Posted on 01/12/2011 12:49:33 PM PST by Responsibility2nd
It's becoming increasingly clear that Jared Lee Loughner is mentally unstable. Sarah Palin's bullseye on Arizona Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords did not direct Loughner to shoot Giffords point-blank in the head on January 8, 2011.
Did the vitriol in political discourse, crosshairs and phrases like "Don't retreat, reload" (by Sarah Palin) or "If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun" (by President Obama) influence Loughren's state of mind?
Perhaps in an idiosyncratic way, according to Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman, chairman of psychiatry at Columbia University. "Political rhetoric provided some of the context for his thinking, the pretext for his actions, but the core reasons for his actions were his psychosis," Lieberman told National Journal.
Regardless of what motivated Loughner to pull the trigger, the tragedy in Tucson has put the tone of political discourse, and those who tend to inflame more than inform, in the spotlight.
Campaigning has often been rough and tumble and full of venom and half-truths since the founding of the country, but as Giffords told MSNBC on March 25, 2010, after her campaign headquarters in Tucson was vandalized, "In the years that some of my colleagues have served--20 to 30 years--they've never seen it like this."
In reference to her district being targeted with the image of a crosshairs gun sight by Sarah Palin, Giffords said, "We're on Sarah Palin's targeted list, but the thing is, the way she has it depicted, it has the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district. When people do that they have to realize that there are consequences to that action."
But Palin doesn't seem to think that there are any negative consequences associated with her campaign words and images.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
We’ve entered the post-statement phase where Democrats flail wildly in an effort to find a talking point that will make next week’s media meme.
This is worse.
The best thing to do is let it die. Instead, they double down.
This is what caused them to lose in November.
Have at it kids.
This has nothing to do with LEFT OR RIGHT. It is a time of national concern and mourning to honor the victims the families and those left behind. Anyone with a shred of common decency or half a brain would realize it not a political debate.
There is a real opportunity to seriously hurt the MSM by reminding those who still watch the news or read newspapers, that THEY PAY MONEY TO READ WHAT THESE IDIOTS PRODUCE. Any output produced by these people is worthless, devoid of logic and superficial. Better journalism is produced in high school newspapers than by these “professionals”.
“OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THIS IS HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!”
It’s a million roadrunners going off the cliff at a billion miles an hour.
Looney tunes...
Regardless of what motivated Loughner to pull the trigger.....we're going to blame it on Sarah Palin.
There. Fixed it.
Better known as projection.
I argued for a while with a lib on Facebook who was determined to defend the Democrat use of targets while condemning Palin’s use of crosshairs. I could not get that POS to admit that crosshair are would you look through, targets are what you HIT (and therefore equally significant in this debate.)
You're right. And, according to "them", Palin needs to sit down, shut up and just nod her head in agreement while crazy people publicly accuse her of being an accessory to the brutal murders of innocent men, women, and children.
I like your nickname, btw.
That psycho Loughner, was following Giffords since 2007.
Regardless of what you think of Palin it had nothing to do with her.
Loughner attended one of Giffords rallies in 2007 in which he asked her a question and didnt like one of her answers. He fixated on this poor woman ever since.
It is very unfortunate. Giffords seems like a true role model human being and an example for the rest of us.
It did not matter how SP responded, the LSM would go in the direction that they thought would hurt Sarah the most.
Do you need a 4yr degree to think like that?
Its hard to tell who is more out of touch with reality, the shooter, or the MSM.
_________________________________________________
Don’t forget to add Sheriff Douche-nik into this mix. He should be charged with obstructing justice.
Hey enchilada or whatever your handle is. You seem not to understand political metaphor. When our country was founded political disputes were often settled with duels or eye-gouging fights. If you can’t handle the ubiquitous expression Of “targeting an opponent” you could be part of the PC problem. Just because Sarah put a surveyer’s target on key political races has nothing to do with advocating violence. To even think that is beyond the pale.
And where was CBS when two gays guys hung Palin in effigy from the top of their house in West Hollywood, Halloween 2008? It made the national news, but I don’t remember hearing any liberals decry violent imagery then.
I’m sorry, but your post is nonsense.
Any honest debate over the political tone has to account for the words and actions on both sides. You are simply regurgitating the media’s character assassinations here. I find it deplorable, and less than honest.
Yes, I am sure Dr. Lieberman has met with Loughner in order to give his diagnosis! Especially when he was called a loaner then suddenly everyone knows everything about him and gets on TV and in the news with their 15 minutes of fame.
The Mother Jones article [see site] did some good coverage referencing the sovereign-citizen movement is a philosophy. The Mother Jones site pointed out by Megyn Kelly [Fox News]..which discribed that Jared was not overexposed to politics but just life overall from the "teachers, pigs [police?], front runners--he was kicked out of community college and school mate said he seemed to go down hill after his expulsion--he only had the intellect of education to keep him going. Media chaos was mentioned by a "friend" who said Jared would expect that and perhaps bask in the success of being the cause of such chaos.
How did you trust your child with them fraud teachers and front runners, listener? Did you now know that the teachers, pigs, and front runners are treasonous!-Jared
The story goes on to say;" People identifying as sovereign citizens have also on occasion fired on police officers trying to enforce laws, and there are rare cases of extreme violence—most notably Oklahoma City bomber Terry Nichols, who identified as a sovereign citizen and even tried to use the movement's arguments in his legal defense."
"These people are bookworms trying to use words, quote the Constitution, and make it their business to learn and commit to memory the definitions," says Adask. "But if people won't hear their words, sooner or later they will hear bullets."
Jared knows why he did what he did--and only he.
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