Pointing Fingers and Violent Rhetoric

[babylonsister]

Pointing Fingers and Violent Rhetoric

by BooMan
Thu Jan 13th, 2011 at 03:00:19 PM EST


The right-wing has been really stung by the massacre in Arizona and the criticism they've taken for contributing to an environment where such violence actually makes sense. They keep pumping out columns that seek to vindicate themselves and lay blame on the left for jumping to conclusions about the motivations of the shooter. The president asked us to stop pointing fingers and trying to assign blame. We all know that is not going to happen, but we could try honoring his wishes in this case out of respect for the victims and deference to the president's wisdom and leadership. We could try, but first one thing needs to be made clear.

If it had turned out that the shooter had begun planning this atrocity the moment he received an email from Sarah Palin's PAC that included crosshairs on his congresswomen, we wouldn't have anything to debate, would we? If he said that he voted for Giffords's opponent but after they lost he felt the need to take Sharron Angle's advice and resort to a 2nd Amendment remedy, we wouldn't be talking about whether the left's criticism was off mark.

snip//

If half of what the Republicans say about the president and the Democrats were true, we should rise up and kill them all as a minimum down payment on proving our love of country. So, I don't give a crap whether the guy in Arizona was motivated listening to Sarah Palin or Sharron Angle. The problem is so much bigger than one incident, even if that incident had a lot of casualties. Glenn Beck alone has inspired three thwarted assassination attempts, including the planned attack on the ACLU and Tides Foundation offices in San Francisco. That's just one shock-jock with a television program.

So, what's my point? Stop saying things that make murder seem like a logical step, or a patriotic step, or a morally justifiable step. Stop doing things that endanger public officials and even innocent bystanders. After all, the fact that the shooter may not have been influenced by Sarah Palin's crosshairs is not exculpatory in the least. The fact that the right thinks that they can avoid responsibility for their actions by appealing to the motivations of the shooter just shows how little they understand about the criticism being leveled at them.

more...

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2011/1/13/105659/011

[emulatorloo]

1. Good essay, thanks K&R

[Window]

2. K/R. n/t

[Vattel]

3. Too bad that so much of the criticism being leveled at them

isn't of this sort. The writer's criticism is right on the mark. It is unfortunate that others have been less reasonable. Accusing Palin of murder and other such nonsense just gives the right something to complain about.