Firearm-Obsessed Culture + Conservative Dehumanization of Immigrants =
This :
Gov. David Paterson says “12 or 13″ people were killed in an attack on an immigration services center in Binghamton, N.Y.
A federal law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity also says the shooter has been found dead in the building.
Officials and media reports have said as many as 41 hostages were taken.
The law enforcement official says the gunman entered the building through the front while firing. He had already blocked the back door with his car.
I wish I could say I’m surprised, but there are only so many times you can read stories about a federal building being blown up, a mass-killing at a Unitarian Church, a Democratic party official murdered in cold blood by a stranger, and more before a pattern starts to emerge. Both sides have crazies, but our side doesn’t tend vent its frustration and rage by going on a murder spree.
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I don’t disagree with your sentiment, but I think your logic is flawed. When someone does go on a murder spree, they automatically achieve ‘crazy’ status, and are ostracized from any ‘side’ on which they claim to be.
I think you’ll be hard-pressed to find any Republicans who claim any federal building bombers as ‘on their side.’ You may treat it that way, but I guarantee they don’t. Same goes for your side.
I suspect that you don’t claim any of the kids who shoot up college campuses as on your side, but stats suggest that more than half of them are…
Comment by jer@nyquil.org — April 4, 2009 @ 11:59 am
First of all, my initial assumptions about the motive for this attack look like they may be incorrect. That said, I do think there’s a distinct difference between politically-motivated killings. Regardless of whether Republicans disavow any connection to right-wing militants, I think its a little naive to pretend there’s no link between doomsday rhetoric about “liberal fascism” or scaremongering about liberals rounding up conservatives to put them in FEMA camps and the actions of people who are eager consumers of this hate media, who murder people in cold blood because they “could not get to the leaders of the liberal movement”.
While I think lunacy isn’t a conservative or liberal trait, I don’t see any trends similar to the one I described on the left. Are crazy liberals shooting up fundamentalist churches after watching Keith Olbermann? Are Republican leaders being randomly murdered in their offices? Have there been any militant left-wing radicals since the 70′s that can compete with the milita movement of the 90′s (that I fear is on the rise again)?
I’m not saying that people like Glenn Beck are responsible, but I do think that when contrasting liberalism versus conservatism on a grand scale, it’s fair to notice that liberals are less likely to express their fear and anger through violence. If I’m wrong about that conclusion, please tell me why.
Comment by greg — April 4, 2009 @ 2:35 pm
I assume this “Democratic party official murdered in cold blood” was Bill Gwatney who was shot by Timothy Dale Johnson? Please provide some proof that the shooter was a republican or stop making generalizations.
Comment by nogravebutthesea — April 14, 2009 @ 9:28 pm
“it’s fair to notice that liberals are less likely to express their fear and anger through violence. If I’m wrong about that conclusion, please tell me why.”
Look at pretty much any liberal protest and compare the level of anger and behavior to a republican one.
Comment by nogravebutthesea — April 14, 2009 @ 9:30 pm
You need it spelled out for you? A crazy person goes to the Democratic party headquarters to hunt down and kill the party chairman. This was a place where the shooter had never been and a person he had never met. The only distinguishing characteristics were (1) the shooter was a lunatic who had recently lost his job and (2) the victim was the leader of the Democratic party in a deep-red state during a contentious election. If it isn’t political what other motive could this guy possibly have? He hates the name Gwatney? It doesn’t take that much common sense to put two and two together here.
Comment by greg — April 15, 2009 @ 9:13 am
First of all, turn on your TV. There’s plenty of angry Republicans on the teevee today.
More importantly, you overlook the key word in the sentence you’re commenting on : “violence”. I’m comparing body counts here. If you think I’m wrong, then where are the liberals murdering conservatives for their beliefs? There were a lot of reasons for the left to be frustrated over the last eight years, but I don’t remember hearing any stories about a well-armed liberal shooting a bunch of cops because Dubya was shredding the constitution, yet that very thing happened on the right the day after I did this post.
Comment by greg — April 15, 2009 @ 9:18 am