Walter Brasch: There were 12 mass murders so far this year. There will be 33 more deaths from gunshot wounds today. There will be 33 more tomorrow. And the day after that and the day after that.
Idiotas: Enduring Fools
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Rudy Acuña: Arizona Governor Jan Brewer wagging her finger at President Obama recently caught my attention; it is a gesture that betrayed her IQ and upbringing. It was a punk act, and she did it because she knew she could get away with it.
Democrats and Gun Control
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Carl Matthes: Since the Democrats aren’t fighting for gun controls, I suggest they become head cheerleaders for gun proliferation. Outflank the Republicans and make the case that America needs more than the 350,000,000 guns the FBI estimates is currently available.
Why This Is Our Time
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Anthony Samad: On education, immigration, the green environment, and of course, jobs, President Obama helped even Republicans understand that the only way the country was going to move ahead was, together.
Guns, Polls, and Too Many Dead Americans
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Steve Hochstadt: New polls about high capacity magazines show that nearly two-thirds favor banning their sale. A minority of Americans, consistently about a third, favor banning the sale of all handguns, except to police.
America’s History of Crazy Political Assassins Didn’t Begin with Loughner
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James W. Clarke: For Hinckley, Bremer, and—until the evidence is in, I’m willing to bet—Jared Loughner, their victims become trophies in a suicidal quest for lead-story notoriety.
Anti-Immigrant Leader Spearheading Effort to Oust Sheriff Dupnik
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Andrea Nill: The focus of Dupnik’s controversial statements was not immigration. However, it is no coincidence that Americans Against Immigration Amnesty is going after one of the most vocal critics of Arizona’s immigration law.
State of the Union Address 2011 – Full Video and Transcript
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You can watch President Obama’s State of the Union Address, in its entirety and read the full transcript here. The president began by introducing the Speaker of the House, John Boehner. He then went on to talk about the tragedy in Tucson, pointing out that Representative Gabrielle Giffords’ seat was empty. The hour long video offers insight into what we’re to expect in the coming year.
Who Are the Knuckleheads?
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Steve Hochstadt: It disturbs some conservatives no end that Americans who teach in colleges and universities tend not to share their ideas about evolution, global warming, and history. So dismiss the source: just look at where we work, and that should tell you all you need to know.
Sticks and Stones
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Rev. Jim Nelson: It is about power, power over. All slurs are meant to demean and to wound, to rob a person or a people of their humanity. Whether it is calling those on the left socialists or those on the right fascists, name-calling divides and wounds; it provokes rather than promotes.
The Politics of Hate—and Hate Speech
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Walter Brasch: While most Tea Partiers are White, middle-aged or senior citizens who are angry but not violent, whenever there is violence, whenever there is racism, discrimination, or homophobia, there are Tea Party sympathizers present.
Of Course the Assassination Attempt Was Political
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David Greenberg: Much has been made in the last few days of the power of symbols (bull’s-eyes, cross-hairs), martial rhetoric, the hyperbole of words like tyranny. But the most important symbols in all of this are politicians themselves.
When Radicalized Political Rhetoric and Anti-Intellectualism Meet
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Anthony Samad: Free speech is one thing. Symbolic speech is covered by the First Amendment, but don’t say your coded messages don’t have anything to do with violent consequences.
The Consequences of Words
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Tom Degan: The extremism of 1963 was pretty much isolated to a few southern cities. Forty-eight years later it’s gone national. What happened in Arizona over the weekend is only the beginning.
Arizona Goddamn
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David Love: The recent assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona, which left 18 wounded and 6 dead, is a reminder that all is not well in that state. With anti-immigrant legislation, a ban on Chicano studies in the public schools and lax gun laws, Arizona is ground zero for hate and intolerance in America.
The Political Fight after the Arizona Gunfight: Right Target, Wrong Trigger
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Gil Troy: Yes, we need more civility in our politics. But no, we should not use one crazy gunman’s random fixations and horrific violence to trigger the kind of reform modern political culture needs.
The Unintended Consequences of the Loughner Rampage
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Jasmyne Cannick: I can almost guarantee you that it’s going to be next to impossible for the average citizen to meet with their representative. Because if they didn’t have good cause for blatantly avoiding you before—you can betcha bottom tax dollar they do now.
“Truth or Consequence” – How Did You THINK It Was Going to End Up?
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Scott Prosterman: The Tea Party Nation issued a statement, “We didn’t intend for this to result in violence.” Huh? How did they think it was going to end up?
White Power, White Terrorism, White Mainstream
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Jessie Daniels: The white mainstream is already framing this shooting as the act of a crazed, lone gunman, rather than part of a consistent pattern of right-wing violence perpetrated almost exclusively by white men who are responding to a political climate that is increasingly stoked by vitriolic rhetoric.
Civility and Political Discourse after the Tucson Shooting
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Walter Moss: President Obama has often been criticized for being too ready to compromise or for not displaying enough political passion for just causes. No doubt, he has not always perfectly calibrated the right mix of passion and compromise. But there is also no doubt, at least in my mind, that he is correct in calling for more civility in politics.
At Least Stand By Your Free Speech
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Tina Dupuy: Sarah Palin, stand by your free speech. Minutes after the Arizona shooting, Palin’s “Crosshairs” image was scrubbed from her website without an explanation or comment – a cowardly move. If you are going to say outrageous things, then you are going to have to stand by outrageous things
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords Shot
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Tragedy in Tucson Arizona Congressional Representative Gabrielle Giffords has been shot. She was shot in the head as she was addressing constituents at a Tucson, Arizona stripmall. Congresswoman Giffords was immediately taken to a nearby hospital and is listed in critical condition. The Arizona representative was attending an event at a local stripmall in Arizona [...]
Obama Losing Liberal Base and Youth
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Sherwood Ross: Where President Eisenhower once got a landslide voter response for his campaign slogan of “Peace and Prosperity,” it should surprise no one that President Obama’s failure to deliver either one of those ideals has turned off a nation.
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How Many More Have to Die Before Big Media Stops Peddling Hate?
Sylvia Moore: If this extremist speech isn’t soon ostracized from public life in the U.S., the lone, crazed gunman will morph into organized mobs hell bent on murdering political opponents and even committing genocide.