Posted on 01/09/2011 2:08:03 PM PST by Jet Jaguar
The shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) has raised concerns about the effect of inflammatory language that has become a steady undercurrent in the nation's political culture.
Saturday's shooting spree, which killed U.S. District Judge John M. Roll and five others, followed years of hot political debate in Arizona. Both Roll and Giffords had been the subject of threats in recent years.
Arizona has become one of the most reliably conservative states, particularly in the debates over immigration and health care — two issues that put Giffords, a moderate Democrat, and Roll at odds with many Arizonans.
Members of Congress and other elected officials say violent threats occasionally come with the job, but many politicians and others assert that the shootings reflect a national political culture that has become too heated and rife with instigations to violence.
"Hopefully this gives the nation pause, and we can temper down the vitriol towards politicians," Rep. John Larson (D-CT) told reporters outside his home Saturday night. In a press conference on Sunday, Larson said Democratic and Republican lawmakers this week will discuss taking new safety precautions, such as requesting a local police presence when they make official appearances in their districts.
In the Senate last year, the number of significant threats directed at members increased to 49 from 29 in 2009, according to the chamber’s sergeant-at-arms.
In April 2010 survey by the Pew Research Center found "a perfect storm of conditions" contributing to Americans' distrust of government, including "a dismal economy, an unhappy public, bitter partisan-based backlash and epic discontent with Congress and elected officials."
Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremist groups, says inflammatory political rhetoric has risen as a result of the immigration debate. And more recently, he says, the weak economy and the election of President Obama have led to a 50 percent increase in the number of so-called hate groups.
"Earlier in the decade, it was paramilitary groups and nativists who were reacting to illegal immigration," Potok said. "But then you have the first black president and the economy, which just exacerbates the feeling among some whites that they are losing opportunities, or losing their country.
"Now you're seeing a cross-fertilization between those groups from the early 2000s and the people who are upset over Obama and the economy."
Some lawmakers remain circumspect about drawing such conclusions. Giffords' colleague from Arizona, Republican Rep. Trent Franks, declined to say Sunday whether he believes the shootings were motivated in any part by a heightened vitriol in public discourse.
"The central element here is this unhinged lunatic that had no respect for innocent human life [who] was willing to make some grand statement. I don't even know if he understands what statement he was trying to make," Franks said on CNN's State of the Union. "There is really the central problem — a lack for respect for human life."
Political Fallout In Congress
Lawmakers in both parties over the weekend avoided speculating about any political fallout from the shooting.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) decided to suspend legislative activity scheduled for this week, a move that at least temporarily prevents another potential escalation in the debate over the health care law. That issue has led to previous threats against Giffords and stirred much of the vitriol characterizing politics over the past two years.
Repealing the health care law is one of the Republicans' top priorities in the new session. The measure is all but assured of passage in the Republican House and rejection by the Democratic-controlled Senate.
In a news conference on Sunday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said the incident should remind his colleagues that their job "comes with a risk." However, he said, "No act … must be allowed to stop us from our duty."
Security personnel aren't assigned to House members, and many lawmakers say they likely won't scale back their public appearances. Often, though, large events in House members' districts do include a local police presence.
Protecting lawmakers has become more difficult in the last decade, said William Pickle, a former Senate sergeant-at-arms. Appearing Sunday on CNN's State of the Union, he said the availability of information on the Internet can guide would-be plotters — even as demands for lawmakers to make public appearances have increased.
"The very nature of being a public official is one where you have to press the flesh. You want as much exposure as you can possibly have. That's not going to end," Pickle said. "We are going to fall back into being complacent again. I hate to say that, but we will. We do not have the resources to protect 535 congressmen and senators."
Pickle, also a retired Secret Service agent who once oversaw the protection of Vice President Al Gore, added that the threats are "impossible to stop. Until candidates stop campaigning, these things tragically are going to continue happening."
Feeling The Heat In Arizona
Some Arizona politicians from both parties say the incident demonstrates the need to defuse their state’s highly charged discourse.
The health care overhaul has been a flashpoint for Giffords' constituents. In August 2009, when opponents of the health care bill held demonstrations across the nation, a protester at one of Giffords' events was removed by police when a pistol he had holstered under his armpit dropped to the floor.
Last March, after the bill passed — with Giffords' support — the windows of her Tucson office were broken or shot out by vandals. Similar acts of vandalism against other members of Congress were also reported, including a controversial allegation that a Tea Party demonstrator spat on an African-American congressman while other demonstrators shouted racial epithets. Tea Party leaders have challenged those claims.
But in Arizona, the most divisive issue has been immigration. Arizona is home to many of the staunchest opponents of citizenship for illegal immigrants. It also has the nation's toughest law aimed at identifying, prosecuting and deporting illegal immigrants.
Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, a Democrat and friend of Giffords, lambasted his home state on Saturday as "the Mecca for prejudice and bigotry."
"When you look at unbalanced people," Dupnik said, referring to accused shooter Jared Lee Loughner, "how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain people's mouths about tearing down the government, the anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous."
Last year, Dupnik vowed his deputies wouldn't enforce the state's new immigration law, calling it "racist" and "unnecessary."
Also last year, Dupnik accused Tea Party activists of bigotry and stifling rational debate on immigration — adding that "We didn’t have a Tea Party until we had a black president."
Arizona Tea Party leaders vehemently denied Dupnik's accusations and noted that they didn't take a public position on the immigration law. On Saturday, local Tea Party leaders released statements expressing condolences to the shooting victims' families. They also sought to distance their groups from any suggestion that Loughner was a Tea Party activist or that his attack was politically motivated.
Giffords narrowly won a third term in November against Jesse Kelly, a Republican backed by the Tea Party. Last June, Kelly held an event promoted with the message: "Get on Target for Victory in November… Help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office… Shoot a fully automatic M16 with Jesse Kelly."
"They're jumping to this conclusion that it has to do with [Giffords'] hotly contested Congressional race," Allyson Miller, a founder of Pima County Tea Party Patriots, told the website TalkingPointsMemo. "Well, apparently, from what I've seen so far ... it's looking like that's not the case."
Miller and other Tea Party leaders said they won't change their aggressive tactics in the wake of the shootings.
The Crosshairs Controversy
During the midterm elections, Giffords and other Democratic House candidates were featured on the website of Sarah Palin's political action committee with crosshairs over their districts. Giffords, disturbed at the reference, said at the time, "When people do that, they have got to realize there's consequences to that."
In a Sunday interview with talk radio host Tammy Bruce, Rebecca Mansour, who works for Palin's PAC, said the images of crosshairs weren't intended to evoke violence: "We never ever, ever intended it to be gun sights," she said.
The images were removed from the website this weekend.
On Sunday, President Obama ordered flags at federal buildings to be flown at half-staff. He postponed his trip to a General Electric facility in New York scheduled for Tuesday.
He also called on the country to join him Monday at 11 a.m. Eastern time in observing a moment of silence for the shooting victims.
"It will be a time for us to come together as a nation in prayer or reflection, keeping the victims and their families closely at heart," the president said in a statement.
Still the Tea Party's fault.
And our tax dollars pay for this crap!
Political rhetoric? Corey Dade is guilty.
The fact that this conversation started before the bodies were cold is sickening.
This can’t be anything but political in its genesis.
The world suffers this same Bull@#t with Muslims, Mohammad and their nastiness.
Normal people shouldn't roll over because of troubled people.
It’s everyone’s fault...I’m getting sick of this political correctiveness...the blame game...how about this for a starter...blame the guy that pulled the trigger!...that’s how it used to work back in the 50’s and early 60’s...but then again we said the Lord’s Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance every day before classes started back then...
Myth: Giffords is a moderate.
Anti-Life Ratings: NARAL = 100%
PP = 100%
Immigration Rating: Numbers USA = D+
NRA Rating = D
Gunowners of America = F
Voted for Obamacare.
She spouts some meaningless conservative rhetoric on border security and about owning a gun but she is a true blue LIBERAL...not Blue Dog moderate.
ADA Rating = 95%
Just setting the record straight.
Hey NPR, we do indeed need less political rhetoric.
To that end, my wish is that the conservatives will cut off govt funding to your liberal butts in the very near future.
Then you’ll be required to do something something very different and scary for “progressives” ...you’ll have to earn your own money and support yourselves.
A classical piece of work.
NPR is throwing every piece of poo they can fling against the wall to see if any of it sticks.
Meanwhile, they’re pretending to be high-minded.
Pure unadulterated drivel from a “progressive news agency” paid for by our tax dollars.
Still the Tea Party's fault.
And I'm sure by tomorrow, all the news will still not be on those who gallantly risked their own lives to stop the perp(s) from doing greater damage.
According to the muslims, “only” 1 in 10 of them are dangerous extremists, yet the media and government tells us to ignore that 10% and focus on the other 90%.
Yet when 1 in a million white males does something like this, we are supposed to wring our hands and apologize for his actions as if we caused it or are just waiting for our chance to give it a try.
I’m sure NPR can find this is their archives. It’s Alec Baldwin talking to Conan O’Brian December 1998:
“if we were in another country... we would stone Henry Hyde to death and we would go to their homes and kill their wives and their children. We would kill their families, for what they’re doing to this country.”
Even in the face of this awful event the bloodsucking liberals seek political advantage amidst the death and carnage. That no longer surprises me - what ticks me off though is the weak and limp wristed response from republicans to this bull$hit. They almost never stand up for themselves. I sometimes hate them more than the democrats.
Does this mean 'concerns' are raised about Obama telling the Latino community that everyone who disagrees with amnesty are their enemies?
Someone better tell NPR they have diarrhea...
The press and the liberal are totally despicable to try to turn this enormous tragedy to their political benefit. The sad part is that they are so transparent in their efforts and think that noone else notices.
I looked at the comments on their stories, an absolute sicking pool of the worst of political discourse that can come from scum of society.
The press and the liberals are totally despicable to try to turn this enormous tragedy to their political benefit. The sad part is that they are so transparent in their efforts and think that noone else notices.
They blather on and on until I’m sick of it. Are there more killings and assassinations now, then over the past couple hundred years? Doesn’t appear to be. We have a larger population now and the internet. There are just mentally sick and evil people in the world. And any ol’ excuse will do.
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