From Politico:

"The feds are reportedly probing whether shooting suspect Jared Lee Loughner has ties to an anti-Semitic, anti-government hate group that has ads for tea party organizations on its website."

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories...#ixzz1AbRhMr13

Look, no one has any idea what this guy's politics are, or if they're anything remotely resembling a coherent ideology. What is very clear is that one side is using an abundance of violent rhetoric. Some highlights:

I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax because we need to fight back. Thomas Jefferson told us 'having a revolution every now and then is a good thing,' and the people -- we the people -- are going to have to fight back hard if we're not going to lose our country."
~Michele Bachmann

"Don’t retreat. Instead — reload!"
~Sarah Palin

"I hope that's not where we're going, but you know if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies and saying my goodness what can we do to turn this country around? I'll tell you the first thing we need to do is take Harry Reid out."
~Sharon Angle

''Our nation was founded on violence. The option is on the table. I don't think that we should ever remove anything from the table as it relates to our liberties and our freedoms.''
—Tea Party-backed Texas GOP congressional candidate Stephen Broden

''I'm thinking about killing Michael Moore, and I'm wondering if I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire somebody to do it. ... No, I think I could. I think he could be looking me in the eye, you know, and I could just be choking the life out.''
—Glenn Beck, May 17, 2005

And these aren't odd jobs who post comments on blogs, these are candidates for national office and hosts of national television programs, with huge audiences. You just don't see anyone with a comparable presence on the left (candidates for national office, or hosting a national tv program) spouting this kind of stuff. There is no "both sides are just as bad" equivalency. There isn't. Prominent Democrats just don't talk like this. They don't.

As one of my favorite bloggers (a former Republican who left the party after Terry Schiavo) said, "Republicans need to stop whipping up crazy people with violent political rhetoric. This is really not a hard concept to follow. There are crazy people out there. Stop egging them on."

Yep, we are the wild west. What a shame. Could have happened anywhere they sell guns.

Memories are short. And yes his politics matter ESPECIALLY with the left trying to create their poster-boy for everything republican when in fact his friends are calling him left wing. As far as I've read there are no indications of him adhering to the tea party or any other group for that matter. We will find the entire story evenually. I don’t think Palin wants anyone killed much more a Republican Appointed Federal Judge who has come out for stronger enforcement against illegals and a innocent six-year-old girl. If they would listen to his friends they'd find these words are more likely to have caused the murders than anything spoken by Palin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD5NqQR7nOc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWigzBClEk8

RE: "Targets"

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archive.../01/028104.php

In 2006 a Democrat in Arizona used the crosshairs ad campaign in his effort to unseat a Republican.

http://www.intellectualconservative....in-crosshairs/

I can't believe that this tragedy is now fodder for yet more hatred going on between the parties.

Danzig already pointed out how ludicrous your statement was here, but seriously....what the hell are you talking about? The first amendment right to "freedom of speech" protects citizens from the government depriving a citizen of the right of "freedom of speech." Do you actually think it also protects you from being called crazy because of something you posted on a horse racing message board? You don't really think that....do you?

Like most people I have no freaking idea what motivated the shooter. It might be worth considering however that when you get to the fringes of the anti-government movement, the line between "left-wing" and "right-wing" get rather blurry. Radicals often move pretty fluidly from hardcore marxism (the "left") to hardcore anarchism (the "right") in their attempts to bring down the government (or whatever their personal motive might be). Labels are therefore often inaccurate or misleading, and in my opinion make it even more ridiculous for anyone on either side to try to score cheap partisan political points off of the incident.

Politicizing this is simply a joke. People died at the hands of a gutless nut!
He is another example of a person who probably received a large amount of undeserved self-esteem builders. This guy had red flags all over him as he could not cope with life in general. Hopefully, justice will give this man what he really needs. My thoughts are with the families of the innocent victims in this tragedy.

Oh, please - I thought the eyeroll icon was being overused, but I see I should have included it in my response. Sure people are free to say what they wish. I would think, however, that a difference of opinion would be followed by civil discourse rather than labeling someone nuts or full of it because they have a differing opinion - even on a horse racing board.

It's high time to quell the hateful violent rhetoric. Let's start at the top.

once again errant reporting run amuck. DHS is denying any links to right wing groups.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plu...d_possibl.html

You owe someone an assist for this one, no?

More people need to be armed and carry concealed. The answer is more guns.

My thoughts and prayers to the victims of this senseless violence and their families. We can debate "fault" another day and to be sure, there is plenty to go around from all sides. I'm not ready to declare the shooter a "nut" just yet, lets see what unfolds...not everyone who acts in a reckless, vicious manner can escape judgement as a "nut"....there is such a thing as evil.

unfortunately not everyone on the left shares your wisdom Somer. before the blood on the pavement had even cooled the media was in lockstep that the blame was to be shared by Sarah Palin, Glen Beck and the tea party. nevermind that the shooter had stalked the congresswoman for years and that there is no connection to any of the above.

I blame that hottie Ann Coulter.

Yeah I'm not sure the guy was a nut. He might of woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I remember Season 2, Episode 8 of Buffy when she woke up on the wrong side of the bed and sucked off 8 dudes and turned them...







































turned them totally gay.

the race is on for leading deep thinker on the left. two more brilliant reasons have been offered for why this guy went nuts with his gun.

James Clyburn of South Carolina
Former senator Bob Kerry

and the beat goes on.

yet you're willing to join the fray