Legalectric

Terrorism and the “Climate of Hate”

January 10th, 2011

White Terrorism from Prof. Juan Cole, University of Michigan:

The man who had most to do with Loughner after his arrest, Pima County Sherriff Clarence W. Dupnik, was clearly angered by what he heard from the assassin: “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 … it 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.”

From Spotty…

Singing Kum Bah Yah, off key

And from Paul Krugman:

Climate of Hate

By PAUL KRUGMAN/The New York Times

Published: January 9, 2011

When you heard the terrible news from Arizona, were you completely surprised? Or were you, at some level, expecting something like this atrocity to happen?

Put me in the latter category. I’ve had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach ever since the final stages of the 2008 campaign. I remembered the upsurge in political hatred after Bill Clinton’s election in 1992 — an upsurge that culminated in the Oklahoma City bombing. And you could see, just by watching the crowds at McCain-Palin rallies, that it was ready to happen again. The Department of Homeland Security reached the same conclusion: in April 2009 an internal report warned that right-wing extremism was on the rise, with a growing potential for violence.
Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by Carol A. Overland

Filed in Political Sense (non?)

No Comments »

Fighting words?

January 9th, 2011

Gabriella Giffords shot yesterday…

All the hate speech, hit lists, vitriol… from Palin, the Tea Party, radio “personalities,” … how about some responsibility for these “fighting words” unleashed on susceptible ingoramuses? (ignorami?) There’s a reason they’re called “fighting words” and there’s a reason “fighting words” are not constitutionally protected free speech…

‘Vitriol’ Cited As Possible Factor in Arizona Tragedy

Shooting could tame tough political rhetoric

“Possible” factor? I haven’t forgotten that Wellstone was #1 on the Bush/Rove “hit list” or that the NRA targeted Minnesota candidates in mailers and labeled them “dead.”

Posted by Carol A. Overland

Filed in Other