TwinTownBisonFan wrote:
To the boards Conks - are you guys listening to yourselves? Are you serious? Man up. The reality is that the escalating rhetoric (that goes back nearly a decade) from the mouthpieces of the American right, harnessing a real anger for political gain - and continually alluding to notions of violent revolution when if they don't get their way is real. I don't need to waste all of our time pointing to shopworn examples.
Interesting, but what about the "escalating rhetoric" from the mouthpieces of the American political left? Do I need to remind you of the nasty, hateful, violent, and disgusting statements coming from the left while Bush was the president? Since you said nothing about the "escalating rhetoric" coming from the left, do you honestly believe that bombastic speech is a monopoly only enjoyed by the right?
It's equally disgusting to suggest that escalating political rhetoric had absolutely nothing to do with setting off this young man.
This isn't unique to American political history - for as "hyper partisan" as things seem now - it's been worse... however - I'm really, really disappointed that the reaction from many conservatives (press releases aside) has been to freak out that people who were shocked and upset lashed out a political movement that has suggested itself toward violence repeatedly over the past two years.
What a lot of conservatives - especially the mainstream ones - need to understand, is that on the left, yesterdays event is something we've seen coming for two years. the anger, fueled and exploited by politicians for votes and money was always something they had tenuous control of at best - and I think many of us on the left sensed that. All it was going to take was one person who was unstable to misinterpret rhetoric...
For someone claiming to be a student of this country's political history, you don't seem to know very much.
What happened yesterday isn't something that has been brewing for the last two years, it is something that has been brewing for decades. Do you know anything about the 1960's? Are you aware that violent politically motivated left-wing extremists blew up the US Capitol, the Pentagon, police stations from San Fransisco to Boston, exploded bombs in the homes of Federal judges, and were responsible for countless other bombings all over the country? If these violent acts were committed by mere radical right-wing extremists, they would have been executed or still be locked in prison, but since these acts were perpetuated by radical leftists, they get to become tenured professors teaching our children at distinguished universities.
I said it in another post and I'll say it again. I think this guy is nothing more than a David Berkowitz or John Hinckley Jr. Berkowitz became the "Son of Sam" because his neighbor's dog told him to kill people, and Hinkley tried to assassinate Reagan because he wanted to impress Jodie Foster. Who knows what this guy's motivations were, but I very seriously doubt it was "right-wing" political hate speech especially, since by all accounts, the guy was a radical leftist.
My only hope in all of this is that saner, more rational wings of the GOP - and I know they exist - will take this as an opportunity to calm down the rhetoric, especially the kind they use to fire up their base... while the stable among us understand the difference between rhetoric and marching orders - we've seen the tragic outcomes when ramped up rhetoric meets someone who can't tell the difference.
Again, why are you only calling out the GOP. If there is any political fallout whatsoever, this one is going to fall squarely in "your" (collectively speaking) lap.
