After seeing bloggers trying to blame Sarah Palin for the Gabrielle Giffords shooting today, a few facts should be stated:
1. Jared Lee Loughner lists among his favorite books Mein Kampf and the Communist Manifesto on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/Classitup10). None of those would be listed by any Republican or Tea Partier as favorite books. Both favor a large, central, all-powerful government controlling the citizens.
2. Jared Lee Loughner’s High School friend on twitter (http://twitter.com/caitieparker) says he was a “left wing” pot head.
3. Jared Lee Loughner writes using the terms “B.C.E”. Loughner hated “In God We Trust.” Both of which show he is not a Christian.
4. Loughner is reportedly a registered “independent”.
5. Loughner shot and killed a Republican Federal Judge. Does that make him a Democrat?
6. CNN used the name “Crossfire” for a show for nearly 25 years (1982-2005). That is 23 years of indoctrinating people to think of political debate as “Crossfire”.
[Update] 7. Loughner had sent Representative Giffords a letter in 2007. More than a year prior to Sarah Palin being a household name.
[Update 1/12/2010] 8. “He did not watch TV. He disliked the news. He didn’t listen to political radio” according to a friend.
Update 1/17/2010] 9. The New York Times reports that Loughner was a Present Bush hater – “His anger would well up at the sight of President George W. Bush”.
Saying Sarah Palin is to blame, the Tea Party, the Republican party – or for that matter the Democratic party – is nuts. It sounds like something that this nut job would say! The blame belongs with an insane killer. No one else. But don’t let any facts get in the way of a good smear.
Concentrate on the victims, not trying to pin it on someone else.
Regarding the Communist Manifesto, Conservatives generally want small government with power widely distributed and closer to the voter with most decisions left to the individual. (The left wing wants larger, more centralized government. Once the differences are stated it becomes clear that one side wants power in government, the other freedom to the people. Groups that want large government are the fascists, socialists, and communists – in other words statists and dictators like the Nazi Socialists, the USSR, Mao’s Socialists. All of whom were willing to kill millions of people in order to establish their social order. All of whom wanted a strong, central, powerful government in order to impose their will on everyone else “for their own good.”
The choice is easy: freedom or government. Life and liberty vs power and control.