The Utter Irresponsibility of Sheriff Dupnik
For some 24 hours now, Sheriff Clarence Dupnik of Pima County has been mouthing off about the "vitriol" that created the atmosphere in which a Jared Loughner could open fire at a Tucson shopping mall.
In this clip, Megyn Kelly of Fox News takes him on--very, very gently, but still decisively. Does the sheriff, she asks, possess any evidence that Loughner was influenced by political ads? Does that sheriff possess any evidence that Loughner so much as listened to talk radio?
Sheriff Dupnik: "I don't have that information yet."
Yet? Yet? The sheriff, a Democrat, has been using his sudden national prominence to associate the Tea Party, talk radio, and the Republican Party with an act of murder--without a shred of evidence. And, when confronted, he employs weasel language--yet!--to give himself an out.
This man is a disgrace.
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Oct '10
Re: The Utter Irresponsibility of Sheriff Dupnik
I'm surprised he went into a rant about the Republicans keeping the Democrats from making this a better country. It started to sound like he was in the middle of a campaign. I hope this comes back to bite him in the form of public outrage at his behavior. (I guess it was a good thing I explained myself lest I be guilty of making vague threats.)
Oct '10
Re: The Utter Irresponsibility of Sheriff Dupnik
He absolutely is a disgrace. The problem is that he is being praised in some circles for having the courage to speak out.
See Tom Brokaw praise the Sheriff at about the 5 minute mark of this Morning Joe segment.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036789/vp/40999522#40999522
I have to believe that Brokaw did not see the Megyn Kelly interview, and/or has not thought this through completely.
Edited on January 10, 2011 at 8:42pmMay '10
Re: The Utter Irresponsibility of Sheriff Dupnik
For a minute there I thought I was watching W.C. Fields in The Bank Dick. But I wasn't laughing.
Just a partisan boob trying clumsily to make partisan hay. Get outta town, Sheriff.
Re: The Utter Irresponsibility of Sheriff Dupnik
Why is Megyn and other journalists soft soaping these people when interviewing? I keep screaming at my TV. Everytime someone goes for the cheap soundbite of "we have to tone down the rhetoric" I want the interviewer to say: "Who are you talking about? Name names right now."
The more vague they stay, the more people they get to indict by whomever the listener decides to insert by speculation.
NAME NAMES!!!!
Edited on January 10, 2011 at 8:48pmOct '10
Re: The Utter Irresponsibility of Sheriff Dupnik
Tommy De Seno:
NAME NAMES!!!! · Jan 10 at 11:44am
I believe he did name names later on when being interviewed by Geraldo. He named Palin and Sharron Angle. Geraldo asked him at the end of the interview if he wanted to take anything back, and he declined.
Re: The Utter Irresponsibility of Sheriff Dupnik
Sheriff Dupnik also kept the "second suspect" farce going as long as possible yesterday. Uncharacteristically glued to the news as I was, I got to see him diverted from his endless tutorial on the lethality of conservative political ideas long enough to admit, reluctantly, that there was no second suspect, just an uninvolved taxi driver who went into Safeway to get some change. Nevertheless, MSM reports over the next eight hours kept harping on the second suspect being sought by police, as also some sort of Department of Homeland Security memo on the possible involvement of American Renaissance--a purported anti-Semitic, white consciousness web site.
Strange that every jihadist attack is instantly judged the work of a single mentally unbalanced non-ideologic individual, while every shooting by a politically incoherent unbalanced individual is just as presumptively the fruit of a right-wing anti-government conspiracy.
Edited on January 10, 2011 at 9:00pmRe: The Utter Irresponsibility of Sheriff Dupnik
tms
Tommy De Seno:
NAME NAMES!!!! · Jan 10 at 11:44am
I believe he did name names later on when being interviewed by Geraldo. He named Palin and Sharron Angle. Geraldo asked him at the end of the interview if he wanted to take anything back, and he declined. · Jan 10 at 11:48am
Thanks TMS.
Geraldo should have then confronted him with Daily Kos' blog post by their leader Markos wherein he "targeted" Congresswoman Giffords by "painting a bulls-eye" on her before Palin's map came out.
Not to mention President Obama's statement in Philly" If they bring a knife, we will bring a gun!"
Edited on January 10, 2011 at 8:58pmOct '10
Re: The Utter Irresponsibility of Sheriff Dupnik
tms
Tommy De Seno:
NAME NAMES!!!! · Jan 10 at 11:44am
I believe he did name names later on when being interviewed by Geraldo. He named Palin and Sharron Angle. Geraldo asked him at the end of the interview if
From the Geraldo interview:
"When you have people like Sharron Angle in Las Vegas running against Harry Reid making outrageous statements such as we may need to resort to taking the second amendment in certain cases, for people like Sarah Palin to say we have people like Gabby Giffords in our cross hairs, they are irresponsible not without consequences and we be seeing the fruit of it here."
Oct '10
Re: The Utter Irresponsibility of Sheriff Dupnik
Imagine if a Muslim had been the gunman! Boy, how different this whole situation would've been.
Nov '10
Re: The Utter Irresponsibility of Sheriff Dupnik
Sheriff Dupnik’s own department may have dropped the ball on Jared Loughren. It appears they may have been warned in advance that Loughner was mentally unstable and was making death threats. If Sheriff Dupnik had a chance to prevent the Safeway shooting before it happened, his despicable rhetoric may be a lame attempt to cover up his department’s own failure.
Edited on January 10, 2011 at 9:02pmOct '10
Re: The Utter Irresponsibility of Sheriff Dupnik
Perhaps we would have heard from Sheriff Dumbnik sooner if the U of A, Tucson, had had a lacrosse team with alleged proclivities towards sexual violence.
Oct '10
Re: The Utter Irresponsibility of Sheriff Dupnik
Last week, the left was apoplectic over the reading of the US Constitution on the House floor. Now they are desperately blaming public discourse, Sarah Palin and the Tea Party for a lone psycho with zero evidence to back it up.
They have become unhinged like I have never seen before. And the backlash against these opportunistic vampires is coming.
May '10
Re: The Utter Irresponsibility of Sheriff Dupnik
What irritates me most about this is that, having claimed the moral high ground, the Sheriff will gather all the positive soundbites, incorporate them into his self-serving world view, and never once feel the need to apologize or backtrack. Even if the evidence shows conclusively that the shooter was not a Tea Party fan (that he was either schizophrenic or actually a far left looney) the Sheriff will believe that he has spoken a Greater Truth, that his words were bravely spoken, and that his assumptions being wrong have nothing to do with him being wrong.
Since I very seriously doubt that he will hold himself accountable for his own words, I find myself hoping that the voters will do the job for him.
Re: The Utter Irresponsibility of Sheriff Dupnik
Military metaphors divorced of violent intention have been an integral part of English usage for many centuries: "I gave him both barrels;" "don't let the cat out of the bag;" "take no prisoners;" "seize the high ground;" "take the battle to enemy;" "scorched earth tactics;" "a flash in the pan;" the list goes on and on. And while my imagination is failing me, I'm certain the Ricochetariat can recall dozens of other such sayings.
Nov '10
Re: The Utter Irresponsibility of Sheriff Dupnik
"It used to be that politicians...could set down their ideology and work on the country's problems." Translation: as long as we are incrementing towards socialism we don't need to talk ideology.
Why would we ever set aside our ideology? Ludicrous.
Jul '10
Re: The Utter Irresponsibility of Sheriff Dupnik
Contrast his interview with that of the father of the little girl who died in the shooting.
The father, fighting back tears, pleaded that this tragedy should not be politicized or used to restrict our freedoms.
This guy is a political hack of the most vile stripe.
Sep '10
Re: The Utter Irresponsibility of Sheriff Dupnik
"don't let the cat out of the bag;"
There will be a new drinking game at the next Ricochet soiree for everytime the word cat gets worked into a comment.
Sep '10
Re: The Utter Irresponsibility of Sheriff Dupnik
Now they are desperately blaming public discourse, Sarah Palin and the Tea Party for a lone psycho with zero evidence to back it up.
On a positive note, George W Bush has yet to be blamed for this crisis.
Jul '10
Re: The Utter Irresponsibility of Sheriff Dupnik
At what point is he disgraceful however?
When he failed the community as far as this wacko goes?
Or when he engaged in CYA by blaming rhetoric?
Oct '10
Re: The Utter Irresponsibility of Sheriff Dupnik
I have to believe that there will be a backlash. At a certain point, people will realize that he is not only engaging in blatant political opportunism, but that he is not doing his job. He is spending more time accusing his political opponents of accessory to mass murder (and in the process building a defense for the gunman), than he is trying to get to the bottom of what happened.