The Wisdom of the American People
In an unsurprising development, the American people are far ahead of their supposed betters in government and in the media. Even as over top rhetoric is employed, ostensibly to reign in over the top rhetoric, a CBS poll reveals that, “Nearly six in 10 Americans say the country’s heated political rhetoric is not to blame for the Tucson shooting rampage that left six dead and critically wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords…” The emerging picture of Jared Loughner is one of apolitical tragedy. A close friend of Lougher, Osler Zachary, described Loughner as a, “self-induced monster,” who experimented with cocaine before moving on to worse drugs. “There was no political motive in this, [Jared] was just angry at the world,” Zachary said.
It appears to this observer that what we have is a societal problem that has been addressed in this forum by our own Kenneth, George Savage, and Professor Epstein among others. It lies at the crossroads of the law, law enforcement, pharmacology and psychology, in a blurred area where we must grapple with how to balance the needs of the mentally ill with the needs of society at large to live in peace and security. Fraught with tragedy, it is a subject that should be addressed by sober minds, rather than by shallow and fatuous political posturing from people who wouldn’t know the real world if it travelled to Georgetown and knocked their little liqueur glass from their hands.
The question remains why, in the face of mounting evidence, does the left continue in its efforts to tie this horrible tragedy to the right in general and the Tea Party in particular? The answer, I suspect, is found in the nature of the statist himself. He reminds us that no crisis should be wasted in an effort to advance his cause. Why is that? Because an ideology which exposes virtually every aspect of an individual’s life to an ever expanding labyrinth of regulation, of do’s and don’ts, of one size fits all prescriptions, of an infinite variety of schemes for the confiscation of property, at its core believes that nothing in life is outside the purview of the state. In his book, Liberal Fascism, Jonah Goldberg describes this ideology as one that, “…takes responsibility for all aspects of life, including our health and well-being, and seeks to impose uniformity of thought and action, whether by force or through regulation and social pressure.”
Hence, we now have politicians and pundits lining up to demand more gun control, more restrictions on free speech, more regulation of the airwaves, …in short, more control. Question: Has there ever been a tragedy to which the left responded by proposing less control over the American people? Whether the calamity was the result of a deranged citizen, a natural disaster, or even the result of government itself, has the left ever proposed a less invasive solution?
The good news is that the American people are on to them. We’ve seen their solutions, and we’ve seen the results. We’ve watched them exploit tragedy after tragedy, always to the advantage of encroaching government, and we’ve concluded that the Founders were right after all.
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Dec '10
Re: The Wisdom of the American People
Dave Carter:
The question remains why, in the face of mounting evidence, does the left continue in its efforts to tie this horrible tragedy to the right in general and the Tea Party in particular?
There are several reasons, including the same sanctimonious righteousness that led them to force feed Obamacare to the nation despite the polls.
From the poll...
"Independents more closely reflected the overall breakdown – 56 percent said rhetoric had nothing to do with the attack; 33 percent felt it did."
That 19 percent of Republicans thought the "rhetoric" played a part is disappointing to me.
However, that 49 percent of Democrats thought the "rhetoric" did not play a role should give the MSM and Dem leadership reason to reflect.
The poll numbers are encouraging, but I hoped more people would see through the rhetoric.
Edited on Jan 11, 2011 at 2:14pmOct '10
Re: The Wisdom of the American People
Short answer: NO. Remember, their goal is to ultimately force submission on the common class. In Islam, it is called Dhimmitude. It means that outsiders, that is, infidels, submit to the insider class. Is Leftism therefore the same as Islam? No, of course not. Islam claims their power in the name of Allah. The Left claim their power in their own name.
Jul '10
Re: The Wisdom of the American People
Not to split hairs, but I think the Author of the linked article uses what One said (thought?) and what One felt as if they were interchangeable. I think they are not and makes a much bigger difference.
Edited on Jan 11, 2011 at 2:26pmSep '10
Re: The Wisdom of the American People
I find that I am not irritated at all by the lefts use of this tragedy to further their political goals. Their appeal is primarily an emotional one and this is tailor made for such an appeal. You have to admire their zeal. Their base will get some pleasure out of it, but that’s about it. Personally I do not find the political rhetoric particularly heated. I find this a charge made by the left that the GOP has accepted as true and which now has become unchallengeable. The only fervor I have seen on the right has come from the tea party and the GOP will somehow manage to throw cold water on it.
May '10
Re: The Wisdom of the American People
Only two decades from the end of the Cold War, yet how quickly we forget. It was once almost a cliche for authoritarian leaders to claim that expressions of dissent or dissatisfaction with government were dangerous, or incitements to violence, and therefor needed to be suppressed. Indeed we need not look back to the Cold War, just observe the most recent elections in Iran, Venezuela or Belarus. Can't have any angry dissent!
Of course it is all nonsense, and even if well-meaning, such ideas are counter-productive. If people are indeed quite angry at their governing elites, then you want them to find release in strong political discourse. Cut it off and you make violent action more likely, not less.
(Indeed, read with care the description of the reason that Loughner became so focused on Congresswoman Gifford. He believed that she had refused to respond to him. Of course he was deluded and probably incomprehensible, and so a bad example. It only illustrates that suppressing discourse doesn't help.)
Dec '10
Re: The Wisdom of the American People
Strictly speaking, what someone "said", "thought", and "felt" could all be different.
According to a table at the CBS link a Yes/No question was asked... "Did Harsh Political Tone have Anything to do with Arizona Shootings?"
Clever wording. Note the question was not "Did the Harsh Political Tone... ?" Of course, that could be an editing mistake.
Jul '10
Re: The Wisdom of the American People
Nickolas
Strictly speaking, what someone "said", "thought", and "felt" could all be different.
I agree.
Thanks for the link. They too refer to feelings and that's the problem.
Dec '10
Re: The Wisdom of the American People
I don't find the political rhetoric particularly heated either, especially placed in objective historical context.
Also, I don't think the GOP has accepted the premise as true. There has been pushback and denial. Any acknowledgement of inappropriate rhetoric has been that fringe elements on both sides generate it and that no one on either side can control what their fringes say.
For the most part, from what I've read/heard the politicians and pundits on the Right have denied that Palin's map was out-of-line or inappropriate.
Dec '10
Re: The Wisdom of the American People
Dave, I love you man.
Sentences like this are why: "Fraught with tragedy, it is a subject that should be addressed by sober minds, rather than by shallow and fatuous political posturing from people who wouldn’t know the real world if it travelled to Georgetown and knocked their little liqueur glass from their hands."
The answer to this: "The question remains why, in the face of mounting evidence, does the left continue in its efforts to tie this horrible tragedy to the right in general and the Tea Party in particular?", is that they are scared to death of the Tea Party (and not because of "violent rhetoric").
The left will always tell you exactly what they fear by the viciousness of their attacks upon it.
Using this standard, it is plain to see that they are in mortal fear of Sarah Palin and the Tea Party.
The reason for their fear should be almost as obvious. It is because neither of those things moves and reacts like the leftists are used to conservatives moving and reacting.
They are both new and powerful and entirely unpredictable (when looked at from the standpoint of the left).
Continued . . .
Dec '10
Re: The Wisdom of the American People
That makes them very dangerous to the left, because their entire movement is founded upon lies and the denial of reality. Let in too much reality or sunshine, and the whole thing evaporates.
The Tea Party and Sarah Palin are both entirely immune to being called the standard names, and they do not react to such acts like traditional republicans always have (IE, beg for forgiveness, capitulate, and then run and hide), and they almost always reply with reason and facts.
When you lie to their faces, they call you a liar and correct the error with facts.
This is anathema to the left, and what I think they fear the most of all.
The truth is very hard to beat, especially when repeated often and spoken plainly and unapologetically.
The left knows this and they fear it greatly. They may be mostly bonzo, but they are NOT stupid.
May '10
Re: The Wisdom of the American People
You'll have to pry the little liqueur glass from my cold, dead hands. Don't touch my cocktail junk.
In addition to the cynical calculation you mention, the Left also likes to practice pre-emptive viciousness. They assume conservatives are going around spewing dangerous hate, and yet somehow seem to win a fair number of elections. So they feel fully justified in going nuclear, because it's fighting fire with fire and they only do it in self-defense, after all, pre-emptively.
Of course, they always take it to extremes based on their provincially ignorant cartoon view of what conservatives say. Which just makes these bug-eyed anime characters hard for independents and half of Democrats to take seriously, as indicated by the poll.
Obama's seen that poll, and will not make the Clintonian speech about rhetorical tone leading to violence, according to WH sources.