Loughner Friend: 'He Did Not Watch TV' or 'Listen to Political Radio'

DUPNIK IS DONE- Loughner Did Not Watch TV, Was Not Into News, He Didnt Listen to Talk Radio
This morning on “Good Morning America,” ABC’s Ashleigh Banfield sat down with Zach Osler, a High School friend of Jared Loughner, the suspect in the Tucson massacre. Osler says his friend wasn’t shooting at people, “he was shooting at the world.” Regarding the high-pitched Talk Radio and Cable News political Rhetoric, Osler says his friend didn’t even watch the news. He did not watch TV. He disliked the news. He didn’t listen to political radio. He...

Open Letter to Sarah Palin
Governor Palin - Your widening sphere of political influence, along with the Tea Party, is changing the course of political history. A powerful shift in political thinking occurred immediately after the devastating tragedy in Tucson. Revealed to all Americans was the underbelly of the political left. Witnessed was the brazen attempt and rabid reaction by the left’s political attack dogs to use the loss of life and Attempted Murder of a congresswoman as political fodder. Victims barel...

Monkey Wrench: Friend of Giffords Shooter Jared Loughner Says He Did Not Watch TV Disliked the News
whthfk on Police Visited Home of AZ Shooter on More Than One Occasion. Clarification on GOP Rep. Allen West: I Have No Plans to Tone Down My “Strong Language” in Wake of Giffords Shooting… Rep. James Clyburn, Sheriff “Vitriol” Dupnik and Paul Krugman simultaneously hardest hit. (TV Newser)- This morning on “Good Morning America,” ABC’s Ashleigh Banfield sat down with Zach Osler, a High School friend of Jared Loughner, the s...

NYT on Obamas speech: Thank goodness he spoke out against this weeks rhetorical ugliness especially Palins
Before this week, I would have chalked this up to simple dishonesty. They know perfectly well who he meant last night when he talked about “pointing fingers or assigning blame” in a way that “wounds,” I’d have said, but they’re such miserable shills for their liberal readership that they feel obliged to cocoon them from the truth. But after four days of voodoo and magical thinking? I don’t know. If the left can hallucinate a right-wing motive for Jared...

LIBERALS SEEK BAN ON METAPHORS IN WAKE OF ARIZONA SHOOTING (Ann Coulter)
After the monstrous shooting in Arizona last week, surely we can all agree that we've got to pass Obama's agenda immediately and stop using metaphors. At least I think that's what the Mainstream Media are trying to tell me. Liberals instantly leapt on the sickening massacre at a Tucson political event over the weekend to accuse tea partiers, Sarah Palin and all Conservatives who talk out loud of being complicit in Murder by inspiring the shooter, Jared Loughner. Of course, to make their case, ...

Tom Athans: Tucson: Is Talk Media Off the Hook?
At a time when we most needed it, President Barack Obama put in perspective the tragic events that took place in Tucson and offered words of healing to a profoundly affected nation. His remarks allowed all of us to grieve with the families of the Victims and, contrary to what's been happening in the media this past week, gave us direction on where to properly place our sorrow. However, as I awoke to the morning news, it was clear that those within the talk media world heard something differen...

Jared Loughner's Ex-girlfriend Kelsey Hawkes Speaks out
by the Left Coast Rebel As I stare at Memeorandum, my eyelids slowly creep from the bottom to the top, covering my eyes like a Great White before a thrashing around mealtime. It's not that the story is not a Big Deal (it is, of course), or that there still isn't a lot to be said on it. It's just that everyone has already said everything about it and of course, the far-left nutjobs simply can't understand that: Loughner was a Marx/Hitler fan, a nihilist, an atheist, loved heavy metal (wait, so ...

Beating a dead horse
An example of violent conservative imagery Gallup: Most Doubt Political Rhetoric a Major Factor in Ariz. Shootings A new USA Today/Gallup Poll finds Americans dubious that the heated language used in politics today was a major factor that influenced the alleged gunman in last week’s shootings in Tucson, Ariz. Twenty percent say such rhetoric was a major factor in the shootings, while 22% cite it as a minor factor; 42% say it was not a factor at all. Democrats are more likely than indepen...

Noah Baron: The Libel of "Blood Libel"
Recently I've heard a lot of people talking about how the shooting in Arizona was merely the product of violent Rhetoric on the part of America's right-wing. Such claims, I feel, are disingenuous. What information I can find about the situation points to the killer being more mentally unbalanced than a political actor. Nonetheless, I feel that this situation presents an opportunity of us to seriously examine the way we discuss politics in our country -- and, especially, how we value Speech. Re...

Video; Jared Loughner's Best Friend: "He Did Not Watch TV, He Disliked the News, He Didnt Listen to Political Radio, He Didnt T
This morning on “Good Morning America,” ABC’s Ashleigh Banfield sat down with Zach Osler, a High School friend of Jared Loughner, the suspect in the Tucson massacre. Maybe Chris Matthews, the hacks at MSNBC and Sheriff Dupnik can take a listen..(At 2:25 of this video) ...

NPR Latina Daisy Hernandez Brown relief that Jared Loughner was a Gringo
NPR Latina Daisy Hernandez - Brown relief that Jared Loughner was a “Gringo” Daisy Hernandez is NOT related the Daniel Hernandez, who was one of the heroes of this past Saturday’s Tucson shooting. That being said, Daisy Hernandez writes for NPR, appears on the radio for NPR, and is the co-editor of Colonize This! But for Daisy Hernandez’s “Brown Relief”, Jared Lee Loughner was simply a “gringo” and not a Latino. And and also according to Da...

Glenn Beck Whines: Only 14 Legislators Sign His Pledge Scam So Far
It’s been an interesting week for Fox “News” watchers—and by that I mean those like the News Hounds who try and make sense of the never-ending stream of mendacity and spin. Ever since the Tucson Massacre the station has been heavily invested in a campaign of misdirection, in order to pretend that words have no consequences or, in the alternative, if words do have consequences Sheriff Dupnik’s head should be on the chopping block for having the temerity to speak the ...

Chris Rodda: Hey, Mr. Beck, Maybe Congress Just Doesn't Think You're All That Important
While other Cable News commentators on both sides seem to be largely in agreement that, regardless of whether or not the Arizona shooter was motivated by the vitriolic political Rhetoric of the past few years, this Rhetoric needs to be toned down, Glenn Beck managed to find a new way to rail against Congress -- under the guise of denouncing violence. Beck spent most of his Wednesday show sarcastically and sanctimoniously questioning why only fourteen members of Congress have signed his pledge ...

An Eclipse of Tragedy and Opportunity: When Media Spin Transforms
While many Americans were enjoying a brief weekend break from the tedium of a typical work week, Tucson, Arizona saw a tragic drama unfold that would shock the entire country. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, while conducting a neighborhood meeting at a Grocery Store in Tucson, was shot in the head by a lone assassin along with 19 others at the meeting. A Federal District Judge, John Roll, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, was killed along with a nine year old girl who was born on ...

Naming Names: Some Of The Liberals Who Were Overjoyed About The Tucson Shooting
Sadly, there have always been mentally disturbed people who’ve acted out violently. Sometimes it’s against their families, at their jobs, schools, places of employment — and sometimes it’s against famous targets. Most people, when they hear about events of this sort, feel sorrow for the senseless loss of innocent life. We wonder why God allows bad things to happen to good people and we mourn for those affected, their families, and friends. This is how most Americans fee...

MSNBC Warns Changing Programing could Spell Disaster for Network.
From Diogenes “It’s About Angry Rhetoric That’s What We’re all About!” Public calls for a reduction in hate filled and inflammatory political rhetoric on Cable News networks have plunged the MSNBC News Channel into utter chaos.  A spokesperson warning that such a move could leave the network with pretty much all 24 hours to fill. Network spokeperson Shadow Pierson-Finkelroy said not to underestimate the giant hole this would create in their programing. “MSNB...

Mitchell Bard: Right Wing Media Lies and the Arizona Tragedy
In the days since the massacre in Arizona, the mainstream political media (and much online discussion) have zeroed in on one question: Did the uncivil political discourse (with violent imagery) of the Glenn Becks, Rush Limbaughs and Sarah Palins of the world create an environment that encouraged or allowed an unhinged character to go on a Shooting Spree aimed at a Democratic congresswoman. I would like to focus on a related question: Are the Right Wing pundits telling the truth? The reason for...

Fool For The Ages
From Richard Baehr of American Thinker Paul Krugman is  back to discussing Income Inequality on his blog, following a very negative reaction to his disgraceful column on the Tucson shootings, in which he led a left wing chorus arguing that Gabrielle Giffords was brought down by a gunman undoubtedly influenced by Arizona’s climate of hate, engendered by Talk Radio, Sarah Palin, Fox News, and other assorted villains on the right. Krugman writes for the New York Times, and the paper’...

Rush Limbaugh Takes Down Straight Shooter Billboard in Tucson
Celebrity Endorsements: Money for Nothing? A spokesman for the shock jock’s syndicate says a Tucson billboard featuring Limbaugh’s name, the phrase “straight shooter” and bullet hole imagery was designed by a local station and removed after the shooting massacre that took place in that city. UPDATE: The billboard was removed on Monday, a spokeswoman for Limbaugh’s syndicator told Politico. “The ad campaign was created by a local Tucson talk Radio Station to pr...

Mass Shootings and Mental Illness
Like this Story? Share it: (CBS) The events in Tucson left many of us asking - How could this happen? But we've seen this before - an unstable man, a senseless attack. It's put a spotlight on Mental Illness. In this country, 45 million adults are mentally ill. 11 million of those cases are considered serious. CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric reports on how those who need help most are falling through the cracks. "Oftentimes, when we have tragedies like this people will say there were no w...

Jared Lee Loughner and the Gun Nuts
A note for friends and foes of the Feathered Bastard: For the time being, posts directly related to the Tucson massacre that I write will be posted in Valley Fever. For instance, I just posted one that responds to a pro-gun editorial by my colleague Ray Stern. The title of my piece is "Mental Health Check for Gun Buys? Talk About a Straw Man..." To read it, just follow the link, here. New Times wants all the Tucson terror-related stuff in one basket for easy access, which makes perfect sense. S...

Black Bag Found In Desert Believed To Be Psycho Killers
Arizona Republic: The Pima County Sheriff’s Department says it has stopped its search for a black bag that may have been hidden by the suspect hours before Saturday’s Tucson-area Shooting Spree. An 18-year-old man was walking his dog and found when he stumbled upon a black bag Thursday morning. It’s not immediately clear whether it is the same one that Jared Loughner reportedly had with him the morning six people were killed and 13 others wounded, including Arizona Congresswo...

The REAL Reason Behind The Shooting In Arizona (ORIGINAL VIDEO)
In the wake of the Tucson, AZ Shooting Spree last Saturday, HuffPost's Senior Editor, Marcus Baram, examines how suspected-shooter, Jared Lee Loughner's violence may not simply be politically-motivated. WATCH: ...

Curtis Sliwa And Buddy Cianci Talk About Talk Radio On Talk Radio
Whoa, I'm having flashbacks: I lived in Rhode Island for nine years, five of which were spent as a reporter for The Providence Journal and all of which were spent with Vincent "Buddy" Cianci as mayor. I've been away from R.I. and back home in New York for almost 11 years, but I just had to share this Curtis Sliwa interview with Cianci about how Ocean State Gov. Lincoln Chafee has barred state workers, including himself, from appearing on Talk Radio. It's a fascinating deci...

New at Reason: Peter Suderman on What the Political Class Doesn't Get About Jared Lee Loughner
There’s still no evidence of a direct link between any mainstream political discourse and the shooting in Tucson over the weekend. But the media’s reaction to the shooting tells us an awful lot about the state of political punditry.   It’s not just the cheap point scoring and the rush to politicize the shootings, either—though that’s certainly a big part of it. Indeed, writes Associate Editor Peter Suderman, that’s partially a symptom of a larger failing: the determ