Arizona Shooting Coverage Is a Media Campaign to Criminalize Conservatism

Gabrielle Giffords Shooting Coverage Becomes Media Navel Gazing
The Tucson shootings, three days removed, have reached the predictable place in the story arc in which media analysis turns into a meta-narrative about the nature of the coverage rather than the event itself. The Victims, intermittently remembered, first were props for an analysis of political Rhetoric, then a playing field for accusations of partisan opportunism and, finally, now are an excuse for media navel-gazing. The coverage and meta-discussion have laid bare this essential truth: There ...

Blood Libel
The drumbeat of blaming Conservatives for causing the Tucson shooting seems that it will never cease.   No evidence has yet been presented that Jared Lee Loughner had ever heard of Sarah Palin or Rush Limbaugh, let alone was provoked by their words. Yet the rush to conclusions proceeds completely uninhibited by any evidentiary requirement.  It seems sufficient for some to presume that Conservatives = guns/violence, therefore, Conservatives are to blame for any violent attack using a firearm. ...

Re: The Present Madness
I disagree with Jay. I don’t believe that it’s likely that “the Arizona massacre will hurt the Republican party and the Tea Party, stopping or slowing their momentum.” This isn’t Oklahoma City all over again. Reason 1: McVeigh wasn’t as crazy as and had a more coherent political purpose than Loughner. Reason 2: Tying McVeigh to the Militia movement was less of a stretch than tying Loughner to Palin. The Oklahoma City bombing didn’t help Clinton political...

Exposed--documentation of Leftwing hate, threats
The concerted effort by the Leftwing, the Mainstream Media, and high-profile Democrats to blame Conservatives for the Tuscon shooting continues this afternoon. Senators Patrick Leahy and John Kerry alluded to the 'need to curb rightwing Rhetoric.'  Liberals in Congress have stated they wish to pass Legislation to curb certain forms of free Speech. One Congressman in particular stated this afternoon on Fox News that Sharron Angle, GOP Candidate for Senate in Nevada, was partly responsible fo...

Sullivan Debunks the Both Sides Meme
Via John Cole, Sullivan makes a similar point to the one I've been highlighting about the Both Sides meme: The right and the left both have intemperate voices. But here’s the key: only the Conservative Movement counts the most vile blowhards as leading lights, embraced by the leadership. Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Sarah Palin: these are among the most popular Conservatives in America. Who are the folks on the left with equivalent popularity and influence? Exactly. Again, Olber...

Mixing fundraising and tragedy
Senator Bernie Sanders mixed a Fundraising appeal with his analysis of the Arizona shootings in an email to supporters today, a mixture most public figures have been avoiding: Given the recent tragedy in Arizona, as well as the start of the new Congress, I wanted to take this opportunity to share a few words with political friends in Vermont and throughout the country. I also want to thank th...

New Theory for Tucson Tragedy: Blame the Atheists
I hadn't wanted to weigh in on the political debate over accused killer Jared Loughner's motives in Tucson. Mainly, because I don't know what those motives are. For now, only this young man and the demons haunting his brain know for sure what provoked him, as he is charged, to shoot 20 people, killing six. In the length of time that it took to get Rep. Gabrielle Giffords to the Hospital, I had hoped that amid this tragedy, common sense and decency might prevail. Then the tweets started. And once...

How the Zamudio story could have gone
HOW THE ZAMUDIO STORY COULD HAVE GONE.... In the wake of shooting tragedies, it's fairly common for Conservatives to call for more Gun Ownership -- the idea being there would be less violence if more of the public were armed. This argument has already been presented in Arizona, where there's already a new measure pending to arm politicians and their aides. One state lawmaker said, "When everyone is carrying a firearm, nobody is going to be a Victim." There's ample evidence that reality isn't t...

Americans get it: It's just a horrible coincidence
CBS News is out with a new poll today that finds Americans strongly rejecting the notion that the political climate played a role in Saturday's attempted Assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Fifty-seven percent of respondents say that the nation's "harsh political tone" didn't have anything to do with the shooting rampage, compared with 32 percent who say it did play a role. Not surprisingly, Republicans are more unified in denying any linkage (a 69 to 19 percent margin), but even a plurali...

Policing their own: Is it even possible?
Policing Their Own by digby Lest anyone think it's only Democrats who are concerned about Right Wing violent Rhetoric and imagery, remember this ad? And it was run in a state that cares as much about guns as Texas: I think she asked a good question and it was brave of her to do it. There were other Republicans who spoke out, but they got swiftly punished: It was the middle of a tough primary contest, and Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.) had convened a small meeting with Donors who had contributed th...

How About All Those Other Attacks Blamed on Conservatives?
Rush Limbaugh reminds us how many other attacks, like the one on Congressman Giffords, were quickly blamed on Conservatives in the hopes that story would stick before the actual facts came out: Here's a partial list of some of the incidents the left has tried to pin on conservatives. The Columbine shooters. The 1995 Oklahoma City bombing (specifically they tried to blame me for that). The DC sniper. The New York City Times Square Car Bomb attempt. They tried to blame that on some Tea Partier an...

Doc linking Loughner to racists disavowed
An Arizona Law Enforcement agency is backing away from a document it produced in the aftermath of Saturday’s shootings in Tucson – and which was leaked to Fox News – that linked the man accused with carrying out the Crimes to a white nationalist publication. After Fox News began citing the document in its broadcasts, initially describing it as a memo from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the story was picked up by other media, which suggested that the federal governm...

Hate, violence, extremism: Krugman on the Arizona shooting
By Michael J.W. Stickings Just to drive the point home, allow me to quote Paul Krugman, who yesterday made the case that many of us have been making the past few days: When you heard the terrible news from Arizona, were you completely surprised? Or were you, at some level, expecting something like this atrocity to happen? Put me in the latter category. I've had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach ever since the fina...

How Chris Matthews Handled Tucson Shooting vs. Ft. Hood Shooting
You must login to comment. The Fox Nation is for those opposed to intolerance, excessive government control of our lives, and attempts to monopolize opinion or suppress freedom of thought, expression, and worship. Read more... We invite all Americans who share these values to join us here at Fox Nation. Investigators today released this Mug Shot of Jared Lee Loughner, the guman accused of killing six individuals and gravely wounding Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Saturday's bloody spree outside a .....

Democrats two-fold agenda in aftermath of Arizona Shooting
Democrats in the aftermath of the Arizona massacre in which Jared Loughner went on a shooting spree, killing six innocent by-standers and critically wounding Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, immediately defined their agenda: blame conservative pundits and the Tea Party. But casting the blame on Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Fox News is only part of the agenda of the far left Democrats. Let it be known Democrats have a two-fold agenda: Democrats Agenda #1: Shut Down Free Speech Wh...

Is Sheriff Dupnik Distracting Public From Looking at His Contacts With Killer?
“I’d like to make one additional point on Sheriff Dupnik. I think we’re missing the point when we’re talking about his political agenda. This man and this suspect has had previous contact with the sheriff’s office. It looks to me, we don’t have many details on this, but it looks as though he slipped between the cracks. I think what we really need to look into is what happened when he had previous contact with the sheriff’s office with their negligence he...

Sarah Palin's presidential hopes surely can't survive this assassin's bullet | Jonathan Freedland
It's not exactly fair. Palin didn't pull the trigger that killed six people, including a nine-year-old girl, in Arizona and left a member of Congress fighting for her life. But politics isn't fair. The cold reality is that the individual most politically damaged by the Saturday shootings is the former vice-presidential Candidate turned Reality TV star, bestselling author and all-round media phenomenon. For proof, just imagine how a Palin Presidential Campaign would now unfold. Her fellow Republi...

In Wake of Tucson Tragedy, What's Sarah Palin's Next Move?
Sarah Palin and her campaign website targeting Congressional Democrats. (Credit: CBS/AP) In the wake of Saturday's tragic shooting in Tucson, Arizona - in which six were killed and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and 13 others were injured - Sarah Palin has maintained a relatively low profile. After expressing her "sincere condolences" to the shooting's Victims and their families via Facebook on Saturday, Palin has made only one other statement to the press: an e-mail to Glenn Beck, which ...

Detroit Free Press, Detroit News blame 2nd amendment for Arizona shooting
Deranged lunatics hell-bent on killing people will always be able to procure a weapon no matter the Gun Laws. All gun restrictions do is take weapons away from law-abiding citizens. When seconds count to save your life, the police are only minutes away. The liberal MSM just don't get the simple fact that the Founding Fathers wanted us to have the right to Bear Arms for a very good reason. The Detroit Free Press - the same outfit that predicted unprecedented violence when Michigan adopted far l...

Bloomberg, King, offer gun legislation after shooting in Arizona
 In light of the recent shooting in Arizona, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Republican Congressman Peter King are joining forces in support of a safe, sane, federal policy towards Firearms. In New York City, during a news conference at City Hall, the two introduced Legislation that would make it illegal to bring a gun within 1,000 feet of a member of Congress and Federal Judges. The measure will also apply to carrying weapons near the president or vice president.  New Y...

Mitt Romneys poll numbers in Iowa low
In the wake of the shooting in Arizona this weekend that critically injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and that killed and injured more than 20 people, many pundits and politicians are pointing fingers. Others are hoping the incident will serve to ratchet down rancor. Yet emerging details make it clear the More… The remaining members of the Iowa Supreme Court have proven they are immoral and “open enemies of God” by choosing Mark Cady as Chief Justice, and thus, all deserve to be ...

The War on Sarah Palin
I've never seen anyone who inspires such fear and hatred on the left as Sarah Palin. The Arizona shooting has led to a whole new round of anti-Palin hysteria. David Brooks addresses the issue and the media's complicity: Other themes from Loughner’s life fit the rampage-killer profile. He saw himself in world historical terms. He appeared to have a poor sense of his own illness (part of a condition known as anosognosia). He had increasingly frequent run-ins with the police. In short, the e...

Conservative Joe Scarborough Goes after Beck, Bachmann, and Palin Video 1/11/11
Here is video of Joe Scarborough attacking Glenn Beck as “paranoid,” and also criticizing Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin in the wake of the Tucson Mass Shooting. Scarborough says the political Rhetoric needs to be toned down, even though he does not believe that had anything to do with the Tucson Shooting tragedy. Scarborough called himself a “conservative,” and said he feels a responsibility to call people out “on his side” who go too far. I’m not s...

Rush Limbaugh: Jared Loughner Has 'Full Support' Of Democratic Party
Rush Limbaugh reacted to the instantly infamous mugshot of Jared Lee Loughner, the suspected gunman in the Arizona shooting, by saying that the reason Loughner is smiling in the picture is because he knows he is backed by the Democratic Party. Speaking on his Radio Show Tuesday, Limbaugh said that Loughner was getting the exact attention that he wanted: " What Mr. Loughner knows is that he has the full support of a major political party in this country. He's sitting there in jail. He knows wha...

The Giffords Blood Libel Will Fail
The big push to blame Conservatives for the murderous rampage of Jared Loughner won’t work. In fact, it will backfire. The Left is riding across quicksand on a horse that is dying beneath them. Here are some reasons why. The Right can fight back: The paramount reason this strategy will fail is that liberal media dominance is gone forever. The Politico offers a disgusting quote from a nameless Democrat operati...