Poll: 35% blame Palin for Tucson shooting

Poll: 54% Believe Harsh Political Will Lead To More Shootings
This CNN poll has some good news for Sarah Palin in that just one third of respondents blame her for the Tucson shooting. The bad news is that even just one third of respondents bought into the spin about Palin, and over half believe that “harsh political Rhetoric” will lead to more shootings. According to the survey, just under half also blame the harsh rhetoric and violent metaphors used by politicians and commentators as a contributing factor behind the shootings, and 54 percent b...

CNN Develops New Retard Test
This new CNN poll on the Tucson Mass Shooting QUESTION: Overall, how much do you blame each of the following for the shooting in Arizona — a great deal, a moderate amount, not much, or not at all? The laws under which guns are bought and sold in this country Great deal 30% … Moderate amount 22% … Not much 14% … Not at all 33% The use of harsh Rhetoric and violent metaphors by politicians and commentators Great deal 25% … Moderate amount 23% … 

Your Tax Paying Dollars At Work In Tucson, And Elsewhere
In the ensuing days after the Tucson shooting, the Federal Government has sent a slew of people there to work with the locals in trying to figure out just what the heck was going on with Jared Loughner, as this Washington Post article highlights: A team of 250 federal investigators and 130 local detectives trying to understand why Jared Lee Loughner went on his alleged Killing Spree has conducted more than 300 interviews with family, friends and neighbors since the shooting. But they remain stu...

MSNBCs Richard Wolffe Says Sarah Palin Refreshingly Honest but Self-Serving in Tucson Response
After today’s White House briefing, I caught up with MSNBC contributor and author Richard Wolffe to get his take on the media’s handling of Sarah Palin in the wake of the Mass Shooting in Tucson, and Palin’s handling of it, as well. Wolffe said he thought Palin was “refreshingly honest” at times in her interview with Sean Hannity , but criticized her “self-serving” overreaches, and defended the Mainstream Media’s coverage of Palin as part of the Tu...

Why Should Public Opinion About Gun Control Change After a Shooting Rampage?
As Radley Balko noted this morning, a new CNN poll finds no shift in Public Opinion regarding Gun Control following the recent Mass Shooting in Tucson. The lack of change is similar to what was seen in the wake of other high-profile gun crimes, and it makes sense. If you do not think Gun Control is a good way to prevent violence—if you believe that it mainly serves to disarm potential Victims, rather than deter armed lunatics or run-of-the-mill criminals—dramatic evidence that Firearms can ...

Why Gabrielle Giffords shooting hasn't boosted gun control (The Christian Science Monitor)
The aftermath of the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 18 others - six fatally - last week has resulted in no plans for sweeping antigun Legislation. Instead, Gun Control proposals forwarded by members of Congress in the past week have been notably limited in scope - seeking to address only narrow subsections of the population or perceived legal Loopholes. The reason: the political calculus of Gun Control has changed dramatically in the past 20 years, resulting in a strongly pro-g

Joe Scarboroughright-wing rage water carrier
It appears that as President Obama tries to “move to the right” with his op/ed in the WSJ today, Politico is also engaged in such a move with the hiring of Joe Scarborough as the righty on the site.  It is meant, one supposes, to help “center them up”.  I guess.  Joe Scarborough hasn’t ever impressed me as a good representative of the right on his MSNBC show, so I’m not sure how he’s going to help Politico in that regard.  But hey, it’s the

New CNN Poll: 54% Believe harsh rhetoric and violent metaphors will lead to another AZ shooting type incident
While the Villagers try to erect their own narrative about the Arizona shootings, and as right-wingers try to deflect the fallout from the Giffords shootings, something important is finally penetrating into the minds of Americans: Right Wing vitriolic Rhetoric that has permeated our airwaves is dangerous to our society. Only 32% believe they have no impact at all. 54% believe the use of a harsh Rhetoric and violent metaphors by politicians and commentators would cause a future incident similar t...

Media Reality Check: By 8-to-1 Margin, Networks Target Conservative Speech after Tucson Shooting
There’s certainly no shortage of instances of the Left deploying violent Rhetoric, but how evenly did the media divide the blame during the first few days of this national debate about civility? MRC analysts reviewed all 55 broadcast network stories or segments discussing the discourse from just after the shooting (January 8) through the evening of the national memorial service on January 12, reviewing the ABC, CBS and NBC morning, evening and Sunday Talk Shows. While many of those stories...

Ethan Casey: Is America Any Different from Pakistan?
Seattle, JANUARY 12 - So now we know: The American Right Wing knows no shame and apparently will stop at nothing to bully the rest of us into shutting up and taking whatever they dish out. On the sound principle -- understood by right-wingers but not by liberals -- that the best defense is a good offense, Sarah Palin has released a self-exonerating video statement asserting that "acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own." The right-wing blogger Michelle Malkin has coined the phrase "Tu...

'Heated Rhetoric' Not to Blame in Arizona Shooting, Poll Finds
At the Washington Post (full survey here). The poll does not break down by party. I'm still tripping on the 56 percent of Democrats in yesterday's CNN poll who blamed "heated right-wing Rhetoric" for the attacks. It's 100 percent untrue, of course, and is thus a bigger statement on the ideological denial of reality that's the hallmark of radical progressive thinking in recent years. John Hawkins has more on this, "Understanding How The Left Thinks: It’s Not About What’s True, It&#...

Truth and Tucson (Three)
First reports are always wrong - that old adage can't be repeated enough. In a previous installment we examined the role of several Military Veterans in the Tucson rampage. Those stories were revealed in reports filed several days after Jared Loughner's assault. Initial reports from the day of indicated he'd killed Representative Gabrielle Giffords and several other citizens attending her public appearance at a local Supermarket. Reports of her death proved premature, but soon enough they were r...

No intention to move Arizona shooting trial: Justice Dept
Stumble This! WASHINGTON (Reuters) - There are no plans to move from Arizona the trial venue of the suspect in the Tucson shooting that killed six and wounded 13 others including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the Department of Justice said on Tuesday. After saturation media coverage of the event and Federal Judges in Arizona recusing themselves, there was some media speculation the trial would be moved to another state. However, Department of Justice officials threw cold water on those suggestions. ...

New Liberal Civility: 'I Wish I Could' Choke Rush to Death
Just as a new report details how state-run media networks have used the Arizona shootings to attack conservative voices (by an eight-to-one ratio), one liberal hate-talker has decided to double-down on his notoriously-extreme Rhetoric. 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 the...

Palin Calls Out Media for Implicating Her in Tucson Shooting, CBS Has Amnesia
On Tuesday's CBS Early Show, congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes reported on Sarah Palin's first interview since the Tucson shooting: "She accused the Left and the News Media of trying to destroy her message, trying to destroy her, said she was being accused of being an accessory to Murder." Cordes forgot to mention her role in furthering those accusations against the former Alaska Governor. After playing a clip of Palin's Monday interview on Fox News' Hannity, Cor...

Joe Scarborough to right wing: Stop whining about shooting!
Well, take a look at this. Joe Scarborough, in an open letter of sorts to Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck, has managed the impossible. He says Beck and Palin are not to blame for the shooting, while simultaneously saying that asking whether incendiary Rhetoric can lead to violence is a perfectly valid line of inquiry: You weren't personally responsible for the slaughter at the Safeway. Maybe you can put it on a poster at the next "Talkers" convention. But before you and the pack of right-wing pole...

Rep. Giffords continuing recovery
A little over a week after being shot in the head by a deranged person, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) is continuing to put up a miraculous fight to recover: Rep. Gabrielle Giffords smiles at her husband and has even given him a back rub, her doctors said today. The tracheotomy tube in the throat of the badly wounded Arizona congresswoman prevents her from speaking to her husband, Astronaut Mark Kelly, but the doctors said the smiles were important indicators. “It implies she is recognizin...

USA TODAY poll: Americans favor stricter gun control, better mental health screening
Americans favor stricter Gun Control laws and better Mental Health screening and support to prevent Mass Shootings, a USA Today/ Gallup Poll found. Ask what they think the one or two most important things that could be done to prevent mass shootings in the USA, 24% of adults selected stricter Gun Control laws, 15% favored better Mental Health screening, 9% favored more education for Children about violence and the proper use of guns, and 8% favored more extensive Background Checks for gun purch...

NYT Public Editor Arthur Brisbane Almost Admits Liberal Bias Skewed Tucson Coverage
On Saturday, the New York Times's Public Editor offered a milquetoast apologia for the paper's leading role in falsely ascribing blame for the Tucson massacre to conservative pundits and politicians. Nowhere in the column did Public Editor Arthur Brisbane address columnist Paul Krugman's false smear of Rep. Michele Bachmann, noted in a letter sent by NewsBusters to Brisbane's office on Friday. Brisbane attributed the rush to blame, at least in part, Sarah Palin and other conserva...

Our Gun-Crazy Nation
In the wake of the horrific shootings last week in Tucson, Arizona, you would think we could all agree to stop the legal distribution of concealed, automatic weapons to the floridly psychotic. You would be wrong. "There's no question that the debate over Gun Control will continue after the Tucson attack," the NRA declared in a statement on its legislative action web site. "Please rest assured that the NRA will, as always, stand front and center in defense of the rights of gun owne...

Many questions, few answers left in Tucsons wake
By Nicholas Wilbur What is government if words have no meaning? That was the question Jared Lee Loughner posed to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in their first meeting. In their second meeting, he shot her in the head. The round-the-clock media circus has taken a swipe at every minute detail of Loughner's life in an attempt to understand his motivations for killing six and wounding 14 others in the attempted Assassination of a congresswoman. Unfortunately, the 24-hour-a-day speculation-based coverag...

CNN Poll: Blame game in Arizona shootings
Washington (CNN) - Americans feel sadness, anger and shock in the wake of the tragic events in Tucson, Arizona, according to a new National Poll. A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Monday also indicates there's plenty of blame to go around over the shootings, but two-thirds of the public is pessimistic that the government or society can prevent something like this from happening again. A total of 19 people were shot January 8 at the "Congress on Your Corner" event at a Tucson sup...

Post-Tucson Poll: Little Support for Gun Control
CNN reports: Americans feel sadness, anger and shock in the wake of the tragic events in Tucson, Arizona, according to a new National Poll. A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Monday also indicates there’s plenty of blame to go around over the shootings, but two-thirds of the public is pessimistic that the government or society can prevent something like this from happening again. View full results (pdf) A total of 19 people were shot January 8 at the “Congress on Yo...

Palin answers critics
Published: Jan. 18, 2011 at 11:14 AM Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says it's ridiculous to think the Tucson shooter was inspired by a political map her political action committee put up. UPI WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says it's ridiculous to think the Tucson shooter was inspired by a political map her political action committee put up. The map featured crosshairs over Congressional Districts including the one represented by Gabrielle Giffords who was shot i...

Rush Limbaugh: Ban liberals from having guns, e-mail
PALM BEACH, Fla. – In the aftermath of the Tucson massacre that left six people dead and 14 injured including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, radio host Rush Limbaugh proffered his own solution to help make the nation a safer, more civil place: prevent "liberals" from owning guns and sending e-mails. "I've got the solution to most crime in America," Limbaugh said today on his top-rated program. "From this day forward, somebody propose it. Liberals should not be allowed to buy guns. Just tha...