“You know, our Founding Fathers, they put that Second Amendment in there for a good reason and that was for the people to protect themselves against a tyrannical government. And in fact, Thomas Jefferson said it’s good for a country to have a revolution every 20 years.”
“I hope that’s not where we’re going, but, you know, if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies and saying, ‘my goodness what can we do to turn this country around?’ I’ll tell you the first thing we need to do is take Harry Reid out.”
It wasn't Harry Reid this time. It was Ms. Gabby Gifford, a U.S. Representative from the state of Arizona. Is this what Sharron Angle meant? If Republicans don't win at the ballot box, then they are free to use guns? If so, I guess she is getting her wish.
Is this the armed revolution that Glenn Beck is constantly referring to?
I'm just so sick of this. I am sick of living in a country where hypocrites seem to be always the ones that get to set the rules, and mentally unstable people are spoon fed hate filled rhetoric. Democrats and liberals are apparently considered to be fair game for no other reason than they have a different opinion than do the hard core conservatives.
I have actually been predicting something like this for about a while now, ever since crazy people started carrying guns to Town Hall meetings and rallies for Barack Obama. It was just inevitable. We have had many close calls and some idiots actually carried out their insane delusions. Did we just have a couple of explosive packages go off in Maryland at some government offices? I think I saw where the authorities thought that the sender was upset about some traffic policies or something. We had a maniac crash a small airplane into an IRS building because he was upset about his taxes. The message we are constantly hearing is that government is evil and you are fully justified in taking violent action against it. How can anyone I'm rather surprised that more people haven't gotten killed.
Perhaps, just perhaps, this will be the last straw. This will be the thing that pulls us, as a country, back from the brink. Perhaps. But I really doubt it. I really am waiting to see what Fox News, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Sharron Angle, and their kind come up with to excuse themselves. I can't see Beck or Limbaugh ever apologizing or rethinking their position, ever. They are paid to be bombastic assholes who are always right and never, ever will admit to a mistake. Oh, they will probably issue some half-baked statements trying to cover their collective asses, just like Glenn Beck did when Byron Williams became inspired by Beck's tirades to go shoot up the Tides Foundation. Oh, no, Beck had nothing to do with this! He's only an entertainer! A rodeo-cowboy! How could anyone believe that Beck had anything to do with that? I'm also waiting to see what kind of BS that the NRA comes out with. I am sure it will be some self-serving statement that acknowledges no guilt, deflects all blame, and probably tries to blame liberals somehow.
My heart goes out to all the shooting victims and their friends and families. I hope Ms. Gifford can recover so that she may live a full and meaningful life.
The remainder of my heart is a very black place right now. It is unfortunate, I suppose, that I don't believe in God, Heaven or Hell. Because if I did, I would sincerely pray for those people who advocate violence against those they disagree with the very hottest corner of hell for all eternity.
UPDATE: Some "morning after" thoughts on the Arizona shooting.
I see that many are calling for "both parties" to turn down the rhetoric. BS. I do not see ANYONE on the left, except for maybe a few little bloggers or anonymous commenters, ever calling for violence. Congress people do not do it. Rachael Maddow and Keith Olbermann are always highlighted as liberal commenters. I have never, ever heard them advocate violence. They are some of the ones asking for people to turn it down. This "both sides do it" crap is just that, crap. This is almost exclusively a right/conservative issue. Just look at this list of violence and threatened violence against prominent figures since 2008. Please. I do not see a whole lot of violence or threatened violence against the right or their organizations. This is NOT a problem for "both sides."
Even if this nut that shot the congresswoman yesterday and a whole lot of innocent bystanders isn't a tea party crackpot, even if he isn't a Glenn Beck fan like Byron Williams was (discussed above), even if he wasn't affected by Sarah Palin's election map with cross-hairs over many political races, there is still the issue of this intense and hateful rhetoric egging on people who may be so inclined. Because I am sure that the reaction from all this intense criticism by the left of the right's hateful BS is going to be something along the lines of "Hey, it wasn't our fault! This guy is just (one more) nut. You can't prove any connection."
I call bullshit. Human beings are incredibly easy to manipulate. Just look at TV commercials. Companies wouldn't spend billions of dollars trying to influence human behavior (in that case, buying their crap) unless it works. You can get people to believe anything if you try hard enough. My favorite example is the Hitler Youth. Of course, at this point, someone will know screech "Godwin's Law!" If you mention Nazis, then you are obviously not a serious person. My point here is to take that the Nazis took a very extreme position and were able to convince many people that they were like gods. So, why then isn't there a connection between this hateful bile that is filled with implied violence completely isolated from society? Propaganda works, especially for people who would like to believe whatever is being pushed in the first place.
So, Glenn Beck, Sharron Angle, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, you do not get a pass here!! You are culpable in this horrific shooting. All that needs to be discussed is the extent.
UPDATE 2: Yep, I was right. That didn't take long. Those symbols on Sarah Palin's political map during the campaign, the one that said "Don't retreat. Reload!" Those were not gun sights. Those were "surveyor symbols."
Uh-huh. Yeah. And I'm Tinkerbell.
UPDATE 3: Here are some of the visuals I mentioned earlier.
This first one is the campaign material targeting, and I do mean targeting, some Democrats. Those do not look like "surveyor's symbols" to me. I find it just amazing that Palin and all of the conservatives right now will never, ever admit they were wrong about anything or apologize to anyone about anything. This could have easily been taken care of by, "Sorry. Yes, that was inappropriate. Our campaign shouldn't have done that." If that would have occurred, the story would have been over, for the most part. But trying to pass those off as surveyor's symbols? Please...
This next one is something was seen around the internets during the campaign last year. Nope, no visual imagery there. Move along, nothing to see here.
The next time I hear this "both sides do it" meme, I would like someone to give some examples like this from the left.
No comments:
Post a Comment