Inside the Beltway

Shooting spotlights 'toxic' US politics
A debate has erupted in the US over whether an inflamed political climate influenced a gunman to shoot a congresswoman and 19 other people in Arizona. From the left and the right, politicians and commentators seized on the attempted Assassination of Representative Gabrielle Giffords on Saturday as either a reflection of the passions stirred up by rabble-rousing Conservatives or the isolated act of an unhinged psychopath. Liberals highlighted a map posted online ahead of the November Elections by...

Does harsh rhetoric and glorifying guns lead to murder sprees?
SarahPac Called for Ariz. Congresswoman to be 'Targeted.' So far it would seem that Jared Lee Loughner shot Democratic Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 20 other people because he was unstable, possibly mentally ill. There are still people who feel that Right Wing pundits and leaders, such as Sarah Palin, have encouraged such attacks. “Palin's Fundraising instrument, SarahPAC, had posted an advertisement to target Democratic Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. The photo has since been remo...

Conservatives push back against liberal attacks
On the day of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ shooting, liberals went on the offensive, suggesting that overheated conservative Rhetoric contributed to the Arizona attack. On Sunday, Conservatives pushed back – arguing that attempts to politicize the event were unfair, crass and therefore likely to backfire. Continue Reading Text Size - + reset “It should not be, but the media, under the guise of ‘a full exposition’ of the evil in Arizona, is back to subtly and not so s...

Moderate Giffords an unlikely target for hate crime
With her warm brown eyes, friendly manner, Astronaut husband and moderate political views, Arizona Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was an unlikely target for what investigators indicate was a hate-fueled shooting rampage in her Tucson district. A Blue Dog Democrat and fiscal conservative, Giffords has taken a tough line on Immigration Reform -- her district shares a 100-mile border with Mexico -- and in support of Gun Rights. Her more Controversial recent votes in Congress include supporting...

Alaska, Gabrielle Giffords and Sarah Palins Map
There wasn’t much that was amusing about the finale of Sarah Palin’s Alaska.  It was hard to find anything to latch onto, hard to find that moment that revealed what her true agenda really was or that quirky exchange that revealed how much her Children really do resent her.  My inability to critically connect was the result of the overwhelming feeling that the shootings in Arizona were always there in the backdrop.  And, I simply couldn’t remove the image of Sara...

Humor writer names Olbermann a target after Giffords shooting
Stumble This! A self-described humorist named a liberal Cable News host a "target" on her blog the day after he denounced incendiary political Rhetoric in response to an Arizona shooting that claimed the lives of six people, including a Federal Judge, a congressperson's aide, and a child. Andrea Rouda's post entitled “Speaking of Target Practice” listed several historical figures who were murdered "by a crazy person" before naming MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, whom she referred...

The Arizona Tragedy and the Politics of Blood Libel
Glenn Reynolds in the Wall Street Journal: American Journalists know how to be exquisitely sensitive when they want to be. As the Washington Examiner’s Byron York pointed out on Sunday, after Major Nidal Hasan shot up Fort Hood while shouting “Allahu Akhbar!” the press was full of cautions about not drawing premature conclusions about a connection to Islamist Terrorism. “Where,” asked Mr. York, “was that caution after the shootings in Arizona?” Set as...

No More Mister Nice Blog
PICK YOUR FALLACY: EITHER PALIN IS TO BLAME OR EVERYONE IS TO BLAME Look, it's not as if I'll shed a tear if Sarah Palin continues to take heat for including Gabrielle Giffords on her crosshair map -- she's gotten away with so much poisonous Rhetoric for so long, Rhetoric that's actually harming the country, that a wave of genuinely bad press coverage that she can't dodge or explain away would be karmically appropriate. And yet I continue to suspect that she had nothing to do with the Tucson s...

"The Arizona Tragedy and the Politics of Blood Libel"
Posted by John at 8:17 PM In the Wall Street Journal, Glenn Reynolds stands up to liberal bullies who are trying to silence Conservatives, wholly irrationally, on the basis of Jared Loughner's Killing Spree: Shortly after November's electoral defeat for the Democrats, pollster Mark Penn appeared on Chris Matthews's TV show and remarked that what President Obama needed to reconnect with the American People was another Oklahoma City bombing. To judge from the reaction to Saturday's tragic shootin...

Inside the Beltway
THE FAULTY PRESS News coverage of the Arizona shooting showcased a wide spray of partisan attacks in the 48 hours that followed the tragedy, with Collateral Damage and much talk of political Rhetoric and biased media coverage. A charged environment, in......

Shooting could tame tough political rhetoric (Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Protesters parade an altered photo of President Barack Obama sporting an Adolf Hitler-like mustache. A Candidate for the Senate muses about gun "remedies" if Election Results don't go the right way. Members of Congress are spat on and taunted with racial epithets before casting votes for a Healthcare Reform bill. Welcome to politics American-style. For the past few years, some public officeholders and pundits have warned that the political Rhetoric ha...

Shooting could tame tough political rhetoric
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Protesters parade an altered photo of President Barack Obama sporting an Adolf Hitler-like mustache. A Candidate for the Senate muses about gun "remedies" if Election Results don't go the right way. Members of Congress are spat on and taunted with racial epithets before casting votes for a Healthcare Reform bill. Welcome to politics American-style. For the past few years, some public officeholders and pundits have warned that the political Rhetoric has gotten a little too ...

Arizona saddled with reputation as Wild West
TUSCON, Ariz. - In the wake of the Mass Shooting that critically injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and left six dead, the nation looks upon the Grand Canyon State with perplexity, if not disgust. For the Arizona tragedy has revealed a roiling political culture marked by extraordinary anger and a toxic dialogue over issues ranging from Immigration to the role of government to Gun Ownership rights, leading many to wonder what role all of it played in influencing a deranged gunman to shoot a congre...

SarahPac Called for Ariz. Congresswoman to be 'Targeted'
SarahPAC Called for Ariz. Congresswoman to be 'Targeted' By Lori Price, www.legitgov.org 08 Jan 2011 Updated: 09 Jan 2011 Sarah Palin's Fundraising instrument, SarahPac, had posted an advertisement to target Democratic Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. The photo has since been removed from her website. However, CLG has obtained it and reposted it here. (First photo supplied by Bruce L.) © Bruce L. © SarahPac ...

Democrat to introduce bill banning crosshair graphics in wake of AZ shooting
Politicians love a crisis.  It gives them an excuse to push silly freedom-killing laws that will do nothing to address a perceived problem, but makes them feel good. The map in question is one used by Sarah Palin in an ad showing targeted districts in the 2010 Elections. The Left Wing Daily Kos used a similar map targeting blue dog Democrats for defeat, but little mention is made of that map outside conservative web sites. Apparently, the Mainstream Media thinks such graphics are only dange...

Violence is not the result of contentious political debates
One narrative that is beginning to take shape in the wake of the shootings in Arizona over the weekend is that the fault somehow lies with the Tea Party, or with Talk Radio.  More generally, there are some who claim this shooting is the result of the overheated Rhetoric prevalent in our current political discourse.  To those who attempt to say the current level of political Rhetoric is somehow new or different than the “normal” discourse in the United States, I would point ...

Arizona Sheriff Admits There's No Evidence 'Vitriolic Rhetoric' Incited Giffords Shooter
Since making his claim Saturday that the Tucson shootings were caused by "vitriolic Rhetoric that we hear day in and day out from people in the radio business and some people in the TV business," Pima County Arizona Sheriff Clarence Dupnik has become a media darling being regularly quoted by press outlets from coast to coast. Megyn Kelly: I just want to ask you whether there’s anything you’ve uncovered in your investigation so far that suggests the suspected killer was list...

The Tucson Shooter and Arizona Politics
Perhaps the stupidest and least surprising comment about the shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson came from New York Times columnist Matt Bai. Bai, the author of an interesting book about Democratic politics, analyzed the political environment—the universe of discourse that framed the alleged attempt at Assassination by Arizonan Jared Lee Loughner. Here is what he wrote: Within minutes of the first reports Saturday that Representative Gabrielle Giffords, an Arizona Demo...

Sarah Palin's group denies 'crosshairs' ever existed over Giffords district
Sarah Palin political action committee, SarahPAC, appears to be taking Palin's phrase "Don't retreat, reaload!" to a whole new level.  In a recent interview on the Tammy Bruce Talk Radio show SarahPAC staff member Rebecca Mansour calls it "obscene" and "appalling" to make any connection between Palin and the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords yesterday.  Mansour denies that Giffords' district was ever targeted or put in crosshairs by SarahPAC in the map produced by their orga...

US charges sole gunman in lawmaker shooting
US prosecutors charged a lone young gunman over the attempted Assassination of a congresswoman as doctors voiced guarded hope she would recover from the attack that killed six others. President Barack Obama called on Americans to observe a moment of silence on Monday for Victims of the attack in Arizona as some officials asked if the nation's often divisive politics had spiraled out of control. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, 40, was in an induced coma as doctors treated bullet wounds to he...

Dont blame the tea parties or talk radio for senseless violence
Less than 24 hours after the mass Murder and suspected Assassination attempt allegedly perpetrated by Jared Loughner, some were immediately attempting to pace the blame for this horrific tragedy, not on the perpetrator, but on the level of “Hate Speech” which has supposedly entered our mainstream discourse.  Had hate Speech truly gone mainstream I would be willing to at least entertain the suggestion, though the blame would still lie with the person who commits the act regardles...

MUST READ: The Media and The Shooter
This morning we pray for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, her family, and the other Victims of the heinous violence in Arizona. It should not be, but the media, under the guise of "a full exposition" of the evil in Arizona, is back to subtly and not so subtly pinning the blame for the attempted Assassination of the Congresswoman and the related shootings on the Tea Party movement, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, me, you, and everyone right of center. Let's be crystal clear: this is the ...

Michael Kieschnick: Praying for Palin
I wonder how Sarah Palin slept last night? I wonder if she prayed for guidance for her role in a nation where violent Rhetoric has become endemic? I wonder what sermon she heard at her church. I am haunted - literally haunted - by the video of Rep. Gabby Giffords - appearing on MSNBC in March of 2010 after her offices were vandalized and death threats received. Here is what she said: "Sarah Palin has the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district and when people do that, they've gotta realiz...

Dem Political Operatives Plotted to Blame Giffords Shooting on the Tea Party
Never mind the fact that the shooter was a leftist. (Politico)- The references to the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995 echoed in other ways. That horror, which killed 168 people including many Children, helped then-President Bill Clinton stigmatize extreme anti-government Rhetoric and re-energize his presidency at a time when Newt Gingrich and conservative Republicans were riding high in Congress. One Veteran Democratic operative, who blames overheated rh...

Palin aide says target map not irresponsible
Rebecca Mansour, a media aide to Sarah Palin's SarahPAC, told a Talk Radio program Sunday that there was "nothing irresponsible" about a map posted by the group, reportedly since removed, targeting 20 lawmakers for defeat for their Health Care votes, Ben Smith reports: An aide to Sarah Palin said images of cross-hairs were never meant to evoke violence, in the Palin camp's first extended comment on yesterday's attack. "We have n...