Trouble in Tuscon

So possibly this could be the first (and maybe) last time I write about Tuscon.

So everyone knows what happened by now.  I don't need to get into the deets.

So let's get straight into fallout.



Goddamnit, why did I just start so many sentences with "so", I hate doing that, sometimes.

Is political rhetoric very heated at the current moment?  Yes, yes it is.  It is extremely heated.

Does this shooting have anything to do with politics?  Possibly.  It seems the shooter was at the very least dissatisfied with the political direction/leadership of his representative.

Does this shooting have anything to do with political rhetoric?  Unlikely.

First things first -- this man had severe mental issues, some say schizophrenia.  He was, at least seemingly, a lone actor.  He also procured his firearms before any background check would have picked up on anything fishy (mentally speaking), and didn't really have any legal issues.  The "gun show loophole" does not apply here (as it arguably could have for Columbine and Virginia Tech).

Anyways, heated political rhetoric, does it have anything to do with this situation?  Not really.  Indications show he was likely in his own world for political ideologies, and given his love for "The Communist Manifesto," he is most likely in opposition to the things such as Glen Beck, Sarah Palin, and the Tea Party which are catching a good deal of the heat for this event.  The "Sarah Palin crosshairs" are unfortunate, really, but they definitely aren't to blame.  Oh, and they're definitely crosshairs too, no way those are surveyor's symbols -- those districts/representatives were targets, not elevations.

In a way, I actually kinda feel sorry for Sarah Palin in this situation.  I mean, she probably had nothing to do with this at all (in a misconstrued message kind of way, definitely no direct involvement), gets heat for her political rhetoric, then gives a press conference wherein she gets slammed for "refusing to back down" or something.  At the very least, she sticks to her guns (oh god, no pun intended in this situation definitely), and props must be given for that.

On a kind of related note -- does political rhetoric need to get cooled down, yeah, but we all know it's not going to happen so long as "one side" is "losing".

Oh yeah, fuck westboro baptist church.  fuck them with a serrated knife.  Picketing a funeral cos one of the girls (9 years old) who died in the gunfire was catholic.  Really?  I guess believing in Jesus isn't good enough for you guys cos we have like Pope rings and shit.  Or is it cos she's the granddaughter of 1980 Phillies World Series Champions Manager Dallas Green?  Either way, go fist yourself (doublestuff).

I know it's well within your first amendment rights to be doing this kind of shit (and Phelps knows it too, as a former civil liberties attorney).  It's also well within my rights to dance in front of people yelling "I'm not violating your first amendment rights!" at the top of my lungs, then sue them for assault when they punch me in the face, but I don't do that -- because I'm not an asshole.

-- Knuttel