Posted on 01/09/2011 2:32:27 AM PST by icwhatudo
Her name is Catie Parker and her 15 minutes of fame is upon her. She is a liberal and may have saved Sarah Palin and the Tea Party a huge amount of ill will in the wake of the Arizona shootings. She was the classmate and self described "really good friend" of the Arizona shooter Jared Lee Loughner. She was also in a band with him. Her comments have set the blog world and media on fire with her description that the shooter was "left wing, quite liberal". This flies in the face of the Palin/Tea Party connection narrative that many in the media and on the internet have been pushing.
Parker, who's comments about the left wing politics of the shooter have been cited in this morning's NYTimes, was one of many who tried to place blame on Sarah Palin for putting out a map that "targeted" districts (including Congresswoman Giffords') where Republicans should focus their election efforts.
Parker describes herself on her MySpace Page as liking Environmentalism and Animal Rights while loathing Rush Limbaugh and Fox News, so it would appear her comments can not easily be dismissed as the ravings of a Tea Party or Palin supporter.
Parker first mentioned her possible connection to the shooter on her twitter account: "Saying Jared Laughner was the gunman. Really hoping that's not the same guy I went to HS with, really good friend. Freaking out right now!!!"
She then realized it was him: "Official I went to high school & college, & was in a band w/ the gunman. I can't even fathom this right now."
Her comments began to get noticed when she tweeted her relationship to an employee of Reuters Media, Anthony De Rosa, who has nearly 4,000 followers on his Twitter site.
De Rosa conducted the first interview with Ms. Parker, asking her confirm the shooter's myspace and YouTube accounts and asked about the shooters state of mind. Parker replied "He was a political radical & met Giffords once before in '07, asked her a question & he told me she was "stupid & unintelligent""
De Rosa then asked the money question: "did he identify himself as a member of the Tea Party?" To which Ms. Parker gave the answer that would stun the mainstream media world..."As I knew him he was left wing, quite liberal. & oddly obsessed with the 2012 prophecy."
De Rosa then asked: "Was he closely tied to any groups or mainly a loner?" To which Ms. Parker answered: "he was a pot head & into rock like Hendrix,The Doors, Anti-Flag. I haven't seen him in person since '07 in a sign language class"
De Rosa himself came under attack for seeming to lend help against the false narrative that the shooter was somehow connected to Palin. He posted "i'm the furthest thing from a Sarah Palin fan, I'm reporting the facts".
De Rosa then worked to arrange contact with ABC news and Jake Tapper while Ms. Parker started to get overwhelmed with the comment "This is a circus. Good Morning America just called me."
De Rosa has gone on to link to the 40 media requests including the NYTimes, NPR, and PBS that are pouring in for Ms. Parker.
I had a chance to tweet with Ms. Parker and here is a screenshot of our conversation (note-read from bottom up as newer posts are on top):
Unfortunately I did not get a response from Ms. Parker about the quotes from the the IRS plane crash perpetrator Joseph Stack. The media were also pushing the false narrative of a conservative Tea Party type in his case until posters at Free Republic were able to research his writings.
In the case of the Arizona shooter, one would think that these clues...:
having a flag burning video as your favorite video
having Mein Kampf as one of your favorite books
having said "America is a terrorist nation"
having said "America is in two illegal wars"
having said you "Do not trust in God"
having become upset at receiving a Bible when you checked off "no religion" at a military installation
having a drug arrest
having hung out with the "Goth Crowd"
having smoked pot and "wasn't too keen on religion"
...would make it hard for anyone to claim a motivation from conservatives, the Tea Party, or Sarah Palin.
Sadly it wasn't enough. Instead it took a liberal, an honest liberal like Catie Parker, to stop the mob mentality and set the record straight.
Thanks icwhatudo,I think the poster Blue Boy said he met her in 07.
It’s way too early for DU for me. I’d prefer to be able to digest my coffee. :)
True but he is the one with motor mouth.
Won’t work. She admits to being good friends with him. She admits to being in a band with him, which presumably means there were other members who could testify to his drug use/political leanings, whatever.
She basically opened up a can of worms... a can of worms about as big as Mt. Everest!
That’s a boatload of worms!!
They will eventually stop themselves. Libelous and false statements will eventually serve to discredit over time.
There are reasons that there is a decided shift to the internet for a growing majority of the population's news needs.
This will only strengthen this shift.
And what was Obama's last major achievement? Net neutrality rules from the FCC.
Never think the liberals will stop trying to remove every means we have of communicating directly with the people.
The cause of World Socialism cannot be besmirched.
That is eggzactly and precisely why the FCC is going after strict control of the Internet.
Sadly this is true. Perhaps the hate she is likely to see poured upon her by the left will open her eyes to the culture of hate that permeates the left.
She’ll be sent to “re-education camp”. Face it, unscrupulous people are going to make as much as they can out of this politically. Ignore them, and stick to your beliefs.
If, Socialist RINO’s reveal their collective true identity, then there will be a harder time to glean through the information to get to the truth. The Dem's can't do it without them.
That being said, just like legislation to stop the EPA, legislation to stop the FCC be forwarded.
Whether the fear of RINO’s being replace by Tea Party members has any sway over their soon to be reveal loyalties, remains to be seen.
bfl
Thanks to the Internet, it won't work becuse it'll be the same group of people trying the different ploy. Had there been no records, they could have gotten away with "what I really meant was..." - but not now. They've washed their dirty linen in public, and it can't be erased.
You said he would be destroying evidence, not just running his mouth. My point is that he’s probably not in charge of the investigation and can’t destroy anything. As long as he’s just running his mouth he can’t harm the investigation.
A couple of things:
I don’t know if she’s an honest liberal, or just not media savvy enough to realize that liberals normally all band together and support the narrative of the moment, that the shooter is a Tea Party member. After she’s been contacted privately by members of our governing and media elite, look for her comments to change.
She deftly turned those aside. As well as those who were maligning her faith.
I caught that as well. Jumped out of the page at me as much as the bolded parts.
I think it was yesterday I read on Fox News that Obama put forward a plan to give everyone a unique ID for the Internet.
That would allow him to send in his troops if he or the Dems do not like what you write. Also, they would be able to track every single purchase you make and tax it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.