Climate of Hate
By PAUL KRUGMAN
NYT
When you heard the terrible news from Arizona, were you completely surprised? Or were you, at some level, expecting something like this atrocity to happen?
Put me in the latter category. I’ve had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach ever since the final stages of the 2008 campaign. I remembered the upsurge in political hatred after Bill Clinton’s election in 1992 — an upsurge that culminated in the Oklahoma City bombing. And you could see, just by watching the crowds at McCain-Palin rallies, that it was ready to happen again. The Department of Homeland Security reached the same conclusion: in April 2009 an internal report warned that right-wing extremism was on the rise, with a growing potential for violence.
Conservatives denounced that report. But there has, in fact, been a rising tide of threats and vandalism aimed at elected officials, including both Judge John Roll, who was killed Saturday, and Representative Gabrielle Giffords. One of these days, someone was bound to take it to the next level. And now someone has.
It’s true that the shooter in Arizona appears to have been mentally troubled. But that doesn’t mean that his act can or should be treated as an isolated event, having nothing to do with the national climate.
(More here.)
NYT
When you heard the terrible news from Arizona, were you completely surprised? Or were you, at some level, expecting something like this atrocity to happen?
Put me in the latter category. I’ve had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach ever since the final stages of the 2008 campaign. I remembered the upsurge in political hatred after Bill Clinton’s election in 1992 — an upsurge that culminated in the Oklahoma City bombing. And you could see, just by watching the crowds at McCain-Palin rallies, that it was ready to happen again. The Department of Homeland Security reached the same conclusion: in April 2009 an internal report warned that right-wing extremism was on the rise, with a growing potential for violence.
Conservatives denounced that report. But there has, in fact, been a rising tide of threats and vandalism aimed at elected officials, including both Judge John Roll, who was killed Saturday, and Representative Gabrielle Giffords. One of these days, someone was bound to take it to the next level. And now someone has.
It’s true that the shooter in Arizona appears to have been mentally troubled. But that doesn’t mean that his act can or should be treated as an isolated event, having nothing to do with the national climate.
(More here.)
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2 Comments:
A strong case can be made that Loughner is mentally ill. What is the excuse for those who attempt to politicize the tragedy? The Left (the peaceful party of Elf, Black Panthers, Weather Underground, Saul Alinsky and so on) is showing its true colors by prematurly declaring the Tuscon Tragedy is the fault of right wingers. There are interesting compilations of progressive "Peace, love and overall kindness" on a number of websites (Michelle Malkin has a few choice examples). The rush to judgment by progressives is sad.
The wingnuts are out in force in New York, too. Does Paul Krugman have any shred of decency left in his sad body? Before the bodies even turned cold in Tucson, you know Krugman and the leftwing hate purveyors on MSNBC and the liberal blogs and talk shows were hoping - praying - that Loughner was member of the Tea Party. Turns out Loughner is a just another disturbed individual who took his anger out on innocent people...much like Paul Krugman blaming Sarah Palin.
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