This is the rather bizarre mugshot of Jared Loughner that was released yesterday afternoon. He has been assigned lawyer Judy Clarke, who defended the Unabomber.
One of the more interesting facts to emerge is that Loughner was expelled from his community college after complaints from classmates that he seemed on the edge of violence.
In the meantime, the Sheriff is being attacked for criticizing right-wing commentators for their over-the-top rhetoric, including conservative icon, Rush Limbaugh. Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik stated “The kind of rhetoric that flows from people like Rush Limbaugh, in my judgment he is irresponsible, uses partial information, sometimes wrong information. . . [Limbaugh] attacks people, angers them against government, angers them against elected officials and that kind of behavior in my opinion is not without consequences.” [Update: Limbaugh has reportedly fired back by saying that the Democratic Party supports Loughner and is “attempting to find anybody but him to blame.” Wasn’t he supposed to be Costa Rica?] Reportedly near the scene of the shooting is this billboard:
Sarah Palin is also being criticized for putting a bullseye over Giffords’s district as someone she has “set her sights on” for defeat:
Notably, Palin was previously associated with threats against the President by the Secret Service, here.
Gifford’s husband has also blamed inflammatory rhetoric for the shooting.
For its part, the Brady Campaign, may the following point in a statement from Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence:
“The 22 year-old shooter in Tucson was not allowed to enlist in the military, was asked to leave school, and was considered “very disturbed” (according to former classmates), but that’s not enough to keep someone from legally buying as many guns as they want in America.” For the full statement, click here
One of the more worrisome (and predictable) developments is the proposal of legislation to further criminalize speech, here.
Well one can say what the want, explain it away ,however they like, but the fact remains what he did was just dead wrong and should take his lumps. I mean look at the mug shot, sort of says it all eh. To me its cut & dried.
From The Atlantic (1/8/2011)
10 Months Before Her Shooting, Giffords Was at the Center of Safety Concerns
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/01/giffordss-office-window-was-smashed-after-health-care-vote/69141/
Excerpts:
The truly horrific news in Tuscon today defies any sort of context, but it follows an incident of violence targeted at Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords earlier this year.
On March 21, 2010, the night the House of Representatives passed its sweeping health reform law, a window was smashed in Congresswoman Giffords’s office in Tuscon, the city she has represented in Congress since 2006, where she was shot today. Her staff stayed late in the office, as the health care vote happened well into the night in Washington, and after everyone had left, someone smashed a window.
*****
Giffords’s office became one of many stories that week about violence and intimidation aimed at members of Congress surrounding the health care vote. Seven months earlier, tensions over health care and President Obama’s stimulus plan had led to violence at lawmakers’ town-hall meetings, like the one Giffords was hosting today.
As health care was passed, Democratic Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter (CA) and Rep. Bart Stupak (MI), who made a last-minute compromise with the Obama administration over abortion language, reportedly received death threats. A gas line was severed at the home of Rep. Tom Perriello’s (VA) brother, and the FBI investigated. As lawmakers met on Capitol Hill to consider the health care law the Saturday before the vote, Democratic members of Congress were harassed by angry protesters outside their office buildings.
House Democrats met with Capitol Police to discuss security concerns after this unsettling wave of events, at the request of then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi and then-Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.
*****
The national atmosphere that week was surreal, as political tensions once again took on dark, violent tones, not so long after things had turned bad during Congress’s August recess just seven months previously. Ever since a protester displayed a hanging effigy of Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-MD) in August 2009, Washington was on edge, concerned about the safety of lawmakers and not sure what to make of the violent direction in which politics seemed to be headed. No one could quite determine how serious the threats against lawmakers were.
Let’s get this straight: Anyone who equates Naziism, Socialism,
Communism, Fascism and Liberalism is an ignorant/uninformed person, swallowing the current swill delivered by right wingers and Libertarians. The latter two are so hung up in their mythology and pre-suppositions that they are open vessels for ingesting propaganda dispensed by their real enemy the Corporations. These groups talk about freedom, but only in mythological terms loaded with distortion, never really understanding what the term means. To wit:
1. One is not free when cartels decide the prices of staples such as drugs, food, gasoline, electricity, etc.
2. One is not free when American Manufacturing moves to other climes, for cheap labor and this country’s citizens can only buy products primarily made by slave labor.
3. One is not free when working in the only major, industrialized nation that requires more working hours than time to spend with family.
4. One is not free when access to health care is limited by ones wealth.
5. One is not free when government can be bought by the wealthy elite because a conservative SCOTUS has decided that
wealth can not be limited in supporting candidates.
6. One is not free when having bars to organized labor that force them to work under conditions controlled solely by ownership, thereby limiting their bargaining ability and closing them off from a “free market” in selling their skills.
7. One can never be free under a hypothetical, unfettered “free
market” since corporate/private wealth will always seek to and eventually control the terms of the marketplace.
And so on and so forth. Each of the above statements can be proven easily to any with open minds, however, those who equate
Communism/Naziism/Fascism/Socialism do not have open minds.
They believe in the mythology promulgated by those who have delivered our country into corporate hands and made the wealthy
elite our masters.
Where they have some insight is in the fact that just because one claims liberal sympathies does not mean their respect for freedom is any greater. In general those who choose political careers tend to be egotists, sociopaths and/or greedy people.
Most can be bought and generally are. The emoluments of being bought are dependent upon the individual, but the process goes on and has indeed been a characteristic of human society since the dawn of history.
I personally reject all “Isms” but the economic/political and
sociological discussion has been so polluted by “Isms” that often it is easier to express one’s thoughts in those terms, in order to be understood. Those with the “will to power” use the “Isms” to gather suporters by offering a simple mythology
that can cloud rational analysis and create puppet-like followers, who waste their time debating the “Isms” and
xenophobically excoriate those not on their side.
To the case in point. It seems to me that the killer has a diseased mind that has been so confused by the hysterical form of political/economic/sociological debate of our times, that he amalgamated it all together in his warped mind and convinced himself that he was striking a blow for freedom. While I say a plague upon all houses in the political spectrum, it is from the extremists represented by such as Palin, Beck and Hannity where the created images of the cleansing power of violence to end the frustrations that pervade movements like the Tea Party, has done the most harm.
While I support the right to bear arms for reasons clearly elucidated by Buddha on another thread, I reject the hysteria of the NRA and those officials who grovel for their support. One reading of the NRA Magazine confirms the mental instability of many of those who run this organization. It is sad that while I agree with their purpose this agreement would tend to be portrayed as agreement with their methodology and conclusions. Any entity that would support the right to bear arms in a bar has launched itself over into an abyss of abstruseness and tomfoolery.
The only solution for this madness with arrive when people stop clogging their mental processes with mythological beliefs and begin to observe their environment clearly, as painful as that may be.
Slug,
“So there were no property rights in Nazi Germany.”
Really?
You might want to ask the Krupps about that. They made a fortune along with many others from the very profitable Nazi war machine. Partly because Hitler and the Nazis were union busters and German big business – much like modern American big business – hated unions cutting into their profits.
The Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, based on the Napoleonic civil code – which does recognize property rights, was enacted in 1900. Despite efforts by the Nazis to replace the BGB with the Volksgesetzbuch (so-called “People’s Law” based on Nazi ideology), they were never able to carry out that legislative agenda.
But you keep trying to re-write history all you want.
It won’t change the facts.
When Gabriell Gifford was rushed to the hospital, her father was asked if she had any enemies. This was his answer: “Yeah”, he said,”the whole tea party”.
Well we can thank Uncle Ronnie for the lack of funding for mental health….oh yeah only the Hinleys can afford the best….
Ironic. In a post talking about violent rhetoric we read
“In the meantime, the Sheriff is being ATTACKED for criticizing right-wing commentators for their over-the-top rhetoric…”(my emphasis)
The sheriff complained about Limbaugh and others “attacking” folks.
LOL
Okay, enough of the jokes.
This guy is 22 years old? What is he eating? Nuts and bolts?
I find it silly that the accompanying video shown on Fox News from Loughner’s family home, which shows a skull in a dish next to some candles, refers to the arrangement of items as an alter. It’s possible they said satanic alter.
It looked like left-over decorations from Halloween.
This guy is warped enough. Enough to reap the full justice he deserves. Fox or the cops could stop with the silly statements or guesses.
Anyone who thinks Mein Kampf is a left wing book is a loon.
Buddha, Elaine, Swarthmore Mom, et al,
I am glad that this crap about this crazy shooter being a left wing nutjob is as crazy as Loughner is. I heard some of this save our butt rhetoric from the Right yesterday and it of course is based on misconceptions and lies. It was already mentioned about the 2nd Amendment remedies and the cross hairs strategy by Palin, but let’s not forget the M-16 shooting of her opponent as a fund raiser to take down Gifffords. Don’t forget the opponent of the democratic congresswoman whose picture was put on targets at a gun range in Florida for “fun” by her opponent. I could go on, but I hope you see my point. This love affair with the use of the gun and advocacy of using gun violence has no place in this country. By the way, National Socialism is not a left wing ideology.
rcampbell,
I loved your Rick’s Cafe comment!
Jared Loughner, Alleged Shooter in Gabrielle Giffords Attack, Described by Classmate as “Left-Wing Pothead”.
http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2011/01/jared_loughner_alleged_shooter.php
Yet the MSM is attempting to call him a right-wing radical. What do they base their opinion on? That he allegedly believes in the Constitution? (So do I) That he allegedly believes that our currency should be backed by gold? (So do I).
I read the links contributed by Elaine M. They are some of the most bias reporting I have ever read. They are spin.
From the second article; “It’s linked to the core Patriot theory that the Federal Reserve is actually a private corporation…”
You only need to look at who authored those articles to see if they should be given any credibility. This becomes even more true when you look at the weak arguments presented as the basis for their opinion. The inferences presented by the authors are as weak as concluding that someone must lean to the left because they read the morning newspaper.
Instead of making sure to do everything they can to say “he’s not one of us”, maybe they should do some real investigative journalism and find out who he is.
Buddha is Laughing:
if the government “allows” property rights then they do not exist. Our government is supposed to protect property rights.
So there were no property rights in Nazi Germany.
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/01/gun_rhetoric_2010.php?ref=fpb This illustrates the incidences of “hunting” democrats in the fall campaign. There is a pattern.
Chan,
Displaying the fruits of your 4th rate education again?
What part of “politically syncretic” don’t you understand?
Apparently all of it.
Good luck at Clown College.
ID,
“Folks, this guy is a whacko, plain and simple. I doubt he has any coherent political philosophy. Like so many other political assassins, he’s quite simply crazy.”
Yep. But where does the majority of the violent rhetoric that inspires such lunatics originate from?
The Right.
This is a link provided on another thread by SMom:
http://www.csgv.org/issues-and-campaigns/guns-democracy-and-freedom/insurrection-timeline
It is a time line of violence dominated by FOX, the NRA, Right wingers and Teabaggers.
Slug,
Get back to us when Olbermann shoots somebody.
Any panic the Right is feeling now is well earned and justified. When the Teabaggers run off at the mouth about “Second Amendment remedies”? You bet this is the inevitable outcome. When you incite violence often enough, some crazy bastard will eventually take you up on the offer.
As to Hitler? Oh, he respected property rights alright. If you were an Aryan and not a Jew or Roma. Or unless you resisted him like Ferdinand Porsche. You could have all the property rights you wanted as long as you were a Good Lil’ Nazi. But you are right that the Communists did not respect any property rights. Because they too were insane. Just as insane as the people who think that unlimited accumulation (and the inherent social instability this causes) and property rights are synonymous.
Another favorite Loughner book was Alice in Wonderland.
Folks, this guy is a whacko, plain and simple. I doubt he has any coherent political philosophy. Like so many other political assassins, he’s quite simply crazy. The first attempted assassination of a president was Andrew Jackson in 1835. Jackson’s assailant was considered insane even by 1835 standards and never stood trial. Sarah Palin wasn’t around then.
My issue is this: I have read in news reports that the community college was so frightened of him that they had the notice of expulsion hand delivered to his house by two Tucson police officers. Just like the VA Tech shooting, I see this as a mental health “care” failure. If the community college was so frightened of him they thought the police should deliver the expulsion notice, why wasn’t he brought in for a competency hearing and at least institutionalized for a few days to determine if he was in fact a danger to others.
Forget trying to change gun laws. It will never happen. Go on liberal blogs like HuffPO and even there you are blown out of the water for even suggesting that there’s no rational reason why a civilian should own a semi-automatic Glock pistol which with an extended magazine can fire 33 bullets without reloading.
Bubbha:
Joseph Goebbels would disagree with you:
“Socialism will become reality when the Fatherland is free.
Why Are We Socialists?
We are socialists because we see in socialism, that is the union of all citizens, the only chance to maintain our racial inheritance and to regain our political freedom and renew our German state.
Socialism is the doctrine of liberation for the working class. It promotes the rise of the fourth class and its incorporation in the political organism of our Fatherland, and is inextricably bound to breaking the present slavery and regaining German freedom. Socialism, therefore, is not merely a matter of the oppressed class, but a matter for everyone, for freeing the German people from slavery is the goal of contemporary policy. Socialism gains its true form only through a total fighting brotherhood with the forward-striving energies of a newly awakened nationalism. Without nationalism it is nothing, a phantom, a mere theory, a castle in the sky, a book. With it it is everything, the future, freedom, the fatherland!
The sin of liberal thinking was to overlook socialism’s nation-building strengths, thereby allowing its energies to go in anti-national directions. The sin of Marxism was to degrade socialism into a question of wages and the stomach, putting it in conflict with the state and its national existence. An understanding of both these facts leads us to a new sense of socialism, which sees its nature as nationalistic, state-building, liberating and constructive.
The bourgeois is about to leave the historical stage. In its place will come the class of productive workers, the working class, that has been up until today oppressed. It is beginning to fulfill its political mission. It is involved in a hard and bitter struggle for political power as it seeks to become part of the national organism. The battle began in the economic realm; it will finish in the political. It is not merely a matter of wages, not only a matter of the number of hours worked in a day — though we may never forget that these are an essential, perhaps even the most significant part of the socialist platform — but it is much more a matter of incorporating a powerful and responsible class in the state, perhaps even to make it the dominant force in the future politics of the fatherland. The bourgeoisie does not want to recognize the strength of the working class. Marxism has forced it into a straitjacket that will ruin it. While the working class gradually disintegrates in the Marxist front, bleeding itself dry, the bourgeoisie and Marxism have agreed on the general lines of capitalism, and see their task now to protect and defend it in various ways, often concealed.
We are socialists because we see the social question as a matter of necessity and justice for the very existence of a state for our people, not a question of cheap pity or insulting sentimentality. The worker has a claim to a living standard that corresponds to what he produces. We have no intention of begging for that right. Incorporating him in the state organism is not only a critical matter for him, but for the whole nation. The question is larger than the eight-hour day. It is a matter of forming a new state consciousness that includes every productive citizen. Since the political powers of the day are neither willing nor able to create such a situation, socialism must be fought for. It is a fighting slogan both inwardly and outwardly. It is aimed domestically at the bourgeois parties and Marxism at the same time, because both are sworn enemies of the coming workers’ state. It is directed abroad at all powers that threaten our national existence and thereby the possibility of the coming socialist national state.
Explanation: “The thinking worker comes to Hitler,” the caption says. A communist and a socialist are accusing each other of betraying the working class.
Socialism is possible only in a state that is united domestically and free internationally. The bourgeoisie and Marxism are responsible for failing to reach both goals, domestic unity and international freedom. No matter how national and social these two forces present themselves, they are the sworn enemies of a socialist national state.
We must therefore break both groups politically. The lines of German socialism are sharp, and our path is clear.
We are against the political bourgeoisie, and for genuine nationalism!
We are against Marxism, but for true socialism!
We are for the first German national state of a socialist nature!
We are for the National Socialist German Workers Party!”
keep propagandizing your socialist utopia.
I heard the following interview on NPR yesterday:
From NPR (January 10, 2011)
Former Teacher On Accused Shooter
Ben McGahee had Jared Loughner, the alleged gunman whose shooting rampage on Saturday killed six people and wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, as a student last June in a basic algebra class at Pima Community College. He shares his view of the alleged gunman.
http://www.npr.org/2011/01/10/132812036/Teacher-Remembers-Accused-Shooter
The fact that this man read Mein Kampf and the communist manifesto is not surprising. Both Hitler and Marx had no respect for property rights. And property rights are nothing but an extension of an individual.
Clearly Hitler and Marx had no respect for individuals either. Hitlers concentration camps and the Soviet Gulags prove that.
Since both the Tea Party and conservatives are proponents of individual and property rights it is a rather far stretch to think this guy was influenced by either movement.
I would think however the left would be deathly afraid of any movement which does believe in individual rights and property rights. It impedes their ascension to total power. That they try and paint this lunatic somehow representative of conservatives in general and the tea party in particular is evidence of their declining influence on the American political scene. Their hysteria is palpable.
A drowning man will cling to any bit of rubbish to stay afloat for a few minutes longer.
“Just as man can’t exist without his body, so no rights can exist without the right to translate one’s rights into reality—to think, to work and to keep the results—which means: the right of property.”
Eniobob said:
“There was an interesting debate I happen to hear on the radio yesterday regarding Loughner.
The question was this.If he were from a Muslim country he would have been considered a terrorist,but since he is White he is being called insane.”
I would regard Mr. Loughner as an insane terrorist – in my opinion he was trying to attain irrational and hopelessly inchoate goals via the use of terror. To me the definition of terrorism lies with using the tactic, not the ideology behind the goal…