Thoughts about the Tucson shootings

I have to give credit to G2Geek on dailykos for introducing me to new terminology. That term would be Stochastic terrorism.

“The stochastic terrorist is the person who uses mass media to broadcast memes that incite unstable people to commit violent acts.”

It has been pointed out by some people that in the Tucson shootings it can not yet be said for certain what really triggered Jared Loughner to attempt a political assassination shooting rampage.
That being said, there has been a series of events which taken into account paint a picture of certain media personalities on the right stirring up outrage and ideological hate against their opponents, and there has been evidence that if their intentions are to promote violence against those on the left, it is working.

Here are the reasons why we know that the baiting by right wing talk show hosts is working:

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/Jul/28/church-shooting-police-find-manifesto-suspects-car/
2 dead 7 wounded
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/05/31/tiller/
1 dead
http://mediamatters.org/research/201010110002
2 police wounded
http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/emerging-portrait-richard-poplawski-
3 dead 2 wounded

There is also the Hutaree militia, the right wing group which planned on blowing up the police.

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/TheLaw/michigan-christian-militia-hutaree-targeted-law-enforcement/story?id=10228716

It’s not as if Republicans in Congress weren’t given a chance to dial back on the rhetoric either.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/dnc-claims-steele-rejected-civility-statement.php

So is it really surprising then, when we have elected officials telling people “don’t retreat, reload” and opposing candidates holding target shooting events with the goal to “Get on target for Victory in November Help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office Shoot a fully automatic M16 with Jesse Kelly,” that people are saying that violent political rhetoric is a big contributing factor to what happened in Tucson?

Is there any doubt that when some people with less than healthy minds see elected officials and respected media figures saying that THOSE PEOPLE are at fault for all of their current problems and suggest violent action such as “second amendment remedies” they might see it as a call to action?

I don’t see those statements as unreasonable.

So while Fox News attempts to spin this incident into a “liberal attempt to turn a tragedy into a political statement,” you might find it difficult to believe when there is no remorse exhibited by the likes of Sarah Palin for her bullseye map of Democratic candidates.

And until you start seeing Democratic politicians and even the top media figures on the left calling for their followers to take out Republican politicians, is it really believable that there is equally violent speech and action on the left?

No, false equivalency is alive and well in the media.

The other relevant issue that comes to mind when talking about the Tucson shootings, is what kinds of measures could have prevented this from happening?

Why, as a country, are we unwilling or unable to see gun control as an important consideration?

Arizona has some of the weakest gun control laws in the country; being one of only three states that allow residents to carry loaded, hidden guns without background checks. Arizona recently weakened its laws to allow guns in bars, and currently has a bill up for debate to allow guns on school campuses.

Please tell me, in what kind of world is it beneficial for people to freely carry weapons in school? Surely there were people in Representative Giffords assembly who had guns on their person in one of the most firearm friendly states in America.

So where was the open carry hero that took out Loughner and saved the day?

Oh really?

The hero was an elderly lady who grabbed the magazine while Loughner was tackled by two men?

Surprising how that “everyone carrying guns prevents crime” thing doesn’t work out in the real world.

How many of these kinds of incidents does it take before the loss of life due to the availability of weapons without background checks overwhelms the need of assault weapons for the average person?

If you could say that any good could possibly come from these shootings, hopefully these two issues are addressed.

Otherwise, this will be just another “lone wolf” incident without solutions.

~ by deviant24x on January 11, 2011.