Bloody Footprints

The assassin who shot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and a dozen other people today will doubtless be portrayed as a lone wacko, but I predict that the bloody footprints will lead back to the imams of Fox News and purveyors of political hate on right-wing talk radio. Sarah Palin's website has reputedly just taken down the bullseye they had painted on Congresswoman Gifford's district - but let's not forget who stirred up this and other recent incidents of terrorism.

If, as I expect, the murderer was inspired in whole or in part by professional hate mongers, they should be treated just like other terrorists.

UPDATE: Josh Marshall reminds us of the huge role the Tea Party has played in the "assassinate your local Congressperson" movement:


Arizona has been ground zero for the guns and threats agitation from the right over the last two years. And as an example of the atmosphere in the state of late, back this summer her Tea Party opponent Jesse Kelly held a "Target for Victory" fundraiser in which contributors could help "remove" Giffords from office by "shoot[ing] a fully automatic M16 with Jesse Kelly.

UPDATE 2: Andrew Sullivan seems to have the most comprehensive coverage that I have seen.

UPDATE 3: Alleged Assassin Jared Lee Loughner does look like a space case - not that that's a surprise. Not sure yet whether that refutes my prediction.

UPDATE 4: Via Andrew Sullivan -

Her father Spencer Giffords, 75, was rushing to the hospital when asked if his 40-year-old daughter had any enemies. "Yeah," he told The New York Post. "The whole tea party."



UPDATE 5: The right is trying to portray Loudner as a "leftist," mainly on the testimony of one high school friend (see, e.g., Atlas Shrugs - sorry, I won't give it a link) and because he liked the Communist Manifesto. His exact politics are probably pretty eccentric, since his favorite reading list also includes authors Hitler, Ayn Rand, Homer, and James Barrie. Some of his rhetoric echoes Ron Paul & friends. These points are mostly irrelevant though. Those stirring the pot, talking about taking back the government at gunpoint, and painting bullseyes on Congresspersons are all right wingers. These are the people with the inflamatory rhetoric and they are at least indirectly responsible.

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