Manchin: Gun Imagery in Politics Doesn't Cause Madmen to Kill

Manchin wouldn't run rifle campaign ad now
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) wouldn't run a campaign ad in which he cocked, loaded and fired a rifle at a copy of cap-and-trade Legislation, if the Senate campaign were going on today, the Charleston Gazette reports. Manchin's "Dead Aim" ad assured voters of his pro-Second Amendment beliefs, and anti-cap-and-trade stances during a Special Election race. Manchin appears in the ad, carrying a gun and firing at a bill. Manchin said he'd be more sensitive about airing such an ad in the wake...

Manchin Defends 'Dead Aim' Ad
Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) on Monday fought back against suggestions that a Controversial campaign ad he aired last October may have contributed to an overheated political culture that is being reexamined in light of the Assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) that left her critically wounded and six dead in Tucson, Arizona, on Saturday. After finding himself unexpectedly trailing his Republican opponent John Raese as the campaign entered its final month, Manchin released a 30-...

Sen. Joe Manchin Defends Dead Aim Campaign Ads Gun Imagery
Sen. Joe Manchin tells ABC News he has no regrets about his use of gun imagery in his widely-viewed “Dead Aim” campaign ad. The West Virginia Democrat’s ad featured a graphic for the National Rifle Association and showed the then-governor shooting a copy of the Cap and Trade bill. Asked by ABC’s Huma Khan about any reservations of the gun theme in light of the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords , Manchin stressed that his ad targeted a piece of Legislation, not a person...

Sen. Manchin Wouldn't Run Gun Ad Again
Back in October, we highlighted then-Gov. Joe Manchin's NRA-sponsored campaign ad, in which he took his gun and shot a hole through piece of paper labeled "Cap and Trade Bill." The Charleston Gazette reports that, asked if he would put out a similar ad in light of the tragedy in Tucson, Manchin replied, "I can't say that we would, I really can't." The shot was a metaphor, Manchin said Monday, symbolizing his opposition to cap-and-trade and his determination to work hard to make the changes in Wa...

In Wake of Tucson Shooting, Joe Manchin Says He'd Reconsider Gun Ad
(Credit: CBS/AP) In the wake of Saturday's tragic shooting in Tucson, many have been quick to lay blame on Sarah Palin for using the image of crosshairs during Midterm Elections to "target" lawmakers. Plenty of other politicians, however, used gun imagery during the 2010 midterms, including West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (D). The new senator said Monday that, in light of the Tucson shooting, he doubts his future campaigns would use such imagery again. "I can't say that we would, I really ca...

Manchin Would Not Have Run Ad
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) told the West Virginia Gazette that in the wake of the Arizona shootings he probably would not have aired his advertisement last year in which he shot a stack of cap-and-trade Legislation. Said Manchin: "I can't say that we would, I really can't. Because it's a much more sensitive thing we're dealing with right now." ...

Should everyone cool off the coalfield rhetoric?
Regular readers of Coal Tattoo know that one of the things I’ve tried to do with this blog is encourage folks with various views Coal Industry issues to talk more respectfully with each other — and to tone down the political Rhetoric, whether it’s about a “war on coal” or comparisons between mountaintop removal and Genocide. As the debate continues to heat up, I’ve had more than one long-time Activist comment privately that they’re surprised no one has...

Post-Tucson Tragedy, Sen. Joe Manchin Defends Use of Gun Imagery in Campaign Ad
ABC News' Huma Khan reports: Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., one of a number of 2010 Candidates who used gun imagery in their campaigns, today staunchly defended his ad, explicitly separating himself from others who targeted specific candidates. “I've spent my whole career bringing people together, avoiding the rancor of partisan politics, and that will continue to be the focus of my work as U.S. Senator going forward,” Manchin said in a statement today. “The act of a deranged madman who com

Players say NFL's 18-game proposal is major hitch
NFL union Executive Committee members Scott Fujita and Domonique Foxworth say concerns about injuries make the league's push to switch to an 18-game Regular Season a major sticking point in negotiations for a new Collective Bargaining agreement. Speaking Tuesday on a media Conference Call arranged by the union, Cleveland Linebacker Fujita called the NFL's 18-game proposal "completely unacceptable" and "like a slap in the face." Baltimore cornerback Foxworth said the extra regular-season games "i...

McDonnell's take on the AZ shooting and political discourse
Governor Bob McDonnell was in Salem Sunday, campaigning for House of Delegates Candidate Greg Habeeb. I talked with the Governor about the shooting in Arizona and the state of political discourse in America. McDONNELL: "It's just gutwrenching that in this great land of liberty and freedom where we value the First Amendment, in fact the congresswoman that was shot actually read the first amendment on the floor of the house two days before at the request of Congressman Goodlatte, to have those peo...

Flashback: Bachmann Called for "Armed and Dangerous" Citzenry on Climate Bill
In the wake of the tragic shootings in Tucson on Saturday, there has been a lot of talk about the influence of heated—and at times, violent—political Rhetoric, which has seemingly escalated in recent years. Sarah Palin has gotten plenty of attention for her midterms target map (replete with bulls-eyes) of Congressional Districts, Arizona's Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, who was critically injured in the shooting. But it's worth noting some of the other examples of extreme rhetoric&m...;

Flashback: Bachmann called for armed and dangerous citzenry on climate bill
In the wake of the tragic shootings in Tucson on Saturday, there has been a lot of talk about the influence of heated -- and at times, violent -- political Rhetoric, which has seemingly escalated in recent years. Sarah Palin has gotten plenty of attention for her midterms target map (replete with bulls-eyes) of Congressional Districts, including Arizona's Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D), who was critically injured in the shooting. But it's worth noting some of the other examples of extreme rhetoric ...

Dialing back: Calif governor targets cell phones
Gov. Jerry Brown is hanging up his state-issued cell phone, and he's ordering half the state Bureaucrats who have the devices to do the same. Brown said Tuesday there's no need for four of every 10 California State Employees to have Taxpayer-funded cell phones. He says some employees may need to stay in touch around the clock, seven days a week, but the proliferation of cell phones is astounding. Brown used his first Executive Order to instruct department heads to cut off 48,000 state employee c...

Tuesday's Mini-Report
TUESDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits: * It seems hard to even imagine, but Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) is already able to breathe on her own, though she remains in critical condition. One of her doctors told reporters today, "She has no right to look this good." * Speaking from China today, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said North Korea's nuclear and intercontinental Ballistic Missile programs are "becoming a direct threat to the United States." * Gates' visit just ha...

Cheap parking coming to some Arlington County locations
Arlington County officials will try lowering the prices at some Parking Meters to encourage more drivers to use those spaces. ARLnow.com reports that 180 of the county’s 4,800 metered spaces will only charge 50 cents an hour, rather than the traditional $1 per hour at most spaces. The lower rates will be in effect for six months, starting near the end of February. County officials will evaluate whether or not the lower price was enough to get people to park in the rarely used spaces in are...

Increasingly Alert Giffords Breathing On Her Own Now
Los Angeles Times: U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ condition is “the same as yesterday,” physicians at the University of Arizona College of Medicine’s University Medical Center in Tucson said in a Tuesday news conference, but she is now breathing on her own. “She is able to generate her own breaths,” said Dr. Michael Lemole, the neurosurgeon who operated on her following the shooting on Saturday morning. Nonetheless, Giffords’ doctors have left a breathi...

GOP Representative Wants To Erect Plexiglas Shield Around Congress
Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) recently announced plans in the wake of the Arizona shooting to reintroduce a piece of Legislation that would provide for the creation of plexiglas-like wall that would enclose the House gallery, preventing visitors from being able to throw explosives onto the floor. "The Architect of the Capitol shall enclose the visitors' galleries of the House of Representatives with a transparent and substantial material, and shall install equipment so that the proceedings on the f...

The View's Whoopi Goldberg Compares Today's Politics to Talk That Got People 'Lynched' in the '60s
The View's Whoopi Goldberg on Tuesday compared today's political environment to that of when she was a child, talk that led to people get "lynched." Discussing Last week's Arizona shooting, she warned, "When I was growing up, people talking and saying things, whipping folks up, caused a lot of people to get lynched." Continuing this theme, she added, "Now, had those people not done all that, would it have happened any way? It may have. I don't know. But I...

Leading evangelical halts effort to increase political civility
By Dan Gilgoff, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor At a moment when many Americans are decrying the overheated tone of American politics, an influential Evangelical voice said Tuesday he is folding a project he helped found to increase political civility. Mark DeMoss said he is halting the initiative, called the Civility Project, due to lack of interest. “After only three members of Congress agreed to sign this Civility Pledge last year I’ve decided to shut it down,” DeMoss told CNN by e-mail on

Zev Yaroslavsky: A Time to Cool the Rhetoric
On Saturday morning, before she was shot, Gabrielle Giffords was performing one of her most vital duties as a public servant. She was meeting with the public. The Arizona congresswoman knew there were risks; last March, the windows of her office were shattered after her vote for Health Care reform. During her hotly contested campaign for Reelection, gun gimmicks and imagery abounded. On a map on Sarah Palin's political action committee's website, Giffords' district was among a number that had ...

Manchin comments on gun ad
Joe Manchin finds himself explaining that memorable ad in which he took a literal shot at the Health Care cap-and-trade Legislation: I've spent my whole career bringing people together, avoiding the rancor of partisan politics, and that will continue to be the focus of my work as U.S. Senator going forward. The act of a deranged madman who commits a horrific act should not an...

Joe Manchin Says He Doesnt Hunt People With Gun, Just Stacks of Paper
Sen. Joe Manchin saw some Republican Candidates in the midterms using heated Rhetoric about using their guns on people, so he decided he had to do it too. So he went hunting for a wild cap-and-trade bill on some coon trail and shot it in slow motion with his sexy shotgun. Did he field dress it? Did he eat it raw, or did he cook it or make it into jerky? Did he “use the whole animal,” Indian-style? We don’t know, because the commercial is only 30 seconds. But Joe Manchin needs u...

Manchin: 'I have never targeted an individual'
In the aftermath of the shooting of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, freshman Sen. Joe Manchin on Monday defended his Controversial campaign ad involving a gun. In a 30-second ad that aired at the height of the campaign in October, Manchin (D-W.Va.) was shown shooting a hole through what is supposed to be a copy of the cap-and-trade Energy Bill.  Manchin said people should not confuse his actions with those of Jared Lee Loughner, the man accused of shooting Giffords (D) on Saturday. “I've...

Candidate Raises Gun, Shoots Opponent Out of Midair in Ad!
Looks like some other folks remember Joe Manchin’s shooting ad. Sen. Joe Manchin said his infamous “Dead Aim” political ad should not be connected to the tragedy that occurred over the weekend in Tucson, Ariz., but he doubts he would use it again now that the horrific event has occurred… During a Monday afternoon Conference Call with reporters, he pointed to the fact that he wasn’t targeting a person, but rather a piece of paper in an ad that should be taken sym...

Manchin says he would not air ad in wake of shooting
The senator who defended airing a Controversial ad involving a gun said on Monday that he probably would not have released the ad in the aftermath of the Arizona shooting. When then-Gov. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) was campaigning in October for the U.S. Senate last year he aired a 30-second ad in which he shot a copy of the Obama Administration's Healthcare Reform Legislation. A day after the Arizona shooting that claimed the lives of six and Rep. Giffords barely survived, A day after the Arizona ...