Paul Krugman Blames Giffords Shooting on Palin, Limbaugh and Beck

January 8th, 2011 10:06 PM

While Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) fights for her life in a Tucson, Arizona, hospital, liberal media members continue to point fingers of blame for Saturday's tragic shooting spree at prominent conservatives such as Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, and Glenn Beck.

Jumping on this pathetic bandwagon Saturday was New York Times columnist Paul Krugman:

We don’t have proof yet that this was political, but the odds are that it was. She’s been the target of violence before. And for those wondering why a Blue Dog Democrat, the kind Republicans might be able to work with, might be a target, the answer is that she’s a Democrat who survived what was otherwise a GOP sweep in Arizona, precisely because the Republicans nominated a Tea Party activist. (Her father says that “the whole Tea Party” was her enemy.) And yes, she was on Sarah Palin’s infamous “crosshairs” list. [...]

You know that Republicans will yell about the evils of partisanship whenever anyone tries to make a connection between the rhetoric of Beck, Limbaugh, etc. and the violence I fear we’re going to see in the months and years ahead. But violent acts are what happen when you create a climate of hate. And it’s long past time for the GOP’s leaders to take a stand against the hate-mongers.

The Left are making a big issue out of the fact that Palin targeted Giffords as a vulnerable Democrat last year, but Markos Moulitsas did the same thing in June 2008:

As we've seen these past couple of weeks, we've got a problem in our caucus -- while we have been busy stocking up on more Democrats, fact is the good ones are being swamped by the bad ones. [...]

If your local congresscritter is one of the bad apples, start organizing locally. Plug into existing networks or start your own. Begin looking for primary challengers. Do the groundwork. Don't expect help from the local party establishment, they'll close ranks. So tap into alternate infrastructures. Find allies in the progressive movement. If your local shitty Democrat is anti-union, approach the unions. They'd love to send this kind of message. If the Democrat is anti-choice, work with the women's groups. If the Democrat is anti-environment ... you get the idea. If you have access to professional networks and money, start organizing those.

Of course, this takes more than just bitching about your frustrations on a blog, damning a whole party for the actions of a minority more scared of Mr. 28% than of protecting the Constitution they swore to protect. This takes hard work. But now is the time to start.

And while people like me will focus on the task at hand this year, it won't be long after Election Day that we'll start looking at the 2010 map, looking for those great primary challengers.

Who to primary? Well, I'd argue that we can narrow the target list by looking at those Democrats who sold out the Constitution last week. I've bolded members of the Blue Dogs for added emphasis.

Giffords was one of the House representatives Markos bolded (h/t HillBuzz):

"Not all of these people will get or even deserve primaries, but this vote certainly puts a bulls eye on their district."

The reality is that Moulitsas did absolutely nothing wrong in June 2008. Political strategists target opponets. Period.

But it appears Moulitsas forgot this when he pointed his own accusatory finger at Palin with a tweet Saturday:

As I tweeted to Moultisas Saturday, his mission in 2008 as it pertained to Giffords was the same as Palin's in 2010, just from a different direction. Shouldn't Krugman and others in the media be blaming him for his use of the words "target" and "bulls eye?"

As for Krugman, it is pathetic of him to make the conclusions and insinuations he did given what we now know about Giffords' alleged assailant. All indications are that Jared Lee Loughner is a liberal.

But even if he wasn't, to point such a finger at prominent conservatives and charge GOP leaders to do something about it is preposterous to say the least.

There is absolutely nothing that we currently know about the awful shootings Saturday or the alleged assailant that ties into anything Palin, Limbaugh, Beck, or anyone else said.

On the contrary, this is a disgusting game liberal media members play every time a violent event occurs that could possibly have a political motive. They're all quick to accuse the Limbaughs, the Becks, and Fox News regardless of any factual basis.

As such, it is the Krugmans, Moulitsases, and Jane Fondas of the world that are stoking hatred on a day when Americans should be mourning their lost.

Shame on all of them.

(H/T Right Scoop)