It seems those who support using violent rhetoric are now preaching peace & justice, or at least some of those who have presidential ambitions, e.g. Sarah Palin are doing so, but a lot more preaching of peace & justice will have to go on to begin to make up for the violent rhetoric that has been used & is being used in American politics today, mostly on the right-wing of the conservative party, which in a probably related turn of events is now the dominant ideological force in the conservative party, much more so than the left-wing of the rather conservatively liberal party.
Political Violence.
I suppose it’s possible that the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords — who was out speaking with constituents, some of whom were harmed, in her Arizona district when a gunmen in his 20s reportedly walked up to her and began shooting — had nothing to do with this:
It’s possible. But whenever a politician is harmed in an act of violence we have to pause for a moment to think 1) this is comparatively rare in this country, for which we should be thankful, and 2) in light of it’s rarity, what could have caused it? Isolated individuals with distorted views of reality and a tendency towards violence are always to be found, but it’s hard to separate this shooting from the sometimes extreme rhetoric against Giffords, a Democrat, leading up to her November re-election, the high number of death threats against President Obama, and the increasing anger under which many operate politically these days.
The hate-mongers will try to back away from responsibility in this, as they always do, but violent rhetoric, unpinned from facts and reality, gives solace to those nursing extreme fears.
— Monica Potts
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