Democratic Congresswoman Among 12 Shot in Arizona

This is what I was trying to say.

It appears that this nut wasn't a tea party loon or anything like that, but if you make statements or suggestions that seem to be encouraging someone to take up arms against elected officials and someone shoots an elected official, don't act surprised that you are being dragged into the discussion.

 

Maybe. Maybe not.

http://www.slate.com/id/2158608/

http://www.slate.com/id/2159470/#sb2159648

http://www.vvaw.org/veteran/article/?id=350

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spitting_Image

 

Yeah, I'm guessing Palin's crosshairs website and the democratic (I can't remember if he was in the congress or the senate) from West Virginia who shot up document in a campaign ad don't seem like such good ideas now.

Again, the only person to blame for the shootings is the shooter. I hope he rots in hell and I hope he's sent there soon.

 

I can't decide how I feel about the comparison.

On the one hand, I agree with you.

On the other hand, I feel like they were fighting for something loftier than lower taxes. On the other hand, I remember that the Tea Partiers would not frame it that way, but rather that they are fighting for the Constitution.

On one hand, I feel like the '60s protesters used symbols of peace and harmony. On the other hand, I suspect I'm romanticizing the period and there were much darker undercurrents than that.

 

Peace symbols? They declared war on the Federal Government and were blowing up Federal buildings.

 

I understand that.

I'm referring strictly to the symbolism and rhetoric. Not the actions.

 

The '60's were worse: "Hey, hey LBJ, how many kids have you killed today" -- the '68 convention -- the Weather Underground.

The '70's were worse: Kent State -- Watergate.

The '80's were as bad: Reagan's a cowboy who's going to get us into a nuclear war -- Reagan's old and senile -- Bush (formally the youngest fighter pilot in the Navy and the captain of the Yale baseball team) is a wimp -- Quayle is an idiot -- Robert Bork hearings.

The '90's were worse: Clinton is a mass murderer -- Impeachment -- Clarence Thomas hearings.

The '00's were at least as bad: Bush is a war criminal -- Bush is Hitler -- Bush is a chimp -- Powell is a house slave.

 

Don't oversimplify. There are factions of the Tea Party that are peaceful and factions that are borderline lunatic. Just like 60s protesters.

 

"I told all of our guys, shut up, tone it down, make your argument intellectually," Ailes said. "You don't have to do it with bombast. I hope the other side does that."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/01/10/2011-01-10_roger_ailes_promises_russell_brand_fox_news_will_tone_down_fiery_rhetoric_defend.html#ixzz1Ak21kbe5

 

Yes, symbolism excuses actions like, you know, blowing shit up.

 

That is what I was trying to get at. I think we end up at the mercy of how the mass media frames the images. Whatever the era, we are always getting a snapshot of a much, much larger and more complex picture.

 

Not even within 10 area codes of what I was saying.