January 20, 2011
Freedom beware
The latest attack on our freedoms started only a few hours after the tragic shooting incident in Tucson. Within an hour, CNN put on the local political cartoonist, David Fitzsimmons, who announced that the shooting was “inevitable” considering “The Right in Arizona, and I’m speaking very broadly, has been stoking the fires of a heated anger and rage successfully in this state.”
This was followed by New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, who insisted he wasn’t surprised this happened because he saw it coming, even though the facts in this dimension don’t support his premonitions.
Perhaps the star of the media’s liberal juggernaut was Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, who rushed to the readily available media microphones to proclaim the shooting was the natural outgrowth of hot “anti-government” talkers, that “the vitriolic rhetoric that we hear day in and day out from the people in the radio business and some people in the TV business” was to blame.
The main stream media is an interesting study. Consider this: There has not been a single act of Muslim violence in the last two years that the media was willing to identify as motivated by Islam. Each and every time they had to be dragged kicking and screaming, past their cover stories, through groundless claims that the attackers were motivated by psychological problems, bullying, imaginary medical conditions or financial problems — to some adjunct of the truth.
At the same time over the last two years, each prominent act of violence by non-Muslims was followed by an attempt to identify the attacker or attackers with mainstream Republicans in a cynical attempt to demonize and criminalize the political opposition. If you think this is farfetched consider what just happened in the reporting of the incident in Tucson.
There can be no question that those who died and those who struggle to survive represent a tragedy — a tragedy that should not have occurred. But there is a greater tragedy that Americans need to wake up and acknowledge before Obama’s socialist agenda consumes us. I am speaking of controlling speech and expression. I am speaking of controlling the right to defend ourselves, in our homes and in our society. When we lose the right to dissent, to question authority and yes, to be emotional and even express anger, we have lost our most treasure rights protected by the First and Second amendments.
Those on the liberal left would love to divert you and me from speaking out. Consider the groundswell to repeal Obamacare. Still, I suppose we should have seen it was coming. After all Barack Obama’s former chief of staff, Rahm Emmanuel, once said that you should never let a crisis go to waste. So, why shouldn’t these violent murders not be exploited ... and exploited they were.
I received an e-mail from a friend yesterday that expressed what happened as such. While millions of Americans prayed for those who were brutally assaulted and their families, members of the liberal media smeared themselves in the blood of the dying to score political points.
Can anything be more despicable? If you ever fear speaking out, they’ve won.
Louis Call
CCTA Legislative/Research Committee Chairman
River Bend, NC
© Copyright 2011 Freedom Communications. All Rights Reserved.
Showing posts with label Sherriff Dupnik. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sherriff Dupnik. Show all posts
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
MORE LIES FROM THE LIBERAL LEFT
Balanced with truth from a real Patiot!
Read the Rant below from Ken Humphry, Chairman of the Carteret County Democratic Party and then the wonderful response which follows by Tom Austin, member of the Crystal Coast Tea Party and a marine.
Tombstone Politics: Legacy of Hate
by Ken Humphrey, Chairman of the Carteret County Democratic Party
NEWS-TIMES, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2011
http://www.carteretnewstimes.com/articles/2011/01/17/news-times/letters_to_the_editor/doc4d31de3011d54615300470.txt
TO THE EDITOR:
Free speech comes a real cost today: A bullet in the head, for instance. You have to admire a good clean headshot, done with gun control (using both hands). This is the lexicon of macho NRA gun lovers everywhere. He was all man. Who cannot admire a real man with a gun, or better still, a “real woman” — a former governor for instance, who can shoot an 80-year old blind moose with arthritis and bad knees with an NRA howitzer? “I dropped that sucker in his tracks!” An Annie Oakley from Wasilla! Men adore her. Sarah is a real woman in a world of real men. The icon and new normal in 2011. “We need to get our America back!” I tear up just thinking of it. All government is evil. All liberals are socialist, etc.
Shakespeare in 1592 seemed prescient, describing our political environment today: Chaos. We are edging closer. Crosshairs and words have consequences. Our Sarah: Don’t retreat. Reload! Blood libel!
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair America, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge breaks to new mutiny,
Where civil hands, make civil blood unclean.
I can agree, to a point, with David Brooks, New York Times: “Political opportunism occasioned by this Arizona tragedy has ranged from the completely irrelevant to the shamelessly irresponsible.” There is no clear link to the Tea Party rage or the extreme right wing. But that is an over-simplification — a ho-hum — partly absolving those who stir hate every day: Hate radio hosts. Notice I did not say Talk Radio. But my issue with hate radio and the ilk of Limbaugh and Beck and Palin is already public record. So in this missive my position is consistent with my past. Beck, Palin, Bachmann and Limbaugh are those who fan hate in America. My opinion.
Gabrielle Giffords, her husband a Navy pilot and astronaut, read the First Amendment on the House floor — including the guarantee of “the right of the people to assemble peaceably” — and then went home to Arizona to put those words into practice. Her meetings were under the banner, “Congressional Corner.” She was gravely wounded by a young man filled with hate, a gun obtained in the most lenient state in the nation for qualifying to buy gun. Arizona NRA test: “Sir, do you have a pulse? Excellent! Here’s your automatic. Congratulations. The NRA welcomes you into the fold of Super American Patriots.” The NRA is the great enabler. Put your own meaning to this. Sell all the guns and ammo you can. Strap on your gun. Strut in public. Be macho man among boys: “I pack. Dida’ notice?” N.C. Rep. Heath Shuler packs. A bullet to the head of those who disagree with you is an efficient way to express extreme irritation. A 30-round Glock is excellent for taking out women congressmen, liberal judges and 9-year olds.
NRA? Not a peep. All hunkered in the weeds, sucking their thumbs, nervously wondering: “Now what?”
Note below some quotes from some of our self-ordained, far right conservative patriots. Did you miss these?
Michele Bachmann: “I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous because we need to fight back.”
Momma Grizzly: “Guys, let’s not retreat. Let’s reload.” Sarah Palin put crosshairs on Giffords.
Glenn Beck: “I’m thinking about killing Michael Moore, I would like to kill him. I’m wondering if I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire somebody to do it. No, I think I could.” (Glenn is such a straight talker).
Sharon Angel: “You know if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies. (Guns). I’ll tell you the first thing we need to do is take Harry Reid out!”
Rush Limbaugh: “You know who deserves a posthumous Medal of Honor? James Earl Ray [confessed assassin of Martin Luther King]. We miss you dearly, James. Godspeed, sir.” Limbaugh: Conservatives hero.
I mean let’s face it. We didn’t have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: slavery built the South. I’m not saying we should bring it back. I’m just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark.” Folks, isn’t that Rushbo-boy something else? He nails it!
I could fill page after page with public quotes of the hate, bigotry, racism spewed daily by conservative hate show hosts. Are most of the conservative talk show hosts haters? Are most of them racist bigots flying under the sanctimonious flag of “Patriots”? Answer the question for yourself. Listen to their own words! They have an intense dislike of anyone “who is not like us: You know, all them people who talk funny.” Foreigners? Like Kenyans? They hate Kenyans with a passion!
Arizona, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik had it right. He is one courageous, truth-talking law officer. It is amazing when you talk truth about hate show hosts. They can’t stand it! They will unleash a wild-eyed, shocked defense of their hate-filled programs, their daily invectives. They rage: “You cannot publicly quote us — as we are!” Apparently, bad manners? Or did Sheriff Dupnik tell it exactly like it is? The prevailing first response, attitude to criticism for quoting them is this (Glenn Beck style): “Somebody needs to take that SOB out!” … for committing “the crime” of quoting them in public. See quotes above — again, please.
I have a hope that soon, very soon, that “Great Silent Majority” will step forward and say ENOUGH! Those who have until now stood quietly, silently on the sidelines, must act now with their words and letters to congressmen, to newspapers. Until now this GSM has only watched this angry, noisy, sanctimonious and at times scripture-quoting, hate-filled minority of the “far extreme right” that has co-opted headlines and airwaves recently. I hope good rational people will finally say: “Enough is enough” and begin to push back with words, letters and calls to Congress. My observation of the Great Silent Majority has been they don’t like to get involved, or as one friend told me: “I don’t like to draw attention to myself. Many of these people are dangerous.” All I can say is it is time for YOU to stand up. We have to be voices of reason, against their hate. Against their guns. (Yes, Mr. Humphrey only hates anyone who disagrees with him or other leftists!)
God knows, since the age of 11 I have had guns, still do, and have hunted and fished. But I don’t worship the damned things. With continued silence, passivity, we stand to lose a lot in the coming years. Act now. Call, write your congressman. Do it! Last: Where is our clergy in all this?
Actions: Following my own advice, send your letter of concern, complaint about the hate-filled rhetoric of the conservative hate radio to me at: Push Back at Hate, P.O. Box 4084, Emerald Isle, N.C. 28594. I will hand carry these letters to Capitol Hill, to NRA Headquarters, to the Washington offices of Arizona Republican Sen. Kyle, and Arizona Congressman Trent Franks. The courageous outspoken sheriff of Pima County had it right. At least you can write one letter, make a call. How long will you just stand by?
***Read below for a response from Tom Austin, a member of the Crystal Coast Tea Party and a marine.
Letter to the Editor, Carteret County News-Times
P. O. Box 1679
Morehead City, NC 28557
Resonse to Letter from Kenneth Humphrey “Tombstone Politics - Legacy of Hate” Jan 16 2010.
Sir / Ms,
I would suggest you have one of the copy personnel do fact checks on any future letters from Mr. Kenneth Humphrey, Chairman of the Carteret County Democrat Party. This last one is full of misinformation that takes only a moment or two to check and correct. Why would he do this? I don’t know. Maybe to use the tragic shooting even in Arizona to some political agenda. Being a democrat he doesn’t need to check his facts for that.
First he somehow equates the murders in Arizona with “Freedom of Speech”. In no way do these 2 match up. The shooter in Arizona was not a supporter of free speech. The reports are that among his favorite books were Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” and Marx’s “The Communist Manifesto”. This would place his beliefs in the area of the Communist Party and the Nazi (National Socialist Worker’s Party) Party which are totally against freedom of speech. The people that knew him say he was mostly apolitical but did have some “left” leanings. So with his desire for a socialist economy and control of the individual by the government doesn’t that put him way to the left of the TEA party groups? After all they, conservatives, believe in Freedom of speech.
Then he insults all hunters around the nation. I don’t understand that, what with him saying later in the letter that he is a hunter and owns firearms. If he is a hunter, and I am not saying he isn’t, I would think he would understand the need to use the correct firearm for the hunt and the animal to be harvested. I would also think he would know a moose does not live to be 80 and that no one hunts with a howitzer. Maybe he is being sarcastic about the use of a large bore firearm to take down a very large animal. Also I don’t recall Sarah Palin shooting a moose anyway. I do remember seeing her harvest a caribou. Maybe I didn’t see the show where she was moose hunting. Or maybe Mr. Kenneth Humphrey, Chairman of the Carteret County Democrat Party doesn’t know the difference or was just passing on misinformation he got from his masters at the DNC and did not bother checking out his facts.
Why he tried to tie the shooting in Arizona in with the NRA I do not know. The NRA has worked with law enforcement nation wide to help develop rational laws to prevent firearms from getting into the hands of felons, people with a violent history or the mentally unstable. Arizona has such laws. The owner of the gun shop obeyed the laws. The Sheriff of Pimi County did not. If Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik had done his job correctly there would have been notations on the shooter’s files that would have prevented his buying a firearm from any gun shop in Arizona. It is my understanding the Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik knew the family and law enforcement had been to their home on several occasions because of the actions of the “alleged” shooter. None of this was on his record and any of it may have been enough to stop his buying a firearm. As for the campus cops at his local college, they should have called the police and seen the proper report was made about his actions at the school. Everyone claims to have known he was dangerous, but none took the action to see he got help or actions to protect the public. And you know something? The NRA was not involved an any of it, other then to help craft the laws needed to keep firearms out of the hands of felons, people with a violent history or the mentally unstable. So how do you hold the NRA responsible?
Then Mr. Kenneth Humphrey, Chairman of the Carteret County Democrat Party finds fault with Gov. Palin saying that the conservatives should not retreat from their beliefs, but should reload with the truth, new people and votes to confront the liberals and Marxists that won the last Presidential election. I don’t seem to recall his having any objections when the left marched in the streets of DC calling for the death of Carl Rove. No objections to that from any democrat or other liberal as I recall. Gov. Palin calls for people to stand strong in their beliefs and the left calls for the murder of Carl Rove and you find fault with Gov. Palin? I don’t think I had ever heard of the term “blood libel’ before, but then I never looked for a way to hurt the Jewish people. As for Gov. Palin’s use of the term, I understand that according to Jewish leaders the term has been used over the years in ways other then the one it was first used for and has entered to language to be used in a different way then first intended. I understand that a Jewish leader, who is a democrat, stated that the way she used it was correct in the context used. So now Gov. Palin can’t speak unless it is cleared through the DNC first? What happened to the freedom of Speech Mr. Kenneth Humphrey, Chairman of the Carteret County Democrat Party was so desirous of?
Then Mr. Kenneth Humphrey, Chairman of the Carteret County Democrat Party tries to tie the TEA party and conservative talk radio to the shooter, but everyone that know him says he did not listen to conservative talk radio and was not connected to the TEA Party movement in any way. I still don’t understand why he has to address conservative talk radio as HATE radio when they do NOT call for violence in any way. Their speech is political. Mostly when race is address their call is for all racial divisions to stop and people to be addressed as individuals. Where is the hate in that? Is it hateful to help educate people about bills in congress and actions elected officials have taken that are seen as an abuse to the taxpayers and citizens? Is it hateful to call for the laws to be enforced? Is it hateful to see laws passed that are in their opinion an action against the Constitution and they call for people to know about it and be better informed? No, they are HATE radio because they do not knell down and side with the democrats, socialist and Marxist on the left.
As for Mr. Kenneth Humphrey’s, Chairman of the Carteret County Democrat Party, comment about Glenn Beck saying “I'm thinking about killing Michael Moore” that was sarcasm. Do you understand that? He was using this sarcastic statement to show he could not do that because of his belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ. He went on to say that he would not condone any violence. But then the democrats did try to trash him for holding a non-political rally in Washington DC to call for peace and national unity and discussion. WOW! He calls for “civil dialogue” and your democrats and other leftist trash him.
As for the comments made by Mr. Kenneth Humphrey, Chairman of the Carteret County Democrat Party about Rush Limbaugh praising James earl Ray and slavery, it took me less then 2 minute to find out that was a lie that the democrats and others on the left have been trying to spread for over a year. It also took the same amount of time to find out that Mr. Limbaugh is not letting this lie go by unchallenged and has taken legal action against others in the past. I thought Mr. Kenneth Humphrey, Chairman of the Carteret County Democrat Party would like the chance to bring this up to Mr. Limbaugh’s legal staff so I sent him an e-mail with the link to the letter. Maybe Mr. Kenneth Humphrey, Chairman of the Carteret County Democrat Party would be kind enough to let us know what happens. Personally I think that with Mr. Limbaugh, being the better man, may just look at the source (Mr. Kenneth Humphrey, Chairman of the Carteret County Democrat Party) and let it pass this time.
Mr. Kenneth Humphrey, Chairman of the Carteret County Democrat Party states he can fill pages with hate and racism and bigotry from conservative radio, which he calls HATE radio, but it seems that almost all of it I have seen put out by those on the left have been lies, satire or taken so far out of context that people have trouble finding where they came from. There should be a fact checker on this to keep them from embarrassing themselves. On the other hand I will not sit here and type all the racist and hate filled statements I have heard from the left. I don’t keep a list. I look at the source and disregard them.
And someone needs to let Mr. Kenneth Humphrey, Chairman of the Carteret County Democrat Party know that Sheriff Clarence Dupnik of Pimi County did not know what he was talking about. He was just trying cover his backside by misdirecting peoples attention from his department’s failure to do their job correctly. That and he, Sheriff Clarence Dupnik of Pimi County, is a anti-2nd amendment democrat.
The rest of the rant Mr. Kenneth Humphrey, Chairman of the Carteret County Democrat Party has going on I just don’t understand. It just seems to me that he, like so many on the left, are going to take this opportunity to place as many restrictions as they can on freedom of speech and conservative talk radio. What they have called for in the past is that it be mandatory for a commercial radio station to carry an equal amount of time for all points of view even if the listeners don’t want to hear the communist that are on Air America radio and even if they can‘t get a sponsor for them. And listeners have shown they don’t want to hear them because they went bankrupt. If they want to hear the socialist and Marxist view they can tune into PBS or NPR. These are the ones we are FORCED to help pay for.
So Mr. Kenneth Humphrey, Chairman of the Carteret County Democrat Party and other people on the left are going to use this tragic shooting to force an agenda no one wants and will use lies, misinformation and misdirection to do so. Shame on them.
Respectfully,
Thomas H. Austin,
Sgt. USMC (Retired)
Member Crystal Coast TEA Party Patriots
Read the Rant below from Ken Humphry, Chairman of the Carteret County Democratic Party and then the wonderful response which follows by Tom Austin, member of the Crystal Coast Tea Party and a marine.
Tombstone Politics: Legacy of Hate
by Ken Humphrey, Chairman of the Carteret County Democratic Party
NEWS-TIMES, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2011
http://www.carteretnewstimes.com/articles/2011/01/17/news-times/letters_to_the_editor/doc4d31de3011d54615300470.txt
TO THE EDITOR:
Free speech comes a real cost today: A bullet in the head, for instance. You have to admire a good clean headshot, done with gun control (using both hands). This is the lexicon of macho NRA gun lovers everywhere. He was all man. Who cannot admire a real man with a gun, or better still, a “real woman” — a former governor for instance, who can shoot an 80-year old blind moose with arthritis and bad knees with an NRA howitzer? “I dropped that sucker in his tracks!” An Annie Oakley from Wasilla! Men adore her. Sarah is a real woman in a world of real men. The icon and new normal in 2011. “We need to get our America back!” I tear up just thinking of it. All government is evil. All liberals are socialist, etc.
Shakespeare in 1592 seemed prescient, describing our political environment today: Chaos. We are edging closer. Crosshairs and words have consequences. Our Sarah: Don’t retreat. Reload! Blood libel!
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair America, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge breaks to new mutiny,
Where civil hands, make civil blood unclean.
I can agree, to a point, with David Brooks, New York Times: “Political opportunism occasioned by this Arizona tragedy has ranged from the completely irrelevant to the shamelessly irresponsible.” There is no clear link to the Tea Party rage or the extreme right wing. But that is an over-simplification — a ho-hum — partly absolving those who stir hate every day: Hate radio hosts. Notice I did not say Talk Radio. But my issue with hate radio and the ilk of Limbaugh and Beck and Palin is already public record. So in this missive my position is consistent with my past. Beck, Palin, Bachmann and Limbaugh are those who fan hate in America. My opinion.
Gabrielle Giffords, her husband a Navy pilot and astronaut, read the First Amendment on the House floor — including the guarantee of “the right of the people to assemble peaceably” — and then went home to Arizona to put those words into practice. Her meetings were under the banner, “Congressional Corner.” She was gravely wounded by a young man filled with hate, a gun obtained in the most lenient state in the nation for qualifying to buy gun. Arizona NRA test: “Sir, do you have a pulse? Excellent! Here’s your automatic. Congratulations. The NRA welcomes you into the fold of Super American Patriots.” The NRA is the great enabler. Put your own meaning to this. Sell all the guns and ammo you can. Strap on your gun. Strut in public. Be macho man among boys: “I pack. Dida’ notice?” N.C. Rep. Heath Shuler packs. A bullet to the head of those who disagree with you is an efficient way to express extreme irritation. A 30-round Glock is excellent for taking out women congressmen, liberal judges and 9-year olds.
NRA? Not a peep. All hunkered in the weeds, sucking their thumbs, nervously wondering: “Now what?”
Note below some quotes from some of our self-ordained, far right conservative patriots. Did you miss these?
Michele Bachmann: “I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous because we need to fight back.”
Momma Grizzly: “Guys, let’s not retreat. Let’s reload.” Sarah Palin put crosshairs on Giffords.
Glenn Beck: “I’m thinking about killing Michael Moore, I would like to kill him. I’m wondering if I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire somebody to do it. No, I think I could.” (Glenn is such a straight talker).
Sharon Angel: “You know if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies. (Guns). I’ll tell you the first thing we need to do is take Harry Reid out!”
Rush Limbaugh: “You know who deserves a posthumous Medal of Honor? James Earl Ray [confessed assassin of Martin Luther King]. We miss you dearly, James. Godspeed, sir.” Limbaugh: Conservatives hero.
I mean let’s face it. We didn’t have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: slavery built the South. I’m not saying we should bring it back. I’m just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark.” Folks, isn’t that Rushbo-boy something else? He nails it!
I could fill page after page with public quotes of the hate, bigotry, racism spewed daily by conservative hate show hosts. Are most of the conservative talk show hosts haters? Are most of them racist bigots flying under the sanctimonious flag of “Patriots”? Answer the question for yourself. Listen to their own words! They have an intense dislike of anyone “who is not like us: You know, all them people who talk funny.” Foreigners? Like Kenyans? They hate Kenyans with a passion!
Arizona, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik had it right. He is one courageous, truth-talking law officer. It is amazing when you talk truth about hate show hosts. They can’t stand it! They will unleash a wild-eyed, shocked defense of their hate-filled programs, their daily invectives. They rage: “You cannot publicly quote us — as we are!” Apparently, bad manners? Or did Sheriff Dupnik tell it exactly like it is? The prevailing first response, attitude to criticism for quoting them is this (Glenn Beck style): “Somebody needs to take that SOB out!” … for committing “the crime” of quoting them in public. See quotes above — again, please.
I have a hope that soon, very soon, that “Great Silent Majority” will step forward and say ENOUGH! Those who have until now stood quietly, silently on the sidelines, must act now with their words and letters to congressmen, to newspapers. Until now this GSM has only watched this angry, noisy, sanctimonious and at times scripture-quoting, hate-filled minority of the “far extreme right” that has co-opted headlines and airwaves recently. I hope good rational people will finally say: “Enough is enough” and begin to push back with words, letters and calls to Congress. My observation of the Great Silent Majority has been they don’t like to get involved, or as one friend told me: “I don’t like to draw attention to myself. Many of these people are dangerous.” All I can say is it is time for YOU to stand up. We have to be voices of reason, against their hate. Against their guns. (Yes, Mr. Humphrey only hates anyone who disagrees with him or other leftists!)
God knows, since the age of 11 I have had guns, still do, and have hunted and fished. But I don’t worship the damned things. With continued silence, passivity, we stand to lose a lot in the coming years. Act now. Call, write your congressman. Do it! Last: Where is our clergy in all this?
Actions: Following my own advice, send your letter of concern, complaint about the hate-filled rhetoric of the conservative hate radio to me at: Push Back at Hate, P.O. Box 4084, Emerald Isle, N.C. 28594. I will hand carry these letters to Capitol Hill, to NRA Headquarters, to the Washington offices of Arizona Republican Sen. Kyle, and Arizona Congressman Trent Franks. The courageous outspoken sheriff of Pima County had it right. At least you can write one letter, make a call. How long will you just stand by?
***Read below for a response from Tom Austin, a member of the Crystal Coast Tea Party and a marine.
Letter to the Editor, Carteret County News-Times
P. O. Box 1679
Morehead City, NC 28557
Resonse to Letter from Kenneth Humphrey “Tombstone Politics - Legacy of Hate” Jan 16 2010.
Sir / Ms,
I would suggest you have one of the copy personnel do fact checks on any future letters from Mr. Kenneth Humphrey, Chairman of the Carteret County Democrat Party. This last one is full of misinformation that takes only a moment or two to check and correct. Why would he do this? I don’t know. Maybe to use the tragic shooting even in Arizona to some political agenda. Being a democrat he doesn’t need to check his facts for that.
First he somehow equates the murders in Arizona with “Freedom of Speech”. In no way do these 2 match up. The shooter in Arizona was not a supporter of free speech. The reports are that among his favorite books were Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” and Marx’s “The Communist Manifesto”. This would place his beliefs in the area of the Communist Party and the Nazi (National Socialist Worker’s Party) Party which are totally against freedom of speech. The people that knew him say he was mostly apolitical but did have some “left” leanings. So with his desire for a socialist economy and control of the individual by the government doesn’t that put him way to the left of the TEA party groups? After all they, conservatives, believe in Freedom of speech.
Then he insults all hunters around the nation. I don’t understand that, what with him saying later in the letter that he is a hunter and owns firearms. If he is a hunter, and I am not saying he isn’t, I would think he would understand the need to use the correct firearm for the hunt and the animal to be harvested. I would also think he would know a moose does not live to be 80 and that no one hunts with a howitzer. Maybe he is being sarcastic about the use of a large bore firearm to take down a very large animal. Also I don’t recall Sarah Palin shooting a moose anyway. I do remember seeing her harvest a caribou. Maybe I didn’t see the show where she was moose hunting. Or maybe Mr. Kenneth Humphrey, Chairman of the Carteret County Democrat Party doesn’t know the difference or was just passing on misinformation he got from his masters at the DNC and did not bother checking out his facts.
Why he tried to tie the shooting in Arizona in with the NRA I do not know. The NRA has worked with law enforcement nation wide to help develop rational laws to prevent firearms from getting into the hands of felons, people with a violent history or the mentally unstable. Arizona has such laws. The owner of the gun shop obeyed the laws. The Sheriff of Pimi County did not. If Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik had done his job correctly there would have been notations on the shooter’s files that would have prevented his buying a firearm from any gun shop in Arizona. It is my understanding the Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik knew the family and law enforcement had been to their home on several occasions because of the actions of the “alleged” shooter. None of this was on his record and any of it may have been enough to stop his buying a firearm. As for the campus cops at his local college, they should have called the police and seen the proper report was made about his actions at the school. Everyone claims to have known he was dangerous, but none took the action to see he got help or actions to protect the public. And you know something? The NRA was not involved an any of it, other then to help craft the laws needed to keep firearms out of the hands of felons, people with a violent history or the mentally unstable. So how do you hold the NRA responsible?
Then Mr. Kenneth Humphrey, Chairman of the Carteret County Democrat Party finds fault with Gov. Palin saying that the conservatives should not retreat from their beliefs, but should reload with the truth, new people and votes to confront the liberals and Marxists that won the last Presidential election. I don’t seem to recall his having any objections when the left marched in the streets of DC calling for the death of Carl Rove. No objections to that from any democrat or other liberal as I recall. Gov. Palin calls for people to stand strong in their beliefs and the left calls for the murder of Carl Rove and you find fault with Gov. Palin? I don’t think I had ever heard of the term “blood libel’ before, but then I never looked for a way to hurt the Jewish people. As for Gov. Palin’s use of the term, I understand that according to Jewish leaders the term has been used over the years in ways other then the one it was first used for and has entered to language to be used in a different way then first intended. I understand that a Jewish leader, who is a democrat, stated that the way she used it was correct in the context used. So now Gov. Palin can’t speak unless it is cleared through the DNC first? What happened to the freedom of Speech Mr. Kenneth Humphrey, Chairman of the Carteret County Democrat Party was so desirous of?
Then Mr. Kenneth Humphrey, Chairman of the Carteret County Democrat Party tries to tie the TEA party and conservative talk radio to the shooter, but everyone that know him says he did not listen to conservative talk radio and was not connected to the TEA Party movement in any way. I still don’t understand why he has to address conservative talk radio as HATE radio when they do NOT call for violence in any way. Their speech is political. Mostly when race is address their call is for all racial divisions to stop and people to be addressed as individuals. Where is the hate in that? Is it hateful to help educate people about bills in congress and actions elected officials have taken that are seen as an abuse to the taxpayers and citizens? Is it hateful to call for the laws to be enforced? Is it hateful to see laws passed that are in their opinion an action against the Constitution and they call for people to know about it and be better informed? No, they are HATE radio because they do not knell down and side with the democrats, socialist and Marxist on the left.
As for Mr. Kenneth Humphrey’s, Chairman of the Carteret County Democrat Party, comment about Glenn Beck saying “I'm thinking about killing Michael Moore” that was sarcasm. Do you understand that? He was using this sarcastic statement to show he could not do that because of his belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ. He went on to say that he would not condone any violence. But then the democrats did try to trash him for holding a non-political rally in Washington DC to call for peace and national unity and discussion. WOW! He calls for “civil dialogue” and your democrats and other leftist trash him.
As for the comments made by Mr. Kenneth Humphrey, Chairman of the Carteret County Democrat Party about Rush Limbaugh praising James earl Ray and slavery, it took me less then 2 minute to find out that was a lie that the democrats and others on the left have been trying to spread for over a year. It also took the same amount of time to find out that Mr. Limbaugh is not letting this lie go by unchallenged and has taken legal action against others in the past. I thought Mr. Kenneth Humphrey, Chairman of the Carteret County Democrat Party would like the chance to bring this up to Mr. Limbaugh’s legal staff so I sent him an e-mail with the link to the letter. Maybe Mr. Kenneth Humphrey, Chairman of the Carteret County Democrat Party would be kind enough to let us know what happens. Personally I think that with Mr. Limbaugh, being the better man, may just look at the source (Mr. Kenneth Humphrey, Chairman of the Carteret County Democrat Party) and let it pass this time.
Mr. Kenneth Humphrey, Chairman of the Carteret County Democrat Party states he can fill pages with hate and racism and bigotry from conservative radio, which he calls HATE radio, but it seems that almost all of it I have seen put out by those on the left have been lies, satire or taken so far out of context that people have trouble finding where they came from. There should be a fact checker on this to keep them from embarrassing themselves. On the other hand I will not sit here and type all the racist and hate filled statements I have heard from the left. I don’t keep a list. I look at the source and disregard them.
And someone needs to let Mr. Kenneth Humphrey, Chairman of the Carteret County Democrat Party know that Sheriff Clarence Dupnik of Pimi County did not know what he was talking about. He was just trying cover his backside by misdirecting peoples attention from his department’s failure to do their job correctly. That and he, Sheriff Clarence Dupnik of Pimi County, is a anti-2nd amendment democrat.
The rest of the rant Mr. Kenneth Humphrey, Chairman of the Carteret County Democrat Party has going on I just don’t understand. It just seems to me that he, like so many on the left, are going to take this opportunity to place as many restrictions as they can on freedom of speech and conservative talk radio. What they have called for in the past is that it be mandatory for a commercial radio station to carry an equal amount of time for all points of view even if the listeners don’t want to hear the communist that are on Air America radio and even if they can‘t get a sponsor for them. And listeners have shown they don’t want to hear them because they went bankrupt. If they want to hear the socialist and Marxist view they can tune into PBS or NPR. These are the ones we are FORCED to help pay for.
So Mr. Kenneth Humphrey, Chairman of the Carteret County Democrat Party and other people on the left are going to use this tragic shooting to force an agenda no one wants and will use lies, misinformation and misdirection to do so. Shame on them.
Respectfully,
Thomas H. Austin,
Sgt. USMC (Retired)
Member Crystal Coast TEA Party Patriots
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Open Mouth, Insert Tea Bag
Open Mouth, Insert Tea Bag
by Diane Rufino, Jan. 12, 2010 [ http://forloveofgodandcountry.wordpress.com/ ]
On Saturday, January 8th, the country witnessed a tragic and horrific act of violence. Six innocent individuals were killed at a shopping center in Tucson, Arizona - Christina-Taylor Green (only 9 years old), Judge John Roll (age 63; chief judge of the U.S. District Court for Arizona who was named to the bench by President George H. W. Bush in 1991), Dorothy "Dot" Morris (age 76; a retired secretary), Phyllis Schneck (age 79; homemaker), Dorwan Stoddard (age 76; retired construction worker), and Gabriel "Gabe" Zimmerman (age 30, community outreach director for Rep. Giffords). Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, the target of the shooting, was shot through the head at point-blank range and is thankfully expected to survive. Within hours of the shooting, Sheriff Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik addressed the media for the first time saying that “vitriolic political rhetoric” heard on the radio and TV caused the killer, Jared Loughner, to go on his bloody killing spree that also left 14 wounded. "When the rhetoric about hatred, about mistrust of government, about paranoia of how government operates, and to try to inflame the public on a daily basis, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, it has impact on people, especially those who are unbalanced personalities," he said.
In his official capacity as a Pima County sheriff, Dupnik had no authority to speculate as to the cause of Loughner's acts. He had, of course, no facts ... and no proof. And he readily admitted this.
It is amazing how politicians never cease to talk out of both sides of their mouths. Just over a week ago, on January 6th, the day the 112th Congress was sworn in, we heard Nancy Pelosi and members of Congress pledge to unify and work together for the good of the American people. But only two days later, on January 8th, as soon as news of the shooting reached political ears, Dick Durbin was out there blaming Sarah Palin and the Tea Party folks. And every left-of-center group has continued to use the Arizona shooting incident to divide the nation once again along political lines. For example, following the shootings, the NY Times wrote "It is facile and mistaken to attribute this particular madman’s act directly to Republicans or Tea Party members. But it is legitimate to hold Republicans and particularly their most virulent supporters in the media responsible for the gale of anger that has produced the vast majority of these threats, setting the nation on edge." ¹
And Keith Olbermann made this comment on his MSNBC show on Jan. 8: "If Sarah Palin, whose website put and today scrubbed bulls-eye targets on 20 representatives, including Gabby Giffords, does not repudiate her own part - however tangential - in amplifying violence and violent imagery in American politics, she must be dismissed from politics. She must be repudiated by the members of her own party. And if they fail to do so, each one of them must be judged to have silently defended this tactic that today proved so awfully foretelling."
When it comes to politics, it sounds like they are taking their cue from Rahm Emanuel's playbook - " Never let a serious crisis go to waste."
I, and apparently a growing majority of Americans, are getting more frustrated each day over comments by the news and others that it's because of the tensions caused by the Tea Party movement and by people like Sarah Palin that Jared Lee Loughner went to the shopping center that afternoon to shoot Congresswoman Giffords. I think the left has sunk to a new low.
I think those that hide under the protections of freedom of the press should take the time to research before they report and comment. I think that politicians who have sworn to uphold the Constitution should reflect upon the true meaning of freedom of speech, which is this: the freedom to have a free and robust political discussion where all ideas make it into the marketplace of ideas where they are able to compete. It is a central tenet of the First Amendment that the government must remain neutral in the marketplace of ideas. The "marketplace of ideas" is just like any other free market model - ideas and viewpoints compete against each other in theory, truth, and rationality and the best ideas will prevail.
A cursory look at Loughner would show anyone that he has no allegiance whatsoever to the values that America stands on. He has spent years challenging both conservative principles and religion alike. He praises books like Brave New World, the Communist Manifesto and Mein Kampf and worships a shrine built of a human skull in the back of his yard. He had been arrested several times for making threats against others at the local college, he made students and teachers uncomfortable, he was registered politically as an Independent, he smoked dope regularly, and he blogged about the government performing "mind control." I hardly see where the likes of Sarah Palin and the Tea Party caused him to become deranged. Sounds like he was already there. It looks as though he took his inspiration from Columbine and the rampant violence promoted on TV, movies, and in computer games rather than the peaceful marches on Washington. Furthermore, to say the Constitutionally-minded, Christian-loving group, the Tea Party, is creating a dangerous climate in this country which is leading to increased violence is simply irresponsible. If he were to suddenly start going to church and reading the Bible, then I could understand the Tea Party being to blame, but not the senseless violence he committed. What about all those years of Bush-bashing? How many times did we hear death threats against Bush (prompted by the hateful and malicious sentiments of the left)? How about the Liberal online journal that called for the death of Sarah Palin? ² Has no one taken the time to listen to a rally headed by the Reverend Al Sharpton? What about the new Black Panthers? They certainly don't foster the Kumbaya sentiment, do they? To them, politics means confrontation.
Sheriff Dupnik himself polarized the political climate in Pima County more than any group could do. He publicly announced that Arizona's new immigration policy was outright "racist." He also publicly commented that the Tea Party "brings out the worst in America." Who is really fueling tempers here ? Who is really fueling hatred and bigotry?
Barack Obama is also no stranger to confrontation. On May 4, in a public forum, he called Tea Party activists "tea baggers," a horribly derogatory term which is associated with oral sex. Everyone knows that Tea Party activists loath the term “tea baggers,” and in fact, most members consider it so offensive that they regard it as the rough equivalent of calling an African American the "N word." As Fellowshipofminds.wordpress wrote: "Barack Obama repeatedly sprinkled his political campaigning with words more appropriate to a street thug than the President of the United States." In June 2008, during his campaign, he was asked how he would counter Republican attacks. He answered: "If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun.” Then in September, he said: “I want you to go out and talk to your neighbors. . . . I want you to argue with them, get in their faces.” ³ I could be wrong, but those lines sound like they could have easily come out of Robert DeNiro's mouth in the movie The Untouchables where he played the notorious mobster Al Capone. Not exactly words of respect and understanding. Not exactly the "toned down rhetoric" that Democrats and liberals are now all of a sudden calling for.
In fact, Fellowshipofminds.wordpress lists many instances of frenzied vitriol by the left that leaves one with a new appreciation for the word "hypocrite." In fact, if a member of the Tea Party were to ever issue such public comments, the party itself would openly condemn them before the court of public opinion could even weigh in. The list is quite impressive (for a mobster):
(1) Keith Halloran, a New Hampshire Democratic candidate, wrote on a Facebook thread that he wished Palin had been aboard the Alaska plane that crashed, killing five including Sen. Ted Stevens.
(2) Washington Post columnist Courtland Milloy, columnist for the Washington Post, wrote: “I know how the ‘tea party’ people feel.. the anger, venom and bile that many of them showed during the recent House vote on health care reform. I know because I want to spit on them, take one of their ‘Obama Plan White Slavery’ signs and knock every racist and homophobic tooth out of their Cro-Magnon heads.”
(3) In December 2009 during the health care debate, Paul Krugman of the New York Times wrote, “A message to progressives: By all means, hang Senator Joe Lieberman in effigy.”
(4) After 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq, President Bush suddenly became as unpopular as Bill O'Reilly with most women of The View. The left really came into their own at this time. In fact, the sentiment was so pervasive that it was given a name - the "Bush Derangement Syndrome." Michael Moore was infected with it and so were other celebrities. A movie (TV docudrama), "Death of a President," was made about the fictional assassination of President Bush and allowed to be shown on American TV. As one commentator wrote: "We've seen from early in his presidency the extremes that the political Left are willing to go to vilify him. This takes this vilification to a new and disturbing level."
(5) In 2006, as contempt for President Bush continued to build, New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi introduced Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) at a commencement ceremony at NYC's Queen's College as “the man who, how do I phrase this diplomatically, who will put a bullet between the President’s eyes if he could get away with it.” New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi said Thursday that a fellow New York Democrat would "put a bullet between the president's eyes if he could get away with it."
(6) Michael Feingold of the Village Voice wrote: “Republicans don’t believe in the imagination, partly because so few of them have one, but mostly because it gets in the way of their chosen work, which is to destroy the human race and the planet. Human beings, who have imaginations, can see a recipe for disaster in the making; Republicans, whose goal in life is to profit from disaster and who don’t give a hoot about human beings, either can’t or won’t. Which is why I personally think they should be exterminated before they cause any more harm.”
(7) Liberal talk radio host Mike Malloy suggested someone should hang Internet king Matt Drudge, writing, “Drudge? Aw, Drudge, somebody ought to wrap a strong Republican entrail around his neck and hoist him up about 6 feet in the air and watch him bounce.”
(8) Greenpeace advocated mass civil disobedience last April (2010) with this blog item on its website: “The proper channels have failed. It’s time for mass civil disobedience to cut off the financial oxygen from denial and skepticism. . . . If you’re one of those who have spent their lives undermining progressive climate legislation, bankrolling junk science, fueling spurious debates around false solutions, and cattle-prodding democratically elected governments into submission, then hear this: We know who you are. We know where you live. We know where you work.”
(9) In June 2010, Nathan Tabor, a business owner, head of the Forsyth County Republican Party, Tea Party activist, and a former candidate for public office assembled with 25 others to peacefully protest government bailouts in front of Rep. Mel Watt's (D-NC) Greensboro, NC office. Soon thereafter, a man walked around the corner and intentionally walked into the middle of the crowd saying 'It's all George W. Bush's fault. It's all Dick Cheney's fault." The man then pushed Tabor several times, to which Tabor did not retaliate. Then the man pushed Tabor's wife. When Mr. Tabor told him to keep his hands off his wife, the man punched Tabor in the face. This happened right in front of Mr. Tabor's young daughter. I watched the footage.
(10) In August 2009, members of the Service Employees International Union beat up Kenneth Gladney for distributing “Don’t Tread On Me” flags at a Missouri town hall meeting. 4
Judge John Roll, the federal judge who was killed by Loughner, drew sharp political criticism in 2009 -- and several death threats -- when he ruled on a pre-trial motion in favor of illegal immigrants in a civil case involving an Arizona rancher. At the time, the threats, online and otherwise, were significant and persistent enough to warrant full protective status from the U.S. Marshal's Service for Roll and his family. Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva had to close his office because of so many death threats from racist callers over his opposition to the state's immigration bill, S.B.1070. Congresswoman Giffords herself had the glass door to her office shattered right after she voted for the healthcare bill. And then there was the bullet that was shot through the window of Eric Cantor’s Richmond office.
The fact is that there is a lot of tension and frustration in this country simply as a result of the recent action and policies themselves of our government. The government's position on immigration, as exemplified by the threat to Judge Roll's life, alone is a great source of tension. Although there is an immigration policy, the government refuses to enforce it. Furthermore, the government has spent a year showing blatant disregard for the wishes of the American people. Power is vested in Czars who run the country at the whim of the President and the people have no power to do anything about that... yet. Just as frustration built up in this country after President Bush took the country to war in Iraq and that frustration led to violent outbursts and aggressive confrontations in cities all over the nation, those who have taken the nation down a similar unpopular path can't cry innocence when tensions again come to a boil. It's the spirit that gave birth to our independence and that has managed to keep the pendulum always closer to center rather than to either extreme of left or right.
Doug Rufino wrote an article to the local Greenville, NC paper, The Daily Reflector, in which he criticized those who blame the Tea Party for the shootings in Tucson. He wrote: " The recent change in the Washington landscape is not due to preachers of hate. Our Constitutional right to vote did that. You insult the American people throughout this country that elected the historic new Congress. Maybe you are still wondering how this happened. Look no further than to Americans who decided that government was getting increasingly out of control. It was our Founders who instructed us to be wary of government, not Beck and Rush. Our very Declaration of Independence tells us “…..Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”…
Robust political debate and engagement is the ultimate display of patriotism and democracy. After all, democracy is the first leg of our republicanism. But it is only a "leg" Our nation was set up as a republic by our Founders for one basic reason - to prevent mob rule... to prevent those types of outcomes that result from a hot-headed majority which might unreasonably burden the minority. Robust political debate is what helps us make sure we send the best representatives possible to conduct the nation's business.
Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, the Tea Party - they are the embodiment of patriotism - devoted love, support, and defense of one's country; national loyalty." They have never advocated for anything other than the peaceful return to the values that our country was founded on. Anyone who has taken the time to attend a Tea Party rally can attest to that.
In speaking about patriotism, Adlai Stevenson wrote: "When an American says that he loves his country, he means not only that he loves the New England hills, the prairies glistening in the sun, the wide and rising plains, the great mountains, and the sea. He means that he loves an inner air, an inner light in which freedom lives and in which a man can draw the breath of self-respect." He also wrote: "America is much more than a geographical fact. It is a political and moral fact - the first community in which men set out in principle to institutionalize freedom, responsible government, and human equality."
While others are so willing to sell out our Founders for notions that history has proven corrupt and destructive, the Tea Party echoes those words of Carrie Latet: "May I never wake up from the American dream!"
You can love your country, but that doesn't necessarily make you a good American. You can love your country, but if you open your mouth to squash someone else's right to speak freely and honestly, you are not a good American. If you use an occasion like the shooting in Tucson to demand further restrictions and regulations over fundamental liberties, you are not a good American.
We should always abhor violence - especially when it targets the innocent. But a "good" American will not try to use an occasion like this - one of random violence - to change the political climate in this country. After all, it was a political climate like this that led a group of Bostonians in the middle of the night on Dec. 16, 1773 to dump the tea on board British ships into the Boston Harbor to prevent it from being unloaded on shore and hence being taxed so that Colonists would be forced to support the King without representation in Parliament. "No taxation without representation" was one of the cries which led to our independence. It was a political climate like this that led to the Civil War and the abolition of slavery. And it was a political climate like that that led to the civil rights of African-Americans. Whenever there is a tense political climate, there are critical issues facing the American people at play. It may not be your particular issue involved this time, but next time it might. Robust discourse often creates a charged environment but here in America, we welcome it rather than try to suppress it. That is what being a "good" American is. That is what America stands for. But using guns rather than words and trying to persuade by acts of violence rather than persuasive dialogue is the sign of a civilized nation like the United States. No decent human being supports violence for political gain.
The fact is that Jared Lee Loughner is a social misfit who no doubt sought to vault his stature by associating himself with mass murder and immense personal sadness. It was the ultimate cry for personal attention. He harbored malice in his heart for Congresswoman Giffords. [He met her once in 2007 and called her "stupid and unintelligent." He was also angered when she refused to acknowledge a question he submitted to her]. We've seen his type throughout history - Mark David Chapman, John Hinckley Jr., David Berkowitz (Son of Sam), and Charles Manson.. Loughner is not mentally unstable. We know he meticulously planned his actions. The sad realization is that due to political correctness in this nation and the persistent attitude that we shouldn't make any single person feel uncomfortable, even though Jared Loughner posed a likely threat and fit the profile of a lone looney likely to do something bad (no one seemed surprised that he carried out the killings), no one sought to get him the help he needed. It would have been inconsistent with our current climate of compassion and aversion to profiling for people to have tried to intervene and prevent that final chip in his brain from flipping. And now Christina Green, a 9-yr-old girl who brought joy to those who loved her and who hadn't even lived long enough to have a first kiss, is dead. Now a federal judge, a young, newly-engaged civil servant, and 3 grandparents are dead. Families are left to grieve and wonder what they ever did to deserve to suffer such senseless slaughter. And a Congresswoman is left bandaged in a hospital wondering if she can ever recover from all the scars - physically, emotionally, and socially.
Ronald Reagan, himself a victim of a lone deranged sociopath (John Hinckley Jr.) once said: "We must reject the idea that every time a law is broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his [or her] actions."
So enough of the mudslinging and name-calling; enough of the meritless accusations. Why don't we leave the name-calling to those who at least can be excused for it - our children. Running a country requires adults.
References:
¹ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/10/opinion/10mon1.html?
² http://bigjournalism.com/taylorking/2010/12/20/salon-publishes-call-for-torture-murder-of-sarah-palin/
³ http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/2011/01/12/death-threats-made-by-liberals-and-democrats/
4 http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/2011/01/12/death-threats-made-by-liberals-and-democrats/
by Diane Rufino, Jan. 12, 2010 [ http://forloveofgodandcountry.wordpress.com/ ]
On Saturday, January 8th, the country witnessed a tragic and horrific act of violence. Six innocent individuals were killed at a shopping center in Tucson, Arizona - Christina-Taylor Green (only 9 years old), Judge John Roll (age 63; chief judge of the U.S. District Court for Arizona who was named to the bench by President George H. W. Bush in 1991), Dorothy "Dot" Morris (age 76; a retired secretary), Phyllis Schneck (age 79; homemaker), Dorwan Stoddard (age 76; retired construction worker), and Gabriel "Gabe" Zimmerman (age 30, community outreach director for Rep. Giffords). Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, the target of the shooting, was shot through the head at point-blank range and is thankfully expected to survive. Within hours of the shooting, Sheriff Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik addressed the media for the first time saying that “vitriolic political rhetoric” heard on the radio and TV caused the killer, Jared Loughner, to go on his bloody killing spree that also left 14 wounded. "When the rhetoric about hatred, about mistrust of government, about paranoia of how government operates, and to try to inflame the public on a daily basis, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, it has impact on people, especially those who are unbalanced personalities," he said.
In his official capacity as a Pima County sheriff, Dupnik had no authority to speculate as to the cause of Loughner's acts. He had, of course, no facts ... and no proof. And he readily admitted this.
It is amazing how politicians never cease to talk out of both sides of their mouths. Just over a week ago, on January 6th, the day the 112th Congress was sworn in, we heard Nancy Pelosi and members of Congress pledge to unify and work together for the good of the American people. But only two days later, on January 8th, as soon as news of the shooting reached political ears, Dick Durbin was out there blaming Sarah Palin and the Tea Party folks. And every left-of-center group has continued to use the Arizona shooting incident to divide the nation once again along political lines. For example, following the shootings, the NY Times wrote "It is facile and mistaken to attribute this particular madman’s act directly to Republicans or Tea Party members. But it is legitimate to hold Republicans and particularly their most virulent supporters in the media responsible for the gale of anger that has produced the vast majority of these threats, setting the nation on edge." ¹
And Keith Olbermann made this comment on his MSNBC show on Jan. 8: "If Sarah Palin, whose website put and today scrubbed bulls-eye targets on 20 representatives, including Gabby Giffords, does not repudiate her own part - however tangential - in amplifying violence and violent imagery in American politics, she must be dismissed from politics. She must be repudiated by the members of her own party. And if they fail to do so, each one of them must be judged to have silently defended this tactic that today proved so awfully foretelling."
When it comes to politics, it sounds like they are taking their cue from Rahm Emanuel's playbook - " Never let a serious crisis go to waste."
I, and apparently a growing majority of Americans, are getting more frustrated each day over comments by the news and others that it's because of the tensions caused by the Tea Party movement and by people like Sarah Palin that Jared Lee Loughner went to the shopping center that afternoon to shoot Congresswoman Giffords. I think the left has sunk to a new low.
I think those that hide under the protections of freedom of the press should take the time to research before they report and comment. I think that politicians who have sworn to uphold the Constitution should reflect upon the true meaning of freedom of speech, which is this: the freedom to have a free and robust political discussion where all ideas make it into the marketplace of ideas where they are able to compete. It is a central tenet of the First Amendment that the government must remain neutral in the marketplace of ideas. The "marketplace of ideas" is just like any other free market model - ideas and viewpoints compete against each other in theory, truth, and rationality and the best ideas will prevail.
A cursory look at Loughner would show anyone that he has no allegiance whatsoever to the values that America stands on. He has spent years challenging both conservative principles and religion alike. He praises books like Brave New World, the Communist Manifesto and Mein Kampf and worships a shrine built of a human skull in the back of his yard. He had been arrested several times for making threats against others at the local college, he made students and teachers uncomfortable, he was registered politically as an Independent, he smoked dope regularly, and he blogged about the government performing "mind control." I hardly see where the likes of Sarah Palin and the Tea Party caused him to become deranged. Sounds like he was already there. It looks as though he took his inspiration from Columbine and the rampant violence promoted on TV, movies, and in computer games rather than the peaceful marches on Washington. Furthermore, to say the Constitutionally-minded, Christian-loving group, the Tea Party, is creating a dangerous climate in this country which is leading to increased violence is simply irresponsible. If he were to suddenly start going to church and reading the Bible, then I could understand the Tea Party being to blame, but not the senseless violence he committed. What about all those years of Bush-bashing? How many times did we hear death threats against Bush (prompted by the hateful and malicious sentiments of the left)? How about the Liberal online journal that called for the death of Sarah Palin? ² Has no one taken the time to listen to a rally headed by the Reverend Al Sharpton? What about the new Black Panthers? They certainly don't foster the Kumbaya sentiment, do they? To them, politics means confrontation.
Sheriff Dupnik himself polarized the political climate in Pima County more than any group could do. He publicly announced that Arizona's new immigration policy was outright "racist." He also publicly commented that the Tea Party "brings out the worst in America." Who is really fueling tempers here ? Who is really fueling hatred and bigotry?
Barack Obama is also no stranger to confrontation. On May 4, in a public forum, he called Tea Party activists "tea baggers," a horribly derogatory term which is associated with oral sex. Everyone knows that Tea Party activists loath the term “tea baggers,” and in fact, most members consider it so offensive that they regard it as the rough equivalent of calling an African American the "N word." As Fellowshipofminds.wordpress wrote: "Barack Obama repeatedly sprinkled his political campaigning with words more appropriate to a street thug than the President of the United States." In June 2008, during his campaign, he was asked how he would counter Republican attacks. He answered: "If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun.” Then in September, he said: “I want you to go out and talk to your neighbors. . . . I want you to argue with them, get in their faces.” ³ I could be wrong, but those lines sound like they could have easily come out of Robert DeNiro's mouth in the movie The Untouchables where he played the notorious mobster Al Capone. Not exactly words of respect and understanding. Not exactly the "toned down rhetoric" that Democrats and liberals are now all of a sudden calling for.
In fact, Fellowshipofminds.wordpress lists many instances of frenzied vitriol by the left that leaves one with a new appreciation for the word "hypocrite." In fact, if a member of the Tea Party were to ever issue such public comments, the party itself would openly condemn them before the court of public opinion could even weigh in. The list is quite impressive (for a mobster):
(1) Keith Halloran, a New Hampshire Democratic candidate, wrote on a Facebook thread that he wished Palin had been aboard the Alaska plane that crashed, killing five including Sen. Ted Stevens.
(2) Washington Post columnist Courtland Milloy, columnist for the Washington Post, wrote: “I know how the ‘tea party’ people feel.. the anger, venom and bile that many of them showed during the recent House vote on health care reform. I know because I want to spit on them, take one of their ‘Obama Plan White Slavery’ signs and knock every racist and homophobic tooth out of their Cro-Magnon heads.”
(3) In December 2009 during the health care debate, Paul Krugman of the New York Times wrote, “A message to progressives: By all means, hang Senator Joe Lieberman in effigy.”
(4) After 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq, President Bush suddenly became as unpopular as Bill O'Reilly with most women of The View. The left really came into their own at this time. In fact, the sentiment was so pervasive that it was given a name - the "Bush Derangement Syndrome." Michael Moore was infected with it and so were other celebrities. A movie (TV docudrama), "Death of a President," was made about the fictional assassination of President Bush and allowed to be shown on American TV. As one commentator wrote: "We've seen from early in his presidency the extremes that the political Left are willing to go to vilify him. This takes this vilification to a new and disturbing level."
(5) In 2006, as contempt for President Bush continued to build, New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi introduced Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) at a commencement ceremony at NYC's Queen's College as “the man who, how do I phrase this diplomatically, who will put a bullet between the President’s eyes if he could get away with it.” New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi said Thursday that a fellow New York Democrat would "put a bullet between the president's eyes if he could get away with it."
(6) Michael Feingold of the Village Voice wrote: “Republicans don’t believe in the imagination, partly because so few of them have one, but mostly because it gets in the way of their chosen work, which is to destroy the human race and the planet. Human beings, who have imaginations, can see a recipe for disaster in the making; Republicans, whose goal in life is to profit from disaster and who don’t give a hoot about human beings, either can’t or won’t. Which is why I personally think they should be exterminated before they cause any more harm.”
(7) Liberal talk radio host Mike Malloy suggested someone should hang Internet king Matt Drudge, writing, “Drudge? Aw, Drudge, somebody ought to wrap a strong Republican entrail around his neck and hoist him up about 6 feet in the air and watch him bounce.”
(8) Greenpeace advocated mass civil disobedience last April (2010) with this blog item on its website: “The proper channels have failed. It’s time for mass civil disobedience to cut off the financial oxygen from denial and skepticism. . . . If you’re one of those who have spent their lives undermining progressive climate legislation, bankrolling junk science, fueling spurious debates around false solutions, and cattle-prodding democratically elected governments into submission, then hear this: We know who you are. We know where you live. We know where you work.”
(9) In June 2010, Nathan Tabor, a business owner, head of the Forsyth County Republican Party, Tea Party activist, and a former candidate for public office assembled with 25 others to peacefully protest government bailouts in front of Rep. Mel Watt's (D-NC) Greensboro, NC office. Soon thereafter, a man walked around the corner and intentionally walked into the middle of the crowd saying 'It's all George W. Bush's fault. It's all Dick Cheney's fault." The man then pushed Tabor several times, to which Tabor did not retaliate. Then the man pushed Tabor's wife. When Mr. Tabor told him to keep his hands off his wife, the man punched Tabor in the face. This happened right in front of Mr. Tabor's young daughter. I watched the footage.
(10) In August 2009, members of the Service Employees International Union beat up Kenneth Gladney for distributing “Don’t Tread On Me” flags at a Missouri town hall meeting. 4
Judge John Roll, the federal judge who was killed by Loughner, drew sharp political criticism in 2009 -- and several death threats -- when he ruled on a pre-trial motion in favor of illegal immigrants in a civil case involving an Arizona rancher. At the time, the threats, online and otherwise, were significant and persistent enough to warrant full protective status from the U.S. Marshal's Service for Roll and his family. Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva had to close his office because of so many death threats from racist callers over his opposition to the state's immigration bill, S.B.1070. Congresswoman Giffords herself had the glass door to her office shattered right after she voted for the healthcare bill. And then there was the bullet that was shot through the window of Eric Cantor’s Richmond office.
The fact is that there is a lot of tension and frustration in this country simply as a result of the recent action and policies themselves of our government. The government's position on immigration, as exemplified by the threat to Judge Roll's life, alone is a great source of tension. Although there is an immigration policy, the government refuses to enforce it. Furthermore, the government has spent a year showing blatant disregard for the wishes of the American people. Power is vested in Czars who run the country at the whim of the President and the people have no power to do anything about that... yet. Just as frustration built up in this country after President Bush took the country to war in Iraq and that frustration led to violent outbursts and aggressive confrontations in cities all over the nation, those who have taken the nation down a similar unpopular path can't cry innocence when tensions again come to a boil. It's the spirit that gave birth to our independence and that has managed to keep the pendulum always closer to center rather than to either extreme of left or right.
Doug Rufino wrote an article to the local Greenville, NC paper, The Daily Reflector, in which he criticized those who blame the Tea Party for the shootings in Tucson. He wrote: " The recent change in the Washington landscape is not due to preachers of hate. Our Constitutional right to vote did that. You insult the American people throughout this country that elected the historic new Congress. Maybe you are still wondering how this happened. Look no further than to Americans who decided that government was getting increasingly out of control. It was our Founders who instructed us to be wary of government, not Beck and Rush. Our very Declaration of Independence tells us “…..Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”…
Robust political debate and engagement is the ultimate display of patriotism and democracy. After all, democracy is the first leg of our republicanism. But it is only a "leg" Our nation was set up as a republic by our Founders for one basic reason - to prevent mob rule... to prevent those types of outcomes that result from a hot-headed majority which might unreasonably burden the minority. Robust political debate is what helps us make sure we send the best representatives possible to conduct the nation's business.
Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, the Tea Party - they are the embodiment of patriotism - devoted love, support, and defense of one's country; national loyalty." They have never advocated for anything other than the peaceful return to the values that our country was founded on. Anyone who has taken the time to attend a Tea Party rally can attest to that.
In speaking about patriotism, Adlai Stevenson wrote: "When an American says that he loves his country, he means not only that he loves the New England hills, the prairies glistening in the sun, the wide and rising plains, the great mountains, and the sea. He means that he loves an inner air, an inner light in which freedom lives and in which a man can draw the breath of self-respect." He also wrote: "America is much more than a geographical fact. It is a political and moral fact - the first community in which men set out in principle to institutionalize freedom, responsible government, and human equality."
While others are so willing to sell out our Founders for notions that history has proven corrupt and destructive, the Tea Party echoes those words of Carrie Latet: "May I never wake up from the American dream!"
You can love your country, but that doesn't necessarily make you a good American. You can love your country, but if you open your mouth to squash someone else's right to speak freely and honestly, you are not a good American. If you use an occasion like the shooting in Tucson to demand further restrictions and regulations over fundamental liberties, you are not a good American.
We should always abhor violence - especially when it targets the innocent. But a "good" American will not try to use an occasion like this - one of random violence - to change the political climate in this country. After all, it was a political climate like this that led a group of Bostonians in the middle of the night on Dec. 16, 1773 to dump the tea on board British ships into the Boston Harbor to prevent it from being unloaded on shore and hence being taxed so that Colonists would be forced to support the King without representation in Parliament. "No taxation without representation" was one of the cries which led to our independence. It was a political climate like this that led to the Civil War and the abolition of slavery. And it was a political climate like that that led to the civil rights of African-Americans. Whenever there is a tense political climate, there are critical issues facing the American people at play. It may not be your particular issue involved this time, but next time it might. Robust discourse often creates a charged environment but here in America, we welcome it rather than try to suppress it. That is what being a "good" American is. That is what America stands for. But using guns rather than words and trying to persuade by acts of violence rather than persuasive dialogue is the sign of a civilized nation like the United States. No decent human being supports violence for political gain.
The fact is that Jared Lee Loughner is a social misfit who no doubt sought to vault his stature by associating himself with mass murder and immense personal sadness. It was the ultimate cry for personal attention. He harbored malice in his heart for Congresswoman Giffords. [He met her once in 2007 and called her "stupid and unintelligent." He was also angered when she refused to acknowledge a question he submitted to her]. We've seen his type throughout history - Mark David Chapman, John Hinckley Jr., David Berkowitz (Son of Sam), and Charles Manson.. Loughner is not mentally unstable. We know he meticulously planned his actions. The sad realization is that due to political correctness in this nation and the persistent attitude that we shouldn't make any single person feel uncomfortable, even though Jared Loughner posed a likely threat and fit the profile of a lone looney likely to do something bad (no one seemed surprised that he carried out the killings), no one sought to get him the help he needed. It would have been inconsistent with our current climate of compassion and aversion to profiling for people to have tried to intervene and prevent that final chip in his brain from flipping. And now Christina Green, a 9-yr-old girl who brought joy to those who loved her and who hadn't even lived long enough to have a first kiss, is dead. Now a federal judge, a young, newly-engaged civil servant, and 3 grandparents are dead. Families are left to grieve and wonder what they ever did to deserve to suffer such senseless slaughter. And a Congresswoman is left bandaged in a hospital wondering if she can ever recover from all the scars - physically, emotionally, and socially.
Ronald Reagan, himself a victim of a lone deranged sociopath (John Hinckley Jr.) once said: "We must reject the idea that every time a law is broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his [or her] actions."
So enough of the mudslinging and name-calling; enough of the meritless accusations. Why don't we leave the name-calling to those who at least can be excused for it - our children. Running a country requires adults.
References:
¹ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/10/opinion/10mon1.html?
² http://bigjournalism.com/taylorking/2010/12/20/salon-publishes-call-for-torture-murder-of-sarah-palin/
³ http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/2011/01/12/death-threats-made-by-liberals-and-democrats/
4 http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/2011/01/12/death-threats-made-by-liberals-and-democrats/
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Local Liberal joins the attack and blame game!
...And of course, those slandered are responsible for the slandering!
THIS IS WHAT WE ARE UP AGAINST!
Some of our neighbors aren't just "on the other side"
Though the extreme leftist media and politicians began the attack barely minutes after the shooting, the liberal left now wants us to believe the people they attacked are to blame.
This is an example, 'Clare' the Liberal writes:
"The bipartisan calls for a return to civility in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy in Arizona this past weekend lasted barely a day.
Americans have rightly begun to examine the recent escalation of vitriolic and incendiary rhetoric in our political discourse. While some initial speculation was too quick to point the finger of blame at specific instances of fear-mongering and violent rhetoric without knowing what actually influenced the gunman, when oft-verbally attacked elected officials are targeted for assassination, it's a matter of basic common sense to call for a toning down of the hateful accusations and hyperbolic hyping of false threats. By simply acknowledging the toxicity of this recent rhetoric, primarily by the Right Wing, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik and many others have come under relentless attack.
:-[ Unfortunately, politicians and pundits on the Right are now responding the same way they always respond to criticism: deflection and denial. They are angry that they would be held accountable and are showing bitter defensiveness by going on the offense against anyone who raises uncomfortable truths like Sheriff Dupnik and some in the media. And they've childishly resorted to their own irrational finger pointing. Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Tea Party leaders and others on the Right are now claiming that the Tucson shooter Jared Loughner is a liberal because he listed Marx's Communist Manifesto among his favorite books (a ridiculous stretch since he also listed Mein Kampf and an Ayn Rand book). Rush Limbaugh said that the gunman has the "full support" of the Democratic Party. And Republicans from Lamar Alexander to Sarah Palin are pushing the message that merely discussing examples of the violent rhetoric which has come to define our political discourse is tantamount to contributing to the ongoing rancor.
In an especially twisted, yet familiar, example of right-wing logic, Arizona State Rep. Jack Harper is actually blaming Saturday's massacre on gun laws he sees as too restrictive and Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik for apparently supporting those laws -- this, despite the fact that Arizona's laws were lenient enough for the clearly disturbed Loughner to obtain the 31-round-per-clip semi-automatic weapon he used in his attack.
And media stars like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin have been quick to use their podiums to try to make this latest debate all about them. Although she holds no official office or leadership position, Palin addressed the country in a web video yesterday in which she decried any scrutiny of recent political rhetoric and even tried to make herself out as the real victim, going so far as to compare herself to Jewish victims of "blood libels."
Attempting to draw a line between what she sees as perfectly acceptable "free speech" and incitement, she said, "when we 'take up our arms,' we're talking about our vote." But isn't that exactly the point? Using incendiary language, such as "taking up arms," can have consequences when there are individuals out there who might not grasp the metaphors, especially when it is accompanied by talk of "Second Amendment remedies" to an election not going the way one would like ... or campaign events at gun ranges ... or grave warnings about "death panels," a "tyrannical government," "Dangerous Liberals" and political opponents being "domestic enemies of the Constitution."
Meanwhile, as we reflect on this awful tragedy, and debate the nature of, well, our debate, the Right continues its pile-on of Sheriff Dupnik, smearing him for the supposed crime of calling it like he sees it while happening to be a registered Democrat."
Beware of folks like Clare, they will never be able to understand or face the truth, God help them (and us) if they win out!
THIS IS WHAT WE ARE UP AGAINST!
Some of our neighbors aren't just "on the other side"
Though the extreme leftist media and politicians began the attack barely minutes after the shooting, the liberal left now wants us to believe the people they attacked are to blame.
This is an example, 'Clare' the Liberal writes:
"The bipartisan calls for a return to civility in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy in Arizona this past weekend lasted barely a day.
Americans have rightly begun to examine the recent escalation of vitriolic and incendiary rhetoric in our political discourse. While some initial speculation was too quick to point the finger of blame at specific instances of fear-mongering and violent rhetoric without knowing what actually influenced the gunman, when oft-verbally attacked elected officials are targeted for assassination, it's a matter of basic common sense to call for a toning down of the hateful accusations and hyperbolic hyping of false threats. By simply acknowledging the toxicity of this recent rhetoric, primarily by the Right Wing, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik and many others have come under relentless attack.
:-[ Unfortunately, politicians and pundits on the Right are now responding the same way they always respond to criticism: deflection and denial. They are angry that they would be held accountable and are showing bitter defensiveness by going on the offense against anyone who raises uncomfortable truths like Sheriff Dupnik and some in the media. And they've childishly resorted to their own irrational finger pointing. Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Tea Party leaders and others on the Right are now claiming that the Tucson shooter Jared Loughner is a liberal because he listed Marx's Communist Manifesto among his favorite books (a ridiculous stretch since he also listed Mein Kampf and an Ayn Rand book). Rush Limbaugh said that the gunman has the "full support" of the Democratic Party. And Republicans from Lamar Alexander to Sarah Palin are pushing the message that merely discussing examples of the violent rhetoric which has come to define our political discourse is tantamount to contributing to the ongoing rancor.
In an especially twisted, yet familiar, example of right-wing logic, Arizona State Rep. Jack Harper is actually blaming Saturday's massacre on gun laws he sees as too restrictive and Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik for apparently supporting those laws -- this, despite the fact that Arizona's laws were lenient enough for the clearly disturbed Loughner to obtain the 31-round-per-clip semi-automatic weapon he used in his attack.
And media stars like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin have been quick to use their podiums to try to make this latest debate all about them. Although she holds no official office or leadership position, Palin addressed the country in a web video yesterday in which she decried any scrutiny of recent political rhetoric and even tried to make herself out as the real victim, going so far as to compare herself to Jewish victims of "blood libels."
Attempting to draw a line between what she sees as perfectly acceptable "free speech" and incitement, she said, "when we 'take up our arms,' we're talking about our vote." But isn't that exactly the point? Using incendiary language, such as "taking up arms," can have consequences when there are individuals out there who might not grasp the metaphors, especially when it is accompanied by talk of "Second Amendment remedies" to an election not going the way one would like ... or campaign events at gun ranges ... or grave warnings about "death panels," a "tyrannical government," "Dangerous Liberals" and political opponents being "domestic enemies of the Constitution."
Meanwhile, as we reflect on this awful tragedy, and debate the nature of, well, our debate, the Right continues its pile-on of Sheriff Dupnik, smearing him for the supposed crime of calling it like he sees it while happening to be a registered Democrat."
Beware of folks like Clare, they will never be able to understand or face the truth, God help them (and us) if they win out!
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