Whenever a horrifying event like Saturday’s massacre in Tucson happens, the phrase “senseless tragedy” inevitably turns up in every news report and commentary.
The Tucson attack – in which a lone shooter opened fire at a political event outside a supermarket, critically wounding Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 13 others and killing six people, including a 9-year-old girl – unquestionably was a tragedy. But was it really “senseless” – meaning there was no reason for it, that it was a random act like an earthquake or a bolt of lightning?The suspect in the slayings, Jared Lee Loughner, appears to be mentally disturbed. But even the mentally disturbed have their reasons for doing what they do. Bizarre, twisted reasons, maybe – but reasons. And like everybody else, they are influenced by the society and culture around them.
The rants Loughner posted on YouTube and elsewhere indicate a paranoid obsession with “big government” and returning to the gold standard. He mentions Mein Kampf as one of his favorite books and calls himself an admirer of Ayn Rand – but also cites The Communist Manifesto.
So Loughner’s own political views remain murky – probably even to himself. But what is all too clear is that for three years or more, America has been marinating in a toxic stew of radical right-wing rhetoric that tacitly – sometimes almost openly – condones or encourages violence against political opponents.
As the philosopher Rush Limbaugh likes to say, “Words mean things.” When radical right-wing talking heads like Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly and others call liberals “traitors,” “socialists” and “communists” and say they want to impose tyranny, there are crazies out there who will interpret that as a reason to kill them.
And actions have consequences. When Sarah Palin posts a chart with crosshairs drawn over images of Democrats (including Giffords) or when Sharron Angle talks about applying “Second Amendment remedies” to liberals, there are whackos who will take them literally.
On his radio show the other day, Limbaugh said it was “fatuous and silly” to link the Tucson tragedy to such over-the-top rhetoric. But the real fatuity is pretending there’s no connection. The attack in Tucson was just the latest in a string of violent acts and threats aimed at liberal politicians and government installations. The frequency of such acts and threats has increased dramatically since the election of Barack Obama. Are we supposed to believe this is just a quirky coincidence?
We may never know whether the Tucson attack was triggered by a specific statement Limbaugh or some other far-right polemicist made, but that’s not the point. The point is they provide the combustible fuel that can be ignited by any chance spark. Limbaugh and others of his ilk who deny all responsibility for the Tucson massacre are like somebody who’s caught at the scene of an arson fire holding an empty gasoline can and says, “Hey, don’t look at me – I didn’t strike the match.”
We’re giving them and their incendiary rhetoric THE BOOT – and we hope and pray all decent and rational Americans will do the same.
This article appears in Jan 13-19, 2011.
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For the writer to pretend that this hate spittle only comes from the right, is ridiculous. Both sides are spewing it out, loud and clear. The right has just been better at cultivating and retaining listeners. Air America? Babs? Sean Penn? Alec? Nobody listens to them. And there are PLENTY of examples in which the left has provided “combustable fuel,” and used targets, militaristic references, etc. to get their points across.
Hey Cameron,
If there are so many of these examples why don’t you cite a few? Sorry, but the far right has the market just about cornered on gun waving jingoism. The rest of us prefer to crack a beer, watch the Daily Show and shake our heads at the Fall of the Roman Empire.
Hey Ron:
How about Jimmy Carter’s/Helen Thomas’s anti Israel crap. She lost her job over that one, and he… well…like I said above, nobody really listens to him.
Or how about Julianne Malveaux (USA Today Columnist, NPR radio host, etc.) when she threw out this little nugget in regards to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on PBS, “I hope his wife feeds him lots of eggs and butter and he dies early like many black men do, of heart disease.”
Or the same woman on Sen. Jesse Helms, “because if there is retributive justice, he’ll get AIDS from a transfusion, or one of his grandchildren will.” Niiice.
These are just a couple of gems off the top of my head. I can cite many more, and much worse.
Sounds more like you crack a beer and bury your head in the sand. Your reference to The Daily Show just proves it. That would be about as one sided as saying that you cozy up on the couch in front of Fox News. Open your eyes, pal.
As a recent letter in the Oregonian noted, you don’t have to be a liberal to recognize that political discourse has gotten out of hand. No matter who does it, it doesn’t help. That said, it is most disturbing that the right, led by Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, etc. act like they are the victims here because anyone dares to suggest that maybe, just maybe, some of their rhetoric might be out of hand. I suppose people like you, Cameron, have your god-damned right to be angry and spew it at others, but at this time in history that strikes me as being part of the problem, not part of the solution.
Damn Mike. What part of Cameron’s comments went over you head? Or are you like most bigots; you only hear what you want to hear?
“If I got (Condi Rice) a – on camera, I would put my Mars Air Jordans so far up her butt that the Mayo Clinic would have to remove them.” — Spike Lee
“You guys see Live and Let Die, the great Bond film with Yaphet Kotto as the bad guy, Mr. Big? In the end they jam a big CO2 pellet in his face and he blew up. I have to tell you, Rush Limbaugh is looking more and more like Mr. Big, and at some point somebody's going to jam a CO2 pellet into his head and he's going to explode like a giant blimp. That day may come. Not yet. But we'll be there to watch. I think he's Mr. Big, I think Yaphet Kotto. Are you watching, Rush?” — Chris Matthews
“F*** God D*mned Joe the God D*mned Motherf*cking plumber! I want Motherf*cking Joe the plumber dead.” — Liberal talk show host Charles Karel Bouley on the air.
As Forest Gump would say, “Stupid is as stupid does.” And Mike the Weekly are its spokesman.
Yes, some left-wingers have made regrettably tasteless and intemperate remarks. Such over-the-top rhetoric contributes nothing to our political discourse and is flat-out wrong. But I think we need to distinguish between such remarks directed at individuals and statements that bring into question the legitimacy of the government itself, which is something people like Limbaugh, Palin, Beck and others on the far right do non-stop … with the implication (sometimes unspoken, sometimes not) that because the government is not legitimate, the people have the right to employ “Second Amendment remedies” in order to “get their country back” from the “socialists” and “communists” who have seized control of it.
At least you admit that it also comes from the left as well. That’s a good start. Are you suggesting that such anti-government rhetoric did not occur when G.W. was President? http://www.greatdreams.com/political/bush-protests-inauguration.htm. For many on the left, he stole the election; twice no less. Someone even made a movie that depicted the assassination of a sitting president. Let's be truly honest. It comes from both sides depending on who is in the Whitehouse and it always has. Even Lincoln had his critics. And Limbaugh, Beck, Schultz, Moore, etc are our 21st century Paine's. Jefferson's, and Madison's. The real problem is not that it exists but can – or even should – we do anything about it. How many Constitutional freedoms would either of us (you have freedom of the press) be willing to surrender just so we can have the perception of security? That is a road I don't think either side should go down. Take care Bruce.
Ed, what part of my response did you miss? Your reply makes my point.