Disgusting: More Hatred Directed at Sarah Palin

I have to say that this situation has devolved into something utterly disgusting. Before going into that, I would like to post the newest video from Lee Doren at HowTheWorldWorks which discusses the hateful rhetoric being thrown around by those on the left.

The video Doren refers to, the one containing more then four minutes of Twitter posts which call for Sarah Palin’s death is this one.

Calls for her assassination? Demanding she be hanged? Praying that she and her family get cancer? Weren’t these supposed to be the tolerant and peaceful people? As usual, the media narrative is far from the truth.

It isn’t just this though, which has already past the point of disturbing. As Michelle Malkin reported earlier, Markos Moulitsas, founder of the Daily Kos, is demonstrating just how ghoulish he can be. Where is the civility? He doesn’t have any. Moulitsas is well-known for his disturbing remarking, as Michelle also pointed out in this post, referring to comments he made in 2004, cheering the deaths of four American civilian contractors. That sounds like inspirational hate rhetoric doesn’t it?

Hot Air’s Allahpundit posted on the continuing comments by Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik that Jared Lee Loughner’s actions is the result of harsh political rhetoric from the right, despite his own acknowledgment of the lack of evidence to back up this claim. Why else would the media continue dragging this disgrace in front of the cameras if not to smear Palin and others conservatives? What is even more troubling, as Allahpundit pointed out, President Barack Obama call Dupnik up to thank him for his efforts on this case. What efforts? In my opinion, he not only failed in his duties to prevent this tragedy, but this disgrace is now helping to build the case for the defense with his dishonest comments. As Michael Coren said on his show yesterday, this man should be fired.

This is ongoing and I will update this post as more of this disgusting rhetoric comes out. There is only one thing I can say about this fiasco; If, after all that has been said the last few days, someone does attack Sarah Palin, I personally blame those pointing the finger at her now. Will they accept blame in that event or simply scapegoat another conservative figure? Downright pathetic…

UPDATE: In a related story, Michelle Malkin has posted on the attacks by the Daily Kos and others like them on HillBuzz.org for not supporting their far-left politics. These radicals will even smear those on the left who don’t share their twisted views. I recommend my modest readership give this post a read.

UPDATE: Both Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey and Michelle Malkin, along with others, have posted about Sarah Palin’s response to these vicious claims that she is somehow to blame for the massacre in Tucson, Arizona. Suffice to say, she demonstrates far more character and restraint than those who pointed the finger at her following the tragedy.

With that said, however, some people just don’t seem to learn. Politico’s Ben Smith, as Morrissey mentioned in his post, points to comments made on MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ that Palin’s use of the term “blood libel” is anti-semitic. National Review Online’s Jim Geraghty notes that those on the left, though attacking Palin for the use of this phrase, have had no qualms about applying it to Republicans, citing a Talking Points Memo post from November 2000 by Josh Marshall. Hypocrisy is one of their lesser crimes these last few days though.

Michelle Malkin also put out a column discussing the disgraceful Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik. Aside from discussing Dupnik’s unprofessional conduct since the tragedy, she also makes mention of a point raised by others like talk radio host Mark Levin and RedState.com blogger Moe Lane; What did the Pima County Sheriff know about threats made by Jared Lee Loughner to Gabrielle Giffords? Loughner had a criminal record, police had been to his house on numerous occasions, so why wasn’t action taken earlier to prevent this tragedy? While there is no evidence to support Dupnik’s claim that heated political rhetoric from the right had anything to do with this disturbed individual’s actions, there does seem to be evidence mounting of the Sheriff’s incompetence in dealing with this matter.

It would be nice if the media would lay off Sarah Palin and start critically examining Clarence Dupnik. I believe his actions, or lack thereof, have far more to do with this tragedy than whatever the former Alaskan Governor has ever done or said.

Blame Video Games? Another Theory for Jared Lee Loughner’s Rampage

If Sarah Palin isn’t to blame for Jared Lee Loughner’s rampage in Tucson, Arizona, then who else or what else can be blamed? Michael McWhertor at Kotaku is concerned about a report from the Wall Street Journal by John R. Emshwiller, Devlin Barrett and Charles Forelle that, according to Loughner’s classmates, he was an avid gamer.

Here we go. Jared Lee Loughner, the Tucson man accused of attempting to kill Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, has been identified as a “big video gamer” by former classmates. Oh, and he really enjoyed reading Mein Kampf…

…According to a Wall Street Journal report, “All [Loughner] did was play video games and play music,” according to high school friend Tommy Marriotti. And by way of The Arizona Republic, the suspected murderer was a “big video gamer,” or so says Pima Community College student Chris Walker.

To be fair, the Wall Street Journal article only made mention of what was said by classmates, instead spending the majority of it focusing on Loughner’s obsession with Gabrielle Giffords. The mention of video games is just to put an emphasis on this deranged individual’s anti-social tendencies. Does that mean all video gamers are this way? Of course not. Video games have become the entertainment medium of our generation. All sorts of people play them, whether they be social or anti-social. The Nintendo Wii, the most successful system of this console generation, was advertised as being a social magnet. Online gaming has also become the new social meeting place, bringing together people from all around the world. Suffice to say, video games being an escape for the anti-social is debatable.

Ever since video games were blamed for the Columbine High School massacre, the gaming community has been very defensive about any mention of video games as a cause for deranged behaviour. Though Michael McWhertor may be a bit sensitive, he does make the point that there were man other potential inspirations for this tragedy, including Mein Kampf. Instead of looking for a scapegoat, why not accept that Jared Lee Loughner was disturbed and didn’t need a rational reason to do what he did? Is that so difficult?

UPDATE: Hot Air’s Allahpundit put up a post regarding the finger pointing being done by those looking to blame something or someone for Jared Lee Loughner’s rampage. I don’t think “violent media” is to blame for the acts of a deranged individual. No matter what it is, be it music, movies, television, video games, etc twisted people will look for a deeper meaning in what is and isn’t deemed controversial.

As Bill O’Reilly stated in his Talking Points Memo (hat-tip to RealClearPolitics.com) civilizations have always had disturbed individuals and there is no solution to them. Instead of blaming everything and everyone else, why not point the finger at the person who pulled the trigger? Pathetic…

Michael Coren on the Tucson, Arizona shootings

While I am thinking about whether or not to put up another post, I have to say that today’s episode of ‘The Michael Coren Show’ definitely covers all the important issues I wanted to raise. Thanks to SDAMatt2 for posting this video.

In this instance, Michael Coren, who’s not a fan, comes to the defense of Sarah Palin like Barbara Walters did today on ‘The View’ (hat-tip to Hot Air’s Allahpundit). Noel Sheppard has the full story and a clip from the segment on ‘The View’ if anyone is interested. I have to say that I am upset that it took such a tragedy to get them to come to Palin’s defense against a media which has done everything to demonize her. As Michelle Malkin stated last night on her blog, this is a continuing campaign to smear those on the right, a vicious campaign that has become very ugly in the last few years. I think Tarek Fatah should have given it a read before ranting about the whitewashing of the left’s involvement in tragedy. Same goes for his ignorant and hateful comments about the people of Arizona. If he is concerned with hateful rhetoric, he shouldn’t have made those comments.

As for the comments about this not being political, I both agree and disagree with this. I agree that this is the work of a deranged individual so it doesn’t matter what Jared Lee Loughner’s political affiliation is. This is an individual who was obsessed with conspiracy theories, most notably the conspiracy theories involving the September 11 attacks (hat-tip to Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey). On the other hand, I disagree. As Noel Sheppard at NewsBusters.org reported last weekend, ABC interviewed people who know Loughner and, according to Caitlin Parker, someone who spoke at length with him, he was “left wing, quite liberal and oddly obsessed with the 2012 prophecy.” This does seem to be the source of Loughner’s hatred towards Giffords as he felt she wasn’t informed enough on the issues, as Parker stated in the ABC interview. The vast majority of this deranged individual’s beliefs are shared by those on the left. There hasn’t been any discussion on this in the media has there? Am I saying the left is to blame for this? Of course not. As with Dr. Amy Bishop and Joseph Andrew Stack, Loughner is a crazy person and crazy people will do crazy things. What I am saying though is that the vast majority of these people, despite claims to the contrary, come from the left, so if those like “Hanoi Jane” Fonda, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, and those at CNN and The New York Times really want to play this game, they won’t like the outcome.

As for the rest of the comments, as a Canadian, I don’t begrudge the gun culture of the United States. If we did carry firearms like they do in America, we might not have had the massacre at École Polytechnique, the tragedy briefly discussed on today’s show. This nonsense about the difference between our countries frustrates me as those who are obsessed with the idea that Canada and the United States are vastly different seem to forget centuries of shared history and an almost identical political and social culture. Let’s also not pretend that Canadian politics are anymore proper than American politics. Have we already forgotten Libby Davies’ rant about Israel?

In any event, this story is far from over. The weekend has just ended but it seems that the fallout from the shootings in Tucson, Arizona has just begun. Let’s remember that it is Jared Lee Loughner who committed this horrible act, not Sarah Palin nor anyone else on the right, and let’s also remember to pray for the victims of this horrible attack. That is what really matters, not trying to figure out who should be blamed for the actions of a deranged individual.

UPDATE: Ed Morrissey at Hot Air has a post up about comments made by Time magazine’s Mark Halperin about conservatives defending themselves. Video via The Daily Caller.

What did I say about Canadian politics being no different. This is the exact same approach Tarek Fatah took in condemning Sarah Palin for removing the much discussed crosshairs map from her website, that by defending themselves they are contributing to the problem. Huh? It doesn’t make sense, but this seems to be the newest line of attack on the former Alaskan Governor and those who share her political views.

In any event, I recommend my readership give Ed Morrissey’s post a read, especially since he also reports on the reaction by right-leaning pundits to Mark Halperin’s comments.