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Pima County Sheriff Blames Vitriol From “Certain Mouths About Tearing Down The Government”

Posted by: Bridgette P. LaVictoire on January 8, 2011.

01/08/11-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
Throughout the day, there were conflicting reports as to whether or not Representative Gabrielle Giffords was among those who perished at the hands of Jared Lee Loughton. Initial reports were that she had been killed, including some sources reporting to LGR. Other sources later contacted LGR to confirm that she was, indeed, alive. Now, the question is becoming what exactly caused this man who appears to have been deranged to go off on this killing spree, and who helped him as there are at least one other person being sought.

At a news conference explaining the fact that they were searching for another suspect, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik stated about Arizona (transcript via Huffington Post):

“When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government. The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous. And, unfortunately, Arizona I think has become sort of the capital. We have become the Mecca for prejudice and bigotry.

“It’s not unusual for all public officials to get threats constantly, myself included. And that’s the sad thing of what’s going on in America. Pretty soon, we’re not going to be able to find reasonable, decent people who are willing to subject themselves to serve in public office.”

Later, Dupnik had an exchange with a reporter that went thusly:

DUPNIK: Let me just say one thing, because people tend to poo-poo this business about all the vitriol that we hear inflaming the American public by people who make a living off of doing that. That may be free speech. But it’s not without consequences.

REPORTER: How do you know that that’s what caused it.

DUPNIK: You don’t?

These are words that echo statements by Rep. Giffords from last year when it came to the Sarah Palin crosshairs picture. That clip from MSNBC last year is making the rounds even now. There is a certain growing feeling that Palin and others are to blame for creating an environment where this could happen.

Allyson Miller, a founder of the 500-member Pima County Tea Party Patriots, told Talking Points Memo that her group would not moderate their rhetoric. They also reported:

Patrick Beck, the head of the Mohave County Tea Party, told Dave Weigel that tea partiers might have to be more careful about their rhetoric, “but it makes it real difficult to speak when every few minutes you’re giving a disclaimer. ‘We have to fight back — but, wait, I don’t mean literally fight.’ Those words such as fight, and take back, and restore… we know what we mean but we have to be clear what we mean, and in next few weeks, as this all plays out, people will be more understanding of that.”

Beck added: “When we talk about Barack Obama, we’ve got to be clear, it’s not personal. When we say he’s destroying this country we are not saying he’s doing it out malicious intent and a desire to cripple us. He has good intentions and he’s wrong. I worry when that gets lost.”

The Tea Party Express said in a statement:

These heinous crimes have no place in America, and they are especially grievous when committed against our elected officials. Spirited debate is desirable in our country, but it only should be the clash of ideas. An attack on anyone for political purposes, if that was a factor in this shooting, is an attack on the democratic process. We join with everyone in vociferously condemning it.

Not that any of this really matters since none of them realize that their rhetoric is what lead to this tragedy.

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15 Responses to Pima County Sheriff Blames Vitriol From “Certain Mouths About Tearing Down The Government”

  1. Marc Brooks Reply

    January 9, 2011 at 11:55 pm

    I knew that targeting metaphor looked familiar. Check out the 2004 version http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XpO5QqiHYGs/TSoj8H76B3I/AAAAAAAABec/XBv7tc09TNY/s1600/DLC-Targeting-map.gif

  2. Eric_RoM Reply

    January 9, 2011 at 9:01 pm

    So the right-wing blame deflection machine gears up. When are rightists going to take responsibilities for constant violent instigation. Aren’t they supposed to be the mature ones?

    When I host a booth with a shooting gallery featuring Boehner, Palin, and Becks pasty mug (easy to hit because of big pasty noggin), is that a simple “fund raiser”? Really, reich-wingers, just accept that YOU are the assholes in this scenario.

  3. Marc Brooks Reply

    January 9, 2011 at 2:53 pm

    Wait, your saying that (as entertainment at the event) them having the opportunity to shoot a M-16 is “hinting” that they wanted these representatives shot? Surely you realized that’s like having a bingo game or a dunk tank or some other enticement FOR THE EVENT. Nobody’s really that polarized are they, that they cannot see the difference between the two?

    Wow, so serving food at events is enticing me to feed the people we;re talking about? Or wait…. having clowns tie balloons MUST mean we want to tie those folks up and throw them away after a couple of days!  HOW COULD I HAVE BEEN SO IGNORANT?

    • Bridgette P. LaVictoire

      January 9, 2011 at 2:58 pm

      Marc,

      We’ve been wondering how you could be so ignorant since your first post. You have not seen the rhetoric, and refuse to believe that it played a part in this tragedy. Loughner’s rhetoric is that of the Right.

  5. Mark Ira Kaufman Reply

    January 9, 2011 at 11:52 am

    Marc Brooks writes, “The rhetoric you’re quoting did NOT cause this.”

    The falsity of this can be seen in the power of words. The Hebrew word for ‘object’ or ‘thing’ is indistinguishable from the word for ‘word.’ Words have substance and power. They can inspire people to nobility, or to depravity.

    Don’t believe it? Consider the parental mantra, “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me…” It may have been a useful device to keep children from getting into fights. But the greatest hurts any of us have endured were usually something someone said to us or about us.

    We can no longer go merrily along acting as if there are no consequences for our words and other forms of expression. We can no longer endure right-wingers who post images of gun sight crosshairs over photos of Democrats without savaging them for their irresponsibility and their tacit promotion of violence.

    How might right-wingers respond to images of THEIR icons in the crosshairs of a gun sight? Although the temptation to disseminate images of Sarah Palin, John Boehner and other right-wingers caught in the cross hairs might be strong, remember when tempted to fight fire with fire that the fire department usually uses water.

  6. Don hartung Reply

    January 9, 2011 at 11:46 am

    To be 20 again and not get it.  This guy was a nut job and would have used any excuse.  By the standards of many on this site the 60s radicals (democrats) caused Charles manson to do the killings he and his group did.  Bull

  7. zulusue Reply

    January 9, 2011 at 7:45 am

    The Sheriff is absolutely right, the politicos who spew hate and cry it’s my first amendment right, don’t know who’s listening, taking their every word seriously and willing to act on it. Sarah Palin didn’t put the cross-hairs on anyone but she certainly endorsed it and should be called on it. I stopped watching them all as I hoped they would start thinking about what they’re saying before they say it. It’s about time they woke up but they won’t and they’ll have an argument about why they “shouldn’t” have to. And, as long as the public continues to watch and listen to their hate, they all will continue to spew it.

    • John Patrick

      January 9, 2011 at 2:06 pm

      Sounds like you are hating your political oppnents none the less. What about you? Why do you put words in their mouths? You miss the entire point of poitical discourse. No one I have heard on the right has ever suggested violence in any way. Youi demean yourself and the process. The murderer Loughner was a nut case through and through. What about Hinckley, who shot Reagan? Same difference except the Republicans in charge did NOT call for blaming the democrats and their supporters! You have no clue about the Tea Party!

    • Bridgette P. LaVictoire

      January 9, 2011 at 2:13 pm

      Your proof is right here. Read it or don’t, but it does not change the facts.

      http://lezgetreal.com/2011/01/sarah-palin-tea-party-right-wing-trying-to-run-from-rhetoric-az-shooting/

      Incidentally, Hinckley we had a different motive for- he wanted to impress Jodie Foster where as Loughner had a motive that included all the same rhetoric that we’ve seen out of the Tea Party.

  8. Marc Brooks Reply

    January 9, 2011 at 12:47 am

    The rhetoric you’re quoting did NOT cause this. Lougner was simply unstable. He blamed the government for mind-control, going off the gold-standard, etc… he’s a looney, plain and simple. When you see his motivations IN HIS OWN YouTube videos, will you apologize for this specious lie?

    http://www.youtube.com/user/Classitup10

    • Bridgette P. LaVictoire

      January 9, 2011 at 9:12 am

      Mr. Brooks,

      how many times have the people on the right whined about politically correct speech? How many times have they complained about thought police and using grammar to control what people think through banning certain types of speech? How many times have the Right called for a return to the gold standard?

      Looney or not- he is one of yours.

  9. FAEN Reply

    January 8, 2011 at 9:39 pm

    And he was spot on!

    • John Patrick

      January 9, 2011 at 1:59 pm

      You just have to blame your political opponents for this don’t you? How shallow and baseless. What a waste!

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