U.S. Tea Partiers run for cover

Searching for answers to Tuscon tragedy
Image via CrunchBase IBD: From New York newspaper columnists to an Illinois senator, the liberal left is blaming the Tea Party and conservative stars for the shooting of an Arizona congresswoman. How about blaming the Communist and Nazi-loving shooter? It didn't take long for New York Times columnist Paul Krugman to blame the Tea Party and Sarah Palin for the shooting outside a Tucson Supermarket that seriously injured Congresswoman Gabriel Giffords and left six others, including a 9-year-old,...

Late Night: Not the Best Day to Be Sarah Palin
As Jane noted earlier today, Sarah Palin awoke on Sunday to find herself at the fiery center of the debate about increased violent political Rhetoric in this country. And as usual, Palin — scratch that — Palin’s handlers paint her as the real Victim of the Arizona tragedy. Everyone makes mistakes. But anyone waiting for Sarah Palin to acknowledge she might have made one here is going to have some time on their hands.  Following the Tucson shooting, Palin’s aide disingenuou...

On the Tucson shooting
This is going to come out like a disjointed rant. I don't care - that is what it is. OK, I've had enough. This did it for me.AT THE DIRECTION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE United States, THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES SHALL BE FLOWN AT HALF-STAFF UPON RECEIPT OF THIS MESSAGE, UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE, IN HONOR OR THE Shooting VictimS IN Tucson, Arizona. FURTHER GUIDANCE WILL BE PASSED UPON RECEIPT AS TO THE DURATION OF THIS HALF-STAFFING OBSERVANCE. THE FLAG SHALL BE FLOWN AT HALF-STAFF ON ALL DEPARTMENT ...

Calls for softer tone in politics gets cool reception
By Ed Stoddard DALLAS | Mon Jan 10, 2011 7:21pm EST DALLAS (Reuters) - Calls to reset the tone of politics in the aftermath of Saturday's shooting rampage in Arizona got short shrift on Talk Radio and elsewhere as left and right traded blame for the massacre. From the right, Bloggers and pundits labeled suspected shooter Jared Lee Loughner a "leftist" while critics of conservative super-star Sarah Palin accused her of creating a combustible political atmosphere with her behavior and Rhetoric....

Arizona gunman must have been a right-winger says Paulding liberals
(Paulding County, Georgia) - If the national tragedy shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle  Gifford by lone gunman Jared Loughner isn’t enough of a concern, you can always count on liberals in Paulding to impute anything and everything on those who are Republican, Conservative, and Tea Party Patriots in Paulding…and then state that those on the right cause violence or at least, encourage it. Then another liberal hack on the same Paulding blog has the gall to state th...

About Tucson: Stupid people and crazy people may not know they are, but dishonest people sure do
According to today's Borowitz Report (see below), "Calls for a reduction in violent political Rhetoric have plunged the Fox News Channel into chaos, with a Fox spokesperson warning today that such a move 'would leave us with 24 hours to fill.'” by Ken I thought Paul Krugman said what needed to be said about the political climate that made Tucson ineviteable very well indeed in the NYT column today, "Climate of Hate," from which Howie quoted extensively this morning. As a footnote, I'd like t...

Threats, Violence and the Language We Should Remove From Civil Political Discourse
Jane Hamsher of HuffPo and FireDogLake posted this Mar 2010 timeline to show the connection between certain types of inflammatory Tea Party-inspired Rhetoric and actual violence. People are arguing about whether Palin influenced the Arizona shooter or not, but my point is that her actions are indefensible completely aside from that. Friday, March 19: Mike Vanderboegh of Pinson, Alabama, the former leader of the Alabama Constitutional Militia, puts out a call for modern “Sons of LibertyR...

Predictions?
Right now we are in the "Making Sense of the Senseless" phase of the Arizona shooting. As sure as it is going to snow as soon as you get done shovelling, we are going to soon transition into the "What Now?" phase, followed by the "Legislative Action" phase. So what are your thoughts on the what is going to be put forth in the "What Now?" and "Legislative Action" phases? Here's one I didn't quite think would happen so fast: Abridging free Speech rights to get rid of any language which could remo...

PAPER: America's elite hijacked massacre to take revenge on Sarah Palin...
On a sunny Saturday morning outside the local Safeway in Tucson,­ Arizona, a man pulls out a powerful Handgun, opens fire - and engulfs the U.S. in a political ­firestorm. Six people were killed on ­Saturday, including a nine-year-old girl. But it was the fact that the target was a ­Democratic congresswoman - who is fighting for her life - which has sparked such a furious row, not, as one might expect, over the nature of America’s Gun Laws, but over the vitriolic nature...

Happy Hour Roundup
* As Jared Loughner appears in court, Gabrielle Giffords's condition remains unchanged. * And for Giffords at this stage, no change is good news. * Jonathan Alter says Obama's moment of silence today worked beautifully because it's "an appropriate expression of what we need right now: Less Noise." Also: Alter predicts Obama will addresss the shooting in his State of the Union Speech. * As Chris Cillizza notes, the Arizona shooting is unlikely to do anything to stiffen resolve for stricter gun ...

Why Mexico is such a mess
Drug-related violence over the weekend claimed 51 lives across Mexico, including 15 decapitations in the beach resort of Acapulco, authorities reported. Such stories have become the norm -- and the dominant lens through which we estadounidenses view our neighbors to the south. Bombarded with news of grisly murders, U.S. citizens now tend to dismiss Mexico as a narco-state and think of it only to gawk at the spectacular violence (and as the inspiration for certain fast-food dishes). There is, of ...

What To Say?
Before stepping into this thicket, I'll begin by reviewing the apparent ground rules for discussing political Rhetoric and whether it has anything to do with the tragedy in Tucson. The acts of a mentally unbalanced man bear no connection to the political climate around him. Once you draw any such connection, then you are hurling accusations of incitement. Any critique of American political discourse must paint the excesses at both ends of the political spectrum as equal. And as soon as you try...

Fundnut of the day: who should it be - Matt Barber or Cindy Jacobs?
The whackadoodles of the fringe right are hopped up on the holy Kool-Aid this week. I was going to award a Fundnut of the Day, but came across two worthy of a tie. First our very manly, non-limp-wristed friend Matt "Bam Bam" Barber, the Director of Cultural Affairs. He has given a ringing, batsh*t Endorsement of Michele "Reagan in pumps" Bachmann as a Presidential Candidate in 2012. From the instant his fruitful eight-year reign ended, Republicans have pined for the next Ronald Reagan. To da...

Palin e-mails Beck claiming to hate violence, war
By Michael J.W. Stickings Politico: Sarah Palin reached out to Glenn Beck over the weekend, and Beck read some of their email exchange on his Radio Show this morning. "Sarah, as you know, peace is always the answer. I know you are felling the same heat, if not much more on this," Beck wrote. Beck expressed concern about Palin's safety, and urged her to hire the same Los Angeles-based security firm that he uses. The rhet...

Sarah (Reload) Palin and Rush Limbaugh Condemned For Their Hate Speech; Beck Takes Stand Against Violence By Holding Gun
While we don’t know for certain what  Jared Loughner’s motivation was in the attempted Assassination of Gabrielle Giffords, there is an increasing consensus among reasonable people that the hate-speech which has been common on the right is dangerous to Civil Discourse and our Democracy. This has become a turning point in the career of Sarah Palin, who prefers to pander to the Far Right than to speak to the concerns of mainstream Americans. Most likely this week will mark the end o...

Kuwait: too much politics, or not enough?
On Dec. 28, Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammed al-Sabah, Prime Minister and nephew to the ruling Emir, stood before the Kuwaiti National Assembly to face intensive questioning from representatives of Kuwait's three main opposition groupings. The parliamentary "grilling"-- in Kuwait's colorful parlance -- came in response to his government's use of force to break up a meeting of academics and parliamentarians, a gathering which itself was called to Protest alleged constitutional violations by th...

Arizona Sheriff Clarence Dupnik calls some state gun laws 'the height of insanity'
Some more political comments tonight from the sheriff investigating the now infamous Tucson shootings of last Saturday. At his initial news conference after the deaths of six people and wounding of 14 others, Shariff Clarence Dupnik could not provide much information because, he said, the investigation was just in its early stages. He wouldn't even confirm the suspect's name. However, the 74-year-old career Law Enforcement officer did admantly volunteer at least twice that overheated r...

Republicans Ready To Stop Pretending They're Fiscal Conservatives To Steal Worker Pensions
You may recall that Millionaire greedhead Ron Johnson campaigned for Russ Feingold's Wisconsin Senate seat by pushing the "China model." He won and perhaps the China model will too. Our ruling elites have certainly giving it a good running start-- NAFTA, financial Deregulation, Tax Cuts for the wealthy and other devices aimed at destroying the Middle Class and concentrating the nation's ealth in fewer and fewer hands. Soon we'll all be slaves Chinese factory workers. And two o...

Miliband backs Johnson judgement
Labour leader Ed Miliband has defended shadow chancellor Alan Johnson after he appeared not to know the rate of National Insurance paid by employers. Mr Miliband also said the shadow chancellor had the right "instincts" to create Economic Growth. On Sky News on Sunday Mr Johnson said the "secondary class one-rate [National Insurance contributions] for employers" would have gone up 1% to 21% had Labour won the General Election. Asked at the Press Conference whether this threw ...

Arizona Shooting Coverage Is a Media Campaign to Criminalize Conservatism
Managing Editor's Note: Media Research Center President Brent Bozell issued the following statement after a thorough, two-day review of how the media have covered the tragic shooting in Arizona. Implicating a conservative tie to this heinous act of violence or to Jared Lee Loughner, who is no conservative, is nothing short of a naked campaign to criminalize conservative thought. Sadly, those who point their finger are at the nexus of hypocrisy. Take the unidentified “Veteran Democratic...

Steve Hynd Making Sense Again
Steve Hynd, whom I linked to a bit earlier, contributes a little more sense on the subject of the Arizona shooting from the Left Blogosphere: I said I’d wait until I knew more before I wrote more about the Arizona shootings. Well, here it is. […] Note that Loughner’s obsession with Rep. Giffords began at least as early as 2007, long before Sarah Palin or the Tea Party - but note too that there’s not a lot of difference between paranoid politics and the worst exces...

Giffords promoted softer political discourse in email to GOP colleague day before shooting
Stumble This! Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) on the eve of the shooting that left her in critical condition and six others dead wrote an email to a Republican colleague promoting a softer public political discourse. "After you get settled, I would love to talk about what we can do to promote centrism and moderation," Giffords wrote to Trey Grayson, Kentucky Secretary of State who resigned to take a position as director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University. Giffords wrote the congr...

Pima County Sheriff Dupnik Jeopardizes Justice and Must Resign Now
Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik has blathered in radio, television, and newspaper interviews non-stop since Saturday’s massacre in his county.  He cannot possibly be doing his job to properly and thoroughly investigate the tragic loss of life on his watch in Pima County, Arizona. Monday , Dupnik even went so far as to blame Talk Show host Rush Limbaugh PERSONALLY for the Murders in Tucson.  See report here on Real Clear Politics.  On Sunday, Dupnik admitted in his interv...

Arizona gunman in court as Obama leads mourning
The man accused of trying to assassinate a congresswoman in an Arizona Shooting Spree that left six dead appeared in court but said nothing to shed light on his motive. President Barack Obama led the American nation in a somber minute of silence to honor the 20 people gunned down in Tucson -- where he will attend a memorial service on Wednesday, the White House announced. Flags were at half-staff at the Capitol in Washington, where hundreds of aides and lawmakers crammed the storied steps of Con...

Arizona shootings prompt call for ban on high-capacity clips
For many in Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' southeastern Arizona district, guns are a way of life for hunting and protection while they're working on their ranches in a part of the country that has become Ground Zero for Smuggling. But, to some East Coast lawmakers, that gun culture led to Saturday's shooting rampage in Tucson, Ariz., which killed six and wounded the congresswoman and 13 others. Now two lawmakers have said they'll push for tougher gun controls, including stricter limits on high-capacit...