Cops, Shootings, and The Usual Knee Jerk Reactions

One of my big pet peeves is willful blindness.  I can't stand it.  I mean I really can't stand it.  I especially hate it when it comes to politics.  I will vote for a democrat if I believe they are best person for the job.  Now, that doesn't happen often, but in theory it can happen. In fact, I have voted for democrats in my life.  One was a protest vote for governor many years ago.  The republican candidate made this comment about the death penalty that I just couldn't stomach and I refused to vote for him, since I don't like not voting, I cast my ballot for his opponent.   

I don't like it any better when it comes to issues that while in practicality aren't political, but where one stands on that issue usually will fall within political lines.  Cops being a good example.  Generally speaking, the far left will almost always cry racism when a white cop has some sort of altercation with a person of color.  The right will, in many instances, say the thug got what he deserved.  Normally speaking it is far more nuanced than that.  

A shooting between a white officer and black man happened last weekend, the dead man was unarmed and running away at the time of the shooting.  The police officer told his story.  Once that story was told a person who happened to be walking to work that morning saw the incident and used his phone to record it.  Once this man heard the police officer's story he knew that his video told a very different story, so he turned it over to the family of Walker Scott, the man who was shot and killed.  

The video shows Scott running away from Officer Michael Slager.  The officer raises his firearm and shoots eight shots.  Mr Scott was struck multiple times in the back side of his body.  On the video the officer can be heard saying into his radio

"Shots fired and the subject is down. He took my Taser."

The problem is that video doesn't back that up.  The police officer clearly went back to where he was standing, picked up an object, walked back to the body and dropped something on the ground near a dying man. All the while giving no medical attention to man whatsoever.  

A man has lost his life.  He was shot in the back multiple times by a officer who took an oath to serve and to protect.  That is his job.  That is what he is paid to do.  The fact that people are saying this man somehow got what he deserved is simply stunning to me.  

What is the NEED to run? The action of running caused him to be shot. If he didn't run the officer would not have shot him. He didn't like it that he was going to be arrested due to a warrant....so he ran

The punishment for that should be death?  No judge, no trial, no jury, just a verdict by a police officer, who in seconds, lies about what happened.  That is something we want happening in this country?  

I support law enforcement.  The reason I support law enforcement is that I believe in the rule of law.  With that belief comes the understanding that sometimes the people we need to protected from are bad cops.  They are out there.  That cannot be denied.  

As conservatives we should want all bad cops to be weeded out and fired.   Yes police officers do a dangerous job.  Yes they have the right to go home at the end of every day.  But so do we.  We shouldn't be shot in the streets by over zealous cops.  

I fully understand that more information may come out.  We have yet to hear the defense of the officer.  But conservatives can't stand it when liberals and the media make assumptions that a police officer is racist simply based on the fact the person they are dealing with has a different hue on the color bar.  Why then are so many jumping to the conclusion that officer was somehow justified in this shooting when the evidence, at this point, doesn't back that up?  

Mr. Scott was an unarmed man, running away from the officer.  He posed no threat.  Yes running away from the cop wasn't smart.  But again, the punishment for that isn't death.  That is something for a court to decide what the punishment should be, likely jail time.  Yes Mr. Scott apparently owed back child support.  Again, not punishable by being shot in the back and left face down in the dirt to die like a rabid animal.  

If you want to justify this you aren't looking at facts.  You are making a knee jerk reaction to protect someone based on the badge he wears.  Just ask Serpico how many that wear a badge that aren't doing it out some calling to protect you from evil criminals.  Bad cops exist.  Protecting them makes you look as willfully blind as the people who keep up the false narrative of "hands up, don't shoot" in the case of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.  

One of the principles of conservatism that I find most appealing is the equal protection under the law.  No one should above said law.  I don't care what uniform he puts on.  A cop doesn't get a pass simply because he is a cop.  He has the same rights as everyone else does.  Mr. Scott had rights as well.  Or, at least he should have.  

A social media friend of mine made a comment:

 Conservatism is only as good as that which it seeks to conserve.

Another example of what set me off today:

Sad part part is....this guy was arrested 9 times for refusing to support his children....he was willing to die, than to support his kids....and YOU people support that.....that is pathetic...

Yeah, I don't that thinking is worth conserving.  A knee jerk reaction to protect someone who wears a badge is no better than blaming an officer for protecting themselves against a criminal who means them harm.  

Tragedy in Newtown

I want to start this out by saying I personally know children that were in that house of horrors today.  Luckily they are fine, physically.  Emotionally, well that is going to be something that time will only tell about.

I grew up in Fairfield County, Connecticut.  I lived in the other side of the county, about 35 minutes away.  So this hits home for a number of reasons.

In most instances, we find out days/hours later that the shooter is mentally ill.  I have written about this in the past.  I have a mental illness.  I suffer from Major Depressive Disorder.  I can clearly remember the symptoms showing up in about my freshman year of high school.  I was 13 at the time.  It has a major effect on the trajectory of your life and the lives of people around you.  There isn't an aspect of your life that isn't affected.  You may be able to hide it for a while, but sooner or later it comes through.  How much the people around understand depends on the education level of mental illness within that person.

Today, a 20-year-old man shot his mother in the face, killing her.  Drove to the school she allegedly worked at (this aspect of the story is still cloudy), walked into the office of the school shot and killed the principal and school psychologist, continued into a classroom of kindergarteners and massacred them.  20 dead children in all, and that number could very well change in the next few days.

All every one wants to know right now is why.  A question that we never fully have answers to since the shooter killed himself after he did his dirty deeds.  His mother, whom he was living with, is also dead.  His father and brother lived in a different state and apparently did not have a great deal of contact with him.  The brother, who was originally called the shooter in the early hours in the fog of reporting has told police that his brother had a personality disorder (gee, ya think) and was either suffering from autism or asbergers.  Neither of which are known for this type of depraved violence.   So we will be forced to make assumptions on what his motives were.

But what I can tell you is that this type of act isn't thought of in one day.  He had to have had this planned out in his head.  But before we even had a body count, the cries of "GUN CONTROL" were being heard loudly and clearly.  Well, as I said I grew up in CT.  I can tell you they have strict gun laws.  He was not able to buy these guns legally.  He was under age.  He also committed this horror in a gun free zone.  Obviously he didn't care about the laws.   Today, in a much less reported story, there was an incident of 20 children and a teacher being attacked by some knife wielding lunatic.  Luckily none of those children were killed as far as I know.  But it just goes to show you, if there is a will, there is a way.

Look, I dont' know what really happened today, and neither does anyone else.  We know that far too many died.  We know that the surviving children that were in that school today are going to be traumatized for quite some time, if not forever.  There will be children who will be afraid to go back to school.  First responders are having a hard time with the scene they witnessed today as well.  The town of Newtown have already started pulling resources together to get counseling for those who will need it.

What I do know is that we have many issues that could have contributed to why this happened today.

1. violence in our culture is glorified.  Look at almost any movie that is out today.  I loved The Dark Knight movie.  But it was horribly violent.  It is far from the only that is.  Jaime Foxx was just making jokes last week that he killed all the white guys in his latest film due out on Christmas Day of all days.  
2. We live in a 24/7 news cycle in this country.  Where these incidents are plastered all over the news for days on end.  We have You Tube where any idiot can post things to make themselves look "cool".  We have an obsession with becoming rich and famous; in this case becoming infamous.
3. Mental Health issues are so stigmatized in this country that many people are unwilling to admit that they, or a loved one, has a problem that needs to be addressed.  I happen to live in a state that has a law that insurance companies must cover certain illnesses at a medical problem instead of a mental health problem.  Which many of them are.  Many other states do not have these laws.  They should.  Mental health care should not be something to be ashamed of.
4. People in the U.S. are largely uneducated about mental illness.  We make these assumptions that if you are not in need of straight jacket sitting in a rubber room that you some how are not really mentally ill.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  I am a living example.  I have journals that I was writing in during one of my really downward spirals.  I was able to plan.  My plan was to kill myself and make it look like an accident.  I wanted to make my loved ones wonder.  It was some sick sense of revenge that I was going through at the time.
5. Yes, we have lost our moral compass in this country.  We have a culture that says if it feels good, do it.  We have become rude and that seems to increase almost daily.  We have lost respect for ourselves, for our communities, and for worst of all for each other.
6. Parenting, and I mean real parenting, is very lacking in this country.  Go to any mall in America and watch how children behave.  They run wild and parents do little to stop it.
7. We assign labels to virtually every childhood ill these days.  Autism, ADHD, and Aspbergers.  I don't deny this things exist, nor do I say that there are not children who honestly need to be medicated.  But many that are being medicated can very likely be more in need of a firm hand at home.  By that I don't mean spanking, I just mean a parent that is truly parenting.  Setting limits for your children is loving them and being the best parent you can be.  All children need boundaries.

I have said this before and sadly, I will have to say this again.  We fail people with mental illness in this country and we fail them in a big way.  Mental illness is not a something that you choose to have.  The same way you do not choose to have a heart problem.   It isn't something that you do to yourself.  It isn't an illness that is brought on by lifestyle choices.  It is a chemical imbalance in your brain.  That imbalance can make you hear voices.  It can make you so paranoid that you do quite literally put on a tin foil hat.  That saying came from something that is real.  Many believe that the televisions are sending signals to them.  It can make you barely be able to get out of bed, to cry incessantly.  You will over/under eat.  You will lose friends.  You will lose jobs.  You will have a difficult time holding relationships.  Another thing I have heard people say is that it is so selfish.  Why yes, yes it is.  That is another part of the illness.  You can't see beyond your own pain.  The rest of the world be damned.

Until we start having the difficult conversations in this country and talk about the underlying reasons that these shooting keep happening, all the gun control in the world won't change it.  I am all for common sense restrictions on guns.  We should have  a permitting system.  We should have background checks for mental illness and criminal activity.  But what we can't do is take guns away from law-abiding citizens that allow them to protect themselves.  Do I want to see every school in this country full of  armed people.  Heck no.  The idea of that repulses me.  But maybe we are getting to the point that at very least every school entrance must be locked on the outside and metal detectors are installed.  As sad as that makes me, it just may be necessary.  As I said, I grew up near Newtown, CT.  It is a sleepy little town that has virtually no crime.  It is a very family friendly environment.  It has one of the largest American flags in the town square that I have ever seen in my life.  The people in that town take pride in that flag.  On summer weekends people are watching their kids compete in sports and having neighborhood BBQ's.  It is the kind of town where most people know your business.  This is one of the places that hear about these things in a far away place.  The people who live there say to themselves how terrible, but go to bed feeling safe it will never happen to them.  But today it did.

So thanks heavens that Leslie, her children, and Graham all made it out ok today.  I am thankful for that.  But the time has well past that they have the difficult conversations and deal with the real problems instead of political talking points.

Tucson Shooting Victim Arrested for Threatening Tea Party Spokesman

J. Eric Fuller who was shot last Saturday along with Congresswoman Giffords, was arrested today after making threats to a Tucson Tea Party spokesperson.  Fuller who said:

“It looks like Palin, Beck, Sharron Angle and the rest got their first target,”  “Their wish for Second Amendment activism has been fulfilled."

to Democracy Now, a progressive news service and website. 

There was a townhall of sorts today by ABC.  There were people there from all stripes including a spokesman from the local Tea Party.  Fuller was unhappy with a comment made and proceded to take a picture of Trent Humphries and told him "You're Dead".  The police escorted him out of the room and did arrest him and charged him with threats and intimidation along with disorderly conduct. 

Mr. Fuller has every right to be upset as he was victimized, but he doesn't have the right to his own facts.  There is no evidence whatsoever that political thought was to blame for the shootings last week. 

Mr. Fuller seems to have an interesting past and is a believer in social justice.  See here

Looks like those violent tea partiers are at it again.

Cross posted at PotLuck

Obama Speaks to Tucson

The President went to the memorial service held last night in Tucson.  It was a bizarre mix of solemn respect for those lost and a pep rally of sorts.  The service was held on a college campus and it seems that many in attendance were college students. 

I am not a believer in telling someone how to mourn, as it isn't my business.  But, the college students seemed to be more interested in seeing the president than they were in giving respect to the dead, but I don't think that the president can be blamed for that.  He also seemed to be taken aback at the reaction of the students as well.  But, they ate it up and it seemed that the people in attendance left with lifted spirits, which really was the purpose, to start the healing process. 

The speech that he gave was appropriate for a memorial service.  He talked about the victims that were lost in very personal terms with anecdotes of the six that were lost.  On the littlest victim he said:

And then there is nine year-old Christina Taylor Green. Christina was an A student, a dancer, a gymnast, and a swimmer. She often proclaimed that she wanted to be the first woman to play in the major leagues, and as the only girl on her Little League team, no one put it past her. She showed an appreciation for life uncommon for a girl her age, and would remind her mother, "We are so blessed. We have the best life." And she'd pay those blessings back by participating in a charity that helped children who were less fortunate.

He addressed the blame game that has taken over since the shootings:

The loss of these wonderful people should make every one of us strive to be better in our private lives - to be better friends and neighbors, co-workers and parents. And if, as has been discussed in recent days, their deaths help usher in more civility in our public discourse, let's remember that it is not because a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy, but rather because only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to our challenges as a nation, in a way that would make them proud. It should be because we want to live up to the example of public servants like John Roll and Gabby Giffords, who knew first and foremost that we are all Americans, and that we can question each other's ideas without questioning each other's love of country, and that our task, working together, is to constantly widen the circle of our concern so that we bequeath the American dream to future generations.

The highlight of the evening was when the president announced that the congresswoman opened her eyes while her colleagues from the congress were visiting.  Her recovery is truly remarkable and I have no doubt that she was spared because God has a plan for the rest of her life.  She will go on to do some wonderful things. 

For me the big winner of the evening was Michelle Obama.  She has always come across to me as cold.  When the president made the announcement of Gabby's eyes the camera went to her husband who was sitting next to the first lady.  The raw emotion you saw on Michelle's face was real and very heartfelt.  I believe this is the first time that I really saw that in her.  I once saw a picture of her playing with some kids where she had a big smile on her face, but that was a picture so the impact was not the same. 

From the reports that I have read the university was in charge of the planning of the service.  While it is true there is nothing that is not scripted when the president is concerned, they have said that they turned the planning over to them and the community.  I certainly hope that the White House didn't know about the T-shirts because they were wildly inappropriate.  I also think that the university officials should have done a better job at explaining to the students that booing the governor was not a good thing.  Luckily it was not that loud nor did it last that long, very tacky indeed.  I have heard some on the right compare the audience of the Virginia Tech shooting memorial to this, but I think that is unfair comparison as that shooting took place on campus and many in attendance were personally involved with the dead. 

My favorite quote of the evening:

That's what I believe, in part because that's what a child like Christina Taylor Green believed. Imagine: here was a young girl who was just becoming aware of our democracy; just beginning to understand the obligations of citizenship; just starting to glimpse the fact that someday she too might play a part in shaping her nation's future. She had been elected to her student council; she saw public service as something exciting, something hopeful. She was off to meet her congresswoman, someone she was sure was good and important and might be a role model. She saw all this through the eyes of a child, undimmed by the cynicism or vitriol that we adults all too often just take for granted.



I want us to live up to her expectations. I want our democracy to be as good as she imagined it. All of us - we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children's expectations.

On this we agree Mr. President.  I want the next generation to be left an America that they can proud of and that offers them the same oppurtunities that were provided to me and to you.

Here are some highlights:







You can read the full speech of the president here. 










Where you fall on the political spectrum is going to guide your opinion on this statement.  He didn't directly address the behavior of the far left, but I personally don't think it was the neither the time nor the place.  I tend to stay away from far left sites, so I am not sure what their reaction to the speech is, but the right is a little split on the speech, but I would venture to say that most felt the speech did accomplish what it set to, set a tone of healing for the families of the victims and to reach out to a nation that is still in shock over the unnecessary violence that took people too soon. 

What Has Gotten Lost - The Sad State of Mental Illness Awareness in America

The more that comes out about the Tucson shooter, the more disturbing the story becomes.  It seems pretty obvious that Jared is suffering from paranoid schizophrenia.  A horrible disease that takes over your life.  You hear voices that paint a picture of a world that is out to get to you.  You become convinced that some obscure and bizarre thing or person is out to get to you and then become fixated on it.  Sadly, in about 10% of cases that are left untreated have a violent end.

The reality is that only a small percentage of people suffering from untreated mental illness become violent, but when they do it is sometimes done on a large scale.  Three recent examples being Tucson, VA Tech, and LI Railroad.  All killed multiple people with a gun and all gave out plenty of red flags.  While no one can say for sure if medical intervention would have stopped it, the chances for these occurrences certainly would have decreased. 

This is especially true of both the VA Tech and Tucson shooters.  Virginia and Arizona both have laws on the books that allow medical intervention to occur.  In both cases, the shooters were allowed to fall between the cracks.  While it is true that Cho didn't seem to exhibit the same symptoms of schizophrenia, he was diagnosed with anxiety disorders and was evaluated by the mental health services at Virginia Tech after his roommate reported that he was talking about suicide.  The mental health clinic didn't follow up properly when he would miss appointments, even though they had the legal right to do so.

Back in the 1960's a movement by civil rights advocates took afoot in this country with the goal of stopping the forced institutalization of people in mental health wards.  Most of these wards were barely better than a prison cell and some of the patients could have easily functioned in the outside world with outpatient care.  The laws were all skewed towards keeping the patient in the hospital, even if it was against their will (did you see the move girl interrupted?).  Many patients were given shock treatments and suffered horrible treatment.  Advocates wanted this treatment to stop.  The problem has become that we swung the pendulum too far in the other direction.  The usual unintended consequences of government intervention. 

There are no easy answers to these problems.  There are no cures for many mental illnesses, just courses of treatment with medication.  There will be some mentally ill that will not stay on a course of medication unless you force it upon them.  Many of these medications have severe side effects that can be very unpleasant.  Since schizophrenics usually hear voices, those voices become almost friends and the patient is reluctant to have them stop, as carrying on regular relationships are at best difficult.  So those voices become almost like a comfort to them. 

Studies show that approximately 40% of the homeless suffer from mental illness.  How many times have you seen a homeless person on the street that is talking to themselves?  Ask yourself how much money we spend on food and shelter to address the homeless population.  A 2007 study by the U.S. Justice Department found that 56% of state prisoners, 45% of federal prisoners, and 64% of local jail inmates suffer from mental illnesses.  How much money are spending to keep these people imprisoned?  With percentages this high it must run into the billions.  Wouldn't this money be more wisely spent on treating these people?  While it is likely that some of these people will commit crimes anyway, but if you could cut it down by even 50%, that is a huge money savings.  Think about if we can get most of these people treated and they become self sufficient citizens, it would only improve our society. 



I don't think anyone is advocating going back to the practices of the 50's and 60's, but something needs to be done.  One of the things that we can do quite easily to educate ourselves about the topic of mental illness and discuss it openly.  There is still a stigma attached to the mentally ill.  This may be one of the reasons that Jared's Parents did not get the help their child so obviously needed. 

In less than four years two major shootings have occurred.  38 people are dead.  While this is a very tiny number in a country as vast in size of America, these are just two examples that got national news, how many others have occurred that we don't hear about?  In both of these cases the localities have been let down by the people who are in charge of protecting the communities.  There is no way to say that either of these shootings wouldn't have occurred had medical intervention been done, but we can say with 100% certainty that without it they most definitely did occur.  I am more than a little heartsick that this isn't the discussion that our nation is having instead of the political bashing that instead has taken over, mental illness has no political leanings. It happens to people from all cultures, all political persuasions, it can happen to any family.  While I am sure that the left and right will disagree on how to tackle this problem, but shouldn't we at least be talking about this instead of blaming/defending Gov. Palin?  She seems to be perfectly capable of defending herself. 


Crossposted at PotLuck

See Americans Can See the Truth - Not Buying the Lefts Blame Game

A new poll is out today that the majority of Americans have rejected the falsehoods that were spewed over the past few days about the shooting of Congresswoman Giffords.  The largest portion of people who did believe the spin were democrats:

Overall, 57 percent of respondents said the harsh political tone had nothing to do with the shooting, compared to 32 percent who felt it did. Republicans were more likely to feel the two were unrelated - 69 percent said rhetoric was not to blame; 19 percent said it played a part. Democrats were more split on the issue - 49 percent saw no connection; 42 percent said there was.


Independents more closely reflected the overall breakdown - 56 percent said rhetoric had nothing to do with the attack; 33 percent felt it did.

But even the majority of the democrats that were polled felt that the election rhetoric is simply that, rhetoric.  This is a hopeful sign as in people can see for themselves once the facts come out.  There can be little doubt the shooter has problems that have nothing to do with Sarah Palin.  His obsession with the congresswoman started in 2007, the chances of him knowing who Gov. Palin was at that time are very low indeed. 

I would venture to say that number will be even higher as more has come out. We now know that this kid had some sort of satanic alter in his backyard, top that with the creepy mug shot that has been released, and even more people will see that as much as the Krugmans of the world would like to blame conservatives for this tragedy, people just are not buying it.  Once again, common sense prevails.  While the families are certainly the most impacted by this horrible act, but the media is going to pay a high price for this.  People are on to the bias that has been so obvious for the past three days. 

Maybe now we can start having the discussions that we should be having.  Why did the police in Tucson ignore the warning signs that this kid was so mentally unbalanced that he was a direct danger to himself and others?  Arizona has some the most lenient laws when it comes to getting a person to a doctor for care.  We also need to discuss how the left in this country have pushed for changes in the mental health laws that make it very difficult for families to get help for a loved one, even when they know that they need it.  While there is no question there was abuse in the mental health system, we have swung too far in the other direction which has caused more problems.  The usual unintended consequences of government intervention. 

As always, prayers for the families that have lost their loved ones, and continue good wishes to the congresswoman, who seems to be taking more steps towards her recovery.  She gave a thumbs up on command.  Praise God for giving her the strength and the fortitude to survive everything she has been through. 

After the Vitriol, After the Hate

Two full days have almost passed since the shootings in Tucson.  Over the weekend we saw the ugliest side of left possible.  You can go over to Michelle Malkin to see some of the lefty hate over the years.  The vast majority making Sarah Palin's map look like child's play in comparison.  The right has reacted by pointing out all of the hate that comes from left.

Some have called to hit back on the left and to hit back hard. A few other voices have said that may not be the best way to handle this. I will have to go with the minority. My reasons for that are really quite simple. The truth is that majority of the country doesn't pay attention to this kind of thing. The hate machine is big fat turn off and people just tune it out.


Matter of fact they turn it off to the point that they become disgusted with both the right and left. The vitriol has gotten so bad with this shooting any rational person will come to the proper conclusion; the far left is crazy and will do anything to put people on the right down, and the media is all too willing accomplice. This can only help the right as long as they don't go as far. The very last thing we should be doing is making a bad situation worse. Let the left stew in their own juices and pay the price for the disgusting display they have put on for the past two days. The truth about the gunman is out, he is a crazy lunatic that was in no way motivated by politics, be it right or left. By most estimates it seems that he is a schizophrenic.  And, as a wise man has said, crazy isn't an ideology. 
. 


Personally, I would rather spend my time and energies talking about the heroism that was on display on Saturday, people running towards the gunman to stop further carnage. A husband who jumped on his wife in order to save her from the bullets, who sadly gave his own in order to save hers. Let’s think about the father who is in mourning over the loss of his 9 year old daughter and still asking that we don’t walk away from the openness that our government provides. I would like to think that Americans can and will overcome the craziness and horror of Saturday, and that we can do it without showing the hate that the likes of Krugman, The Daily Kos, Jane Fonda, and Keith Olbermann can't seem to resist. They have shown their true colors, we don't need to add anything. They have done a good job all on their own

Video of the Day - Meghan Kelly and Pima County Sheriff

He likes free speech, but only up to a point I guess.  He won't come out and say it, but he blames the tea party.  But the real problem is that he admits that this obsession started in 2007; long before the tea party or most people knew who Sarah Palin even was. 


After hearing this it is even more reason for people to just shut up and stop trying to put the blame anywhere other than on the kid who picked up the gun.  He, and he alone, is the one who did this. 


read a great post on the little girl who died. She seems to be getting lost in all the rhetoric, which is tragic.

Quote of the Day - Democratic Opertative Edition

“They need to deftly pin this on the tea partiers,” said the Democrat. “Just like the Clinton White House deftly pinned the Oklahoma City bombing on the militia and anti-government people.”

 This is truly disgusting.  Anyone that uses the shooting for political gain is simply a horrible human being.  There is no other way to look at it.  Congresswoman Giffords is fighting for her life as I write this, a very bright 9 old is dead, an aide to the congresswoman has a fiance that is in total shock at the death of the man she planned to spend the rest of her with, a well respected judge went to say hello to someone he was friendly with and got killed.  These are the stories we should be telling, these are the issues that we should be dealing with. 

The Politics of a Tragedy - Tea Party Must Be Guilty

Gabrielle Giffords, a congresswoman from Arizona, was shot today while having a townhall of sorts at a local Safeway.  Luckily it seems that the congresswoman will survive the shooting even though she was shot through the head.  According to reports she was even talking before being sedated to reduce the pressure on her brain.  Sadly, many others were not so fortunate and at least five have died, including a federal judge and a nine year old child. My deepest sympathies to the families of all the victims for this senseless loss of life.

Before anything was known about the shooter many automatically decided that somehow the Tea Party is to blame for this tragedy.  Both Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck's name came up on some comments I saw when I was looking up to see if the congresswoman was still alive.  The reports about this shooting have been fuzzy at best and conflicting reports about if Ms. Giffords survived were all over the internet and television news. 

Jane Fonda and Paul Krugman couldn't even bothered to wait until more information was known before they decided to weigh in and blame the right for this horrifying act of violence.  Krugman came out with his statement before the name of the shooter was known and what the press was reporting was that he was a war vet.  There is enough information about the shooter now for Krugman to realize that this is a matter of a very delusional young man who didn't seem to have grip on reality.  In one you tube video he is burning the American flag, in other he has a diatribe about the constitution and mind control. 

His favorite books according to his you tube page are as follows:

I had favorite books: Animal Farm, Brave New World, The Wizard Of OZ, Aesop Fables, The Odyssey, Alice Adventures Into Wonderland, Fahrenheit 451, Peter Pan, To Kill A Mockingbird, We The Living, Phantom Toll Booth, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Pulp,Through The Looking Glass, The Communist Manifesto, Siddhartha, The Old Man And The Sea, Gulliver's Travels, Mein Kampf, The Republic, and Meno

Not exactly the books you would find in the library of any tea party member.  But so far Krugman has yet to make a retraction of his statement.  After all, why let facts get in the way of the narrative that he has been creating since the beginning of the tea party movement. 

Politicizing the murder of five people and the injury of at least 10 others before the facts are known is irresponsible as well as being intellectually lazy.  This young man seems to have many problems and may very well be delusional.  There are reports that he had met the congresswoman before.  But this seems to be a statement from a woman who says she knew him in high school.  So, we have to wait and see if that actually pans out.  

While it is understandable for some of the reporting to be incorrect during the fog of the incident, this is not about the fog.  This is about wanting to blame your political enemies for a horrid act simply because you are trying to prove that your belief system is superior.  But, all these two have proven is that they are lazy and wrong.  This woman wasn't gunned down by some crazed right winger because Glenn Beck told him to, or by some graphic that Sarah Palin released about a year ago.  This was a sad and sick man who had no real core or any sense of compassion to fellow human beings.  Comment on that Paul and Jane, maybe then you can get back some of your creditability.