Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Congresswoman and 17 others shot in Arizona

Iowa_Flames_Fan · 01-10-2011, 11:50 PM

I think it's time to dispense with the false dilemma that some in this thread have posed, in which either the shooter was a politically motivated nutcase or a general, run-of-the-mill nutcase. He probably saw himself as politically motivated, but lunacy has no political stripe.

And the truth is, it doesn't matter. From the available evidence it seems likely he would have called himself some sort of a libertarian, but I think it's best if we don't legitimize his views by making it seem as though they belong within any mainstream political stripe.

So let's dispense with the weak attempts to assign him a political label (my favourite: pretending that the libertarian manifesto Atlas Shrugged and the fascist manifesto Mein Kampf amount to evidence of his leftism. That was perhaps this thread's silliest moment) He doesn't have to belong to a political movement to be influenced by the climate of polarization that exists in the U.S.

It's time for both sides to tone down the rhetoric. Using the rhetoric of violence cannot be considered acceptable any more, whether you favour or oppose health care reform, or whether you (for some reason) want to bring back the Gold Standard. These are not issues that someone should die over. Whether you're a tea-partier, a yellow dog democrat, a far-right republican, a libertarian or a marxist: let's agree that the rhetoric of hatred and violent uprising has to stop. This rhetoric has been used (by everyone, but by some sectors more effectively) to pander to the lowest--and most extreme--political denominators, and some areas are now reaping that whirlwind.

This was the real point of the Stewart/Colbert rally this summer: let's settle down. Let's have real discourse. Let's make politics less stupid.

The time for American politics to start using their brains and stop using their knee-jerks is now. This moment will either be remembered as the time when it all went to hell, or the moment when people finally realized that people don't have to spill blood over politics. I'm always an optimist: but the first step is that some of the worst purveyors of this rhetoric--and they know who they are--have to step up and be accountable for their actions, and their words.

01-10-2011, 11:50 PM	#465
Iowa_Flames_Fan Referee Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Over the hill Exp:	I think it's time to dispense with the false dilemma that some in this thread have posed, in which either the shooter was a politically motivated nutcase or a general, run-of-the-mill nutcase. He probably saw himself as politically motivated, but lunacy has no political stripe. And the truth is, it doesn't matter. From the available evidence it seems likely he would have called himself some sort of a libertarian, but I think it's best if we don't legitimize his views by making it seem as though they belong within any mainstream political stripe. So let's dispense with the weak attempts to assign him a political label (my favourite: pretending that the libertarian manifesto Atlas Shrugged and the fascist manifesto Mein Kampf amount to evidence of his leftism. That was perhaps this thread's silliest moment) He doesn't have to belong to a political movement to be influenced by the climate of polarization that exists in the U.S. It's time for both sides to tone down the rhetoric. Using the rhetoric of violence cannot be considered acceptable any more, whether you favour or oppose health care reform, or whether you (for some reason) want to bring back the Gold Standard. These are not issues that someone should die over. Whether you're a tea-partier, a yellow dog democrat, a far-right republican, a libertarian or a marxist: let's agree that the rhetoric of hatred and violent uprising has to stop. This rhetoric has been used (by everyone, but by some sectors more effectively) to pander to the lowest--and most extreme--political denominators, and some areas are now reaping that whirlwind. This was the real point of the Stewart/Colbert rally this summer: let's settle down. Let's have real discourse. Let's make politics less stupid. The time for American politics to start using their brains and stop using their knee-jerks is now. This moment will either be remembered as the time when it all went to hell, or the moment when people finally realized that people don't have to spill blood over politics. I'm always an optimist: but the first step is that some of the worst purveyors of this rhetoric--and they know who they are--have to step up and be accountable for their actions, and their words.