Our Saturday had started out so great. We were relaxing at home drinking really good coffees, watching a great old movie, and playing on Facebook. Then we heard the news that something terrible had happened in Tucson, Arizona — a mass shooting with multiple deaths and injuries — and one of the victims was Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ). Reportedly she was gravely wounded with a gunshot to the head from point blank range. We began praying for our country.
The details coming in were conflicting and confusing. I went to Twitter and got as much information there as I could. There were some awful things being said by the left – like blaming Sarah Palin for what happened today – including this from founder of the Daily Kos:
Markos Moulitsas Mission accomplished, Sarah Palin, http://is.gd/knNgl
6 hours ago
I ‘follow’ Markos Moulitsas and lifted that myself from my own Twitter page. The craziness is not just on Twitter either. The blogosphere is on fire, blaming everything from gun rights laws to conservative talk radio, as the fuel that instigated today’s horrible events. For example, Breaking News reports, a liberal blogger, also blames Sarah Palin for Gabrielle Gifford’s assassination attempt, and the murder/attempted murder of so many others.
“F*** it. I’m going there” One liberal blogger wrote on Saturday after news of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot dead in point blank range at a Tuscon rally. The blogger TBogg blamed former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin for the congresswoman’s death after Palin named Giffords as one of her ‘targets’ during the 2010 mid-term elections. Palin was caught in controversy when she published on her Facebook page a graphic that showed several ‘target’ districts, including Giffords 8th district in Arizona.
I could list link after link but don’t want to promote them anymore then I have. It’s disgusting how the left is politicking this national tragedy, but do we expect anything less? Remember when NY Mayor Bloomberg blamed the Times Square bombing on someone who was ‘upset about Obamacare’ (code for Tea Partier) when it was actually a Muslim terrorist? The left was all over that as well.
Sadly, Republicans in this country are basically being accused of being an accessory to murder in this tragedy by the leftists and their mouthpieces all across this country. Their sensitivity to the loss of precious life and liberty is not just remarkably underwhelming, but hateful. They have gone completely insane trying to politicize these sad, sad shootings.
We don’t have all the answers yet as to what happened today and why. But we eventually will. What we do know is that the events of today — the horrible acts of violence — has no place in a free society.
Please pray for the families of the victims and that justice and peace will be found.
_____
At this writing, here is what we know about some of the victims. There’s a lot more here about the shooter Jared Loughner – who it seems was quite the leftist himself – including whether or not he had a military background. Stacy talks about the shooter’s mental health here and has some excellent local reports. And Michelle has an in depth roundup of the entire, albeit confusing, events of the day.
Ken says: Absolutely tragic.
From what I’ve been reading about the shooter so far, he was a mish mash of politics and obviously a lunatic. Unfortunately, we know, this wont stop people from trying to politicize it.
This guy was a coward and a murdering piece of trash.
I hope they hang this scumbag and whoever helped him.
Sari says: Oh please cut the faux patriotic/sympathy/christiany crap!!!! EVERYONE KNOWS THAT THE RIGHTWING FANATICS IN THIS COUNTRY has a sick and twisted theology of hate and violence!!!! Just look what you do to abortion doctors in your so-called house of worship!!!! This kid was not a “leftist”!!!!!! He was mentally ill and had ideology of being something he was not. He was sick. Where is your compassion for him? His life is lost too.
Tom says: Yes very tragic indeed. The culture of violence on the far right has been simmering for a long time and can be felt all over this country thanks to the tea baggers. It will take a lot of concerted efforts by many elements of society to turn down the heat and frankly, I am not so sure we can.
Michael says: Hey Rightwingers: Admit please that all of your blustery hate-speech you get daily from Limblob, Hannity, and Beck easily influences those who are mentally unhinged — we have seen it before and we are seeing it again with the events of today now aren’t we? Even the local Sheriff at his press conference this evening called out all of you tea bagging haters to turn off your hateful and inflammatory rhetoric because you help to perpetuate the dangerously mental ill among us. So when are you going to stop?
sari you said “Where is your compassion for him? His life is lost too.”
my compassion is with the dead 9 year old child & her grieving family and her little friends who won’t fully understand what happen. and with the other victims of the day, including Rep. Giffords, who will never, ever be the same. i hope the shooter finds Christ before he’s painfully and slowly executed — that’s as far as my compassion extends today.
tom culture of violence? have you forgotten what was done to president bush (and those in his administration) day in and day out for 8 years by people on your side? clearly you have. and just how do you propose to ‘turn down the heat’? black suv’s in the middle of night at tea party members houses? nothing that drastic? how about shutting down access to right wing blogs on the internet through net neutrality or even implementing the fairness doctrine for talk radio?
michael you said ‘So when are you going to stop?’ um, you first. 90% of the hate speech today has been coming from the left, filling the blogosphere with false information and threats directed toward conservatives. and the sheriff? he was off base and out of line but he was speaking from a lot of raw emotion and anxiety — i cut him some slack. you on the other hand are simply a gloating little toady who comes here just to spew your self righteous garbage.
Tony Christian says: How sad the only commentors on your site so far are myopic, tunnel visioned liberals with axes to grind. This boy was clearly borederline schizo, but like it or not, the facts are in this case that he was a reader of left wing political ideology and paranoid regarding government mind-control. He volunteered for lefty causes and was known for his “pot smoking, liberal” character by his acquaitances.
Historically one can notice that most public assasins are of a lefty viewpoint and orientation. For instance, Lee H Oswald (communist), Squeaky Fromm (hippie cultist). But the left will grasp any handy weapon.
Sad, sad, sad. I think it is because they are desperate since the last election.
anonymois1 says: Sarah palin is a brain dead screwball. One of her disciples followed her instructions and there are plenty of others out there just like him. Ironic, the public outrage over the murder of 6 by 1 in a state in republican governor Jan Brewer, another Palin disciple and head of her own self styled death panel, has sentenced to death 2 U.S. citizen constituents by withholding funds for life saving surgery, with dozens of others on her target list for the same fate. With crocodile tears, she posed for cameras expressing regret over the logical result of her rhetoric and rushed back to her office minutes later to (1) order suspension of life saving funds for yet other Arizonans in need of transplants, (2) place a call to Sarah Palin to obtain names of pre-screened, acceptable tea party republican replacements for Democratic Congresswoman Giffords in congress. Stupidity remains God given and constitutionally protected folks! When you elect idiots to lead idiots what do you expect?
‘When you elect idiots to lead idiots what do you expect?’
so anonymois1 what does that say about you when you elected Obama? worst. president. ever.
kate How many political assasinations were there during Junior’s presidency? How many people did that kid they arrested in Pioneer Square kill? How many people did the “underpants” bomber kill?
Now, add all those numbers together, and compare it to the number of people killed by Scott Roeder, Joseph Stack, James VonBrunn, Jared Lee Loughner.
Tony “Christian” So, this “left-winger” decided that the best way to attack the political Right was to shoot a Democrat, eh? Sure, whatever you say.
Kate, you say left-wing bloggers are trying to blame Sarah Palin and others of your heroes. Well, here’s what Sheriff Dupnik, whom I do not believe is a left-wing blogger, had to say:
“When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government,” he said. “The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on this country is getting to be outrageous and unfortunately Arizona has become sort of the capital. We have become the Mecca for prejudice and bigotry.”
You all can say whatever you want, but Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Tom Tancredo, JD Hayworth, American Thinker, and right-wing bloggers have been preaching their hate for two years now.
Is this what Sarah Palin meant when she said “Don’t retreat. Reload?”
Is this what Sharon Angle meant when she said that right-wing idiots might need to resort to “Second Amendment remedies?”
Is this what the Tea-baggers meant when they waved their signs saying “We came unarmed (this time)?”
Is this what right-wing blogger American Thinker meant, when he said: “We cannot wait until November, we cannot wait for the courts to take action, and we cannot wait for others to do the right thing. We must do the right thing now. We must know we are at war, and be willing to sacrifice ourselves for the good of our country?”
Is this what Ann Coulter meant when she said: “We need to execute people like John Walker in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed, too. Otherwise, they will turn out to be outright traitors?”
You can tap-dance around it all you want. But you’re still going to have to face the music.
This is the end for the tea-baggers. The GOP is going to abandon you now. Watch and see.
hi there dade – good to see you!
let me say your account of what’s happened both today and for the last few years is so completely distorted by your leftist ideology, i know that my words will have no impact but i’ll try and then i’m going to bed.
why was today’s shooter described ERRONEOUSLY as a tea partying conservative, an Afghan Vet, a right winger by pundits, commentators, and liberal bloggers alike BEFORE we even knew the shooters name or the number actually killed?
why, when it was revealed (by his own words on myspace, facebook, youtube, et al) that the shooter was in fact a lunatic influenced by LEFTIST ideology like chomsky, mao, alinsky, the communist manifesto, et al, did those same pundits, commentators, and liberal bloggers conveniently not correct their mistake focusing solely on the mental health issues?
because the left in this country, including yourself, so hate truth that you will say and do anything to hold on to get power or hold on to it.
palin, limbaugh, beck, and whoever else you want to throw out there didn’t influence this guy — sorry — so your argument is a false one to begin with. it hurts doesn’t it? to know you can’t truthfully blame the murders of these innocent people on pro-lifers or conservatives completely cuts the legs off any argument with integrity. anything else is just lies. lies. damn lies.
parsing their words like you did with palin’s lock and reload is petty. she didn’t mean kill people and you know that. if we were to parse liberal pols words, it would be equally pathetic.
tea party people are not the ones hanging Olame in effigy. or beheading him and holding vigils in front of the WH. or shooting little 9 yr-old girls in the head. no, they are serious, non-violent patriots — in the mold of mlk — who want real substantive policy change, not marketable mtv-like slogans from their government. but i know you’ll never believe that because you are too indoctrinated.
here’s the deal: the left became patently unhinged today publicly, for all the world to see, with their blaming Palin and the others. you all looked like lying fools. seriously. the American people are not buying what the left is selling anymore. i think you all know that deep inside but its just too hard to face.
Jerry says: When we study the way progressive marxists respond to their own ongoing failures and their inability to admit those failures it reminds me of C.S. Lewis:
Do not let us mistake ‘necessary’ evils for good. ~C.S. Lewis
chi says: Culture of violence? Thats just stupid! Would the left sit down and shut up if the republicans were in charge, stomping all over Americans? Hey, that reminds me of the Bush years…..ya, they were real quiet, werent they?
Anyways, this is going to be a gut wrenching week listening to the left blame and point fingers at every conservative. My only hope is that the conservatives dont take the bait and get defensive. This was a nutjob who did this, I even read somewhere he was a liberal as a couple years ago….does that matter, no.
I heard somewhere recently, never let a serious crisis go to waste. I hope no one uses this tragic event for any political gain.
Bill32 says: So what if this kid read so-called left materials. He was mentally ill. The bigger question is: When are the American people going to wake up to the fact that tea baggers instigate violence. Period. We have had a full year of their rhetoric from their gods like Glen Beck and Sarah Palin. This event proves they are not a movement good for our country. Blogs like yours are foot soldiers of that hate speech. How does that make you feel?
Viv Lee says: What in the world is wrong with people who less than 10 minutes after a national tragedy, begin looking for religious or political ideologies at which to point their bony finger of condemnation and blame? I think that speaks volumes about the bitterness and rage that exists within themselves, as much as it does about the idiot(s) who perpetrate such violence. My first reaction was so far from the blame game chaos that ensued. I was heartbroken and prayerful.
Kate, I was mortified when reading these comments. What culture of violence? Is that what these same people called it when Clinton was president and we had all those school shootings or Waco? Or what about when Bush was president and the abortionist was shot or the Beltway snipers? Or what about all these documented threats of violence against Bush? http://www.zombietime.com/zomblog/?p=621
Face it. There are crazy people from every religion, every political ideology, every ethnicity, every gender, every age group, every education level, etc… Jumping to conclusions about the motives of crazy people (instead of waiting for facts) and trying to blame one group or individual is shameful hyper-partisanship and bigotry and has no role in rational dialog about our nation’s grief and the compassion for those whose lives were tragically lost yesterday.
There is nothing good or productive that can come from exploitation, judgment and blame.
chi says: Thats just silly Bill32. People should be able to stand up against bills and laws that they feel are hurting their country, WITHOUT being blamed for the doings of nutjobs, both left and right mind you.
Samantha says: Dade
With all your ‘blatherings’ of how superior you believe your comrades are, you forget that your ideology doesn’t produce lasting results (election 2010).
Kevin says: We’re doomed when all we can do is blame everyone and everything around us. The left blames Sarah, Rush and Glenn and the right blames Oberman, Matthews, and other leftist ideologs.
There comes a point in time when someone (and I’m speaking to you) needs to stand up and stop blaming everyone and everything around them. It’s all of our responsibility to stop the hate and vitriolic talk by saying, “You’ve gone too far” and “That’s not okay.” I think I am relatively successful professionally and many people come to me to solve problems and overcome the barriers. I could easily say, “That’s not my problem.” I don’t. I work at finding the decision makers and people that can change systems and then speak to them. My boss came to me one day and said, “I want you to lead this process because I want something done.” Not everyone has that ability or willingness to solve problems. If that’s not your style, then the least you could do is STOP the incendiary language (on both the left and right). We can have differing opinions and “agree to disagree” but because you believe something I don’t doesn’t make your opinion wrong. That’s what makes our country so wonderful. I have travelled and lived overseas and even own a home in a foreign country and am always amazed at what my foreign neighbors put up with because they feel powerless or because others don’t see how their actions impact others. I routinely tell them, “Talk to your neighbor.” They are so afraid of retribution.
So often people don’t see how their role hinders the constructive communication process. Stop blaming the other side and start saying to your side and the other side, “Stop blaming the other side. What are you going to do to help resolve the issue? Spewing hate speech isn’t helping.” Just because I believe in one thing and you don’t doesn’t make us enemies.
David says: “The bigger question is: When are the American people going to wake up to the fact that tea baggers instigate violence. Period.”
Just what violence are you referring too, Bill32? And what EVIDENCE have you? EVIDENCE, I say. Not opinion. Not talking points. Not feelings or advocacies.
E.V.I.D.E.N.C.E.?
BikerDan says: It’s amazing how much power the Left gives Palin, Beck, and Rush. You guys are really a confused lot.
Marsha says: Well said Kevin and certainly reasonable for people on both sides of the aisle to agree to but the left will pounce upon any tragedy to score political points as evidenced by Sari, Tom, Michael, Dade, and Anonymous1 on this very blog. So sad.
Dan the left cedes power so that they have someone else to blame for their own failures.
chi says: Bill32 seems to know all about instigating. Just saying……
Kevin says: The other tragic thing … I learned 20 years ago when I worked at a college that was wired for internet and email that it’s so easy for anonymous, faceless, nameless individuals to write the most hideous, inflammatory cruel things to others. Students would rip me a new a&&hole but never come in to my office and have a face to face conversation. It was too easy to belittle and beat up on others over email or the internet versus actually having a conversation with someone. Believe it or not, I respect Rush, Beck, Olberman, Maddow because they put a face to their beliefs versus 99.9999999% of the people that say hateful things on the internet and hide behind a screen name. How do you try and have an intelligent, informed, respectful conversation with someone on the internet? You don’t. It’s so painful to see. Our children are learning the new form of communication for the future and it’s terrifying to see.
God have mercy on our souls.
This is my answer:
http://dadecariaga.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-tucson-says-about-tea-bagger.html
That’s all I have to say. You can say what you want in response. Frankly, I don’t give a sh*t.
Ken says: “You all can say whatever you want, but Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Tom Tancredo, JD Hayworth, American Thinker, and right-wing bloggers have been preaching their hate for two years now. ”
Pure crap. Just because you don’t like what’s being said, doesn’t make it hate. I noticed the left didn’t have a problem with the hate that was aimed at Bush for 8 years. I guess your “outrage” has certain conditions. Pretty sad.
Don’t bother using that Sheriff either, Dade. He’s refused to enforce the new LAWS that he swore to uphold regarding illegal immigration. He just used his time in front of the camera to spew his own propaganda against it. It had nothing to do with this. Nice try.
As far as such “violent rhetoric” coming from Sarah Palin and the right. How about Obama’s? Care to comment on that? Here’s a few prime examples:
“** Obama: “They Bring a Knife…We Bring a Gun”
** Obama to His Followers: “Get in Their Faces!”
** Obama on ACORN Mobs: “I don’t want to quell anger. I think people are right to be angry! I’m angry!”
** Obama to His Mercenary Army: “Hit Back Twice As Hard”
** Obama on the private sector: “We talk to these folks… so I know whose ass to kick.“
** Obama to voters: Republican victory would mean “hand to hand combat”
** Obama to lib supporters: “It’s time to Fight for it.”
** Obama to Latino supporters: “Punish your enemies.”
** Obama to democrats: “I’m itching for a fight.”
So as soon as the you and the rest of the lefties start aiming your fake outrage out Obama then I’ll be concerned about Sarah Palin.
Your hypocrisy and capacity for lying are absolutely incredible.
Ken says: “This is the end for the tea-baggers. The GOP is going to abandon you now. Watch and see.”
Thanks Dade. At least you can admit that you’re politicizing a tragedy like this. Very classy.
Oh and I wouldn’t count on this being the “end” for the Tea Party.
Your anger over the last round of elections is showing. Pretty sad.
David says: Very well said, Ken – both posts before this one of mine here… On point. Accurate. Clear. True.
Who can [ ( “COHERENTLY” ) ] argue with those statements?
Suzanne says: @Dade
You and others like you are hypocrites! You talk with such confidence while you lie through your teeth. The violent rhetoric is on your side buddy starting from the top down. What about Obama’s line “They bring a knife we bring a gun.” in regards to conservatives and others who oppose him? There are many lines just like that coming from Obama’s own mouth. You fill up a lot of space with your fancy talk and your “eloquence” but its a lie.
We roared in November and we’re going to roar again in 2012. We don’t like what you and others like you, and your buddy living in the White House are selling. We’re not buying it anymore. Now run along if you’re going to keep lying and blow hot air somewhere else.
BikerDan says: Well Dade that’s just like you to come in here and make all kinds of elitist accusations that are basically bullsh*t, shill your own blog, and then leave like some freakin Prima Dona. Well to quote you, frankly I don’t give a sh*t either.
Jill says: So now a few days have gone by and we know why the Sheriff needs to deflect blame to media members about this tragedy. He knew beforehand that this nutjob had made death threats and did NOTHING to stop him. Of course he needs to blame someone else. Otherwise, how could he live with his own inaction?
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