According to Joe Jervis, the shooter in Arizona has a youtube address. These are the videos on the address and if Jervis's allegation turns out to be true, they speak for themselves:
And the following is a video he marked as a favorite:
It only takes one nut and one opportunity. Our prayers need to be with all of those caught in the middle of this madness.
This is a tragic story and I REALLY hope that this was not a politically motivated shooting, but no part of me will be surprised if it comes out that the shooter is a Tea Partier or a follower of Beck or some other religious zealot on a crusade.
ReplyDeleteReading this story on several sites has reminded me of a comment I posted on Brent Bozell's Yahoo blog. He wrote a piece making a false equivalence between occasional unwise rhetoric of the left and the acts of overt terrorism committed by the right. In response, I commented that while it is apparent that left wing pundits and bloggers are just as guilty - if not to the same degree, volume, or factual inconsistency - as right wingers of SAYING unwise and hurtful things, there is a clear and present difference in how the FOLLOWERS of those pundits and blogs react.
It is a sad, easily proven fact that the violent, hateful rhetoric of the right spurs those who take it to heart towards acts of violence against those with whom they disagree. And here, sadly, I believe we will find that to be the case as well. I hope not...but I'm not holding my breath.
In the YouTube video, Loughner's rhetoric about not having to heed federal law, as well as his call for a return to the gold standard, sounds suspiciously like something from the Sovereign Citizens movement. I don't know if he had any connection to the movement, but it wouldn't surprise me.
ReplyDeleteSPLC devoted an entire issue of the Intelligence Report to the Sovereign Citizen movement, if you want to learn more:
http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2010/fall