The Campaign Season of Violent Rhetoric

More on overdermination and political violence
In my earlier diary, "Influence and over-determination", I quoted from Jacob Weisberg at Slate writing about the obvious political context: To call his crime an attempted Assassination is to acknowledge that it appears to have had a political and not merely a personal context. That context wasn't Islamic radicalism, Puerto Rican independence, or anarcho-syndicalism. It was the anti-government, pro-gun, xenophobic Populism that flourishes in the dry and angry climate of Arizona. Extremist sho...

More on Loughner and Violent Rhetoric
First up, a friend of mine from Olympia, Zoltan Grossman, has a really good analytical look at Loughner over on Znet and shares his thoughts on where Loughner fits on the political spectrum. When Zoltan speaks, I listen. Real Fascists in Our Midst Cliff notes: Zoltan finds lots of connections between Loughner's ramblings and the thinking behind the Posse Comitatus and Sovereign Citizen movements. The grammar and brainwashing stuff that Loughner rambles about is also present in David Wynn's writi...

Friend claims that Jared Loughner didnt watch television or listen to talk radio
  Shortly after Jared Loughner shot and killed six people while wounding dozens of others in Arizona the media went on a witch-hunt to see where they could lay the blame for Loughner’s actions. Personally, I would have blamed Jared Loughner and I suppose the media would have also if they weren’t being driven by their agenda.   It didn’t take long for the media to find their target and set their sights on Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, conservative t...

L.A. Times: "Loughner's ramblings appear rooted in far right"
That would be the news pages, not the Opinion section. How, at this late date in combing through the wreckage of the Tucson shooter's brain and paper trail, do you arrive at that conclusion? The same way Newspapers did just after the massacre: by using as your primary factual source not anybody who actually interacted with the guy, but instead the factually fallible partisans at the Southern Poverty Law Center: Most wind up concluding that Loughner suffered from mental problems. But experts sai...

Jewish Groups: We Are Deeply Disturbed By Palins Use Of Anti-Semitic Term Blood Libel,
Source: Think Progress Jewish Groups: ‘We Are Deeply Disturbed’ By Palin’s Use Of Anti-Semitic Term ‘Blood Libel,’ She Should Apologize » On a day when the president and the nation are mourning the Victims of the tragic shooting in Tucson, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) is trying to seize the spotlight to mourn her tarnished reputation. Palin apparently views herself among the real Victims of the tragic shooting this weekend that killed six and wounded 14. This morning, Pal

See, I Told You So Comes Back Around to Bite Rush Limbaugh
Actually, there is evidence that at least Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck have tacitly admitted their responsibility for inciting violence. Almost immediately following the shootings, Palin removed from her website the map with the gun sight crosshairs targeting Giffords. And Beck removed the picture of him stalking around with a pistol in his hand. The fact that they removed these images right after a shooting in which they are clearly inciting violence by gunfire is just coincidence, I guess. Th...

Infants Playing with Flamethrowers
Harold Meyerson nails it: Dangerous outcomes from a culture of paranoia: Last October, Glenn Beck was musing on his Radio Show about the prospect of the government seizing his Children if he didn't give them Flu Vaccines. "You want to take my kids because of that?" he said. "Meet Mr. Smith and Mr. Wesson." Last April, Erick Erickson, the managing editor of the right-wing RedState blog and a CNN commentator, was questioning the legality of the Census Bureau's American Community Survey on a radi...

American history and the fallacy of right-wing violence
Calmer voices are beginning to be heard over the fading din of accusations following last Saturday’s shootings. Now comes the search for answers to two questions that are joined at the hip: (1) How do we protect our elected officials from harm by would-be assassins? (2) How do we go about rescripting our political dialogue so that its tone is constructive rather than incendiary? A putative answer to the first question has already been suggested in the somewhat misguided proposal that all 5...

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 ...

Palin Accuses Critics of 'Blood Libel' (updated)
Far from backing down, Sarah Palin defended herself today against critics who linked her Rhetoric to the Arizona shootings, accusing them of the long-condemned anti-Semitic slur "blood Libel." Palin opponents noted soon after the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) that left six people dead that Palin had posted a map on her website last fall with gun sights on 20 districts, including Giffords'. She announced it with a tweet: "Don't Retreat, Instead - RELOAD!&quo...;

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 ...

"He did not watch TV. He disliked the news. He didnt listen to political radio. He didnt take sides. He wasnt on the left. He wa
Said one of Jared Loughner's friends. For those of you who still want to argue, straining against the evidence, that the terrible political Rhetoric pushed Loughner over the line, let me help you. I've studied law for 30 years, and I know how to extract an argument using what little is available. Ready? Here goes... The overheated Rhetoric in America was so repugnant that Jared Loughner couldn't bear to engage with it. Alienated and left to his own thoughts, he became mentally disordered, lead...

Bylaws Not Contracts, Court Rightly Holds
In the first of many opinions likely to come, a California Federal Court last week refused to recognize a Delaware corporation’s by-law naming Delaware the exclusive place for derivative shareholder litigation.  As noted here, on this hot issue in corporate law, Delaware courts no doubt would enforce such clauses, retaining litigation business, but other states may disagree.   Much of the fight in the case, Galaviz v. Berg, involving Oracle, concerned whe...

She Was A Blessing
Music critic Alexander Gelfand publishes an appreciation of the late Debbie Friedman today in Tablet Magazine. By the early 1970s, these and other participants in the burgeoning American nusach movement were exerting an influence well beyond summer-camp circles. Their use of mixed Hebrew and English lyrics, pseudo-folk melodies, and simple guitar accompaniment, along with their emphasis on participatory unison singing, began to filter into Reform Synagogues, gradually displacing the more formal ...

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

Palin: Attacks on Conservatives Over Tuscon Massacre Constitute Blood Libel
I was struck by today’s response of Sarah Palin to criticism that her Rhetoric and “targeting” of Rep. Gifford’s district may have added to the recent massacre in Tuscon. In fairness to Palin, the family stated today that Jared Loughner did not watch news or listen to Talk Radio. However, I was most interested in her claim that the attacks against her and conservative commentators amounted to a “blood Libel.” But, especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding...

Sarahs Most Expertly Timed & Inchoate Video
As if we needed further evidence that Sarah Palin doesn’t get it (and never will), now comes an expertly timed if inchoate video by the former half-term Governor of Alaska in which she belatedly offers a note of condolence to a congresswoman who had personally complained about her relentless demonization and use of inflammatory Rhetoric en route to defending . . . uh, her relentless demonization and use of inflammatory rhetoric. 1 response(s) to this topic so far. Have an opinion? Join t...

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

Sarah Palin: Journalists and Pundits Should Not Manufacture a Blood Libel
The below statement is from Sarah Palin. The video of the statement can be found here or below the statement: “Like millions of Americans I learned of the tragic events in Arizona on Saturday, and my heart broke for the innocent Victims. No words can fill the hole left by the death of an innocent, but we do mourn for the victims’ families as we express our sympathy. I agree with the sentiments shared yesterday at the beautiful Catholic mass held in honor of the Victims. The mass will...

Charlie Rose: The President's Speech: After the Preambles
After the president pays homage to those who died in a senseless act of violence; After the president recognizes a remarkable member of Congress who was the target of that senseless violence; After the president speaks to the courage of those who acted with such selflessness during the shooting; After the president makes it clear we know of no connection at this time between this criminal act and this disturbed mind and any political Rhetoric from any source; After the president expresses the ...

Shameless Palin Claims Victimhood, Refuses to Apologize
Wow, Sarah Palin sure has got no shame. You’d think after the horrible shooting in Tucson, and after literally putting Gabrielle Giffords in the cross-hairs, that Palin might have had the dignity either to say nothing or to show at least an ounce of remorse or pledge to lower her own Rhetoric by a decibel or two. But not Palin. No, now she’s made herself the Victim. She said: “Journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood Libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violen

After Arizona: Time for Nonviolent Communication
I actually felt a little sorry for the conservative pundits who were forced to answer for inflammatory words that, by wide consensus, contributed to the horrible shootings in Tucson. Mona Charen was reduced to spluttering to Tom Ashbrook of NPR's "On Point" that Conservatives are not actually bloodthirsty proponents of Assassination. Obama has used the odd gun metaphor, too, many Republicans were quick to point out. You can hardly blame them for not wanting to take the rap for Jared Lo...

The other odd claim in Palin's Tucson video
Much has been made of former Sarah Palin's use of the term "blood Libel" in her videotaped statement this morning on the shootings in Arizona. However, the line that drew my attention was this one: Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own. They begin and end with the criminals who commit them, not collectively with all the citizens of a state, not with those who listen to Talk Radio, not with maps of Swing Districts used by bo...

Sarah Palin blames journalists for inciting hatred after shooting
Right-wing US politician Sarah Palin has posted a nearly eight-minute video on her Facebook page condemning those who blame fierce political campaigning for the Tucson massacre. Mrs Palin has been criticised for an online campaign map that targeted the district of shot congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords with the cross hairs of a gun sight. In the video the 2008 Republican vice Presidential Candidate said vigorous debates are a cherished tradition. But she said after the election, both sides find...

What You Might Call A 'Pattern'
Rachel Slajda runs down the craziest violent gun/shooting Rhetoric coming from political Candidates* during the 2010 campaign cycle. *Interesting to note how many of them ended up losing their Elections. Is a call to arms a sign of desperation? ...