John Cory begins: "Violence erupted Saturday resulting in the death of a 9-year-old child, a federal judge and at least four more of our fellow citizens. 20 human beings shot - 6 human beings killed. These are the wages of hate and paranoia produced by the factory of fear that is modern America."

The eyes of 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green, slain in an attack on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. (photo: Green Family)

Reaping the Whirlwind

By John Cory, Reader Supported News

09 January 11

Reader Supported News | Perspective

"For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind ..."
- The Book of Hosea

iolence erupted Saturday resulting in the death of a 9-year-old child, a federal judge and at least four more of our fellow citizens. 20 human beings shot - 6 human beings killed.

These are the wages of hate and paranoia produced by the factory of fear that is modern America.

Keith Olbermann gave a Special Comment on the evening MSNBC broadcast. And a short while later I found this Howard Kurtz piece: "Don't Blame Sarah Palin" at the Daily Beast.

Where Olbermann spoke to the impact of violent rhetoric, Howard Kurtz chose to whitewash the use of unfortunate rhetoric spewed by Palin and O'Reilly and Beck and Limbaugh. According to Kurtz, liberals were not respectful of Saturday's dead and wounded because they rushed to assign blame. "I find it all depressing beyond belief," he wrote.

Of course what Kurtz does not find "depressing beyond belief" is his admission: "Let's be honest: Journalists often use military terminology in describing campaigns. We talk about the air war, the bombshells, targeting politicians, knocking them off, candidates returning fire or being out of ammunition."

And there you have it. Sticks and bombs may break our bones but the words of war are meant to entertain. Don't take it all so seriously.

Howard Kurtz wants us to believe that rhetoric and words are simple metaphors without meaning or import. It's not words that inspire killing, "... it's about a lone nutjob who doesn't value human life."

Mr. Kurtz is wrong.

The killer is not "a lone nutjob." He is one of us, clothed and fed on perpetual war and the dialog of destruction.

We have become a nation of, by and for perpetual war. Perpetual war is our addiction and our language, and as Kurtz so chillingly admits - war is the metaphor of politics and business and daily discourse.

But I tell you that a nation of perpetual war and constant fear eventually succumbs to self-hatred and self-loathing. It becomes consumed by the value of extremism in the maintenance of empty empire through the deceit of language. A nation of perpetual war numbs itself to violence by constant repetition of the rhetoric of death and mayhem and the slogans of militarism. A nation of perpetual war does not value human life - but rather the hollow rhetoric about human life.

Mr. Kurtz and others would have us avert our eyes and avoid looking into the mirror and facing the reflection of our words and deeds.

I can only imagine what Mr. Kurtz and others would have written had the shooter been named Mohammed Abdullah.

Christina Taylor Green was 9 years old. She was born on a day of death and madness, September 11, 2001, and she died on a day of death and madness. She is, in the flippant jargon of perpetual war - collateral damage.

Words have power.

Yesterday, 20 human beings were shot and 6 human beings were killed.

May God, forgive us all.

-PEACE-

Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.

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+52 # jsheats 2011-01-09 20:55

They pray to Allah and they pray to the Lord
But mostly they pray about Love and War

(Neil Young, 2010)

When will they ever learn
When will they ever learn

(Pete Seeger, 1961)

-127 # Peter Wohld 2011-01-09 21:29

People are angry - damn angry! They are losing their jobs, their homes, their retirement savings, and any sense of security from the government. And, most of these problems have been the result of poor government policy - for many years. Meanwhile, our government adds new entitlement programs, even while the old ones (we are told) are taking us to bankruptcy us as a nation.

Out of millions of people in this situation, some are going to cry foul in less than polite terms.

Did any of this have an influence on this Tucson killer? I don't see it. He was disconnected from normal life and somewhat insane as I see the story unfolding. He could just as likely have gone after some other unrelated group.

As far as the Tea Party, this movement gives many discontented citizens a release for their anger and gives them hope that peaceful citizen action can get things going in a better direction.

+101 # Lesabre 2011-01-09 22:12

Oh yes, like the Tea Party guy that ran against Gabby that wears his Marine uniform and carries an M16 and invites others to come out and shoot with him....yes discontented citizens...uh...relasing their anger and receiving hope...uh....OK...peaceful citizens actions ...uh...OK

+40 # Brenda 2011-01-10 06:02

The frightening thing about unemployment, living in poverty along with bad living conditions, and the propagation of malicious political lies, is that these things fuel a rage such like the one that fueled Hitler's rise to power. even Stalin used these conditions to further his power driven madness.

+44 # Tony Regusters 2011-01-10 08:44

I don't think anyone has missed the point that with the advent of the GOP's return to full power in the House, one of the first acts was a call for the repeal of "Obamacare" ... followed immediately by this tragedy in Tucson. Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and the others including "Crocodile Tears" Speaker Boehner, are all culpable contributors to this disgusting episode. Yes. The Republicans are in charge... and America will now reap the whirlwind...

+10 # Doctoretty 2011-01-10 17:51

The only thing I disagree with is your characterizatio n of Boehner's tears as crocodile tears. I think they are real. But the fact that come so often and at such inapproriate times is indicative of a serious emotional disorder. And in someone who is 3rd in line to the Presidency, that's pretty scary!

-6 # Lee Barnett 2011-01-10 11:26

Quoting

The frightening thing about unemployment, living in poverty along with bad living conditions, and the propagation of malicious political lies, is that these things fuel a rage such like the one that fueled Hitler's rise to power. even Stalin used these conditions to further his power driven madness.

And your implication is WHAT, Brenda? Who is the neoHitler or neoStalin? Speak up, stop hedging.

+5 # Brenda 2011-01-11 20:24

Well, I'm not hedging. Perhaps it's a dirge about taking caution to the country and fix the problems that plague the nation internally, before the population decides to take matters into their own hands. There are plenty of malitia groups out there with leaders who might secretly desire to be in charge of the nation. Hitler was nothing but a paper hanger before people started to give ear to what he said. Keep in mind that Germany is 40% Lutherin and 60% Roman Catholic. In other words they were a very Christian nation. Many beautiful hymns were written by German composers. How could a nation like that put a maniac like Hitler in power?
If the Republicans want to strip the population of all the safety nets that have been provided and give the money to the rich, there is going to be alot of hatred in the streets. Not a healthy way for a country to operate. There already are Neo-Nazis and Neo-Comunists and Neo-Facists here quietly waiting for their tern to rule. All they need is an audience to listen to what they have to say. We are in very scary times.

+47 # Brenda 2011-01-10 06:15

Yes Peter, the Tea Party may give disgruntaled an outlet for the realease of their anger, but who are the culpable leaders that fuel this beast? It apperars that Sarah Palin, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Rush Limburger, the Republican party leaders, foreign money, Corporate money, ultra rich money, and the radical right Christians, and radical right wingnuts seem to be the scoundrels of the day.

+47 # historywriter 2011-01-10 08:42

If you want to start looking for reasons for job loss, homes, retirement savings, you are looking in the wrong direction. The economy collapsed not because of government but because of the banksters, wheeler-dealers who made money but added NOTHING to our real economy, defrauded home buyers and millions of others in various ways, all in the name of greed and profit.
The government has, too timidly mostly because of conservative obstacles, tried to save the economy and it has--avoiding a real depression and bringing about job growth--but not enough (see above) with stimulus programs.
The republicans even refused to support medical aid for the 9/11 first responders who are now suffering from the4 toxic material they breathed and handled. WHY?

+25 # Mike K 2011-01-10 11:12

Did you perhaps miss the Tea partier who dressed up like a Nazi and reenact WWII battles as a Nazi? No Rebulican or Tea party member said boo to him. Or How about the member of Rand Paul's campaine that stomped on the head of a journalist who had already been knocked to the ground by Rand Paul supporters? Every member of the professional Right accepted his excuse that he had a bad back and couldn't bend over. Or How about Glenn Beck's fantasising about poisoning Nancy Pelosi and kind of acting it out on TV?

+5 # Hart 2011-01-12 09:37

Boehner actually traveled to his district and helped him raise money AFTER his Nazi reenactment photos were published. I call that active endorsement of bigotry.

+14 # DaveW. 2011-01-10 12:13

Peter, It's "perpetual war" and a military defense budget that spends 46.5% of what the rest of the WORLD spends on defense that is bankrupting us.And of course, that DOESN'T count our ongoing wars to protect our freedoms. It is rapacious leaders of the out of control financial industry that is bankrupting us. The "better direction" you imply will simply leave a two-tiered nation veering towards third world status at warp speed. The people who "lost their homes, and their retirement savings" have a right to be angry. The bankruptcy of which you speak is the failure of both parties, particulary the GOP, to concern itself with anything except the protection of wealth and empire. Unfortunately, too many Democrats abdicated their essential duty to protect those who were least able to protect themselves. We now have "government to the highest bidder." Do some some research on Speaker of the House John Boehner's "golf junkets", paid for by the taxpayer. If your a Tea Bagger I hope your happy with your new "leader."

+8 # Daniel Fletcher 2011-01-10 20:43

So you think the gubmint made big business take our jobs to other countries to profit from virtual slave labor. The lost homes, retirement savings and any sense of security was, you believe, taken by the gubmint. It was poor gubmint policy paid for by corporate lobbyists with deep pockets that has been a huge problem but of course that would be the gubmint's fault alone. And the teabagger silence on the January '10 decision that put the gubmint up for sale to the highest bidder doesn't bother you I guess. And all these new entitlement programs! Such as what, Bush's TARP program? Huge corporate welfare schemes at the expense of the general public? Is this what you're talking about? And of course the Arizona shooter was just some nut job who out of the clear blue sky, despite our culture of hate, bloodshed and war, just happened to come up with his Ramboesque behavior all on his own. And the teabagger movement gives citizens a release for their anger and gives them hope while remaining silent on the extended tax cuts to the wealthy that will put us an additional 900 billion into debt and further the destruction of even teabaggers themselves. Hmmm...
...sure sounds screwy to me.

+1 # Daniel Kasnitz 2011-01-15 01:13

I notice you offer no evidence to support your claim that "most of the problems have been poor government policy." So, incompetent and greedy business leaders, such as those at Enron or the many gambling banks around the world, have not had a causal role? Yes, our government forcing us into two needless, imperial wars that have cost trillions is a big part of the problem. But the business community is far from blameless.

+96 # giraffe 2011-01-09 21:31

Right on John Corn
"When men like John Boehner and women like Sarah Palin tell you that they are shocked and saddened by what has occurred you may well assume that they are indeed. They inspired the rampage, and they are now confronted by what they have wrought."

They abuse right to free speech when they intend to incite terror - how else can I interpret "load 'em up and shoot" -- except that someone did exactly that.

Palin should disappear and take her Web down -- Boner's intent to down Obama rather than help the people is as bad as "load 'em up...."

That beautiful little girl died for what? War within our country.

I believe Palin is a terrorist.
What part of UNITED (doesn't Boner understand) STATES?

+63 # Lesabre 2011-01-09 22:16

I agree...These big mouth inciters always claim...uh plausable deny-ability and sadness when their followers erupt with violence.

+2 # giraffe 2011-01-10 20:32

The quote was written by Mark Ash

+55 # Activista 2011-01-09 21:44

To kill a child - can not comprehend it. And OUR violent sick society is responsible. Start with the store who sold Glock semi-automatic pistol to a psychopath. Start with Arizona gun dealers selling arms to Mexican drug gangsters. I would start there before analyzing media.

+27 # Lee Black 2011-01-10 08:26

Activista, I agree. The Automated Weapons Ban should be reinstituted.

At least these deranged people would be limited in the amount of damage they could do.

-70 # DaveM 2011-01-09 21:51

When Nidal Malik Hasan, an American Muslim of Palestinian descent, shot 43 people at Fort Hood on November 9th, 2009, Fox News & Co. were quick to claim that the shootings were "Islamic terrorism" (no retractions of course and there will be none following the hubbub over this latest tragedy). Collective blame is a terrible thing, no matter whether a terrorist organization or a "sick society" is blamed.

Might we take a few moments to note the number of warning signs Jared Lee Loughner presented to "society" before exploding in senseless, deadly rage? He was kicked out of school after being physically removed from a classroom following threats and other odd behavior. He was turned away by the U.S. Army after allegedly failing a drug test. At least one Wal-Mart store refused to sell him ammunition because of his behavior.

Sarah Palin did not put a gun in his hand. Fox News did not pull the trigger. While this horror may have wider implications, the person responsible was the person who carried it out. How about a bit of credit for the nearly 312 million Americans who did not shoot anyone yesterday?

+42 # Lesabre 2011-01-09 22:20

I agree, but we cannot tollerate futher killing of insosents, We must lower the bar and the boom on hate speach. The rehortic coming over the air and cables is inciting panic to action in disturbed people.

+47 # Lola 2011-01-10 05:52

Lesabre, I agree with you. Never in political history have I seen so much hate spewed forth on the airways. The Bush administration encouraged it, in fact they thrived on it. This is not the Bush administration and it's time to stop!!!! Al it's doing is causing disrespect for our President and unrest in unstable people. The way it's being shoved down the public's throat it wont be long before it isn't just unstable who are out in the streets. People are angry about loosing jobs, watching everything go overseas (because Bush gave them big tax breaks to go off shore). They are tired off seeing their life savings go to the Wall Street Robbers so they can have big parties on yaughts in the Carribean, and they're damn sick and tired of getting thrown out of their homes because they can't make the payments on McDonalds salary. Given all of these things to consider, the stable man today will be the next shooter tomorrow. Sarah Palin and Rush yell all the time to 'load 'em up and shoot'. These people need to b shut down!!!!!!

+3 # hackenbush 2011-01-10 12:07

I suggest you watch "The Power of Nightmares". This isn't a new thing, it has been going on for quite some time.

http://www.archive.org/details/ThePowerOfNightmares

+23 # genierae 2011-01-10 04:52

DaveM: Facing facts is not assigning blame. Most reasonable people would agree that this is a sick society. A sick society produces sick persons. Some are sicker than others.

"It takes a village, to raise a child." A healthy, sane, compassionate village.

Let us look around us, in our towns and cities, to find those youngsters who have lost their way, and reach out to them in kindness. We just might save a life, in more ways than one.

+19 # DaveW. 2011-01-10 10:10

The formation and rise of Nazism in 1920's Germany was initially predicated on the use of a single, devastating weapon. It's a weapon that has been used countless times to motivate and incite, not only unbalanced minds but the masses as well. History tells us what that weapon has been and continues to be. The "weapon" is, of course,words. No, Palin did not put a gun in this young man's hand. Fox News did not pull the trigger. But both and many others were instrumental in creating and continuing to create a culture where violence and intimidation are seen as "alternatives" to rational discourse. If we have have to start "handing out credits" for the 312 million Americans "who didn't shoot someone, yesterday, today or tomorrow, then we are in serious trouble indeed. Social environment has a lot to do with how a child develops into a functioning, contributing member of society. Look around you, we are a violence addicted culture. What kind of "crops" should we expect from seeds sewn in such "blood irrigated" soil?

+5 # Hart 2011-01-12 09:46

The sickness of our society is not just the sickness of the Becks and Limbaughs who profit (millions in salary per year) from promoting fear, hatred and bigotry but in the larger picture is the sickness of all too many Americans that won't confront it and denounce it. No, Sarah didn't put the gun in his hand, but she sure provided a "poster-child" example of a media darling indicating who's it's O.K. to target. And this is not opinion. She has used the term "bulls-eye" herself in reference to her map of targeted districts. I don't know any media figure on the left that uses weapons-related imagery and language to fire up their audiences.

+29 # wisdom 2011-01-10 01:59

Sara palin = osama bin laden

+1 # Hart 2011-01-12 09:48

Although I share your obvious disgust with Ms. Palin, let's not stoop to the tactics of the right. She's bad enough without comparing her to Bin Laden.

+11 # Kiwikid 2011-01-10 02:15

My hope is that this may yet turn out to be a Telemachus moment for America. In AD 404 Telemachus, a Christian monk, jumped down into Romes's arena to stop gladitors fighting. The crowd stoned him. This was the last such contest - the Emporer Honorius permanently banned them. Someone, Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Cantor, - someone, needs to say 'Enough!'Enough from both sides, each trying to claim the high moral ground. While Palin et al clearly have a case to answer, Olbermann's demanding a repudiation won't help - we're all allergic to being shamed! We all need to take a step back, look in the mirror and see the hatred/violence in our own hearts, even if its absent in the words of our rhetoric, and know that we are all responsible for where we are.

+1 # Daniel Fletcher 2011-01-10 21:05

Andrew, thank you for your wise insight. We all bare a cumulative responsibility for who we as a people are, who we've been, and who we're capable of becoming. If all we each did was to look in the mirror at the start of each day and ask ourselves what we could do today (each day) to promote a better world, our chances of succeeding would increase greatly. It isn't enough that we take a share of blame so much as we each take a share of the responsibility. This violence did not happen in a vacuum and just because the shooter was a madman. This violence happened because we have inculcated unspeakable violence into almost every corner of our lives if only in our choice of words and language. I think we need to realize a corresponding responsibility for kindness and peacefulness as well at the very least. And I think that our society needs to take a closer look at the kind of violence we've institutionaliz ed in our behavior as a nation in this world. We recognize the evil in such violence when done by one crazed man. But why are we so blind when we do not see the equally depraved violence we impose upon so many that we are quick to relable as "collateral damage"?

+17 # Jim Anderson 2011-01-10 03:03

I think the level of communication isn't very good but no one mentions millions of people ripped from the homes by fraud. Millions of people are so poor they can't feed themselves without handouts. Tens of millions of Americans don't have jobs and many face grim prospects for the future. Rhetoric is all fine and good lets deal with reality instead. The reality is if conditions don't improve this won't be the last extreme political violence we will be watching on the news.

+37 # maddy 2011-01-10 03:29

It seems that Rush, Beck, Savage, Palin. Angel, and the list goes on paid by the wealthy such as Murdoch, should be convicted along with the shooter because the hate they sprew out day after day and think it so funny. They are responsible for the killings.

+39 # cece 2011-01-10 04:03

We have come to believe that the face of terrorism is brown skinned and from a foreign oil rich land. What is the difference between Sarah Palin and Bin Laden? Both use hate rhetoric to incite violence. Someone else said it on this post. THANK YOU

+37 # cabotool 2011-01-10 04:28

I call I call the process of inciting hatred, "Hate and switch (I tell a person to hate and then when they act with violence, I switch and say, "Ohhhh... I did not want you to actually harm someone!")"

This is totally hypocritical and a betrayal of America.

We will always have "nut jobs" out there. We need to stop the Palins from doing all they can to activate the "nut jobs".

Where can I find a list of the way to contact the advertisers on Fox News? I want to write to them and tell them I won't buy their products as long as they fund the violence.

+8 # jerry6665 2011-01-10 07:19

although this website seems a abit old, i checked on several of the sponsors mentioned and they are still sponsoring rush limbaugh and others who'spout', as well. the list of advertisers that was published on limbaugh's website has been pulled. http://www.topplebush.com/boycott_rush.shtml

+10 # genierae 2011-01-10 08:01

cabotool: I understand your frustration with hatemongers, but calling a mentally ill person like Jared Loughner, a "nut job" is not helpful to the discussion. This man was an outcast, ridiculed and shunned by society, and no one tried to get him the help he needed. I am not excusing his horrific actions, but when someone is mentally ill, they are not always able to control their violent impulses. It sounds like he was obsessing on conspiracy theories, and went very deep into psychosis. It comes back to how we treat the mentally ill, do we put them in treatment facilities, or do we throw them into prison where they will only become more insane? Why do so many of these extremely disturbed individuals, who are known by family and friends to be so troubled, escape the attention of those who could have helped them? Its because this society is completely broken, and I don't think it can be fixed.

+5 # hackenbush 2011-01-10 12:11

Quoting

I am not excusing his horrific actions, but when someone is mentally ill, they are not always able to control their violent impulses.

This is a crock. Someone does something "crazy", and we're quick to jump on the "you'd have to be insane to do this" bandwagon. I'm of the opinion that you'd have to be insane to blow innocent women and children to bits in Afghanistan and Iraq, but you don't see soldiers using the ol' insanity defense, do you?

I don't think calling him "mentally ill" says much. The guy did what every loudmouth on the TV and radio told him to do, just like a good little soldier. If we were in Afghanistan, we would have given him a medal, that's how f**ked up and subjective this is ...

(By the way, you're aware that narcissistic personality disorder is no longer considered an illness in this country, right?

+15 # Tony Regusters 2011-01-10 08:54

"Hate and switch (I tell a person to hate and then when they act with violence, I switch and say, "Ohhhh... I did not want you to actually harm someone!")" This is totally hypocritical and a betrayal of America.

I couldn't have expressed this very concise explanation any better than you've put it. This hypocrisy from the political right (so-called) is the CRUX of the matter...

+8 # Gringaryan 2011-01-10 09:53

Where can I find a list of the way to contact the advertisers on Fox News? I want to write to them and tell them I won't buy their products as long as they fund the violence.
Fabulous idea!

+20 # J.Lindsley 2011-01-10 04:58

When we tolerate the hatred it is always the innocents who become the victims.

In reality, on second thought, we all become the victims.

The seeds of hatred germaninate overnight.

George Bush and Dick Cheney keep building their legacies of mendacity and ignorance and dis/mis/information they used to create this ever expanding conflict.

All in the name of "spreading Democracy around the world".

The world does not need this kind of "democracy".

We do need to stop the Wars in The Senate and the House of Representatives against the very people that elected them.

Arizona.

What state is next?

What Senator?

what Innocent?

+17 # sj-ias 2011-01-10 05:19

In my view, the two most salient parts of this story are America's indifference to the mentally ill, and America's willingness to sell guns to the mentally disturbed as well as everyone else. Mental illness is a hidden constituency; it cannot speak up for itself, and those who do are generally ignored. We do have a hate speech problem, and it may have been a contributing factor, but the root cause of this particular incident lies in the carelessness of America's mental illness policies and gun buyer screening policies. I could be wrong, but that's how it looks to me.

+10 # Gringaryan 2011-01-10 09:55

Quoting

In my view, the two most salient parts of this story are America's indifference to the mentally ill, and America's willingness to sell guns to the mentally disturbed as well as everyone else. Mental illness is a hidden constituency; it cannot speak up for itself, and those who do are generally ignored. We do have a hate speech problem, and it may have been a contributing factor, but the root cause of this particular incident lies in the carelessness of America's mental illness policies and gun buyer screening policies. I could be wrong, but that's how it looks to me.

Well put! and the willingness to let the mentally ill flounder w/no safety net was one of Reagan's legacies

0 # bjw 2011-01-13 17:50

Yes, and I really do not expect much if anything to be done about them. Both cost money and mental health has been cut back so many times over the years that in the present budget-cutting frenzy, we can expect even more cuts. Without evaluations, they will not be put into a data base that can be checked. Also, maintaining the data bases require funds.

More and more people like Jared will fall through the widening cracks and we will continue to have these tragic and largely preventable incidents.

+32 # josie 2011-01-10 05:21

To Dave M: You're missing the point. Palin may not have put a gun in the murderer's hand and Fox may not have pulled the trigger but both they and other blow hards incite unbalanced people to do these things. And they know what they're doing and they make big money doing it which is the only thing that's important to them.

-42 # lnason@umassd.edu 2011-01-10 05:22

Hate speech is not the problem here: this guy is pretty clearly schizophrenic and schizophrenics of his ilk are and always have been violent and antisocial.

Before we tamper with first amendment rights, we need to put the incident in the context of history and remember that we have always had a few nut jobs who commit violent crimes -- with or without the precedent of "hate speech". It is foolish to rail against human nature which is, unfortunately, sometimes extreme and destructive.

Lee Nason
New Bedford, Massachusetts

+17 # Merschrod 2011-01-10 06:59

Lee, it is the context. Those driven to these sorts of anti-social acts are driven by the context, the historical context as played in the media and shouted by contemporaries -- that is the problem. The assassin may pull the trigger, but the context makes it all "rational" in the mind of the killer.

For a bit more on this look up the Ruwanda War Crimes tribunal - three media types were found guilty of inciting the disaster (unfortunately the media corporations/executives providing the equipment were not tried).

+16 # phrixus 2011-01-10 07:32

...schizophrenics of his ilk are and always have been violent and antisocial." I'm not clear on what his "ilk" is but I worked in the mental health arena for a number of years and found very few schizophrenics to be violent. More often prone to violence were the alcoholics, drug addicts and those described back then as "character and behavior disorders."

+6 # genierae 2011-01-10 08:12

Lee Nason: "nut jobs" What a compassionate phrase.

0 # CAD 2011-01-12 10:00

Wow. You have provided a diagnosis of "pretty clearly schizophrenic" on the basis of news reports? What is your degree?

+1 # Lestrad 2011-01-13 07:46

You're deliberately ignoring the fact that the kid all but said outright that Glenn Beck told him to do it.

And nobody's talking about "tampering with First Amendment rights" or any other rights. WHat people are saying is that it is not surprising that the US is producing this kind of behavior. That's all.

Finally, your saying that schizophrenics are always violent and antisocial is an outright lie and tantermount to libel - not to mention its being heartless and unfair to people who genuinely suffer.

+44 # Richard Schmidt 2011-01-10 05:31

No, Sarah did not literally pull the trigger, but the person who walks into a crowded theatre and begins shouting "FIRE" did not necessarily light the match of destruction. Sarah will deny . . . she always denies. But her rhetoric inflames nonetheless.

+29 # Gary Ray Pierson 2011-01-10 06:11

My fellow Brother in arms, John Cory hits the nail on the head like many of us old dogs of war who know from experience, hate speech is what it is... Hate.. Hate started with Bush and has stayed with us with the help of certain media groups and just plain idiotic people... There would've never been cross hairs on any thing during the Bush days.. No one would be able to get close enough to even see the pitiful man let alone be allowed to show up with a weapon if they didn't agree with his insanity.. They screened every one and had a circle of security for miles... As stated in the National Geographic... Cross hairs are Cross Hairs and nothing else.. Ask a sniper... Once again, people are killing the wrong people.. How did we get here?? Only took ten years or so.. But when nutty people spew hate.. Nutty people go right along with it and that makes the hate spewers accomplices .. To murder. God Bless the 9 year old and the rest... Blood is on the hands of the Right, whose wrong.. Stop the wars and just buy people instead, save money..formally, Cpl. Pierson, 101st Vietnam...

+30 # LeeMG 2011-01-10 07:04

Those who blame the economy forget we have had depressions before, and crime against banks, railroads, and violence between mobs. But this time, mass media, especially FOX, is turning bad times into times of terror on the general populace. Those who use violent rhetoric are as guilty as the gun wielder.

+20 # phrixus 2011-01-10 07:20

It appears Sharon Angle realized her desire for a "second amendment remedy." All that's left now is to see how the rest of the GOP haters will spin this tragedy to their advantage.

+34 # jerry6665 2011-01-10 07:32

does anyone else find it fascinating how quickly fox, palin, et al, began beating the drums of 'the shooter was crazy and besides, he was an extreme left liberal', skewing the events to fit the rhetoric they've been feeding their riled up audience for all these years?

for ten years we've been bombarded by hatred and the republican demands to their members to 'toe the line' or lose the backing of the party.

we are the UNITED states and that kind of constant hatred spewing over people who are feeling disenfranchised (and rightly so) and are either desperate or depressed - or both- has provided an atmosphere where torture is o.k. and taking out your anger with a gun will somehow make you a hero.

we don't need bin laden to destroy our wonderful country - all we need is fox news and the greedy corporations.

so, glen beck... who will you cry for now?

+6 # jerry6665 2011-01-10 07:33

b/t/w, cpl. pierson... spec 4 1st air cav here. ft. benning trained.

+18 # fredboy 2011-01-10 07:41

First, hate speech is always a problem. Because it intentionally divides and infects and injures. That is subhuman.

I believe there will come a day when the monsters capitalizing on hatred will have to face the dangers they have shared. Live by the sword, die by the sword. When the millions of hurt, struggling souls currently following Limbaugh, Palin, Beck, et. al realize they've been used and duped, hell will erupt.

Yes, pray for the victims, their families and other loved ones, and for this nation. It's time we grow up and end this un-holy, unthinkable viciousness.

+14 # jerry6665 2011-01-10 07:45

here are the fox news network sponsors.

http://foxnewsboycott.com/fox-news-sponsors/

0 # Gary Ray Pierson 2011-01-11 14:00

Thanks Jerry..... garyraypierson

+14 # Shelteringwing 2011-01-10 08:14

It is true that the hate purveyors are wrong, so wrong, yet we turn on the channels and go to their websites. We allowed this. We tolerated the hatred from our officials. We were fools to think that indulgence in this kind of extreme rhetoric has no consequences. We are lazy regarding participation in our difficult government. We are disillusioned, demoralized, de-energized. Well, I guess, tough for us. We are culpable if we tolerate this going forward. It is always the wrong person who pays for hatred and complacency.

+6 # leslie griffith 2011-01-10 08:25

John, as always, you have said it best.

Let us have peace.

Thank you for your true heart.

+3 # futhark 2011-01-10 08:54

Why is the concept of "security", national or personal, always tied to the capacity to inflict lethal damage on an adversary? This is so deeply ingrained in the United States culture and psyche that one has the most difficult time getting across to one's friends and coworkers that the constant reliance on violence and threats of violence leads to a net reduction in long-term security. I don't know if Rep. Giffords supported the concept of "violence yields security" by voting for military appropriations in support of the attacks in Afghanistan or not, but our whole government, by relying on increasingly vicious means of inflicting death and destruction sets a tone legitimizing this approach. President Barack "Drone Attack" O'Bomber was made a Nobel Peace Prize laureate in the hope that he would actually advance the cause of peace. Instead, he appears to revel in the ability of those under his command to exterminate people on the other side of the planet, including innocent civilians as "collateral damage".

+9 # dianna487 2011-01-10 09:07

Sense of Privilege + Hopelessness and Despair + Power Structure that Solicits Murder/War as a Means of Control + The Infiltration of War Vernacular into Politics = the New American Suicide Bomber.

oh-- and stir in some corporate media--

+11 # chelsea 2011-01-10 09:14

So how is it that hate-mongers are exempt from 'political correctness'? The statements made by so many of them are downright violent, abusive and disgusting. If one of us had said something about,'lock and load' with regard to a neighbor/friend/relative, the law classifies this as assault, even if no physical touching is involved. You can pretty well bet on spending some time with John Law afterwards. EVERYONE must be held accountable and to the same standards, no exceptions.

+12 # Sallyport 2011-01-10 09:16

I am surprised that no one has said anything here about gun laws. People are willing to agree that Loughner was unbalanced, but fail to notice that he was heavily armed in a public place. Someone will no doubt say that to protect others from such an occurrence, citizens must be allowed to carry guns. Then we have a civil arms race and the mayhem that inevitably follows such madness.

+9 # Harold R. Mencher 2011-01-10 09:57

Why is RSN trying to be fair and balanced here? Why are they trying to imply that all sides, that is the Dems, the Tea Partiers, and Repubs are equally at fault here? I'm neither a Dem, a Tea Partier, or a Repub. I'm an independent, but I would challenge RSN to list those people on the so-called left (and I do hate labels) who have instigated hate speech.

What RSN is doing would be analogous to composing an article about Hitler, and, to be politically correct, would need to compose an article that would have to say as many good things about him as bad. That makes no sense, and would never instigate change in the right direction.

Why doesn't RSN state truth to power, that it's the Republicans and the Tea Partiers that are primarily at fault here for spewing all of this hate and paranoia, because that's the only way they can win elections and a way for them to get others to do the job of eliminating people who would block their ultimate agenda of creating a fascist state in this country?

Until the real perpetrators are specifically pointed out and prosecuted, then nothing will change, and the political hate speeches will continue.

+5 # Zaccai 2011-01-10 10:23

America's True Religion is Violence Now its gone viral -- here's some poetry to invoke thought http://tinyurl.com/4dw8dz8

+5 # Blackhole2001 2011-01-10 11:49

Things haven't changed much:

"We have the best government that money can buy."
"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it."
"Patriot: the person who can holler the loudest without knowing what he is hollering about."
"The radical one of one century is the conservative of the next. The radical invents the views. When he has worn them out, the conservative adopts them."
~ Mark Twain (American Humorist, Writer, and Lecturer 1835-1910)

-15 # skylinefirepest 2011-01-10 13:22

You want hatred?? Read your own blog! This man has been described as a far LEFT anarchist...funny, but that doesn't strike me as being a conservative trait! This guy was looney tunes and, true to the left, you guys want to blame conservatives. You people make me sick! What about the last eight years of the LEFT and the media calling Bush stupid?? Where was the outrage when you called him equal to Hitler?? I used to be moderate but I will probably never again vote for a Democrat. This lying incompetent president has put this great country in dire risk of being bankrupt and all you idiots can do is holler about his not spending enough!! There will always be nutcases out there but I seriously doubt that they are influenced by political speech. At any rate it took only minutes after this tragedy for the leftmedia to strike up the anti-conservative bull hockey!! All you guys need is for something bad to happen anywhere on the face of the planet and automatically it's the fault of the right. Guess that's why you got your butts kicked a couple of months ago and why they'll get kicked even harder in two years!! We'll get the country back to it's proper place in the world.

+8 # DaveW. 2011-01-10 14:41

skylinefirepest ,"There will always be nutcases out there but I seriously doubt that they are influenced by political speech." Ever heard of say... the Nazis? "We'll get the country back to it's proper place in the world." Where is that proper place? Creating more 9/11 type attacks to further our imperialistic designs of conquest in the Middle East? The curtailment or rollback of civil rights for minorities and women? Further disastrous de-regulation of the environment and financial industry? The elimination of workers right to strike and demand better working conditions and fair wages? A continuation of the "prison industry" which makes economical hay out of the inequities in our educational system? The elimination of Social Security and Medicare or the "privatizing" of these vital social safety nets leaving them exposed and vulnerable for further corporate minded malfeasance? A return to the "social Darwinist" theories and practices of the Gilded Age where mass accumulated wealth resided,much as now,in the hands of 1 or 2% and much of the rest of the populace "existed" on a hand to mouth basis? Read "A People's History of the United States." By Howard Zinn. Learn!

+1 # Lestrad 2011-01-13 07:52

Bravo.

+5 # Daniel Fletcher 2011-01-10 21:18

Thanks for making our point skylinefirepest . I'm sure that you'll do your part to get our butts "kicked even harder in two years!"

Sounds kind of stupid to me.

0 # bjw 2011-01-13 18:09

Exhibit A.

+6 # Nancy Wang 2011-01-10 13:33

This nation was founded on violence and it continues to hail violence as a remedy. Not all of us, thank God. But enough that these senseless acts happen, and way too often. Grabbing a gun to solve a problem is just too easy.

Violent thinking, violent speaking, violent doing has been part of this culture more than compassion. Though we have also created social justice and social welfare orgs that impact good across around the world, it doesn't get airplay, does it?

Just look how our youth are raised: violent video games, too many TV crime series, the news is all about who got murdered. Even our US history is taught through what leads up to war, war and post war until the next war.

Seeing someone carrying a gun on tv and shooting, seeing bloodied bodies on tv, car commercials that roll a car over with a huge snowball... all violent actions. Take a pencil and paper and note the number of violent acts moment to moment on TV. Think what this is doing to us! We are being overdosed on lethal methods of remedy.

Enough! Let's not be a failed experiment.

+6 # Midwestgeezer 2011-01-10 13:48

What do we expect? We live in a country where many people believe the framers of our Constitution, meant "...a well regulated militia..." is to have millions of weapons of a power and sophistication which they could not have imagined, in the hands of anyone with the werewithal to buy one. At the time they wrote this document, the "weapon of choice" was a muzzle-loading long gun with a fire rate af maybe 2 rounds per minute!
To speak of our current state of affairs as "...a well regulated militia..." is, it seems to me, to have a seriously flawed understanding of the english language.

+4 # phrixus 2011-01-10 14:04

On a side note, I logged on to Fox News (for the first time ever, I might add) to see what propaganda techniques they would use to duck responsibility for all the vitriol they vomit all over the airways everyday. I was struck by the fact that they have a separate "politics" tab on their site. Isn't that rather redundant?

+3 # skylinefirepest 2011-01-10 14:15

Midwestgeezer: The framers obviously had no idea that the media, from tv to i-pads, could influence the thoughts of the populace. Possibly even more dangerous than firearms, you reckon??

+1 # Midwestgeezer 2011-01-10 15:17

Good point. However, that media influence, PLUS the easy availability of high power semi-automatic weapons makes a dangerous mix. I've been a hunter since I was 12 or 13. I own many guns, mostly hunting weapons kept in a locked safe, though at 75, I only hunt deer here in Wisconsin anymore. I support the 2nd amendment. However, I believe that at a minimum, "...a well-regulated militia..." would require the public, perhaps through the National Guard, to know WHO are the members of their militia. What do you think?

+1 # Daniel Fletcher 2011-01-10 21:20

Quoting

Midwestgeezer: The framers obviously had no idea that the media, from tv to i-pads, could influence the thoughts of the populace. Possibly even more dangerous than firearms, you reckon??

Nope. Never saw anyone get shot by a TV, iPod or anything like that. Sorry, but no.

-4 # skylinefirepest 2011-01-11 11:26

Dave W.- If you hate this country that bad then just leave...before you go ballistic and start shooting up society. This is the best country on the face of the planet and we are constantly striving to make it even better. That said, yes, the power of the media is more powerful than the power of a firearm. More harm has been done by the likes of the silver tongued liar than by the armies of the world!! Incidentally,ma ny more lives are saved each year with firearms than taken. I've never figured why the left equates a law abiding person with a criminal for owning a firearm. But I stand by my original comment...the idiots in this country are trying to profit from this tragedy and that it SICK!!

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