Loughner's political leanings are irrelevant

[shireen]

A lot of the arguments over Loughner's motivations seem to be hinged on his political leanings. From what we know so far, that's not very clear -- both the left and right can make their case by picking out portions of information from his You-Tube, MySpace and Facebook posts.

But two things are clear:
(1) he hates government,
(2) he's deeply irrational.

Therefore,

someone who pays attention to government can't help but be exposed to the toxic political environment of the far-right. We have talk radio and some television commentators to thanks for that. Giffords, being his member of Congress, and someone who regularly interacted with her constituents, became the focus of his anger.

Someone who is deeply irrational is susceptible to the influence of that toxicity even if he does not fully comprehend what it means. Why? Because it stirs our imagination--we're either attracted to, or repulsed, by it. The violent insinuations of phrases like "second amendment remedies" and images like Palin's cross-hairs map, amplified in the media echo chamber, could eventually take on a life of its own inside the mind of a person who cannot rationally sort through it all.

And that's why I think Sheriff Dupnik was right to implicate the poisonous right-wing rhetoric, that's been polluting our lives for so many years, in this shooting.

[The Magistrate]

1. Well Said, Ma'am

[somone]

2. Exactly

[Rex]

3. Very well said.

And why I support the Sheriff.

[Kaleva]

4. Has Sheriff Dupnik ever addressed why it was so easy for him to get a gun?

Apparently, he's made death threats before which were reported to the police.

[Rex]

5. Arizona has apparently no real gun control laws.

What I cannot believe is that our fed reps have no govt protection! I never knew that! Yikes! Maybe we need to cull a little money out of the defense bill to protect our nations leaders? I don't buy the, 'there is too many of them' BULLSHIT!

[shireen]

11. +1

agreed! divert some of the military budget to protecting them!

[pintobean]

6. More wishful thinking that's lacking in facts

[Skittles]

7. the guy sure ranted like a liberal

NOT
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/01/10/earlyshow/main7230271.shtml?tag=stack

[The Magistrate]

9. Try Again, Sir, After You Have Drunk The Coffee

You have simply produced a reflexive noise here, not an actual response to a reasonable and informed comment....

[Tunkamerica]

13. you sound familiar

if you produce a noise and it is reflexive it is not a response. you produced a reflexive noise. you did not produce a response.

[The Magistrate]

14. If You Are Not Careful, Sir, You Will Begin To Think Yourself Clever, Even Witty

That would be a very bad mistake.

[shireen]

12. just trying to apply a bit of common sense ... nt.

[begin_within]

8. He did aim at a politician, so there is still a political aspect to it.

[shireen]

10. yes, true

i'm just saying that Loughner may not necessarily have the capacity to rationalize the information that's been thrown at him, esp. from the far right.

In a sense, he's also a victim of far right toxicity.

[stray cat]

17. Hinkley anyone?

[Duppers]

15. Excellent commentary, Shireen!

Ignore the naysayers on this thread. What you said is quite astute and irrefutably logical.

K & R

[stray cat]

16. Columbine, VA tech, Maryland snipers, shooting at military base, killing army recruiters

Shooting Lennan, Reagan - mass murder and assassinations do not require fox news