Left wing journalists and commentators are coming out in force to lay blame for the tragic shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and seventeen other innocent individuals on “fear mongering” conservatives.

The Politico gathered up a couple of examples of the left springing into action.

First it was Keith Olbermann

If Sarah Palin, whose website put and today scrubbed bulls eye targets on 20 representatives including Gabby Giffords, does not repudiate her own part — however tangential — in amplifying violence and violent imagery in American politics, she must be dismissed from politics. She must be repudiated by the members of her own party. And if they fail to do so, each one of them must be judged to have silently defended this tactic that today proved so awfully foretelling. And they must in turn be dismissed by the responsible members of their own party.

If Jesse Kelly, whose campaign against Congresswoman Giffords included that event in which he encouraged his supporters to join him firing machine guns, does not repudiate this, does not even admit that even if it was solely indirectly, or solely coincidentally, it contributed to the black cloud of violence that has enveloped our politics, he must be repudiated by Arizona’s Republican Party.

If Congressman Allen West, who during his successful campaign told his supporters that they should make his opponent afraid to come out of his own home, does not repudiate those remarks and all other suggestions of violence or forced fear, he should be repudiated by his constituents and the Republican congressional caucus.

If Sharron Angle, who spoke of second amendment remedies does not repudiate that remark, and urge her supporters to think anew and again of the terrible reality of what hewords implied, she must be repudiated by her supporters in Nevada.

If the tea party leaders took out of context a Jefferson quote about blood and tyranny and the tree of liberty, do not understand, do not undersand tonight, now, what that really means and these leaders do not tell their followers to abhor violence and all threat of violence, they those tea party leaders must be repudiated by the Republican party.

If Glenn Beck, who obsesses, nearly as strangely as this Mr. Loughner did, about gold and debt and who wistfully joked about killing Michael Moore, and Bill O’Reilly, who blithely repeated ‘Tiller the Killer’ until that phrase was burned into the minds of his viewers — if they do not begin their next broadcasts with solemn apologies for ever turning to the death fantasies and the dreams of bloodlust, for ever having provided just the oxygen to those deep in madness to whom violence is an acceptable solution, then those commentators and the others must be repudiated by their viewers and listeners, by all politicians would would appear on their programs, including President Obama in his planned interview with Fox on Super Bowl Sunday, and repudiated by the sponsors and by the networks that employ them.

If all of these are not responsible for what happened in Tucson, they must now be responsible for doing everything they can to make sure Tucson does not happen again.

Olbermann also fessed up to his own culpability;

Here once, in a clumsy metaphor, I made such an unintended statement about the presidential candidacy of then-Senator Clinton. It sounded as if it was a call to physical violence. It was wrong then. It is even more wrong tonight. I apologize for it again. And I urge politicians and commentators and citizens of every political conviction to use my comment as means to recognize the insidiousness of violent imagery that if it can go so easily and slip into the comments of someone as opposed to violence as me, how easily and pervasively and disastrously it can slip into the deranged mind.

For Olbermann his words were just clumsy while for conservatives it is inciting violence.

Then there was an unapologetic Paul Krugman blogging for the New York Times

We don’t have proof yet that this was political, but the odds are that it was. She’s been the target of violence before. And for those wondering why a Blue Dog Democrat, the kind Republicans might be able to work with, might be a target, the answer is that she’s a Democrat who survived what was otherwise a GOP sweep in Arizona, precisely because the Republicans nominated a Tea Party activist. (Her father says that “the whole Tea Party” was her enemy.) And yes, she was on Sarah Palin’s infamous “crosshairs” list.

Just yesterday, Ezra Klein remarked that opposition to health reform was getting scary. Actually, it’s been scary for quite a while, in a way that already reminded many of us of the climate that preceded the Oklahoma City bombing.

You know that Republicans will yell about the evils of partisanship whenever anyone tries to make a connection between the rhetoric of Beck, Limbaugh, etc. and the violence I fear we’re going to see in the months and years ahead. But violent acts are what happen when you create a climate of hate. And it’s long past time for the GOP’s leaders to take a stand against the hate-mongers.

Olbermann and Krugman are not alone in their hatred for conservatives nor in their attacks on them after the Giffords shooting.  But while they are protesting what they see as hateful and spiteful conservatives they themselves are now stirring up the left with vitriol of their own.

As I pointed out in my earlier post as soon as the word came out that Giffords was shot the Twitter stream was filled with references to Sarah Palin and how she was to blame for the attack.  No facts or figures just anger fueled venom while the rest of us were in shock trying to figure out what happened.

Krugman says that he diabled the comments on his blog post after the crazies started coming out.  Well what did he expect after attacking Palin and the right without any proof.  I don’t seem to recall the “Communist Manifesto” being on Palin’s reading list as it was for the suspected shooter’s according to press reports.

The left is clamoring for sanity and looking for the voice of reason but it has been their reaction that has created an even larger divide instead of bringing all sides together and they are too dense to realize it.

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About the author

Don Irvine
Don Irvine is Chairman of Accuracy in Media. He is active on Facebook and Twitter. You can follow him @donirvine to read his latest thoughts.

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10 Comments for The Left Blames Conservatives for Giffords Shooting

Samual

http://gratewire.com/topic/sarah-palines-target-versus-actual-words

Palin used a symbol of a target on a map to focus on getting certain democrats voted out of office. The left is dredging this up as a “weapon” (pun intended) to try to pin the shooters actions on them.

Versus

BUT OBAMA AND BIDEN actually USING WORDS OF VIOLENCE.

1. “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun” (Obama quote from the 2008 campaign.) .
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/06/14/obama-if-they-bring-a-knife-to-the-fight-we-bring-a-gun/

2 “We are Going to have hand to hand combat” Barack Obama if the
GOP wins back Congress, it means that we are going to have just
“hand-to-hand combat”
http://www.fireandreamitchell.com/2010/10/07/is-obama-threatening-physical-violence-if-gop-takes-over-congress-says-hand-to-hand-combat-on-capitol-hill-if-gop-wins/

3 “I am going to strangle them” Vice President Biden “If I hear one
more Republican tell me about balancing the budget, I am going to
strangle them,” Biden said at a fundraiser in Minnesota, according to a
pool report. “To the press, that’s a figure of speech.”
http://www.fireandreamitchell.com/2010/10/05/joe-biden-threatens-to-strangle-any-republican-who-talks-to-him-about-balancing-the-budget/

Wildbird

Asway with stupid liberal journalists dim-bulbs they always blame someone else like the NRA,the 2nd AMENDMENT,GUN OWNERS and CONSERVATIVE becuase liberals have such small pea sized brains

NICK NEANDERTHAL

Don is quite right here.
“Do not let any crisis go unexploited”–Rahm Emmanuel. This is the philosophy of the New Democrats, aka the Neo-Comm Party.
This hysterical blame-the-Tea-Party/Sarah Palin reaction is as predictable as the sun setting in the evening.
When you’re intellectually bankrupt and your only mission is control and subjugation, facts and thought are not part of the discussion. Blame, hysteria, and spreading panic and thoughtless emotionalism are the currency of the day, to take a page out of the disturbed shooter’s peculiar currency-based thoughts.
The shooter clearly had a schizophrenic break some time ago. ONE commentator so far has mentioned that. Yes, how could schizophrenic-powered paranoia have anything to do with shooting into a crowd?
Major Hassan anyone? Notice how that story disappeared immediately.
Radical Islam good. Patriotic American Constitutionalists bad.
It’s as simple as Animal Farm.

Wesley in Houston

First of all, do the second two posters have permission from AIM to subscribe here with your web sites as User ID’s? I have a list of all who do this, we make it a point to avoid these sites you post as users.

As for the media (MSM) Olbermann = Krugman or any of the others, including those politicians on the left (the DHS Secretary) put the blame on Conservatives, the Tea Party, or anyone else on the right; are imbeciles. Typical with the Media and others to place blame without a shred of evidence or fact are simply irresponsible idiots.

We are talking with our elected officials to create a law against print and televised media to report anything short of verifiable truth, as it once was (two verifiable sources). Those of us on the right are praying for this tragedy, both the deceased and the wounded, especially those who are in serious condition, such as Ms. Giffords.

The Major

I believe that several things will come out of this tragic incident.
1) This will give more ‘ammo’(no pun meant)to the AntiGun crowd.We know who most of them are,,BHO,Billary,Holder,the Brady bunch,the U.N.,the ACLU,
& the list goes on & on.
2) If they cannot ban the guns,,they will try to ban the Ammo,or the large capacity magazines. (Not clips,,it’s magazines,GET IT?) THEN ,,if the law abiding gun owners are banned from owning them,,then ONLY the BAD guys will find a way to get them. Then our Police will be out-gunned again.
3) Members of Congress & their staff ,,many of whom could not hit the ground with their hats,,will try to buy & carry firearms. They will secretly pass laws that will EXEMPT them from normal rules & regs.Ask Chuck Schumer,,he carries.
4) Congress will try to pass laws that will further limit FREE SPEECH in the shape & form of limiting what we can say to them before ‘they’ consider it a threat to them & only to them. Lets just say that I was at a ‘town hall’ meeting & I stood up in the back w/out a mike & had to shout in my ‘angry’baritone,,& my South Bronx upbringing slipped out in the sound of 4 letter words,,,,would that be enough to make folks think that I an ‘threatening’ my C/Man. & I should be arrested on ‘Felony Assault’ charges??? Well ,,if Congress gets it’s way,,it just might.Think about it
My opinion only.
PS Does anyone really CARE what Olberman thinks or says?? I think not.

TED

The issue here is simply that political extremism, rockheaded demagoguery and unnecessary agitation and incitement spurred by both controversy-generating talking heads in all forms of the media and mad-motor-mouthing politicos has gone way, way too far … way over the top … during the last 15 years … and has inhibited (if not eliminated altogether) the possibility of rational and reasonable political discourse and effective collaboration of those interested in effective governance.

JoanO

Why is everyone missing the facts?
The reason for the shooting was to kill Judge Noll.
He just issued a preliminary ruling wanting to stop Obama from sezing
American citizens of thier money.
Go to the Case No. filed in the Fed courts.

Judge Noll of Arizona just happend to be there.
Whatever sharpshooter that was there did his job.

ctr

Don’t forget that Krugman got his Nobel for Bush-bashing as much as for economics. He’s writing for his NYT readers, not for a national audience.
Left out above is the 800-lb gorilla, the 30-year Sheriff Dupnik. Such an entrenched curmudgeon can say whatever he wants, whenever he wants with impunity, as the constituents of such a long-incumbent lawman must, if they are wise to the dangers of his police powers and know what’s good for them, be wary of him and keep out of his “sights.” [Shades of J. Edgar Hoover and the personal corruption resulting from his overlong stint as FBI Director (48 years!), and the notorious Chief Gates of LA, another 30-year incumbent, who kept his police off the streets for three days during the Rodney King riots.]