On Jared Loughner: The politicized mind

Re: Defending the Tea Party
Katrina’s piece on the homepage looks at how Tea Party–backed lawmakers have responded to the whirlwind Rhetoric surrounding the Tucson tragedy. I caught up with Mark Meckler, co-founder and national coordinator for Tea Party Patriots, late last night. He confessed to having been bogged down in a “media frenzy” over of the past few days, and said he wasn’t exactly pleased with what he’d been hearing. “What we saw is an example of the depravity of people ...

If you really believed political rhetoric caused Jared Loughner's killing spree, you wouldn't dare to say it.
Some people displayed a crazed Hunger for a vicious murderer who was inspired by the criticism of the government that has been so powerful over the last 2 years. Jared Loughner was not that guy, and, of course, they looked ridiculous and despicable jumping to say that he was. Now, what if it were really true that incendiary political Rhetoric pushed mentally unstable individuals over the edge and caused them to act out murderously? Picture such a mentally unstable person reading and listening t...

Sharron Angle: I condemn all acts of violence (Daily Caller)
Read more stories from The Daily Caller Heavy metal band responds to allegations that their music had any influence on AZ shooter Chris Christie to Rudy Giuliani: Butt out Police visited Loughner's home before shooting Face of evil: Mug Shots of famous assassins [SLIDESHOW] Poll of Conservatives shows support for broad cuts to spending, including Military Spending Former Republican Senate Candidate Sharron Angle condemned Tucson shooter Jared Loughner and expressed concern about the politicize...

Jared Loughner: Was It the Family's Fault?
​Details on Jared Lee Loughner and what occurred (and what may have occurred) prior to his shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and more than a dozen others, killing six, in a Tucson Safeway Supermarket last Saturday continue to unfold. The questions everyone wants answers to, of course: Could we have stopped him? Should we have known? And...why didn't someone know? Particularly, say, his parents? Inevitably, in situations like these, people seek someone or thing to blame...

Sarah Palin calls out liberal hate merchants for creating "Blood Libel"
Sarah Palin came out swinging Wednesday by calling out the liberal media and pundits for creating "a blood Libel" for last weekend's Arizona shooting.  Palin said; "acts of monstrous brutality ... begin and end with the criminals who commit them, not collectively" with Americans exercising their constitutional freedoms. "If you don't like a person's vision for the country, you're free to debate that vision. If you don't like their ideas, you're free to propose better ideas. But, especi...

Risk, Prohibition, and Category 3
This post is insanely long, and it might be too obvious for most people, and some may decide at the end I've wasted their time. Maybe it is obvious; I don't know. Sometimes I think there's a value in stating the obvious explicitly, because otherwise people tend to assume it, and therefore overlook it -- and therefore its very obviousness makes it inobvious. You know when a post is long? When it starts with a Roman numeral. If you just want some anti-left invective, skip to VI. I. I'm good at s...

No More Mister Nice Blog
THE RIGHT-WING'S NEW BARD OF THE BACKLASH: Glenn Reynolds? I've always thought of Instapundit as tendentious but incredibly superficial -- looking back a decade, it seems to have been a Twitter feed before there was Twitter, and, in the '10s, Glenn Reynolds seemed like yesterday's man. Now, though, he's suddenly hot. The New York Times reports on Sarah Palin's new fireside chat about the Tucson shootings and tells us: Sarah Palin, who had been silent for days, on Wednesday issued a forceful den...

Sharron Angle defends rhetoric in wake of Arizona (The Ticket)
Former Nevada GOP Senate Candidate Sharron Angle is pushing back against critics aiming to link her campaign Rhetoric to the shootings in Arizona. "I condemn all acts of violence. The despicable act in Tucson is a horrifying and senseless tragedy, and should be condemned as a single act of violence, by a single unstable individual," Angle said in a statement, per CNN. "Expanding the context of the attack to blame and to infringe upon the people's Constitutional liberties is both dangerous and ...

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...

Challenging the media narrative and the results of the challenge
Bains, a long time commenter here at QandO, and someone who I enjoy reading, put out a rather lengthy comment on the post about the CBS News poll that showed the majority rejected the narrative that heated political Rhetoric caused the Tucson shooting.  I thought I’d give the bains comment some further visibility because it has some tasty parts that I think deserve discussion.  Here’s the comment in its entirety: I’m noticing something else at play here. A theory of mine that rec

Judson Phillips On Tucson Massacre: The Left Benefits From This
Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips organized the national Tea Party Convention in 2010 where Keynote Speaker Sarah Palin cried, “America is ready for another revolution!” Phillips now argues that the Tucson massacre is part of the “war” between the left and the Tea Party. Managing the online forum at Tea Party Nation, he has encouraged his members to argue that accused killer Jared Loughner is a “liberal lunatic” in order to fight against “the ma...

Does Sarah Palin's Handling of This Week's Events in Tucson Tell Us Anything about her Presidential Ambitions?
Sarah Palin today release a video on Facebook expressing her grief and outrage over Saturday's shootings in Tucson. She also explained her Rhetoric and hit back at those who have suggested that the level of political discourse in the country is, in part, to blame for Jared Lee Loughner's unhinged rampage. “We know violence isn't the answer. When we ‘take up our arms', we're talking about our vote,” Palin says in the seven-and-a-half minute video. “Yes, our debates are ful...

Suddenly the Media is Concerned About Tone
Last night on John King USA I tried very hard to keep my blood from boiling. Cornell Belcher, a very good guy, tried to claim that the right’s history of Rhetoric is worse than the left’s. I’ll meet you half way on that, just for the sake of argument, and say the left and right can at times be equally vile, but only for the sake of argument. But really, maybe the right’s history of Rhetoric is greater if only because the left goes beyond Rhetoric to outright violence. ...

(Sharron) Angle: Media 'inappropriately attributing blame' for Tucson shooting
Source: The Hill Former Nevada Senate Candidate Sharron Angle denied her campaign Rhetoric helped motivate the Tucson gunman and accused the media of "finger-pointing towards political figures" to boost Ratings. Angle's suggestion during the midterm campaign that voters could pursue "Second Amendment remedies" to settle political differences with Congress has been widely criticized in the wake of the attack that left six people dead and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) in critical condition. "I...

Blood Libel? Dangerous Critics? Palin, Angle Doth Protest Too Much
Sigh. So I guess I have to comment on Sarah Palin’s statement on the Tucson shooting, which was actually a statement about Sarah Palin, of course. First of all, the faux sincerity achieved by shaking her head a little bit from side-to-side is grating. But enough of the theater criticism. Second, you have to love the statement, cribbed from Reagan, that “we have to restore the American precept that each person is accountable for his actions” from the woman who sent out her spo...

Palin: Were above the mindless finger-pointing (Daily Caller)
Read more stories from The Daily Caller Face of evil: Mug Shots of famous assassins [SLIDESHOW] Poll of Conservatives shows support for broad cuts to spending, including Military Spending Washington's top five most ridiculous reactions to the Arizona shooting Jared Loughner and the ins and outs of the insanity defense Mark Sanford exits the stage Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin released a video Wednesday of her first long-form statement on Saturday’s Tucson, Ariz. shooting that left six ...

A Modest Proposal to End The Progressive Media Tuscon Hate Talk Dont Bash, Find Other Things For Them To Blame
Sometimes it’s very hard not to feel empathy for The Progressive media; their arguments keep getting  shot down rejected. While most Americans have been occupied with praying for the wounded or mourning for the loss of the  dead respirationally challenged from that horrible Tuscon shooting perpetuated by the mentally imbalanced Jared Loughner, the Progressives in the Mainstream Media have been occupying their time  attacking placing blame on everyone and everything conservat...

Palin charges critics with 'blood libel' (Politico)
Sarah Palin released a video statement Wednesday calling the rush to pin blame on Conservatives for the Tucson shooting a “blood Libel.” “Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own,” she said. “They begin and end with the criminals who commit them.” In the eight-minute video, Palin says, “…especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, Journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violenc

The Westboro Left, Calculated Lies, and Wellstone II
Matthew Sheffield has a very interesting post up at the Washington Examiner: Fred Phelps, the crazy leader of the Westboro Baptist Church cult, has become infamous for blaming any bad event on the evils of Homosexuality. Earthquake in Haiti? Blame the gays. Combat troop deaths in Iraq? Ditto. Phelps' Logic Works thusly: God literally hates people who engage in Homosexual conduct and unless societies take the steps to ban and punish such action, God is going to destroy them. Any natural disast...

Palins Persecution Complex Culminates with Blood Libel Accusation
This gaffe -- demonstrating both an ignorance of religious history and language -- tops a disastrous week: her crosshairs map has been Exhibit A in the discussion of the use of gun-related imagery in political Rhetoric. But her PR has been woefully inadequate in explaining the map away as "surveyors symbols." Her TLC show will not be renewed by TLC, her chances for a successful run at the presidency have been downgraded, and even Barbara Walters expressed "feeling a bit sorry for her." Palin, ho...

Angle defends herself against ties to Arizona shooting
WASHINGTON -- Sharron Angle defended herself today against charges that comments she made in her campaign for the U.S. Senate from Nevada last year helped create an atmosphere that contributed to the Mass Shooting in Arizona last Saturday. "I condemn all acts of violence," Angle said in a statement issued overnight. "The despicable act in Tucson is a horrifying and senseless tragedy, and should be condemned as a single act of violence, by a single unstable individual." "Expanding the context of ...

Sharron Angle Defends Her Political Rhetoric
Yahoo! Buzz Sharron Angle , the unsuccessful GOP Senate Candidate from Nevada, denied that her fiery campaign Rhetoric played a roll in Saturday’s attack on Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords . In a statement, Ms. Angle said that blaming her, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin or the Tea Party movement “puts all who gather to redress grievances in danger.” Ms. Palin earlier released a video statement defending her Rhetoric and calling it a “blood Libel’’ to link political...

Genius California Educator Explains the Arizona Shooting
Another alleged educator, on the Payroll of the beleaguered California Taxpayer, has weighed in with Solomon-like wisdom on the matter of the Arizona shooting. Although why the chancellor of the University of California, one Robert J. Birgeneau, feels the need to pontificate on the issue remains a mystery. Perhaps his taxpayer-funded use of office time could have been better spent considering how to extricate his campus from the clutches of union-represented Professors who are angry at having ...

American anger rightly and wrongly directed
Strange isn't it how some people provoke conflict then blame others.  The most uncivil people, after years of assaulting others, turn to condemn the Victims of their assault for trying to defend themselves, calling such self defense evidence of mounting Incivility.  Thus it goes in the wake of the Tucson atrocity: Leftists cruelly accuse Conservatives of culpability, leveling the false accusation, stirring strife, and blaming Conservatives for the resulting escalation of conflict. ...

Republicans, Democrats, Tea Partiers Uniting to Protect Youngest Ariz. Rampage Murder Victim
KIRK ADAMS, SPEAKER OF Arizona STATEHOUSE: All indications are that they [Westboro Baptist Church] do plan to Protest, that this will not stop them. But there's an interesting story, Greta, that's developed here. Republicans and Democrats and Tea Partiers in Tucson are coming together to provide sort of a human buffer to the Protesters so that the families will not have to hear the disgusting cries of the Protesters against this 9-year-old girl. And I think this is an example of the community co...