A polite society

[sabotabby]

So is this shitbag murderer a Teabagger? I wouldn't be surprised. American political discourse involves one side compromising and the other calling for outright assassination and the violent overthrow of the government.

ETA: You've probably seen these already, but:

Palin totally threatened her life before:


As did Giffords' opponent:



Roll had also been targeted before for daring to do his job.

Comments

[marnanel.livejournal.com]

To be fair, I don't see any confirmed causal relationship, and nobody's going to know until we get some sort of statement from the shooter or the cops. The thing that does clearly link the two, though, is that the whole political game is way, way too violent both in theory and in practice.

[sabotabby]

I tried to watch one of the YouTube videos, but he's completely incoherent. Still, she seems to have been repeatedly targeted by teabaggers.

It's funny—and I don't mean ha-ha-funny—that when people used to make off-colour jokes about Bush on LJ, they'd get visits from the secret service. Now it's apparently cool to carry concealed weapons at political rallies and wear t-shirts about how it'd be rad to assassinate the president.

[sabotabby]

Or when Beck had his "factional" characters drop the IRL address of the U.S. Senate majority leader that they'd targeted for a "factional" assassination in his "factional" book.

[thebigbadbutch.livejournal.com]

Yeah the weapons don't have to be concealed.

[marnanel.livejournal.com]

The actions of Palin and others clearly encourage violence. This is clearly reprehensible, and they shouldn't get away with doing it. It is clearly a possibility that one of their followers has taken their message literally.

However, we don't yet know that this gunman had ever read or even been influenced by the inflammatory chatter of the right wing. We don't know whether he has any sympathies towards Palin and friends. We don't yet know whether he was just some random crazy who wanted to shoot the nearest two semi-famous people in his town.

I didn't say that everyone in the political game was violent at present. I said it was at present a violent game to play. Perhaps the blame is indeed all on one side, but to point this out is an addendum, not a correction.

[erikthedane.livejournal.com]

Whenever I point out hateful rhetoric like this, I usually get met with "Freedom of speech means ALL speech!"
Okay...but something these same "conservatives" don't like admitting is this is speech designed to illicit a certain emotional response. Terms like "Death Panels", "Socialism", and "Islamo-Fascism" are thrown about repeatedly to raise the ire of joe-average American. This is not harmless gaffs, it is designed to generate fear. The unfortunate result, is that there is always someone out there who is already perched on the edge, and all it takes is angry screed like this to push them off.
Americans also trivialize violence. We are constantly bombarded with imagery of Hollywood-style shootouts and militarism. Mix this with the rhetoric of blind patriotism, a poor economy, the message that the brown people coming across the border are going to take everything you have, and what does one expect? I'm just surprised an elected official hasn't been shot before now.
I don't hate my country, but we are fucked up.

[sabotabby]

There's a reason why designations like hate speech and death threats exist, and this is a good example of why. Telling people to assassinate abortion providers ought not to be protected speech.

[erikthedane.livejournal.com]

I agree. There has to be a line, but Americans aren't into lines so much.

I am so swiping your icon. It's awesome.

[marnanel.livejournal.com]

Except the kind they build fences on!

[springheel-jack.livejournal.com]

It's not, but you have to be pretty explicit before the "incitement" or "conspiracy" charges kick in.

[sabotabby]

I didn't say they were effective designations.

I mean, much as I'd like to see people like Palin and Beck held accountable in some way for their speech, it'd be a bit of a stretch to charge them with anything. Realistically, their "right" to free speech (including Beck basically giving assassination instructions in his book, including the real address of his target) is not in any jeopardy.

Cue trombone sting.

[fengi.livejournal.com]

U.S. REP. GABRIELLE GIFFORDS' STATEMENT ON THE U.S. SUPREME COURT D.C. GUN BAN DECISION

June 26, 2008

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today the U.S. Supreme Court released a decision to strike down the District of Columbia's ban on handgun ownership as unconstitutional. U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords released the following statement in support of the court's ruling:

"As a gun owner, I am a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. In February, I was proud to sign the Amicus Brief in District of Columbia v. Heller asking the Supreme Court to uphold the lower court ruling that overturned the long standing DC gun ban.

This is a common sense decision that reaffirms the Constitutional right - and Arizona tradition - of owning firearms. I commend the Court for ruling in favor of restoring our right to bear arms."

Re: Cue trombone sting.

[marnanel.livejournal.com]

I have seen right-wingers today going around claiming that the shooter was a left-winger because Giffords was anti-gun-control and anti-abortion.

Re: Cue trombone sting.

[sabotabby]

They're the same right-wingers who argue Nazis were communists, though.

The teabaggers are actually a confusing bunch, politically. They're certainly pro-gun, anti-abortion, and anti-health care, but there's a strange paranoid streak that doesn't entirely line up with the American right-wing establishment. Other First World countries don't really have the equivalent of militia types, I think.

Also the gold-standard obsession and the 9/11 conspiracy theories are significant within their culture, and I don't think those can be solidly identified as either a right or a left thing.

Re: Cue trombone sting.

[marnanel.livejournal.com]

Oh, very true. They don't really seem to have a coherent worldview other than "us" and "not-us", and "not-us" gets lashed out at.

It is rather interesting what issues get aligned with the left/right axis. It's not even particularly often the same issues in different countries.

[sabotabby]

His rambling closely resemble those of paranoid schizophrenics.

So does Glenn Beck's. It seems to be a strong current in American political rhetoric. Check this out.

At the risk of making diagnoses over the internet when I'm not a medical professional, that'd be my guess too. But I really like the point a commenter made over on Shakesville:

I know plenty of "loners," "pot-smokers," and "mentally unstable" people, some of which who quite vehemently believe in rather wacky theories (including aliens, the Illuminati, and intelligent design), and none of them would gun down a public official.

And why is it that when someone who is of color or Muslim commits an act of terrorism, their mental stability is never questioned? It seems like a lot of people just assume that Muslims and people of color are capable of acts of unspeakable violence while being sane (or their sanity or insanity is not fundamental to the act they committed), but white people are just so special and better than everyone else that only 'bad apples' who are insane -- the poor dears -- could do such a thing.

[sphinctourist.livejournal.com]

http://i.imgur.com/JT4Mz.jpg

[sabotabby]

You gotta love that people who were calling for Ward Churchill's head after the "Chickens Coming Home to Roost" essay are now passionate defenders of free speech.