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Having discussions with conservatives will only lead to problems if you allow it. The alternative that you've come up with which is avoiding them may not be the right answer. It's hard to stay informed and educated when you distance yourself completely from people who may not agree with you on certain topics or you may not agree with them. Not everyone leans completely left or right, but many fall in the middle, and how are you supposed to learn or educate yourself if you think you already have all of the answers?
I too live in AZ (for almost 20 years) and I know I don't have all of the answers, but you really need to stop speaking in absolutes whether you are speaking about AZ or politics. It's not that black and white as you paint it to be.
Well, unfortunately I live in Phoenix which always votes red. I am aware it's not B&W and that things are more liberal in Tucson and up north. And there may be a few of my ilk sprinkled throughout in this city, but they aren't easy to find.
I have chosen to stay away from all conservatives as it does lead to problems for me. Our core values are so different it just doesn't make sense to get to know them.
It's safe to say I am most definitely left and I even campaigned for Reagan in my young and dumb days so I am quite assured I've been exposed to it all and I don't need to know more with respect to the republican/conservative agenda.
Anyway, I've digressed. I would have liked to have met Gabby as she stood (and stands) for what I believe in to a large degree. We need more Gabbys in this state. Maybe someday I will meet her.
It wasn't a left-wing candidate who muttered something about "second amendment remedies" - that was Tea Party darling (and complete nutter) Sharron Angle.
It was a GOP candidate who explained at a rally that "We have the chance to fight this battle at the ballot box before we have to resort to the bullet box". (Catherine Crabill, Virginia)
How may left-wingers attend rallies with placards saying "We came unarmed - this time."? "If Brown can't do it, a Browning will"?
How many Priuses sport a "Vote from the rooftops" bumper sticker? (That one apparently goes back to the Clinton days, charming...)
The fascination with firearms as political tools has been deliberately channeled by right, and while I'm 100% sure that they didn't intend something like this - they're just stroking the ego of their followers - they should perhaps have thought that the unbalanced, undermedicated and untreated psychiatric cases have access to firearms as well.
Rhetoric triggers actions.
The hate speech that is pumped from right wing talk radio and 24/7 Fox is most definitely triggering RWNJ actions.
The hate speech that is pumped from right wing talk radio and 24/7 Fox is most definitely triggering RWNJ actions.
Excellent post - as usual.
Most indications so far is that he was radically on the left. Still early, but saying that he watched fox news appears the next morning as being false.
I don't like what Angle said, but it doesn't seem to have influenced this gunmans act.
You should watch some video coverage of Tea Party rallies, it's a popular slogan. T-shirts, too.
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But, I guess you can keep up the projection of false causation if you like. What about mentally disturbed individual intent on doing great harm is difficult for you to grasp?
What about deliberately generating a political environment saturated in veiled threats of violence having the capacity to act as a trigger has you so baffled?
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It is not a right nor a left thing no matter how much you falsely try to spin it.
What left-wing Senatorial candidate has matched a statement like Angle's 2nd-amendment remedies?
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"Liberals lie better than the Conservatives can tell the truth. That is a real weakness for the Conservatives"
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-Newt Gingrich
Well, Newt sure as hell is a ****-poor liar, what with at least two affairs laid open. Of course, if he values truth so much, he could start with being truthful to the unfortunate women who married him. He's in no place to lecture.
Ok good police work should be analytical. In other words based on facts.
The congress woman and many others were shot.
He contends that Arizona's stand on illegal immigration and hispanics was a factor. He mentioned racism several times.
He further eludes to Political ads as a another possible cause.
Ok I can see that some loony might react to whatever fantasy drives them. But at this stage of the investigation just about everything he said was on a personal note or based on emotion. He is an obvious hack.
I am going to have to disagree with you here. Many police were against SB1070, not just this sheriff. First, it would have put their lives in greater danger. Second, just how in the heck do you tell an illegal from a legal in this town? I know many Mexicans who are here legally who did NOT appreciate SB1070. Third, there are literally 10s of thousands of felons running around in this town who have not been caught. Wouldn't you think it a wiser use of resources to at least put them behind bars before some profiling legislation?
Again, he lives here and sees the big picture better than either you or I.
Well, unfortunately I live in Phoenix which always votes red. I am aware it's not B&W and that things are more liberal in Tucson and up north. And there may be a few of my ilk sprinkled throughout in this city, but they aren't easy to find.
I have chosen to stay away from all conservatives as it does lead to problems for me. Our core values are so different it just doesn't make sense to get to know them.
It's safe to say I am most definitely left and I even campaigned for Reagan in my young and dumb days so I am quite assured I've been exposed to it all and I don't need to know more with respect to the republican/conservative agenda.
Anyway, I've digressed. I would have liked to have met Gabby as she stood (and stands) for what I believe in to a large degree. We need more Gabbys in this state. Maybe someday I will meet her.
I understand that you a very passionate about your beliefs as many people are. Perhaps you can still meet Gabby in the future and maybe one day help influence others as well, but in order to do so, that means listening to ALL people and not just the ones you feel have the same core values. Although you may believe that you have been "exposed to it all", we as humans never stop learning. There are so many people that can perhaps learn from you and there are so many people that you can perhaps learn from. My best discussions about politics have always been with those who have opposing views, and some of them are my best friends.
My hope is that you come to these discussion forums not only to be heard, but to hear others.
It wasn't a conservative who plastered a video up on CBS that showed the image of GW Bush with the caption "snipers wanted". That was most definitely your side. And it couldn't have been more clear that you all wanted the president at that time "removed".
Both sides have rabid followers, agreed.
Now name a Democratic Senatorial candidate who said something to match Angle's statement?
LOL, haven't you been following the news? The infamous crosshairs map?
It really seems those on the Right live in an alternate universe, one where the sides are reversed. A universe where Dems and those on the Left promote violence by encouraging people to "take their country back" even by force. A universe where it's acceptable to put gun sights/targets on a map depicting those Congressmen/women who don't agree with the far-Left agenda.
In this universe it is then acceptable to completely turn the issue around and point fingers at those on the Left as if what happened has no correlation with angry, hate-filled rhetoric.
Wow, must be interesting to live in a universe where one can incite violence and then blame the victims while simulaneously accepting no responsibility, or at least acknowledgement, at the violent outcome.
It wasn't a conservative who plastered a video up on CBS that showed the image of GW Bush with the caption "snipers wanted". That was most definitely your side. And it couldn't have been more clear that you all wanted the president at that time "removed".
I do not know to what you are referring but will not argue its "truthiness." So, one lone lunatic. Is that the best you can do to substantiate a claim that the left is a guilty as the right when it comes to fomenting hate??
More than one C-D poster has derisively pointed out that the 'left' can't support a talk radio station. And that Fox's ratings are twice that of MSNBC.
Folks on the 'left' are just not as receptive to being mentally manipulated as are folks on the 'right'.
Most indications so far is that he was radically on the left. Still early, but saying that he watched fox news appears the next morning as being false.
I don't like what Angle said, but it doesn't seem to have influenced this gunmans act.
The truth is none of this may have been politically motivated at all. We just don't know. However, what we DO know is that this was a wake-up call on several fronts.
#1) Mental health services are sorely needed as are early interventions to spot these type of people. #2) Jan Brewer (governor of AZ) has made cuts in funding in this area. #3) This guy has a substance abuse issue and more money needs to be spend on treating addiction #4) Hate speech never helps any of this. It doesn't matter which side it comes from, but the squeakiest wheel gets the grease. These days the squeaky wheels are Palin, Beck, etc.
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Can't say I've ever seen one anywhere.