WASHINGTON, DC, January 11, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – As liberal commentators continue to blame conservative tea party rhetoric, and most especially that of tea party favorite Sarah Palin, for the Tucson shooting that left 6 people dead and 19 wounded, a video on Youtube has documented the outpouring of death wishes from left-wing Twitter users against Palin following the shooting.
The tweets reveal a strong pulse in public discourse calling for violence, in foul-mouthed language, against the former Alaska governor, whose “don’t retreat, reload” mantra and other militia-style rhetoric has been targeted by the left as the incendiary language that caused the tragedy.
No evidence has been found that links the shooter, who was a registered Independent and who did not vote in the last election, in any way to the tea party, Palin, or mainstream conservatism.
“Ugh! All the wrong people get shot. Why doesn’t this kind of thing happen at a Sarah Palin event?” wrote Twitter user Rexyspice, one of dozens of such messages. Acdcjacko2_fi wrote simply, “Can somebody please shoot Sarah Palin.”
Conservatives have been busy defending themselves against blame for the killing spree Saturday morning that left moderate Democrat Gabrielle Giffords critically injured by a bullet through the head, and that killed Arizona federal judge John Rolls as well as others.
The political motivations of suspected gunman Jared Lee Loughner continue to be dissected by liberal leaders such as the Daily Kos blog, which on Tuesday justified its immediate castigation of tea party rhetoric by pointing to psychiatry professor Dr. Marvin Schwartz’ statements that it was “reasonable” to question whether political rhetoric influenced Loughner’s mentally ill state.
Others are pointing out that Loughner’s unbalanced and incoherent worldview fits the description typical of assassins whose actions are not politically motivated, but rather the product of a morbid search for attention.
“The FBI profilers found that in recent years, assassins generally have been unstable individuals looking for attention and notoriety,” wrote Newsmax.com’s Ronald Kessler. “The suspect, Jared Loughner, 22, fits a profile of most assassins: a disturbed individual whose act cannot be explained by relating it to politics or any rational motive.”
New York Times columnist David Brooks noted that “the evidence before us suggests that Loughner was locked in a world far removed from politics as we normally understand it” and called the politicization of the tragedy “extremely grave.”
“I have no love for Sarah Palin, and I like to think I’m committed to civil discourse. But the political opportunism occasioned by this tragedy has ranged from the completely irrelevant to the shamelessly irresponsible,” wrote Brooks.
Even Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart, whose comic punditry usually leans left, cautioned against rashly pointing fingers against typical political rhetoric.
“I wouldn’t blame our political rhetoric any more than I would blame heavy metal music for Columbine. And by the way, that is coming from somebody who truly hates our political environment,” said Stewart. “You don’t know what a troubled mind will get caught on. Crazy always seems to find a way.”