This Just In ...

Rush to blame hurts liberals

Posted by Kevin Fischer on Jan. 10, 2011

William A. Jacobson, Associate Clinical Professor, Cornell Law School writes at Legal Insurrection that the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords isn’t the first time liberals have falsely accused the right.

Jacobson sees two “sicknesses” in this story:

1) The sickness inside the shooter’s head

2) The swift reaction of liberal to blame Sarah Palin and right-wing “vitriol.”

“Within minutes of the shooting being made known, two of the highest profile left-wing bloggers, Markos Moulitsas of DailyKos and Matthew Yglesias of Think Progress, pulled out a 10-month-old electoral map used at a Sarah Palin website showing almost two dozen congressional districts being targeted, including Giffords' district.  The map was similar to one used by the Democratic Leadership Committee to target Republicans in the prior election cycle, and as Howard Kurtz points out, simply typical of campaign rhetoric using military-themed language.

Yet not a single person pushing the blame-Palin line has offered a shred of evidence that Loughner ever saw Palin's electoral map, was motivated by it, was right-wing (anectodally it appears Loughner was quite left-wing as of a few years ago), was motivated by right-wing radio, or did any of the things being assumed by the left-blogosphere, the mainstream media and some Democratic politicians.

Not a shred of evidence connecting Loughner to Palin, the Tea Parties, or the right wing, yet the left-blogosphere, mainstream media and Democratic politicians have erupted into a frenzy of name-calling directed at Palin and those who oppose Obama's agenda.”

Jacobson adds:

“Congresswoman Giffords took part in the reading of the Constitution on the floor of the House last week, an event which was denounced by the left-blogosphere and some Democrats as a stunt and a reflection of a fetish.”

Byron York writes in the Washington Examiner, “Journalists urged caution after Ft.Hood, now race to blame Palin after Arizona shootings.”

Karol Markowicz asserts, “It was truly frightening how the mob mentality took over. On Twitter, Facebook and blogs everywhere, Palin-haters delighted in blaming this tragedy on the woman they despised. It brought out the worst in the political left. While people lay dying they pushed this story with hateful glee. They didn't seem to notice, as they complained about ‘rhetoric,’ that their own rhetoric had taken a turn for the crazy.”

And Paul Joseph Watson weighs in:

“Despite the fact that Jared Lee Loughner was a psychotic loner with ‘left-wing’ beliefs according to those who knew him, the establishment has hastily exploited (Saturday's) tragic shooting in Tucson to demonize conservatives, libertarians and gun owners while ordering Americans to ‘tone down the rhetoric,’ which is nothing more than a euphemism for stifling dissent and coercing people to roll over on Obamacare, bailouts and whatever big government is preparing to unleash next.

Make no bones about it – 'tone down the rhetoric' means stifling dissent, it can have no other possible meaning. Because a lunatic decided to kill others in a bid to give his worthless life some meaning, Americans are being ordered to shut their mouths about Obamacare, endless bailouts, and the fact that their political representatives in Washington (with some notable exceptions) have ceased to represent their interests."

In their rush to shamefully gain political points from a tragedy, the left has once again seriously damaged its credibility.