U.S. poll: rhetoric not to blame for Giffords shooting

[sabra]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - A majority of Americans reject the view that heated political rhetoric was a factor in the weekend shootings in Arizona which killed six and critically wounded a congresswoman, CBS News reported in a poll released on Tuesday.

Since the Saturday incident in which Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords was shot at point-blank range, various politicians and commentators have said a climate in which strong language and ideological polarization is common may have contributed to the attack.

Some of the analysts cited anti-government statements from the man arrested in the shooting, Jared Lee Loughner, as support for that view.

But CBS said its nationwide telephone poll found that, "57 percent of respondents said the harsh political tone had nothing to do with the shooting, compared to 32 percent who felt it did."

Rejection of a link was strongest among Republicans, 69 percent of whom felt harsh rhetoric was not related to the attack, while 19 percent thought it played a part.

Read more: http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-54080920110111

[rfranklin]

1. Well, the MSM has done their job of shaping public opinion...

"Hobody could have known...."

[liberalmike27]

23. Exactly

Job well-done, media splits between far right, and way right of center, pretend we're all at fault, and that those who've been implicating violence from the right, had nothing to do with it.

And, the Sheeple respond, thusly. Jeez, with a liberal media like that....can't actually point at the problem, FOX, Rush, Savage, etc...

We had what they want in the 1990s, and early 2000s. Republicans say anything they want, passionately make their case, suggest killing liberals, and Democrats sit idly by saying "Well, OK then..." like Droopy-dog, taking it up the wazoo.

Sorry, I personally don't want to go back to that, as Ed Schultz said "Nothing will change," though I didn't need him to tell me. When the right accepts a little responsibility, and stops, then Democrats will stop. But we came to this game late, and still don't suggest people be killed.

Words of the day "False equivalency."

[breadandwine]

35. Flash bulletin -- 57% of Americans brainwashed by rhetoric......

....

[KansDem]

2. Well, there you have it...

No "mea culpa" from the folks whose "mea culpa" it is...

[BrklynLiberal]

3. Oh well...since polls are soooooooooo important in the decisions that are made in DC......

LOLOLOLOLOL

What a crock of crapola....

[Hugin]

4. Well, I guess that if 673 "adults" (plus or minus 4%) think so... It must be true.

Move along. Nothing to see here. :eyes:

[Raschel]

27. The opinion of ONE victim holds more weight than this poll.

Rep Giffords said herself that actions have consequences and that the violent and hateful climate should be toned down. That's good enough for me.

[Hugin]

41. I concur of course. n/t

[fascisthunter]

5. rrrriiiiigggghhhhhtttttt

[riverwalker]

6. a poll of only 673 people

is not a portrait of "the majority of Americans"

[whathehell]

8. True..and even if it were, 57% is not a huge majority. nt/

[Hugin]

10. This is interesting, however.

"Rejection of a link was strongest among Republicans, 69 percent of whom felt harsh rhetoric was not related to the attack, while 19 percent thought it played a part."

I can't imagine who'd want no link to be found... I mean, what group would be interested in there being no link at all... Who? Who would demand there is no link? I can't put my finger on it, but, there must be a group who's vested (conflict-of)-interest would have there be no... LINK.

Hmm... I shall ponder this.

[whathehell]

14. Yeah..big surprise...Actually, I find it hopeful that as many as 19% of Repubs found a link. n/t

[frylock]

7. a majority of older americans that don't have cell phones..

and are largely uninformed.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

9. Oh, they're

On edit... Geez, how could I forget?!

[shawn703]

11. What a ridiculous poll

Why are they taking a poll for opinion on something that could probably be proven or disproven during an investigation?

[defendandprotect]

12. More fake polls ... who commissioned this one ... Limbaugh?

[bullwinkle428]

13. Mission accomplished, mainstream media!!

[whathehell]

15. 42 % of Dems saw a link as well as 33 % of Independents...Not too bad.

Republicans believe what they want, and perhaps "need" to believe.

[Jefferson23]

16. LOL, I'm glad to hear that issue is all cleared up! Hooray for Americans

who time and again can self reflect on bad behavior.

And 9/11 had nothing to do with our foreign policy either, so there!

[callous taoboy]

17. Now we are all supposed to be experts on the minutia of Jared's influences. Sheesh.

[OwnedByFerrets]

18. Ok idiots, what was? Random violence? Yeah, right.

[bluestateguy]

19. No more polls

nt

[mbperrin]

20. No methodology, no access to the questions; another push poll wins!

Woo-hoo! Go media whores! Service your masters! Or you'll be next.

[Roy Rolling]

21. A majority of Americans?

673 people out of 300 million Americans is hardly a majority. The poll was taken Sunday and Monday before much information came out. This reflects what people believed before they have been informed and is worthless.

[wisteria]

22. I would speculate the poll was designed to produce the results they wanted.

Harsh rhetoric? Some of what was being said and suggested was not simply harsh rhetoric. I want to see more polls.

[Democat]

24. Is this supposed to show public opinion or create it?

I wonder if there was any poll at all?

[bongbong]

25. Here is the question

Here is the question they asked:

"Do you agree with the obvious fact that no one on TV or radio (especially Fox) ever espouses hate or murder, or are you an ignorant dumbshit?"

:sarcasm:

[florida08]

26. what a surprise

let's poll the district in which it happened. How the hell would anyone not living in AZ have a clue whether or not it played a role?
I certainly wouldn't be arrogant enough to even take the thing in the first place unless I lived there. I have a feeling they have a list of the same people they call for every poll.

[TroglodyteScholar]

28. Whew!

Glad THAT's settled!

[27inCali]

29. all major news channels pushed the false equivalency

until they got the answer that they wanted from the polls.

The poll question they need to ask is "Whether or not the shooting was related to the rhetoric, do you support violent rhetoric in politics?" you'd get a way different percentage from that question.

[RoccoR5955]

30. 673 people can't be wrong? Yeah, right!

This is not a large enough sample size to create an accurate poll. You need at the very least 3000, in a country of 300,000,000. That would still be only .0001%. How they figure these polls are "scientific," is way beyond me.

[shanti]

31. screw the polls

we know the truth

[darwell]

32. the number one reason is that the guy's nuts - i dont know about the rest

same with the guy in austin in 1966

or u of i in 1991

or the various postal shootings over the years

too soon to jump to conclusions

[mwb970]

33. The fact that the republican numbers are different is key.

This indicates that there is a political element to the response. Every republican I have heard - beginning moments after the shooting - has been at great pains to stress that there was "no political angle".

They doth protest too much, methinks.

[JJW]

34. I'd like to see a poll of.....

Iraqis and Afghans on this.

[EV_Ares]

36. If rethoric is not to blame, then what about the Oakland shooter who was on his way to gun down

some people at a company Beck was raving about. He ended up in a gunfight with the Oakland police and his mom said he listened to Beck all the time. Now there is a cause and effect there.j

What is with CBS and their polls, how did they slant the poll. It is like they are determined to support the right wing extremists.

[EC]

37. I would suggest that the vast American public hasn't seen

the posts in forums or web sites that are much more threatening, so therefore they don't think it's been that bad...but if you read the readers comments under articles in major publications, you can see where the mind set is in the right.

[Number_Six]

38. Do the math...

Ahem:

"Rejection of a link was strongest among Republicans, 69 percent of whom felt harsh rhetoric was not related to the attack, while 19 percent thought it played a part."

Translation: They polled righties. Fucking DUHHHHHH!!!

[HuckleB]

39. People don't want to deal with the pain of reality.

It's easier to blame the killer, and pretend he exists in a vacuum.

[Name removed]

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