assigned to him as a result. ...

>> ^kymbos:

America, you have lost your mind.
Side note: Yogi, didn't you go on a whole 'bad people should die' speil here on the Sift not long ago? How do you feel about that kind of sentiment now?


I was more saying that telling someone to kill themselves should be fine...or saying that they should die should be fine. Look I'm against the death penalty in almost all cases...except those who machete little children while they sit at their desks in Kenya. Or say Adolf Eichmann and the like who murder jews by the millions not thinking much of it.

I honestly believe that I can draw a very easy to understand line between those who kill and those who murder in such a barbaric fashion that they can no longer consider themselves a part of the human race. And yes I'm not the "judge" and I'm not the one who gets to decide these things but I'm not saying that. I'm saying that people who are sick and disgusting to the point of murdering children in horrific ways completely unfeeling and unmoving in their resolve. I get to say to them "Kill yourself" or "Someone should fucking kill them" I'm taking that fucking right for myself.

>> ^Winstonfield_Pennypacker:

there is also no doubt (and Palin is just the most recent/glaring of the lot) that the Right has been the primary source of it
Completely disagree. The political left is the source of tremendous amounts of hate speech and angry rhetoric. I am not going to say that are the 'primary' source, because both sides are equally apoplectic. I consume media from a variety of sources. I don't just look at MSNBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, AP, Rueters - I also look at a cross section of sites of varying political tilt. From Brietbart on the right all the way to the KOS on the left, I see a swatch of it all. And in all honesty and candor, it is NOT the political right that is "the primary" source of angry rhetoric, and certainly not Sarah Palin. There's plenty to go around all sides in this particular smorgasboard.
Do we forget - or do some choose to ignore - the bile and venom the left has been spewing, especially during the Bush years? My memory is not selective, and I remember very clearly the left was calling for Bush assassinations, burning him in effigy, making threats, calling for violence, and otherwise vomiting out hate speech against Bush & Bush supporters for well over 10 years now.
Pictures of Bush decapitated... Images of him in a guillotine... T-shirts wanting him executed... John Kerry saying he 'could Kill Bush, no problem'... Craig Kilborn saying, "Snipers wanted" by a pic of Bush. Alan Hevesi who said he 'would put a bullet between his eyes'. Charles Karel Bouley who wants Joe the Plumber 'dead'. Fiengold who said "Republicans aren't human beings and they should be exterminated before they cause more harm". Chris Matthews who said, "Someone's going to jam a C02 pellet into Limbaugh's head and he's going to explode like a giant blimp - that day may come and we'll be there to watch." DLC blogs that use the same sort of target map Palin did... http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=253055&kaid=127&sub
id=171 And I have not even begun to scratch the SURFACE of the left-wing hate that is pervasive in the media and political culture.
So please - no peddling of the liberally biased fantasy that it is "only" the right or "primarily" the right that is wallowing in this cesspool of hateful rhetoric. No. The left has been revelling in the same filth for decades. This isn't some sort of right-wing malady. It is a problem that pervades both sides in equal levels of commonality and severity.


I watch a lot of news especially during the Bush era. I've seen Bush compared to Hitler and Monkeys and stuff...I have never seen some of the shit you're talking about and you know why...because it wasn't trumpeted in the media. Hatred against Obama and racism is put on our TVs almost like it's a great thing...even defended and encouraged in some cases.

So yes the Left does have it's crazies and they do say stupid fucking things...but no, it's not Equal...not in coverage not in reaction. Any study of the media would tell you this but you're probably a bit busy.

>> ^Winstonfield_Pennypacker:
This isn't some sort of right-wing malady. It is a problem that pervades both sides in equal levels of commonality and severity.

I'm not so sure it's equal, but assigning blame isn't the most productive outcome here. Hopefully this event will moderate the rhetoric on all sides going forward.

The victims included some amazing people... very sad...

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/01/09/us/20110109-arizona-shooting-victims.html

We could choose to remember them, and not give the shooter an ounce of fame.

I'm not so sure it's equal, but assigning blame isn't the most productive outcome here. Hopefully this event will moderate the rhetoric on all sides going forward.

I've seen both sides, and yes it is equal. There is a ton of left-wing hate speech that is never focused on by the media. The media CHOOSES not to focus on it, but it is still there - consistent and constant. Media tends to ignore sleaze which they are ideologically sympathetic towards, but they're hypersensitive to sleaze they oppose. The media decided that "right wing hate" was to blame before the smoke even cleared and so that's how they're going to discuss the story despite the evidence piling up that the lunatic was a neolib nut.

I do not believe this event will moderate jack-diddly-squat-doodle in terms of political rhetoric because the blame game being played is not taking place with a neutral "let's all step back" attitude. The blame game is ideologically motivated, biased, slanted, one-sided, and taking place 100% from the perspective of "left is fine; right is evil..."

That sort of biased slant is not going to calm people down. It is make people who are conservative even more upset. Bill Clinton pulled the same stunt in 1995. The right mostly ignored it. But they piled on, and conservatives became associated with compounds and crazies as a media default. The right learned a lesson that they can't just ignore it when the political left in concert with a left-biased media manufactures a lie.

So when overnight there are literally dozens of hit peices blaming this tragedy on Palin, the Tea Party, and conservative talk radio? Well, naturally the right is going to respond. I very much doubt the two-way "yes you did - no we didn't" discourse is going to soften the rhetoric.

What WOULD calm people down is if the media and politicians stopped trying to cast this story in such a way as to blame only their opponents. I put the odds of that happening at just about 0%. The political world is addicted to slash and burn hostility, and the media can't stop itself from slanting the news to save its own life because that's just what they've done for decades and they don't even know how to just report without editorializing anymore.

Just wondering, WP - do you think you are unbiased? That you can see bias in others, but you sit impartial and removed? Because that would be exceedingly ignorant.

Paul Krugman in the NYT:

Where’s that toxic rhetoric coming from? Let’s not make a false pretense of balance: it’s coming, overwhelmingly, from the right. It’s hard to imagine a Democratic member of Congress urging constituents to be “armed and dangerous” without being ostracized; but Representative Michele Bachmann, who did just that, is a rising star in the G.O.P. And there’s a huge contrast in the media. Listen to Rachel Maddow or Keith Olbermann, and you’ll hear a lot of caustic remarks and mockery aimed at Republicans. But you won’t hear jokes about shooting government officials or beheading a journalist at The Washington Post. Listen to Glenn Beck or Bill O’Reilly, and you will.

Of course, the likes of Mr. Beck and Mr. O’Reilly are responding to popular demand. Citizens of other democracies may marvel at the American psyche, at the way efforts by mildly liberal presidents to expand health coverage are met with cries of tyranny and talk of armed resistance. Still, that’s what happens whenever a Democrat occupies the White House, and there’s a market for anyone willing to stoke that anger… the purveyors of hate have been treated with respect, even deference, by the G.O.P. establishment. As David Frum, the former Bush speechwriter, has put it, “Republicans originally thought that Fox worked for us and now we’re discovering we work for Fox.” So will the Arizona massacre make our discourse less toxic? It’s really up to G.O.P. leaders

The Krugman article can be found in full here, and I think it's the best take on the blame-game portion of this insanity I've seen yet.

@Winstonfield_Pennypacker, you continue to be the poster boy for confirmation bias. Your examples of "violent rhetoric" from the left are limited to a deliberate misreading of John Kerry saying something about "killing the real bird with one stone" right after being asked a question that contained the phrase "killing two birds with one stone" four years ago, and some graphical joke from Craig Kilborn (who I guess is supposedly a liberal?) ten years ago, and then a bunch of people who I've never heard of.

What's the matter, can't come up with anything substantial?

Are you biased

Of course. Everyone is biased. Only the news media runs around pretending that they are completely ‘unbiased’, and no one believes them anymore.

Paul Krugman…best summary

I have difficulty taking anyone seriously who holds up Paul Krugman as an example of accuracy and fairness. The man is left wing shill and has a long history of saying anything and everything to spin for his bias. In this case, he’s ignoring years and years of violent threats and hate speech from the left towards the right. His opinion on this matter is worthless.

deliberate misreading of John Kerry

Bill Maher: You could have went to New Hampshire and killed two birds with one stone.
Kerry: Or, I could have gone to 1600 Pennsylvania and killed the real bird with one stone.
How is that not creating a ‘toxic environment’?

I guess when a liberal says crap like that it is just innocent ha-ha funny, right? When someone like Beck does it, then it's 'evil, poisonous, right-wing extremist rhetoric', eh wot?

Even a casual breeze through the news media, the political world, and the blogosphere proves the left is just as guilty as the right of 'polluting the political environment with hateful images and rhetoric'. Spin away if it soothes your guilt, but the reality is plain and only those blinkered by their own bias can pretend otherwise. I don’t pretend that there isn’t some nasty rhetoric that comes from the right. Why does the left always try to pretend away their hate?

Ok, so you admit you're biased, but you're still able to judge who is more biased, and your conclusion happens to align with your identified bias. What a surprise.

Mother Jones has an interesting article profiling Loughner, most of which is based on interviewing his best friend.... http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/01/jared-lee-loughner-friend-voicemail-phone-message?page=1

My bias can beat up your bias!

so you admit you're biased

All humans are biased. The way that I know that I'm not biased in a BAD way is that I always give credit where credit is due. I am able to recognize and acknoweldge fairness and balance where it exists. For example...

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-january-10-2011/arizona-shootings-reaction

I'm no fan of Stewart as a general rule of thumb. But of all the people commenting about the horrible events last week, he is about the only one who I give any degree of respect. His comments in this vid are some of the ONLY ones where the speaker didn't condemn 'angry rhetoric' out of one side of the mouth, while spewing MORE angry rhetoric out the other side. That's what makes all these pundits, sherriffs, and politicians so loathsome - their sheer, naked hypocrisy.

I'm a fair-minded guy. So when someone on the right says or does something stupid, then I'm more than willing to say it was stupid. This is very different from a guy like Bill Maher. Maher routinely and regularly spews hateful rhetoric. And yet he had the gall and audacity to say that hateful rhetoric "only comes from the right" on Cooper's show yesterday. He refuses to see in himself the very demon that he sees so easily and instantly in others.

Sadly, many of you seem to be caught up in a similar degree of wilfull blindness. The left-wing is literally frothing over with rage, anger, foul rhetoric, threats, violent imagry, as well as actual acts of physical assault by left-wing nutballs. Yet many of you refuse to admit the anger exists, or you try to wave it away, or act like it is insignicant, or it is 'just a joke', or it is perfectly OK as long as it is about 'THAT' guy, or any number of utterly lame excuses. That's how I know you're biased in a BAD way compared to guys like me.

I'll give you a chance - right now - to prove you aren't a hopeless prisoner of your bias...

1. As a major political figure, Sarah Palin saying, "Don't retreat; Reload" is...
(A) Using inappropriate, provocative, & hostile rhetoric
(B) Using strong, but acceptable political speech
(C) Using normal campaign language to make a point

2. As a major political figure, Barak Obama saying, "They bring a knife; we bring a gun" is...
(A) Using inappropriate, provocative, & hostile rhetoric
(B) Using strong, but acceptable political speech
(C) Using normal campaign language to make a point

If your answers were 1. A and 2. C OR if they were 1. C and 2. A ... then you are hopelessly biased in a bad way. If your answers were BC to both - then you're OK. If you wholeheartedly believe Sarah Palin is a horrible hatemonger because her website uses crosshairs, but you couldn't care less the DLC uses bullseyes - then there really is no hope for you.

This cartoon was printed in my local newspaper (in Canada!) in response to the tragedy in Arizona.
https://zone.artizans.com/image/DEA3361/sarah-palin-and-hateful-tea-party-deplore-arizona-shooting-color/