Rhetoric or the movies didn’t do it
By Brian Kirwin | Monday, January 10th, 2011 | PolicyI’m already a little fed up of the opportunistic left reading into the horrible crime that happened this weekend.
Out of respect for the families of those who lost their lives, I simply reported a few things I had seen. I left analysis for another day.
Liberal Blogs and Democrats on TV have a different agenda. I won’t repeat it, but I wish they’d be a little consistent.
Notice the side that says the political rhetoric is responsible for the shootings in Arizona is the same side that defends the proliferation of violence and sex in movies and television?
Are we to believe that people who actually watch violence for entertainment are just fine and dandy, but if they listen to a political speech, they become an assassin?
They tell us young people can watch or listen to the most violent or sexually provocative media and not be impacted in the slightest, but a Sarah Palin speech is going to incite murder?
Anyone who thinks so is an idiot.
I remember questioning a media professional during a speech and asking “so you’re telling me that people aren’t impacted in the slightest by the programming they watch on television, but commercials do influence us all?” Never thought the media could have it both ways.
Political discourse didn’t cause this. If it did, it would’ve happened a lot more than once. Think, people.
I know it’s human nature to seek meaning in things that are difficult to understand. I’m fairly certain we can garner very little meaning from studying the actions of a criminal and adjusting our actions because of it.
I’m also fairly certain that now that Republicans run the House, the left’s dislike for “rhetoric” will last until about Tuesday.
People were murdered. A nine-year old girl was shot dead.
Anyone who uses that for political gain is reprehensible.
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About the author
The right wants to jeer him. The left wants to censor him. Moderates usually want both. Brian Kirwin is a political consultant and public relations strategist in Virginia Beach with a lightning-rod flair. Brian also serves on the VB Arts & Humanities Commission and frequently appears on Hampton Roads theatrical stages, if only to prove that all actors aren’t liberals. Kirwin’s columns stir up debate and hit the political scene with no punches pulled.
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12 Responses to "Rhetoric or the movies didn’t do it"
Well said.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Bearing Drift, Kenneth Johnson. Kenneth Johnson said: “@jrhoeft: @BrianKirwin – great post. || Rhetoric or the movies didn't do it http://t.co/AD6noPZ via @bearingdrift” [...]
All I know is that I pray for those who have been killed and injured. I certainly lament the senseless loss of life and pain. I also pray that we continue to recognize how blessed we are with the freedom we have and how it needs to be nurtured and protected.
Now we must be strong as a people in the face of adversity and recognize where we have made mistakes as a society…and those discussions will certainly come later.
But right now, my hope is that we understand we have violence and sick people in the world and that we don’t make hasty accusations and have knee-jerk reactions.
First reports on this guy certainly seem to indicate that he was deranged. That makes trying to find the “cause” of this pretty fruitless. People like this are loaded guns, if it isn’t one thing that makes them go off, it will be another.
I’ve been reading a great book about the politics surrounding the American Revolution, the adoption of the Constitution and the period up until the 1800s. I’m a big fan of books that liberally quote from primary sources, and this book does.
Just last night, I read that in the anti-federalist press, in the last years of President Washington’s administration, they began ramping up the rhetoric to vicious levels against him, with one Virginia journalist going so far as to propose the toast – “A speedy death to General Washington.”
American politics has always been a contact, rough and tumble sport. To act like it hasn’t is to ignore history. And, contrary to what the left would have you believe, we don’t have a history of assassinations against sitting Congressmen. Only one Congressman in history was killed in the line of duty, Leo Ryan, at Jonestown in the 70s.
I wish we could all focus on mourning and praying for Rep. Giffords and the other injured rather than having to waste time fighting a political battle that has nothing to do with what happened Saturday.
If we don’t come together as “One Nation, Under God, Indivisible” right now and pray, support, love, help and find solutions, what have we become as a nation? As a people who make up the United States of America? The world is once again watching. What will they find?
JR, reposting portions of earlier comment. If you guys think this qualifies as whacko or destructive dialogue, feel free to say so and I’ll shut up. We’ve had Columbine, UT, Tech, and now Tuscon – all crimes committed by damaged young people that were not (to my knowledge) receiving medical treatment. And but for a crappy rifle or damn luck, we’d be adding NOVA Woodbridge campus and Silver Spring, MD (Discovery Channel HQ) to the list. This young man was suspended for multiple run-ins with campus police. Pima Community College demanded he bring a doctor’s note (stating his presence would not be “a danger to himself or others”) before he could return to the campus. Obviously, those around him knew he was unstable.
5 years ago we tried to convince an uncooperative friend to get substance treatment and quickly learned unless the patient is willing, the effort is almost futile. Mental health laws (regarding involuntary commitment) fiercely protect patients’ rights; the unfortunate outcome is families (and schools) seeking help are left almost powerless to force treatment. As with stalking laws, until someone actually harms themselves or others, the law cripples proactive measures. Our experience was a true eye-opener into the difficulties, worries and agonies within a patient’s family.
We can’t protect ourselves from every bad thing or from every evil or unstable person. However, instead of focusing on political speech, inflammatory advertising, gun control, etc. let’s come together for a thoughtful, intelligent, and compassionate discussion and seek a better (and safer) balance between the individual rights of the mentally ill and the collective rights of a community (including schools) to protect it’s citizens. The problem isn’t access to mental health care. The problem is mentally ill people often refuse treatment; when they do, we are all powerless to act ~ until violence happens.
I find it interesting that the very first person to raise the issue of violent political rhetoric being at fault here was Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik. Before the blood was dry on the sidewalk outside the Safeway, he was in front of the cameras making this case. Now we know that the Pima Community College police had escorted the shooter off the campus ordering him not to return until he had a mental evaluation. Subsequently, Loughner bought a handgun after passing a Federal background check.
I wonder who dropped the ball and didn’t report Loughner to the NCIS as a mental case? Could it be Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik? If anyone in this case has blood on their hands, then we don’t need to look any further than Pima County.
HisRoc: I’m not suggesting anyone (other than the shooter) is to blame for the murders. I do hope to spur conversation (and awareness) about the limitations on families AND law enforcement regarding what is – and is not – possible under current mental health laws. Again, unless someone actually commits a crime, law enforcement is as powerless as the family. In most states, a 72 hour hold in a mental treatment facility is the best available – and only if the person has exhibited violence or made statements intending violence. There is no ball to drop unless you can (legally) get your hands on it.
Here’s an email from 52-YO classmate at a Tucson community college, dated June 14: “We have a mentally unstable person in the class that scares the living crap out of me. He is one of those whose picture you see on the news, after he has come into class with an automatic weapon. Everyone interviewed would say, Yeah, he was in my math class and he was really weird. I sit by the door with my purse handy. If you see it on the news one night, know that I got out fast…”
Jay D,
I respectfully beg to differ. In the case of Jared Loughner, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department had plenty of opportunity to deal with his conduct and mental condition. “As we understand it, there have been law enforcement contacts with the individual where he made threats to kill,” Dupnik said during a press conference Saturday evening.
Communicating threats to kill someone is a felony in most places, as well as making statements intending violence, and reasonable cause for an involuntary mental evaluation. You seem to be presuming that once Loughner was committed they would have found nothing wrong and released him. All the evidence points to the contrary.
http://www.npr.org/2011/01/09/132780313/sheriff-accused-shooter-unhinged-made-threats
Is it possible that the Sheriff’s Department took no action against Jared Loughner as a “professional courtesy” since his mother, Amy Joanne Loughner, is a Pima County employee in the Parks & Recreation Department?
This loudmouth sheriff is going to have a lot of explaining to do when all the facts come to lights.
HisRoc: I’m just as disgusted with the Sheriff’s comments as you. When Dubnik diverted from facts to burp up personal frustrations, he ceased to act professionally and, in my opinion, laid down kindling for the firestorm of ‘blame the right-ring’ rhetoric that followed. However, “law enforcement contacts with the individual where he made threats to kill” doesn’t tell us he committed a felony (especially noting the quote is from the same source and has yet?? to be verified elsewhere). I’m guessing Dupnik was referencing events at Pima Community College (with campus police), which were the basis for Loughran’s suspension. We don’t know if he committed anything close to a felony or was arrested. Like many other mentally unstable people, very few of those closest to Loughner now describe him as ‘angry’ or ‘violent’.
http://www.gvnews.com/sahuarita_sun/article_05a613f6-1bb1-11e0-9a32-001cc4c002e0.html
Jay D,
Wait and see.
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