Sources of Violent Political Rhetoric in Recent Years

Data Point: Sources of Violent Political Rhetoric in Recent Years
The Committee to Stop Gun Violence has prepared a compendium of sources of "violent" political Rhetoric in the past two and a half years. It is here. Let's stipulate that there could have been a tilt, conscious or unconscious, in selection of items for the list. Still, it is stunning in its totality. It is also hard to imagine coming up with a comparable list from "the other side." One item (and photo) from a list that is many screenfuls long: >>August 11, 2009--William Kostric is filmed ...

Commentary: Take the political rhetoric down a notch
Those searching for easy answers after a 22-year-old shot 20 people, killing six, during U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' meeting with constituents in Tucson, Ariz., on Saturday won't find any. Yes, guns are easily accessible in this country. Yes, in the past two years we have seen Political Speech ratcheted up with gun-toting participants at some Tea Party events, and some Democrats in Congress faced angry voters at town hall meetings during debate on Healthcare Reform. And, yes, the Internet a...

Joe-Wilson-inspired You Lie! rifle available for sale in South Carolina
What could possibly go wrong here? A South Carolina gun and accessories company is selling semi-automatic rifle components inscribed with “You lie” - a tribute to the infamous words of 2nd District Republican Congressman Joe Wilson when he shouted at President Barack Obama during a congressional Speech about national Health Care reform in the fall of 2009. “Palmetto State Armory would like to honor our esteemed congressman Joe Wilson with the release of our new ‘You...

The Newspaper Just Went Off
Now is the time at Ed Driscoll.com when we juxtapose! As spotted by David Foster of the Chicago Boyz blog, here’s E.J. Dionne warning us that “abstractions are the enemy of responsible government” E J Dionne, an establishment liberal who writes for the Washington Post, complains that many House Republicans “behave as Professors in thrall to a few thrilling ideas”-ideas, that is, about limitations on the power of government-and says: Their Rhetoric is nearly devoid

Arizona shooting: Sarah Palin breaks silence, blames media, offers no apology
 Wednesday morning Sarah Palin broke her silence concerning the role her violent Rhetoric may have played in creating a climate of political violence leading up to the tragic shooting in Arizona. An angry and defensive Palin offered no Apology for her violent campaign Rhetoric and imagery, instead Palin blamed the media for Manufacturing a "blood Libel." Palin's message came in the form of a slick, well rehearsed, over produced video that was ultimately c...

How Low They Sink
Via Instapundit, right-wing blogger Dan Riehl has this to say about political discourse in America: I'm known to get fired up, have a temper, be a bit of a bomb thrower, whatever. But I did a strange sort of thought experiment a day or so after listening to these reports out of Tucson. I tried to imagine myself actually engaging in violence against a leftist politician. Truth be told, the thought repulsed me purely on human terms. Besides that, not only would it be contrary to ...

AZ-8s Indian Name: Brushes with Violence
Something that’s particularly troubling in the left’s response to the Jared Loughner shooting rampage is the increasing Corruption of “straight news.” Opinion is one thing: the effort of left-wing pundits to harden public ideas is appalling in its transparent mendacity - but transparent mendacity is at least transparent. Opaque mendacity, of the kind worked into putatively factual narratives, is more difficult to detect, and perhaps ultimately more deadly. One of th...

Hillary Clinton in Yemen to push for counterterrorism efforts
SANAA, Yemen — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday urged Yemen to step up security cooperation with the U.S. during an unannounced visit to shore up ties with a nation that is fast becoming a major focus of American Counterterrorism efforts. Following the Obama Administration's pattern in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Clinton also emphasized that the United States wanted a broader relationship with Yemen beyond the fight against violent Extremists. Clinton is the first U....

Even violent rhetoric is still free speech
**Posted by Phineas Jack Shafer has a great rebuttal in Slate to assertions by the Left that violent Rhetoric and imagery are to blame for the mass-murder in Tucson, yesterday. His point is that our Political Speech is often over-the-top, but only the shooter is to blame for what he did — In Defense of Inflamed Rhetoric : For as long as I’ve been alive, crosshairs and bull’s-eyes have been an accepted part of the graphical lexicon when it comes to political debates. Such “...

Sharron Angle Defends Her Political Rhetoric
Yahoo! Buzz Sharron Angle , the unsuccessful GOP Senate Candidate from Nevada, denied that her fiery campaign Rhetoric played a roll in Saturday’s attack on Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords . In a statement, Ms. Angle said that blaming her, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin or the Tea Party movement “puts all who gather to redress grievances in danger.” Ms. Palin earlier released a video statement defending her Rhetoric and calling it a “blood Libel’’ to link political...

Sen. Kerry addresses 'divisive political rhetoric', report says Loughner was Kerry supporter in '04
Nearly a year ago, the Examiner's David Freddoso received a ridiculous Fundraising email from Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., decrying Republicans' political Rhetoric in an effort to make some green whilst delegitimizing the opposition. And Freddoso noted at the time, Kerry is not the most credible advocate for restrained political rhetoric, mentioning this incident from 2004, among other things: Kerry was asked whether he couldn't have "killed two birds with one stone" by visiting New Hampshire. He r...

oh no, there's no violent rhetoric on the right
rush limbaugh: "i tell people don’t kill all the liberals. leave enough so we can have two on every campus -- living fossils -- so we will never forget what these people stood for." Ann Coulter: "we need somebody to put rat poisoning in justice stevens' creme brulee. ... that's just a joke, for you in the media." with that being said, you are a democrat. you are saying, "let's cut and run." and i have to tell you, i have been nervous about this interview with you, because what i feel like ...

New at Reason: David Harsanyi on Political Rhetoric and the Tucson Shootings
We’re about to engage in a seemingly innocuous “national conversation” that’s based on canards meant to chill free Speech. It starts with incessant hand-wringing about an imagined lack of civility in society—flaring up, as luck would have it, whenever the most recent person you voted for happens to be elected. The conversation will soon turn into a growing and phony anxiety about looming political violence and unrest. David Harsanyi explains why we should be wary of any nation

Congressman: If Violent Rhetoric Didn't Cause This Shooting, It Will Cause Next One
You must login to comment. The Fox Nation is for those opposed to intolerance, excessive government control of our lives, and attempts to monopolize opinion or suppress freedom of thought, expression, and worship. Read more... We invite all Americans who share these values to join us here at Fox Nation. 'Cautious Optimism' for Rep. Giffords Mark Kelly, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' husband, holds her hand in her room at University Medical Center in Tucson, Ariz. the day after the shooting rampage in ...

Disgusting Political Opportunism
U.S Congresswoman Kathy Castor recently joined the Left Wing's strategy of using the recent tragedy in Arizona as a means to lay blame at the feet of citizens who exercise their right to Protest and politicians they despise. "Folks need to take a step back and think about their words, because words have consequences. Just like that sheriff said out there in Arizona, the political discourse had gotten out of hand there. When you are putting gun sights on a particular district and s...

Poisonous Political Atmosphere Is Unhealthy
This is really, really hard to write. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.) is my friend. I spent time with her, and her husband, Mark Kelly, less than two weeks ago. We talked about the debased state of discourse in the country, the awful and degrading nature of campaigns, including the really despicable one run against her last year, the threats she received after she voted for the Health Care Reform Bill--and the wonderful satisfaction of public service and the need to encourage more of our best and bri...

Will the Giffords Arizona Shootings Change Anything?
Isn’t it time to be blunt? When the news hit that Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords had been critically wounded and 6 people were dead, it was news that many Americans had expected. The wounded were Collateral Damage. It isn’t only supposedly wishy washy moderates and independent voters who have long been alarmed that America’s poisonous political polemics had replaced professional wrestling as a mass culture sport with (some of the controversies as authentic as the outcomes of pro wrestlin

Saving Social Security
The Social Security Act of 1935 finally gave the United States citizens the reforms that were and still are so necessary for the financial well being of all workers, retired citizens, and people with disabilities. This reform act guarantees that every American is entitled to receive economic security when they need it most. The idea of Social Security has been around since 1880 when Germany first installed their social security program to aid their citizens. Today many European countries ev...

Clyburn: violent political rhetoric 'yelling fire in a crowded theater'
Rep. Jim Clyburn likened violent campaign Rhetoric with "yelling 'fire' in a crowded theater," the No. 3 Democrat in Congress told a local newspaper. Clyburn blames the violence in Tucson Saturday on aggressive language that became a mainstay of the midterm campaign season this fall, suggesting it is not Speech protected under the Constitution. 'Free Speech is as free Speech does,' he told the paper. 'You cannot yell ‘fire' in a crowded theater and call it free Speech and some ...

TPM Guide to the Perplexed
In the aftermath of the Giffords shooting there's been a lot of talk about political Speech, politicians and whether there's a climate of violent political Rhetoric. And it's been clear that a lot of politicians weren't clear that certain phrases and statements -- like calling for armed revolution or target practice at Fundraisers -- might lead to misunderstandings. So in the spirit of ettiquette manuals, I thought I'd start putting together a list of things it's probably best not to say simpl...

N.C. gun laws might prevent a shooting like that in Tucson, group says
Gun control advocates say North Carolina’s limits on gun purchases reduce the likelihood of the type of rampage that erupted Saturday in Tucson, Ariz., but they are concerned that those laws may be eased by the new Republican-led General Assembly. “We have a lot of fears that in the next two years there will be attempts to weaken these Gun Laws,” Roxane Kolar, Executive Director of North Carolinians Against Gun Violence, said Tuesday. In North Carolina, anyone seeking to purcha...

Clinton: Mideast must embrace women, youth (AP)
MUSCAT, Oman – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is urging Arab nations to embrace the rising expectations of their skyrocketing youth populations and promote women's Empowerment if they want to succeed in the 21st century. At a town hall meeting with civic leaders in Oman, Clinton said Wednesday that failing to address the concerns and aspirations of Mideast women and youth could have disastrous consequences. She said the region is seeing a "generation larger than anything ...

Feinberg: Gulf victims' release form won't change
BP Oil Spill fund administrator Kenneth Feinberg addresses claimants at a town hall meeting in Houma, La., Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011. The administrator of the $20 billion Gulf Oil Spill Victims' fund isn't yielding to pressure to change a release form that requires those accepting a final compensation payment to give up their right to sue. Washington attorney Ken Feinberg told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the form stands. He spoke to AP after a town hall meeting in Louisiana with spill vic...

Clinton: Mideast must embrace women, youth
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is urging Arab nations to embrace the rising expectations of their skyrocketing youth populations and promote women's Empowerment if they want to succeed in the 21st century. At a town hall meeting with civic leaders in Oman, Clinton said Wednesday that failing to address the concerns and aspirations of Mideast women and youth could have disastrous consequences. She said the region is seeing a "generation larger than anything we have ever seen comin...

Clinton: Middle East Peace Helped By Women
MUSCAT, Oman — Women can be a major power in convincing Mideast leaders to agree to a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace deal, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday as she urged regional leaders to embrace the rising expectations of their skyrocketing youth populations. At a town hall meeting with civic leaders in the capital of Oman, Clinton said calls from women on both sides of the conflict in Northern Ireland had contributed to a resolution and suggested that a ...