Has Political Rhetoric Become Dangerously Extreme?

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“Here's a partial list of some of the incidents the left has tried to pin on conservatives. The Columbine shooters. The 1995 Oklahoma City bombing (specifically they tried to blame me for that). The DC sniper. The New York City Times Square car bomb attempt. They tried to blame that on some Tea Partier angry at the health law, then we find out that was radical Islamists. The February 2010 IRS plane attack in San Antonio. Remember that? It had to be an anti-government clown that flew that plane into the IRS office, had to be. The Pentagon subway shooter. The Fort Hood attack. The Discovery Channel hostage taker. And this guy [John Patrick] Bedell who went into the Pentagon and wanted to shoot these people up. This guy, by the way, is a dead ringer for Loughner. Amy Bishop who shot her colleagues at that Alabama college. “
“The list goes on and on and on. They are countless“.
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_011011/content/01125106.guest.html

Bill Hedges of MO 11:33PM January 19, 2011

While the Tucson shooting brought the violent political rhetoric front and center, its not directly tied to the current partisan politics, unless you consider it was a case of attempted assassination of a politician by crazed anti-government lunatic trying to assert his opinion with a glock semi-automatic.
Joe Scaroburro offered a compelling agrument, "Just because the dots between violent rhetoric and violent actions don’t connect in this case doesn’t mean you can afford to ignore the possibility — or, as many fear, the inevitability — that someone else will soon draw the line between them.
Actually, someone already has. When you get a minute, Google “Byron Williams” and “Tides Foundation” to see just how thin a layer of ice Beck skates on every day."
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47705.html
Yes, Beck is the poster child for our current poisonous political rhetoric directly encouraging wackos to threaten and attempting to assassinate public officials.
Of course violent political rhetoric is dangerous. Look up the rise of fascism in the 1930's and see where that violent political rhetoric lead to.

Cyril of NE 8:33PM January 18, 2011

Harry Truman called the tactics exhibited by the leftist politicians and media last week, "The Big Lie".
Truman said that if a group shouts long enough and loud enough then the "lie" would be accepted as factual by most folks, and at least cast a pall of suspicion in the minds of others.
Well, the left tried that old trick last week, but the right stream media - armed with obvious facts - was able to expose the tactic for all to see. The Progressive overreach was apparent and backfired.
I suspect the left will act in a more clever and subtle fashion next time.

R.L. Schaefer of CA 12:37PM January 18, 2011

David Gregory repeatedly mentioned Sarah Palin over and over again. But not a word was said over P.A. Rep. Paul Kantorski, a democrat, for wanting Florida Gov. Rick Scott to be shot. So much for the once glorious, unbiased reporting On Sunday from times long ago.

H. VandenHeuvel of FL 8:13PM January 17, 2011

My favorite conservative Arizona Sheriff Joe was on Fox last night. I guess it was in Tucson Joe was vilified, his face connected to a Mexican piñata. With his stance, I understand why illegals don’t like Joe.
Many liberals point to shooting in Arizona as being fueled by Sarah’s cross hairs. How rediculus.
Pelosi called shooting a ACCIDENT. Accident ??? Scotty, beam me up now !!!
Lines too long to be scope. Minor point yes. Another minor point Democrats use bullseyes. Liberals sometime points to hatred we caused led to Rep. Giffords office windows being broken.
Did you notice no mention was made that she was FOR strengthening the boarder. Maybe I should pounce on conclusion that window was broken and she was shot because of her boarder position. Is a logical as Sarah’s bullseye.
After Nov. 2, liberals needed a bandwagon. A cause to uplift their sagging feelings. Liberal Sheriff in Tucson certainly injected their arm with innuendo . Causing major eruptions. Liberals favorite kicking object was in their sights.
Do I need to say what bad taste ? A sicko lives in their own world.
Sheriff in Tucson admits no evidence in case for his off the cuff remarks. I can say the sheriff was out of line in his remarks. Could enter the trial. Might be his covering up his lack of doing his job. Did you know shooter was never held for 72 hour observation. Shooter had many encounters with law enforcement with shooter acting weird….

Bill Hedges of MO 2:41AM January 15, 2011

We have to face the fact that these "celebrities" are being well paid for being offensive, rude, and un-American with their irresponsible, crude, and disgusting (to me) remarks. Apparently listening to this meets some deep seated need of the audience, whomever they are. It also meets the needs of the networks and advertisers. Capitalism run amok in my humble opinion.
Whenever bad things happen I turn to MSNBC and FOX to see what the different perspectives are. They both take opposing extremes, and I wind up disgusted with both and know that the "answer" lies somewhere in the middle.
Why does the opposition have to be destroyed? Why can't we just respect opposing views and listen to reason? Some of the current discussions of current events feature commentators who do not respect the other participants. They rudely interrupt and refuse to listen to those whose ideas they do not agree with. Who can stand to watch this incivility? I wonder about the emotionally and educationally deficient citizens who may not be able to listen to reason, but may be influenced by deliberately inflammatory words and ideas. I am frightened at the possibilities for our future if this pattern of interaction continues.
As a lifelong moderate republican, the party as it stands, has left me in the dust. I believe the party has been stolen by short sighted people who have no feelings of responsibility for the positions they take. However, the democrats are no better. Where is the America I know and love? Caught between a the proverbial "rock and hard place". There are many who feel disenfranchised by the current situation.
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE DESERVE BETTER ! How can those who feel as I do help this situation?

P.S. Hoyer of MD 4:15PM January 14, 2011

Cross hairs on a target symbolize intent to kill. In Tucson, the symbolism became reality. Whether the deranged shooter was influenced by the cross hairs publicly applied to his target is irrelevant. What is relevant is that the symbolism became the reality. The desired end was achieved.
The right has a hate-mongering industry in Fox News & its radio cohort. One cannot turn a radio anywhere in America without finding one or more stations spouting a right-wing litany of hate. The left is nearly absent from those media, not because the left-wing view is any less valid, but because the right-wing cause is also the cause of the moneyed class that can afford to sponsor the propaganda.
It is disingenuous for right-wing defenders like Ernest Istook to raise a smoke screen of similar but unrelated instances plus a few non sequiturs, then pretend their propaganda has no relation to public violence. The majority of Americans in this poll agree that rhetoric has become too violent, & the trickle from the left is nothing next to the flood of hate from the right.
Democrats do it too is the standard Republican defense for the evils they perform, & istook's defense smacks of this. The sins of others are not a legitimate defense of your own, especially when you present yourselves as the party of the best American & family values.

Roy Wilson of WA 1:45PM January 14, 2011

All you have to do is go through the mainstream blogs and its plainly clear
where the hate language is coming from.
Emotionally Immature people probably won't look inward and ask if they can improve, even after the president's speech.
We've even seen examples of bad behavior from talk shows, when immature people realize they're wrong or don't have an answer...they get frustrated and walk off or they call names or curse.

paul of OH 1:27PM January 14, 2011

It's about polite, civil behavior that is respectful and does not create fear and agitation in the public conversation.
Being passionate about your views does not mean disrespecting people, their heritage, their religion, their level of education etc. It is about defending or declaring your positions in a fact-based, sensible tone that communicates information - not anger.
This man decided to shoot a politician - why we don't know. But based on Gabby's open courteous nature, it would have to be based on something more than just her position on climate change. Regular TV and radio - spoke constantly about the issues - and images of hostile & agggressive people were on monitors at the bank, at bars, and many other places non-political people go.
Maybe we should be better - not because someone was shot, but because we are becoming a rude and disrespectful society.
People need to quit ttrying to find reasons to ignore the impact of this rudeness and lack of rigor in researching real facts. When I was younger, people used to aspire to be more knowledgable, more educated, and they were taught to respect others in their conversations. If kids in school discussed matters in class the way some adults recently have been rantng, they would have been kicked out of school.
What my parents used to say was "if you don't have something nice to say, or truthful to say, don't say anything at all". Maybe adults today should heed that, and cut out the background noise of an immature culture with no patience or deeper understanding.

DeeToo of SC 10:28AM January 14, 2011