By now, you have probably heard all about the tragedy that occurred this weekend in Tuscon (if not, read this). Immediately after the news broke, Internet users (myself included) exploded with angry blame directed mostly towards Sarah Palin (I believe I tweeted at her something along the lines of “I hope you’re happy, you stupid, heartless cunt”), and some other radical right-wing commentators that habitually employ violent rhetoric to manufacture political support. The most notorious examples of such rhetoric included: a map published on Palin’s web site that used gun-sight icons to delineate districts concurrently represented by Democratic legislators (including Gabrielle Giffords) that supported last year’s health reform bill; Palin’s message to voters that they should not “retreat, RELOAD”; Sharron Angle’s statement that, “if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies… the first thing we need to do is take Harry Reid out”; Jesse Kelly (Giffords’ most recent electoral opponent) held a rally last summer at which supporters were invited to, “Get on Target for Victory in November Help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office Shoot a fully automatic M16 with Jesse Kelly” [sic].
While the aforementioned examples represent the most atrocious instances of violent rhetoric and all come from right-wing mouths, Democrats and left-wingers (or whatever passes as left-wing in the chronically conservative United States) are not exactly virgins to such madness. The Daily Kos recently deleted a post titled (and referring to Giffords), “My CongressWOMAN voted against Nancy Pelosi! And is now DEAD to me!” (I’m not sure why “woman” was capitalized, unless the author thought Giffords should have voted for Pelosi out of gender unity). During his presidential campaign, Barrack Obama wanted to express that the Democrats would campaign more aggressively than Republicans, so he chose the words, “if they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun!” Now, obviously these examples are not nearly as egregious as the right-wing counterparts, even though conservatives are shamelessly trying to argue that blame should fall equally on either side of the aisle, but the point I’m making is that violence is central to political rhetoric in America.
America is and always has been a culture in love with the notion of good violence. Arguably the most consistent theme in American art history is the idea that good can only defeat evil by resorting to violent measures. George Carlin famously illustrated that even football is riddled with war metaphors. Obviously, the #1 contributor to Jared Lee Loughner’s actions was his own undiagnosed madness. But I would argue that the #2 contributor is a society (and particularly a political climate) that is so enthusiastic about the notion of triumph by violence. It’s one thing to be batshit crazy, but when highly influential people start making you feel that you’re correct to feel that way, it goes a long way toward realizing your terrible fantasies. And President Obama isn’t even considered one of the hawk-ish types (a dubious perception, of course, but that’s not really the point).
I don’t think any of the public figures that use violent rhetoric wanted this tragedy to happen. Even the few that used such imagery directly to raise opposition against the victim herself probably did not want this. But the point is, they faced a choice between generating political support and making sure they weren’t putting anyone in danger. They chose the former, regardless of potential cost.
While it is unlikely that anyone went far enough to technically be charged with inciting violence, some people came very close and there are a number of public figures that ought to feel extremely guilty about what transpired. Hopefully some good can come of this atrocity: American legislators might revise gun ownership laws by acknowledging that the right to bare arms should be subservient to the right to public safety, influential public figures might stop employing dangerous rhetoric and the media might stop treating purposely misinformed psychopaths (read: Tea Party) as though their opinions are as valid as those of any citizen.
I wouldn’t count on it though.
