I missed this one completely.
I did feel a lot of emotion on Saturday. The Tucson massacre is an unthinkable tragedy for the victims and their families, as well as a heinous affront to our republic. But the unhinged Left’s hysterical scramble to paint suspect Jared Loughner as a product of the Tea Party right? I really didn’t see it coming at all. Surprised me when I encountered it.
Many commentators and fellow bloggers are pointing out that it’s only continuation of an all-too-familiar narrative. Now that I think about it, I even had a little fun with that narrative not long ago. For whatever reason, it just hadn’t occurred to me that this particular tragedy was a good vehicle for political opportunism. Perhaps it’s simply a last little photon of political idealism in me that has now been extinguished.
In any case, now that it has taken just about 20 minutes to demonstrate that Loughner is severely disturbed well before he’s anything politically definable by rational people, and that it’s further been established that he apparently had a beef with Giffords dating to 2007 (well before any allegedly inciting graphics or posters), the liberals’ message has shifted.
Now (and everyone get a somber look on his/her face), we must change the destructive tone of political rhetoric in this country. (Start nodding.) We must get rid of the violent imagery. (Say “yeah” aloud.) It’s time to restore civility. (Start clapping. Wipe a tear away.)
See, there are two big problems with this, though:
- A free populace should not and will not tolerate the regulated loss of metaphor and hyperbole in its political language, which is the logical extension of this line of thinking. Who’s in charge of that, pray tell? Is there a good answer to that question besides “the people”? No? Then it’s a non-starter, is it not? Where would it stop? Are we going to stop saying “battleground state”? Are we going to stop calling it a political “campaign”?
- The call for “civility” comes from people demonstrably obsessed with violence in their political rhetoric. I’ve been over this ground before, concerning criticism of the president. Please read the violent fantasies against George W. Bush in this October 2009 post. Now, look me in the eye and tell me you’d ever hear anything like “SNIPERS WANTED”; “John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinckley Jr. — where are you now that we need you?”; or “put a bullet between the president’s eyes if he could get away with it”—from prominent journalists and politicians, no less—about Barack Obama. Dare I suggest there might be a double standard here?
To any liberal shrieking about the deplorable current state of our political discourse: can the wanton hypocrisy and grow a little self-awareness. Some principled argument not steeped in nakedly vulgar opportunism would also be a big plus. Manage these things, and I’m happy to engage you in a spirited discussion of the issues.
Until then, please sit down, insolent and oblivious child, and entertain yourself quietly. The grown-ups are talking.
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Why worry about rational thought when you can just be painted as “Guns bad. Entitlement good.”?
Not a fan of everyone walking around with military arsenals in their pocket. Too many yrs as the son of a cop to want that. But rational, non-criminal citizens should have every right to arm themselves legally. Loughner slipped through the cracks somehow as he very legally passed the background check. I have my doubts as to the validity of that check when he got rolled out of the Army Recruitment Center for being cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. It was a horrible tragedy enacted by a friggin nut who will be buried under a jail cell. But to try and parlay that into Sarah Palin, Tea Party, or George W. Bush is addled before thought becomes word.
The other thing that struck me, albeit a little late, as the emotional fires were set, was that the accusations were flying before it was even know if the kid even watched tv or listened to radio. Yes, it’s probably not realistic to think someone is never exposed to political rhetoric, but for all we know, he only watched Spongebob.
When it comes to mental illness treatment in this country, our hands are pretty much tied. Even involved parents have an extremely difficult time getting an over 18 child committed for just a couple of days of psychological evaluation. You cannot force someone into treatment.
I heard a caller to Hannity yesterday start with: “Sean, how many more Democrats are going to have to die before you and the Tea Party…..” How many more??? WTF?
There are “fringers” on both sides of the parties. And after reading Daily Kos and other like sites, I think their side has more fringers than mine. But, I will admit that the first words out of my mouth when I heard the breaking news about the shooting were: “Oh my God, I hope this wasn’t some right-wing nut job. The left will have a freaking field day.” Is that bad?
It’s becoming more and more apparent that this guy was definitely a nut job, but Tea Parties and Sarah Palin had nothing to do with it. I’m still waiting for the apologies from all the lefties though….
You worry that it wasn’t a right-wing nut job, because that is the only thing that will fit the media’s narrative. When it started becoming obvious that this shooter was a very young, insane, probably NOT a right-winger, then all of a sudden we heard about another “person of interest,” an older white guy seen with him on video. An older disenfranchised white guy fits the narrative. Only we come to find out, it was just the cab driver who dropped him off. Not some firearms coach egging him on.
As long as the reporting is this disingenuous, we have much to fear from the so-called unbiased media.
BamaDan, ‘seester: If we need any “national dialogue” as a result of this catastrophe, that is indeed where it is—in finding a balance between identifying people who need help and getting it for them, and personal liberty. As we see time and time again, though, there is no interest in helping others in modern liberalism. None. It’s a giant pot of crabs. Nothing more.
Terri, I guess there are “fringers” on both sides of the political spectrum. Sure seems like they elect theirs, though—so are they really fringers?
Terri, you and I will be dust before any apologies come out.
Mme. Malkin had a comprehensive post on this. It was nauseating, the evidence she was able to gather.
Kemtee, I hadn’t seen that Malkin piece, but your comment prompted me to locate it.
Here it is. Wow, it’s incredible.