What I find telling is "ordinary" people on the street who are upset at the shooting

[uppityperson]

at the vitriolic rhetoric that, even if it didn't directly encourage this attack and murders, still do encourage those who are susceptible to view others as different, of dehumanizing others enough to agree killing is ok.

These are not DUers or people active in any political party, just people I have run into who are talking about this.

There may be a chance for change. Or it may continue to get worse. I cannot predict, but people are upset about these murders.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Yes people are upset yet... this morning Rush

had the same tone. It will not change until they stop getting power out of it. That is what I fear.

[Johonny]

17. He makes too much $ to stop now

as long as people will put you on the air for having that act and people will listen to it. It won't change. It's the rest of the media that needs to marginalize these people instead of covering their words like they are important or worth discussing.

[Tunkamerica]

2. A girl I work with, who never talks about politics unless I bring it up,

said today: "I heard the shooting in Arizona was Sarah Palin's fault." She didn't really know the specifics, but that's what she'd heard.

[The Magistrate]

3. She Is Right, Sir: It Is Palin's Fault

[EFerrari]

4. I left a comment at the NYTs to the effect that it was right wing politicians

and their media enablers and more than 700 people punched the link to recommend my bald statement.

I think people know very well where the blame belongs.

[The Magistrate]

8. Indeed, Ma'am: As Mr. Schaeffer Has Said, They Are Trolling For Assassins --- Well, They Got One

All their whimpers of denial manage is to demonstrate they knew exactly what they were doing, they just thought it would be prettier and more popular....

"Much of modern rightist speech is the sound of people who are not just playing with fire, but do not comprehend that fire burns."

[EFerrari]

12. Palin got people to cry out "Kill him" at her campaign rallies.

That had nowhere to go but worse.

[The Magistrate]

14. And This Weekend, Ma'am, is Not the End Of It

There will be more of this, depend upon it.

[EFerrari]

26. It will continue because the right will not change its product over night.

And, of course, because they've been at this so long, there's more than one generation now who has never known anything else.

[Raine]

15. It got so bad that I think even McLame was worried

at the time. McLame tried to tone it down and get Palin to tone it too (he didn't succeed, it was too late).

[uppityperson]

18. "trolling for assassins" is a good way to put it, thank you.

Yes, he seems to have mental health issues and yes he was the one who shot into the crowd but would he have done this without having the hateful rhetoric being so prevalent and accepted? Perhaps. But still, they are trolling for those who are susceptible.

[malaise]

20. 100% correct Sir

:hi:

[eridani]

11. Partly. It's a cumulative effect considering all the other whackjobs

--reading from the same page.

[The Magistrate]

13. As You Know, Ma'am, The Popular Gal Gets All The Credit....

[Tsiyu]

5. This is our greatest hope right now

that Americans overall are people who do not want violence to define their lives.

They are paying attention - careful attention - to what the Rightwing has to say.

And the Rightwing is blowing it bigtime.

Rather than adopting an empathetic, caring, peace-loving tone, the Rightwing has gone off the deep end trying to justify their hate without admitting to it.

They are lost over in Bloody Bill, Rush and Beckland. They know Americans are sick of this violent rhetoric, but the Right has NOTHING else to offer!

May Americans see the truth and abandon the Right in droves.....and may they reject and rebuke the violent hate speech that the Right has been spewing for years,

[sadbear]

6. This is my hope.

[Tsiyu]

7. ..

:hug:

[suffragette]

9. I share that hope with you

[Tsiyu]

10. ...

:hug:

[suffragette]

16. Back at ya

:hug:

[uppityperson]

19. That is my hope also.

[Tsiyu]

24. May our hopes come true

:hug:

[Raschel]

21. My hope too.

[Tsiyu]

25. I wish we didn't have to be so vigilant for peace

and for sanity.

I don't like to fight, but damnit i will fight for my country. I never, ever want to see another massacre like the one we saw this weekend.

But if we don't stand up to the bullies, they will win and we will continue to see violence.

:hug:

[OneGrassRoot]

22. I'm iced in here (thankfully, with power), and had a conversation with a rightie this morning:

Started off with the typical chest thumping rhetoric on his end, but I calmly addressed things point by point, with him at first responding by shouting "isms." Then we actually had a conversation, and he admitted violence is no way and that, in truth, most people don't want violence and that Palin's target graphic showed poor judgment (that is a huge admission from a hardcore rightie).

I didn't say this in our discussion, but I realized it kind of proves my theory: Underlying all the thumping and anger, lies fear. If we can get to the heart of what everyone is so afraid of -- why people like Limbaugh, Beck and Palin even have any appeal -- and find some common ground, there may be hope. I don' know...


"Somewhere somebody must have some sense. Men must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a descending spiral, ultimately ending in destruction for all and everybody. Somebody must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate and the chain of evil in the universe. And you do that by love." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

[Tsiyu]

27. It's such a fine line to navigate

My heart was broken Saturday by the deaths of the six and the wounding of the others.

Absolutely shattered - because we warned that this would happen, because political discourse should not cost one her life, because this is not what America should be in 2010.

You are correct that it is fear motivating some, but in the case of Bloody Bill, Beck and others (and I will call them that because I believe they have blood on them from all the violence they continually spew) they are doing what they do - inflaming people - purely for MONEY. GREED is their only motivator.

And what have they encouraged? A woman saying on palin's Facebook page:

"It's ok. Christina Taylor Green was probably going to end up a left wing bleeding heart liberal anyway. Hey, as 'they' say, what would you do if you had the chance to kill Hitler as a kid? Exactly." Tina King


This broke my heart even more, that this fellow American felt it was justified to kill a child for politics!! I'm sorry, this will not stand.

THIS is what we face. And even though I'm only five foot tall and a hundred pounds with my boots on, I will be damned if I will not fight THAT.

None of those saying " Calm down" have answered me when I post Tina King's quote. NONE OF THEM.
That is telling. Either they choose to be in denial or they are afraid to look passionate about ANYTHING.

Now she represents a small segment of the population, but her kind of sick attitude must be confronted. "They cry peace, peace when there is no peace." We will never have peace until we make these kinds of people realize this is unacceptable.

What if Tina King teaches children or works with them? Can she be trusted not to kill the child of a liberal? Does her fear make her a danger to all children of liberals? i don't ever want to find out. But i do want her and anyone like her and all of the media who encourage her to hate liberals to STOP


Anyhoo, i am also snowed in, but I found some old snow chains and they fit the car so here's hoping I can make it out sometime today.


Love you, OGR :hug:

[uppityperson]

28. Christina Taylor is the 9 yr old born on 9/11 and she said that? What a

[Tsiyu]

29. Yes she did

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x155821


THIS is what I have been so upset over, yet most on this board are ignoring this woman's comments.


Why?

[OneGrassRoot]

30. I agree, Tsiyu!!!

I agree that pure GREED motivates most of those who have a public voice; the same thing motivates those who WISH to have more of a public voice and a following.

:(

They don't think about the consequences. They are selfish to the core.

The woman who said that about Christina is vile. As I wrote somewhere else today, I'm not all kumbaya. And we MUST stand up and, yes, fight. I agree. It's just that my hope is to find those who aren't even sure what they're fighting about or FOR any longer...they've been so steeped in the hate speech and "isms" that nothing makes sense. For those who are pure hate, we must do what's necessary to protect the innocents from them.

Absolutely.

On Edit: There are tons of "regular" people posting truly horrendous things and saying horrendous things in the privacy of their homes. I'm personally more focused on those with a national platform from which to spew their hate; if their hate speech is no longer condoned and accepted by society, then perhaps the underlings will start to fade away more. At least we'll be able to spot them more easily if it's no longer accepted in our national discourse.

:hug:

[Tunkamerica]

31. she apologized several hours later:

Anonymous said...

I am Tina King.I want to apologize for what was apparently an ill fated attempt at satire. I posted a comment that was meant to been seen as a brutal commentary on the violent rhetoric that has become a staple of the political discourse is this country. It was in no way intended to be taken seriously and in the context of my other posts that fact is clearly seen. I feel horrible that a child, or anyone, had to die in this senseless act of violence. My heart goes out to Christina Taylor Green's parents as I cannot fathom the horror of losing a child, no less in such a terrible and tragic way. Although I believe this event was not directly related to the state of political discourse at this time, but rather the act of an individual who's mental well-being is questionable, I also feel this tragic event must bear as warning that toying with the idea of violence as a resolution tactic is a dangerous one. I apologize wholeheartedly for anyone I have offended and hope that this unfathomable tragedy may bring those in contention to some sort of understanding. I do not believe in violence and I do not think politicians should be given free reign to suggest their constituency has the right to threaten others. context:
Obamalondon, if you need verification of who I am please let me know how to contact you.

[Mariana]

32. I thought that comment read like sarcasm

but it's true it wasn't very clear.

[reformist2]

23. A lot of people made the "linkage" this weekend.

Once people have that moment where they say, "OMG, what they have been warning about really is true", it's very hard for them to be persuaded back to the way they thought before.