Quote:
Originally Posted by nik-
To be fair, while obviously in poor taste, that guy that shot her was legitimately crazy and had an issue with Giffords long before this ad.
|
I don't want to derail this thread with a debate about these events, but the timeline doesn't support that. Palin introduced the map on March 23, 2010, to go with her "Don't retreat, instead - RELOAD" narrative. Days later Giftords' office was vandalized. Her opponent kept up the violent rhetoric going with a fundraiser, "Remove Gabrielle Giffords from office - shoot a fully automatic M16 with Jesse Kelly." Loughner purchase his Glock 19 on November 30, 2010. Giffords was gunned down on January 8, 2011.
Loughner was definitely suffering from some sort of mental condition, but he thought this through. He purchased the gun well in advance, practiced with the weapon, and left a note on his MySpace page, believing he would not survive his attack. This was premeditated and well planned out. The only question is how much influence did the media have on his decisions leading up to the events of January 8th? I think we would be burying our heads in he sand to believe the media did not influence him in any way.
Any way, the whole incident was yet another tradgedy that likely shouldn't have happened for many reasons.