New York Times Blames 'Vitriol in Politics,' Palin's Campaign Map for Schizophrenic's Rampage
Sunday’s New York Times led with the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, a three-term Democrat representing Tucson, in an assassination attempt in which six others were killed, including a federal judge and a nine-year-old girl.
The suspect in custody is 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner. The suspect’s Myspace and Youtube pages are filled with crazed syllogisms, dominated by thoughts of mind control. Loughner also recommending a video of an American flag being burned, and is evidently an atheist.
Not exactly the profile of a Sarah Palin fan, right? But that didn’t stop the Times from imposing a “violent rhetoric” template on its front-page Sunday story by Congressional reporter Carl Hulse and Tea Party beat reporter Kate Zernike, “Bloodshed Puts New Focus on Vitriol in Politics.” The unasked for and unprofessional speculation of Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik (who used the term "vitriol" while going after conservative talk radio and TV) also featured high in the Times's recounting, while Times reporters linked to Palin's now-infamous campaign "target map" from March 2010.
The shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords and others at a neighborhood meeting in Arizona on Saturday set off what is likely to be a wrenching debate over anger and violence in American politics.
While the exact motivations of the suspect in the shootings remained unclear, an Internet site tied to the man, Jared Lee Loughner, contained antigovernment ramblings. And regardless of what led to the episode, it quickly focused attention on the degree to which inflammatory language, threats and implicit instigations to violence have become a steady undercurrent in the nation’s political culture.
Clarence W. Dupnik, the Pima County sheriff, seemed to capture the mood of the day at an evening news conference when he said it was time for the country to “do a little soul-searching.”
“It’s not unusual for all public officials to get threats constantly, myself included,” Sheriff Dupnik said. “That’s the sad thing about what’s going on in America: pretty soon we’re not going to be able to find reasonable, decent people willing to subject themselves to serve in public office.”
....
During last spring’s health care votes, the language used against some lawmakers was ratcheted up again, with protesters outside the House hurling insults and slurs. The offices of some Democrats, including Ms. Giffords’s in Tucson, were vandalized.
Ms. Giffords was also among a group of Democratic House candidates featured on the Web site of Sarah Palin’s political action committee with cross hairs over their districts, a fact that disturbed Ms. Giffords at the time.
“We’re on Sarah Palin’s targeted list,” Ms. Giffords said last March. “But the thing is the way that she has it depicted has the cross hairs of a gun sight over our district. When people do that, they’ve got to realize there’s consequences to that.”
The image is no longer on the Web site, and Ms. Palin posted a statement saying “my sincere condolences are offered to the family of Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the other victims of today’s tragic shooting in Arizona. On behalf of Todd and my family, we all pray for the victims and their families, and for peace and justice.” (Late Saturday, the map was still on Ms. Palin’s Facebook page.)
Loughner had no known political affiliations -- there’s no evidence he even knew of Palin's campaign map -- and the available evidence suggests all the sad and disturbing signs of paranoid schizophrenia. It’s unclear how the Times thinks garden-variety political rhetoric like talk of “targeting” members of Congress (done by both sides, as the above graphic issued by the Democratic Leadership Council in 2004 shows) inspires garden-variety crazy people like Loughner.
Times media reporter Brian Stelter and Times investigative reporter Dan Van Natta Jr. egged the media to go after Palin's campaign map on their Twitter accounts.
Van Natta linked to an old Huffington Post article on the Palin “gun sights” on Gifford's district and fell for a mock tweet from a Sarah Palin parody account that made Palin look heartless about the shooting, forwarding it to his followers (he apologized for the retweet when the hoax was called to his attention).
And media reporter Brian Stelter threw out this bit of red meat: “For the record, there has been no mention of Sarah Palin's target map on any cable news channel.” He didn’t have to wait long.
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Comments
"Vitriol"
Submitted by JC on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 9:15am.
Well all I know is, I change my "Vitriol" every 5,000 miles, just as that book in my glove box indicates.
How about the fact that this
Submitted by Barack_must_go..... on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 9:27am.
How about the fact that this Jon Stewart worshiper had it in for this Congresswoman and apparently the world at large as far back as 2007?
Not to mention the liberal cowards, his parents, school administrators, teachers, law enforcement ( especially that bigmouth,douchebag sherrif, fellow students, neighbors, etc. that merely looked the other way rather than do something, anything, other than cower under their beds and whine like spineless progressives.
Yo can bet your ass Sarah Palin as well as the rest of us real Americans, if this piece of human feces lived in our town, would not have looked the other way, due to our inbred ( liberal ) it's not my problem, the government will take care of it bullshit attitude that pervades every aspect of life in America today.
Each and every liberal coward, from Barack Obama, that smart ass sherrif, to the ' I don't care about anyone but me ' liberal residents of this town have the blood of the Federal judge, a nine year old girl, as well as the others murdered or maimed on their hands.........but unfortunately in the case of the incouragable left wing, liberal bomb throwers in America........never, ever on their conscience.
Barack_Must_Go.....
Let's face it, this guy's
Submitted by Free Thinker on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 9:29am.
Let's face it, this guy's profile matches that of Olbermann's viewing audience, he is no conservative, no tea partier, he is a pot smoking lefty. The media's reaction to this has been simply disgusting. I expect to see apologies from Paul Krugman and the rest today. The very vitriol they are talking about is seen in the media's own hate filled lies.
They are not interested in
Submitted by Apache on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 9:39am.
They are not interested in healing anything or decreasing vitriol. They are picking scabs the were starting to heal after the last election from wounds they inflicted. It's like the bully who grabs your arm and starts hitting you with it while saying "stop hitting yourself, stop hitting yourself...".
Congressman Brady agrees
Submitted by ThisnThat on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 9:42am.
And now we have dim congressman Brady (D-PA) proposing that Americans be arrested, tried, and thrown in jail if they dare use crosshairs or bullseyes in any way, shape, or form when calling for defeat of elected officials during elections. His quote: "Rep Giffords is in a coma today because Sarah Palin targeted her".
Uh-oh. I'm in big trouble. Last year I sent email to my dim congresswoman in NH saying "I hope you have no job on Nov 3". Am I going to be arrested for exercising my right to free speech?
dim congressman Brady is using this -- just like all liberals -- as a way of pushing his agenda of "we're elected -- so we're in control of everything you do, see, say, or think".
I also saw Morning Joe guests push the gun control laws today. In particular, gun-carry laws. No one should be allowed to legally carry a gun, they're saying. Just more pathetic attempts to kill the Constitution (there -- I said a bad word. KILL. Bye, folks -- I have to ask for asylum in Canada, now).
__________
“Didn't win the Medal of Honor? Didn't even serve? Then lie about it. We'll support you." — 9th Circuit Court
Watch Neal Boortz dismantle John Lemon!
Submitted by motherbelt on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 9:56am.
Lemon starts out on the attack. Boortz tweeted that the Sheriff was a "leftist partisan hack in his public comments" and Lemon asked Boortz...why so critical????? [Jeez] Aren't you doing the same thing????
Lemon also says that Cleaver (in the video) said "people who want to tear down their government" which may be "a backhanded slap at the Tea Party."
but the best part is right around 5:00 when Boortz hits Lemon with a bunch of quotes (they have been cited here) and asks Lemon if he knows who said them, Lemon doesn't. Boortz then informs him that it was none other than Barack Obama.
Lemon's retort? What's your point? And then he excuses it with "context" as if context only applies when liberals are creating a "toxic" atmosphere.
After Neal's response, Lemon wraps it up pretty quickly with the "let's all tone down the rhetoric."
Watch it here, with popcorn.
I can just picture Lemon when the camera was off him, fuming that no one told him those Obama quotes were out there!!
Don't allow the libs to get
Submitted by Beukeboom on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 10:42am.
Don't allow the libs to get away with the unhinged spin. Here are a plethora of materials of which they (liberal MSM and politicians) are either forgetting or intentionally ignoring:
http://michellemalkin.com/2011/01/10/the-progressive-climate-of-hate-an-illustrated-primer-2000-2010/
In case you missed it:
Submitted by Ten7s on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 11:00am.
Facts about Arizona Safeway shooter:
Religion = Occult
Hobbies = Pot smoking/ garage band
Politics = Leftwing/ Liberal
Personality = severely mentally disturbed
Case closed! Now the other Liberal Whackos in the media and on the net can put their pathological mendacity to use elsewhere.
Change in the Conservative Personality Equals Change in the Offe
Submitted by Mycos on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 7:47pm.
Well. If that get's your goat, then this paper from Okla. penal system ought to throw you right off the deep end:
Change in the Conservative Personality Equals Change in the Offender with a Resultant Reduction in Recidivism by Michael D. Parsons and Jennifer G. ParsonsAbstract
Offenders have many of the characteristics of the conservative personality as defined by Adorno, Collins, Wilson, and Boshier. The characteristics of the conservative personality limit change necessary for rehabilitation. Until that personality is modified, it is very difficult to reduce recidivism. Modification of the conservative personality through education and environment can lead to change in the offender’s behavior.
Is it possible to reduce violence by the criminal offender during incarceration? This paper presents the basis for a model which deals with certain offenders through an educational effort to modify some of their negative characteristics which include violence. The model in this paper is based on the concept of a conservative/authoritarian personality as it is found in offenders. The concept of the authoritarian personality remains important today as evidenced by coverage in current introductory psychology textbooks (Crooks & Stein, 1991; Dworetzky, 1991; Gleitman, 1991). "It appears that conservatism has pathological dimensions manifested in violence and distorted psycho-sexual development" (Boshier, 1983, p. 159). This is supported by a study conducted by Walker, Rowe, and Quincey (1993) in which there was a direct correlation between authoritarianism and sexually aggressive behavior. An investigation done by Muehlenhard (1988) revealed that rape justification and aggression toward subordinate individuals was much higher in traditional (conservative personality) than non-traditional personalities. It is postulated in this paper that the offender has a conservative personality and, therefore, manifests that violence. cont...
http://www.doc.state.ok.us/offenders/ocjrc/95/950725C.htm
As ye sow...
Submitted by CobraMan on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 12:53pm.
Journalists, if words DO have consequences, if it's the "violent" rhetoric of "political' messages that is to blame for this shooting, as so many "experts" love to claim, then you are just as responsible, just as guilty, for repeating that "vitriolic rhetoric" in the media as the person who originally made it.
IF you truly believe that something someone says or writes has the real possibility of inciting violence, as you seem to be claiming, then WHY do you repeat that "vitriol" again and again? Doesn't that make you as guilty as the person you're "quoting" when that "vitriol" leads to violence?
Face the truth, journalists: you can't exempt yourself from claims of "harmful rhetoric" when you are so eager to repeat it again and again and again. Has it occurred to ANY of you that maybe it was YOUR constant repetitions of that rhetoric, repetitions that you are STILL committing, that is compounding the problem as you define it? Has it occurred to ANY OF YOU that it was YOUR repetitions of that harmful, violence inducing rhetoric that may have lead directly to this shooting? No, of course not. How can you blame yourselves, correct? After all you're just repeating what someone else said, right?
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
Also, Cobraman, count the
Submitted by ThisnThat on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 1:30pm.
Also, Cobraman, count the number of times the MSM has described conservatives as "extreme", "far-right", "racist". How many times has a simple comment by a conservative been labled "hate speech"? Liberals take every opportunity to show their anger and hatred of everything conservative, yet they point to conservatives whenever they want to make a point or to feel superior and elite. Their hypocricy is showing again.
__________
“Didn't win the Medal of Honor? Didn't even serve? Then lie about it. We'll support you." — 9th Circuit Court
The New York Times
Submitted by NotFondOfLibs on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 2:14pm.
I'd like the New York Times to explain how Sarah Palin had any connection to this shooting when Jared Loughner was stalking Gabrielle Giffords back in 2007, a time when the only people who were aware of Sarah Palin were the people of Alaska. The New York Times just plain doesn't know what they are talking about and should be rejected as a reliable news information source by all Americans. This organization must be rejected if we are to have a credible media.
"It’s unclear how the
Submitted by Mycos on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 7:17pm.
"It’s unclear how the Times thinks garden-variety political rhetoric like talk of “targeting” members of Congress (done by both sides, as the above graphic issued by the Democratic Leadership Council in 2004 shows) inspires garden-variety crazy people like Loughner"Easy on the "Save" button
Submitted by bkeyser on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 7:20pm.
Easy on the "Save" button Mycos, NB's probably got a lot of traffic today! ;-)
Return key
Submitted by Mycos on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 7:37pm.
Thanks. Yeah. it seems to be saving it when I hit my return key. Oh well. Now I know :-)
Just joshin' ya!
Submitted by bkeyser on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 7:40pm.
Just joshin' ya!
w
Submitted by Mycos on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 7:35pm.
w
Unclear?
Submitted by Mycos on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 7:39pm.
"It’s unclear how the Times thinks garden-variety political rhetoric like talk of “targeting” members of Congress (done by both sides, as the above graphic issued by the Democratic Leadership Council in 2004 shows) inspires garden-variety crazy people like Loughner" The connection is the very same one the right repeatedly makes when trying to ban Hustler or violent lyrics in Rap or Rock 'n Roll . Of course there's no direct connection, but people with access to the public airwaves MUST act responsibly. There are thousands of unbalanced people out there who hear famous voices given access to the media airwaves, and so assume the person has something important to say or they wouldn't be given such access. So they attribute far more weight and authority to their words than is deserved by the content of what is being said. Right or wrong, that's reality. And right or wrong, violent rhetoric finds its way onto conservative talk shows and political campaigns....as it does the left as well. So the fact of the matter is...BOTH sides need to begin acting responsibly. And trying to escape any blame whatsoever...as Bozell seems intent on doing...is just as irresponsible as the left trying to ;pin all the blame on the right. Grow up! Take responsibility. and begin talking like adults. not children caught with their hands in the cookie jar. "Well....Lefty took one first! What was I supposed to do?.Go without?" Yeah. Go without. Don't do it! Or maybe this one will make more sense to the age bracket I'm dealing with: "Two wrongs don't make a right".