What Riverdaughter said

Oregon Rep. Schrader holds Beck, Limbaugh responsible for Arizona tragedy
 Oregon Rep. Kurt Schrader, Democrat, is holding Right Wing commentators Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck responsible for the tragic Shooting Spree in Arizona. Saturday, outside of a strip mall in Tucson Arizona, Jared Lee Loughner killed six people, including Federal Judge John Roll, and wounded more than a dozen, including Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Giffords, a Democrat who supported Health Care reform, was Loughner's target. Giffords was...

Toxic rhetoric: Twitter users want Sarah Palin dead, media yawns
Ever since the tragic shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, liberals have sought to blame Sarah Palin and the Tea Party for the attack. Shortly after the shooting, Jane Fonda sent out tweets blaming Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and the Tea Party. Encouraged by irresponsible and shameful reporting, a number of Twitter users have expressed their desire to see Sarah Palin dead, and some tweets actually call for her Assassination. “So…will everyone be satisfied then when Palin is assa...

Hate, violence, extremism: Krugman on the Arizona shooting
By Michael J.W. Stickings Just to drive the point home, allow me to quote Paul Krugman, who yesterday made the case that many of us have been making the past few days: When you heard the terrible news from Arizona, were you completely surprised? Or were you, at some level, expecting something like this atrocity to happen? Put me in the latter category. I've had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach ever since the fina...

Tucson spells trouble for Palin's presidential hopes
After a Palin-produced gunsight map went viral, the former Governor was immediately dragged into the debate. The Internet lit up with criticism linking her camp to the shooting of Gabby Giffords (the Arizona congresswoman's district was targeted as one to "take back" in 2010). Palin posted a brief condolence on Facebook but then, she promptly went into self-defense mode --a move that didn't win her any fans, and caused her political stock to plummet in an online futures market. (Yes, t...

Sanitizing Extremism: Palin and Beck on Violence and War
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 Rhetoric of both Beck and Palin has been cited by both liberals and some of the mainstre...

Brave Woman Who Grabbed Clip from Shooter Blames Right-Wing Media and Rhetoric In Fox News Interview
Patricia Maisch, 61, was the brave woman who kept alleged shooter Jared Loughner from unloading a second clip into a Tuscon crowd on Saturday. Wounded herself from a bullet, she saw him attempting to equip his gun with another magazine, grabbed him and knelt on his ankle, delaying the reload and potentially saving many more lives.  So when Fox News interviewed her on Sunday, they clearly wanted to know if her strength could translate to psychic healing as Americans grappled with the tragedy...

Media whitewashes ultra-right in Arizona massacre
Here the central role was played by the ultra-right media campaign mounted by Fox News, Talk Show hosts like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, and the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party, including one Republican Senate Candidate who called for a "Second Amendment solution" to political issues -- i.e., the use of Firearms. As the World Socialist Web Site explained yesterday (See "Arizona Assassination spree tied to political right"), the political conceptions in Loughner's Internet postings are...

Poll: Most Americans see no connection between Ariz. shooting and political rhetoric (Daily Caller)
Read more stories from The Daily Caller We're probably alone in the universe, or else they're out to get us Mark Halperin: Conservatives should turn the other cheek when scapegoated for Murder Could Jon Huntsman really be the Republican presidential nominee in 2012? Auburn wins it all: Sights from the BCS National Championship [SLIDESHOW] Pucker up: Celebrities recall their first kiss [SLIDESHOW] A majority of Americans don’t see a connection between vitriolic Rhetoric and Jared Loughner...

The right-wing narrative about Clinton, the Oklahoma bombing, and Obama
President Obama is heading to Arizona to commemorate the Victims of Saturday's events in Tucson, and Conservatives are already expressing concern about a replay of Bill Clinton's 1995 Speech denouncing "purveyors of hatred and division" on the airwaves in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing. In a preemptive strike, Conservatives are already misrepresenting the history of that event, arguing that Clinton politicized the bombing for his own gain. At National Review, John J. Miller writes...

Does Beck Think Americans Are Weak?
Tue Jan. 11, 2011 8:37 AM PST Why doesn't Glenn Beck have confidence in America? During his Monday Radio Show—when the subject was the Tucson tragedy—Beck came to the rescue of his friend Sarah Palin, who had come under criticism for a map her political action group had created last year that placed cross-hairs over the districts of 20 Democratic legislators it had targeted—including the one represented by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.). Beck read to his audience an email f...

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...

Facebook & Tweets Wish Death On Sarah Palin: Sanctimonious Liberals Silent
Liberals on Facebook are now wishing death upon Sarah Palin I hate it when I wake up and Sarah Palin is still alive: KILL SARAH PALIN Moving to Canada if someone doesn't kill Sarah Palin by 2011. On Twitter: Where are the voices of the sanctimonious Democrats, lib Bloggers (Markos "Screw Them" Molitas, Charles Johnson at Little Green Fartballs) and lib media who have blamed her, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, the Tea Party, the US Constitution, etc, etc and dare lecture about toning down the rhetor...

Absurd fingerpointing continues in wake of Arizona shooting
As more become clear about Jared Loughner, the facts seem to mean less and less for those seeking to turn this tragedy into a political witch hunt. It appears that Loughner, had an obsession with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) dating back to 2007 - before Sarah Palin or the Tea Party movement came on the national scene, and the warning signs that Loughner was an unstable person had been ignored; even by police. And while the debate on Loughner’s political leanings is still raging, Chris Ci...

Hijacking A Massacre
Best headline of the day, via The Daily Mail in Britain: How America's elite hijacked a massacre to take revenge on Sarah PalinThe substance of the article makes points you have heard before regarding the murderous rampage by Jared Loughner: Rahm Emanuel, Mr Obama’s former Chief of Staff and a ­figure compared to Labour’s Alastair Campbell, once said: ‘You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.’ And those on his side of the political divide have clearly seen t...

Rush Limbaugh: It's 'Insane' to Link Sarah Palin to Tucson Shootings
Don't blame Sarah Palin. Right-wing Talk Show host Rush Limbaugh says media outlets "are unnecessarily stirring up the country" in the wake of the fatal Arizona shootings and attempting to tie the tragedy to the colorful Rhetoric used by him and Sarah Palin, among others. "Reporters are bending over backwards to link this shooting to me, to Sarah Palin, to an entire industry -- Talk Radio," he said Monday on his syndicated program. "Only in these instances is something said in the media, said to...

Blood will be on your hands, Whoopie Goldberg warned talking heads in March
Stumble This! Whoopi Goldberg may not be the best of talents when it comes to picking scripts that will become breakout hits as films, but she certainly seems to have absolutely nailed a prediction of what America's political discourse would become in an era of ubiquitous violent Rhetoric. During a March 2010 broadcast of ABC's daytime Talk Show "The View," co-host Joy Behar called out "an Al Qaeda Christmas Card" circulated by Fox News employee Sarah Palin, showing a map of the US with gun sig...

Gentlemen, You Cant Blog Here, This is the War Room!
Jim Geraghty spots this howler: “I understand the idea that, even if Loughner had no idea who Sharron Angle is and even if he never saw Palin’s infamous cross-hairs map, it still makes sense to encourage political leaders to ditch violent Rhetoric,” writes Salon news editor Steve Kornacki at the site’s War Room blog. The first step in encouraging political leaders to ditch violent rhetoric? Stop calling your blog the WAR ROOM. “Oh, the sweet sweet irony…” Bryan Pr

AZ aftermath: Seattle Times v. P-I v. conservatives and gun rights
   While Seattle-area Liberals have joined the rush to blame Conservatives and Constitutionally-affirmed Gun Rights for the shooting of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the Murders of six other citizens, it appears no small amount of irony and hypocrisy have risen to the surface, and you can study it today on websites for the Seattle Times, Seattle PI.com, Sound Politics and Orbusmax.    Tuesday Morning, even KIRO’s Dave Ross got in on the debate, and we will talk mo...

A Nice New York Times Editorial
NYT: Bloodshed and Invective in Arizona: She read the First Amendment on the House floor — including the guarantee of “the right of the people peaceably to assemble” — and then flew home to Arizona to put those words into practice. But when Gabrielle Giffords tried to meet with her constituents in a Tucson Parking Lot on Saturday, she came face to face with an environment wholly at odds with that constitutional ideal, and she nearly paid for it with her life. Jared Loug...

The Tea Party and their Brand of Violence
(I'm not sure I agree, promoted because it is well said and there are well formed replies thus making it a worthy discussion. - promoted by MADCO) I don't believe that the Tea Party had anything to do with the Assassination attempt on a Democratic Congressperson. I still hold them responsible, however. First there was Pim Fortuyn. And now, there is Gabrielle Giffords. Assassinations that have fundamentally changed politics in the Netherlands and now the United States. In each case, the politica...

Poll: Most Americans dont blame heated rhetoric for Tucson shooting
In the wake of the shooting in Arizona this weekend that critically injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and that killed and injured more than 20 people, many pundits and politicians are pointing fingers. Others are hoping the incident will serve to ratchet down rancor. Yet emerging details make it clear the More… The remaining members of the Iowa Supreme Court have proven they are immoral and “open enemies of God” by choosing Mark Cady as Chief Justice, and thus, all deserve to be ...

Are Dems The New Party of No?
Tue Jan. 11, 2011 8:45 AM PST They might have relinquished their majority and coveted committee chairmanships, but House Democrats are quickly proving they've lost none of their savvy despite their diminished ranks. With a major battle looming over the Federal Government's Debt ceiling, Democrats like Barney Frank of Massachusetts are mulling a strategy that potentially could divide the GOP's more Centrist lawmakers from party's Tea Party cadre. How? By voting against Legislation to raise the d...

Times Suggests Toxic Political Stew Contributed to Climate of Violence in AZ
The Times threw in all the potentially combustible ingredients of Arizona politics - guns, border control, Health Care - and tried to make it add up to a stew of violence, in Tuesday’s front-page story from Tucson, the sight of Saturday's shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords: “In Giffords’s District, a Long History of Tension.” The text box: “Area Deeply Divided Over Immigration and Health Care.” The story was reported by Adam Nagourney, Sam Dol...

Palin's ups and downs
The New York Times zeroes in on Sarah Palin's communications, absence of significant communication, and political future. Under criticism that her political Rhetoric had helped create a climate for political violence, Sarah Palin addressed the issue in Trademark Fashion: via e-mail to the conservative commentator Glenn Beck. “Our Children will not have peace if politicos just capitalize on this to succeed in portraying anyone as inciting terror and violence,” Ms. Palin wrote to Mr. B...

Psychosis or Politics
Andrew Sullivan makes some good points in response to David Brooks's belief that psychosis, not politics, was the casus berserkus of the shooting--although I tend to stand closer to Brooks in this matter. To keep things in perspective, however, it's important to state the obvious: We don't know anything yet. We may have some clues to Loughner's motivation, but nothing definitive, since he hasn't said anything and the feds are probably withholding the most relevant material they may have found in...