alicublog

Keep rampage blame where it belongs
We add our thoughts and prayers to the many for critically wounded Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the six people killed, including a senior Federal Judge, a 9-year-old girl fascinated by politics, a congressional aide and three other innocents, as well as the 13 people wounded, in the attack Saturday in Tucson. The accused, Jared Loughner, is a deeply disturbed young man whose violent proclivities had frightened several acquaintances but who had not yet done anything overt enough to bring h...

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...

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...

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...

Malkin: The progressive climate of hate"
Michelle Malkin:The Tuscon massacre ghouls who are now trying to criminalize Conservatism have forced our hand. They need to be reminded. You need to be reminded. Confront them. Don’t be cowed into silence. And don’t let the media whitewash the sins of the hypocritical Left in their naked attempt to suppress the law-abiding, constitutionally-protected, peaceful, vigorous Political Speech of the Right. They want to play tu quo que in the middle of a national tragedy? They asked for it. They got..

The Progressive Climate of Hate
From Michelle Malkin: The Tucson massacre ghouls who are now trying to criminalize Conservatism have forced our hand. They need to be reminded. You need to be reminded. Confront them. Don’t be cowed into silence. And don’t let the media whitewash the sins of the hypocritical Left in theirnaked attempt to suppress the law-abiding, constitutionally-protected, peaceful, vigorous Political Speech of the Right. They want to play tu quo que in the middle of a national traged

WOW! Must read blog post - The "progressive" Culture of Hate:
Absolutely superlative post by Michelle Malkin. Please pass it on - it details the culture of hate the left has and how they get away with it. Just superlative folks... The Tuscon massacre ghouls who are now trying to criminalize Conservatism have forced our hand. They need to be reminded. You need to be reminded. Confront them. Don’t be cowed into silence. And don’t let the media whitewash the sins of the hypocritical Left in their naked attempt to suppress the law-abiding, consti...

Mahers Offensive Rant About Loughner Sets New Low
Anderson Cooper took a very different tack last night in trying to make sense of the Arizona shooting tragedy from the weekend. While many on Cable News were turning down the partisan Rhetoric, AC360 producers booked comedian Bill Maher, who was unafraid to compare the imagined mindset of alleged assailant Jared Loughner with Fox News host Glenn Beck, while at the same time calling for responsibility in the media. You must login to comment. The Fox Nation is for those opposed to intolerance, exc...

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...

Treehugger: Can We Now Tone Down The Anti-AGW Rhetoric?
Of course, their premise is that we should have more civility in the green debate, otherwise, OMG, THE WORLD IS GOING TO BURN!!!!!!11!!!!!!! we won't be able to have a proper debate THE Arctic IS GOING TO BE ICE FREE IN 1,000 YEARS and decide what proper Legislation BUILD SOLAR PLANTS FOR GAIA!!!! to pass, and we seriously STOP SOLAR PLANTS FOR GAIA!!! need to make sure that our country has clean THE SEAS WILL RISE AND WE'LL ALL DIE energy for the future. Obviously, it is the fault of all partie...

Glenn Beck Defends Sarah Palin With New Pledge Scam
It was a no-brainer that Glenn Beck would jump on the hastily gerrymandered “FOX ‘News’ Protect Palin” bandwagon after the Tucson massacre. Beck has a lot invested emotionally in the Half-Governor. Not only is she his BFF—she was his first guest on Fox “News”—but he is also knew that an attack on Sarah Palin for her “target maps” would quickly spread to the Beckinator himself. As offensive as the bulls eyes might have been—and the...

Naturally: Rush Limbaugh Added to Sheriffs Blame List
**Written by Doug Powers National Review’s Rich Lowry touched on this earlier, but it appears that Jared Loughner’s descent into ultimate evil has been documented to have started as far back as 2007 — long before the first “Tea Party” and prior to Sarah Palin becoming a household name. Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, the man at the forefront of a Murder investigation but who is acting hell-bent to prove that he learned everything he knows about responsible la...

False Equivalencies: Right vs. Left
Crazy vs. Not As Crazy Y’all know where I stand on the Tucson shooting.  Those who have used inflammatory Rhetoric bear responsibility. The thing is, they know they bear responsibility.  That’s why they are running full-bore in damage control mode, instead of doing what leaders and human beings do, which is to examine their actions, to think about whether they could have done something differently, and to contemplate what they can do in the future so that they do not cont...

They Asked For It, They Got It. The Hatred And Hypocrisy From The Left, Displayed
I was waiting for this and after reading some of the idiocy being spouted from the Far Left liberal media and blogosphere it didn't take long for Conservatives to buck up and say, wait just one damn minute you hypocrites. Quick Background: A tragic massacre in Arizona where a Federal Judge, a nine year old child and four other people were murdered. 19 people were injured in total and a congresswoman from Arizona, Gabrielle Giffords, is in critical condition, fighting for her life after being s...

Which Path Will Our Nation Choose In Dealing With The Arizona Shooting?
There are grown up and constructive reactions to the tragic Arizona shooting. And then there are the puerile and destructive reactions. So far, President Obama has chosen the high road, and shown grace and dignity in this time of sorrow. Let’s hope that he goes tomorrow to the memorial service for the fallen in Arizona with the intent to help heal the hearts of the mourners. He should continue to condemn violence, and lay the blame where it belongs. The alleged shooter, Jared Lee Loug...

Mike's Blog Roundup
alicublog: Won't somebody please think of the Wingnuts? Balkinization: Is the Obama Administration countenancing Torture of a US serviceman? Comments are restricted to Registered Users only. Ralph Reed Defending Tom DeLay? Predictable and Pathetic. Loughner's Politics: Chaos. Pure Chaos - UPDATED Rep. Trent Franks tries to bury his own Right Wing vitrolic behavior on CNN Anderson Cooper Brings on 'Left Behind' Actor Cameron to Discuss Bird and Fish Deaths in Arkansas -- Seriously? Anderso...

Liberals: Hey Let's Elevate the Tone And/Or Call For The Assassination of Sarah Palin
Awful. They're agitating for this. Guilty of precisely the crime they charge their political enemies with -- and they're proud of it. See, this proves they're "tough." Here's the thing: I actually do believe that incitement can cause violence. I believed that for eight years with the constant chant of Bush = Murderer and "WANTED" posters for Bush's staff. And Kilborn's "Snipers Wanted" and the Florida Democrats calling for Rumsfeld's execution. So I understand the liberals growing worried abou...

Glenn Beck Defines Violent Rhetoric And Explains Where Youll Find It
On his Radio Show this morning, Glenn Beck decided to take some time out to clear up what exactly this “violent Rhetoric” everyone’s talking about is. It’s not coming out of the mouths of Sarah Palin or Rush Limbaugh, he promised. Instead, it’s coming from Frances Fox Piven and the other progressive radicals he rails against on his show. However, while we need to “tune in” to this rhetoric, Beck explained, we’re not here to regulate it. Helpfully u...

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...

AZ Assassination is not "isolated"
-- July 2008: A gunman named Jim David Adkisson, agitated at how "liberals" are "destroying America," walks into a Unitarian Church and opens fire, killing two churchgoers and wounding four others. -- October 2008: Two neo-Nazis are arrested in Tennessee in a plot to Murder dozens of African-Americans, culminating in the Assassination of President Obama. -- December 2008: A pair of "Patriot" movement radicals -- the father-son team of Bruce and Joshua Turnidge, who wanted "to attack the politi...

Accountability and Victimization
Accountability and Victimization by digby Adam Serwer has a good post up today about Clinton's Oklahoma City Speech (which I excerpted earlier, here.) I hadn't realized until this incident that it was an article of faith on the right that this Speech was considered a case of political opportunism which wrongly attributed the bombing to the Right Wing Extremism of the time. I should have known. If they don't feel any responsibility for Tim McVeigh, then they can say and do anything and will ne...

2012 Candidates Weekly Update 1/11/10
PAC: Vast majority of MICHELE PAC money went to Iowa politicians or PACs (National Journal, 1/10). Religious Right: Potential 2012 bid wins plaudits from Religious Right Activists (RWW, 1/10). Indiana: Makes 7th State of the State address with emphasis on education (South Bend Tribune, 1/11). Religious Right: Invited to speak at the Freedom Federation’s Awakening 2011 along with other potential 2012 Candidates (RWW, 1/10). Iowa: Listed to address Iowa Renewable Fuels Association in Des Moi...

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...

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...

Bill O'Reilly's 'Bloody Shirt' Factor: How to turn perpetrators into victims
Bill O'Reilly was in rare form last night as he was simply outraged from all the criticism that was heaped on the RWNM after the Giffords shootings. And the extreme Right Wing Rhetoric that Paul Krugman talked about in his piece was directed at poor l'il BillO. So Paul, be afraid -- you'll never be forgiven for writing this: And there’s a huge contrast in the media. Listen to Rachel Maddow or Keith Olbermann, and you’ll hear a lot of caustic remarks and mockery aimed at Republicans....