Quote of the Week

Not really a short quote, but Erick Erickson, editor of Red State, hits it out of the park with his discussion of why the American public increasingly does not trust the press, nor its literally intimate relationship with the left wing establishment Washington-New York axis.  Here he is inveighing against the obvious ills of the last few years of the Obama administration.

This is an administration whose Internal Revenue Service “accidentally” leaked confidential tax information about a number of conservative groups and the press buys the accident. This is an administration whose HHS Secretary was found guilty of a Hatch Act violation and the press said it was no big deal. This is an administration that put political cronies in Inspectors General positions, if it bothered to fill them at all, then saw the Inspectors General report away Fast & Furious, the New Black Panthers litigation, etc. and the press yawned.  

This is an administration that said Osama Bin Laden was dead and Al Qaeda was on the run when we now see Al Qaeda alive and our assassinated ambassador dragged through the streets of Benghazi. Still, most of the political press yawns.  

After all, there’s a non-scandal about Mitt Romney and abortion to focus on and his remarks on the 47% and . . .

Wow.

The President's Disgusting Rhetoric

The more this President gets into campaign mode, the more disgusting his rhetoric becomes. I saw him on the TV the other night, accusing the Republicans of wanting a society where no one who is poor or lower middle class gets health care, where we unemployment insurance is abolished and seniors go without medicine. He acts as if the only solutions to those problems are unending government programs underwritten with blank checks signed by the taxpayers. His comments on the Trayvon Martin case seemed designed to ignite racial tension rather than call for the rule of law, which his position would require. I still remember his "typical white person" comments from the 2008 campaign and wonder if he is permanently afflicted with prejudice. Dean and W.C. fisk his comments about the duties of the Supreme Court here and here and here. Suffice to say that he seeks to overturn centuries of precedent and ignore his own of oath of office.

Peggy Noonan noticed some of the same things, even before Obama's SCOTUS comments. She points out his slimy handling of the contraception issue, where he "deviously" plotted a change in policy that in no way satisfied the complaints of those who had criticized the contraception decision. Further evidence of his duplicity comes from the open mic moment with Medvedev, where he whines about pesky elections limiting his bargaining power.

The President seems to hold the public in contempt, at least that portion of the public that doesn't support him. He is President of all the people, but he seems to forget that. Hopefully, we can help him find employment more suitable to his temperament this November.

Just a Little More on Saturday's Shooting

KT tweets a great article by Dr. Helen about our simultaneous toleration of and indifference to obviously mentally disturbed individuals like Saturday's shooter. She points out that opportunities to steer him towards help and the ability to do something about the mentally disturbed in the college setting are overlooked.

Drudge is filled with more headlines of politicians trying to make hay out of this shooting.

Dem Congressman: If Violent Rhetoric Didn't Cause This Shooting -- It Will Cause Next One!
BILL CLINTON: 'WE NEED TO BE CAREFUL ABOUT THINGS WE SAY'...
MSNBC Matthews Cites Radio Stars Mark Levin, Michael Savage As Reason For AZ Shooting...
Dem Senator Fundraises Off Murders...
Lawmakers struggle for answers, consider curbs on incendiary speech...

OBAMA FLASHBACK: 'If They Bring a Knife to the Fight, We Bring a Gun'...

---

Dem rep urging 'civility' had called for FL guv candidate to be shot...

Meanwhile the WSJ today has a great piece about the historical context of "heated rhetoric." John Steele Gordon shows the disconnect between political belief and the actions of American assassins.

But in the U.S., assassination has almost always been the work of a lone, and usually lonely, gunman—albeit one often obsessed by politics in one way or another.

Reason.com reminds us that Americans are pretty level headed about the causes of this tragedy.

Meanwhile, in SLOBovia, local bloggers, W.C. Varones, Dean, and Left Coast Rebel hit back at the leftist meme that rhetoric or politics had something to do with the tragic shooting of Rep. Giffords.

Too Much to Hope For

I guess it was too much to hope for that yesterday's tragedy would not be demagogued by the left for political gain.

Exhibit 1. H/T Hot Air. CNN attempts to tie yesterday's shooter to Sarah Palin without a shred of evidence. Of course, this same network was all over the "let's don't blame radical Islam" in the Major Hassan, Fort Hood shooting. Stinking hypocrisy.

Exhibit 2. H/T Drudge. In the never let a crisis go to waste category, from Politico:

One of the fiercest gun-control advocates in Congress, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), pounced on the shooting massacre in Tucson Sunday, promising to introduce legislation as soon as Monday.

The dead haven't even been buried and some of the wounded are still fighting for their lives, so let's make this political and start dividing the country.

Have you no shame?

Exhibit 3. Keith Olbmermann and commenters at DailyKos and other lefty sites are seeking to blame the Tea Party for "overheated rhetoric." Pardon me, but the Tea Party has always been about energizing an electorate to vote against more spending. Such a canard only further divides this country in a time of tragedy.

As Ed Morrissey pointed out in the original link, both parties use wartime rhetoric to describe their strategies and to rally their followers. Only the deranged take this to mean that actual violence is contemplated.

Exhibit 4. Daily Kos can blame Sarah Palin for putting a bullseye on Congresswoman Gifford's district, but takes down this diary, as if no one would notice (image courtesy of WND):

BoyBlue's excuse for posting and taking down? He meant no harm. But Moulitsas can somehow impugn Sarah Palin's motives? The left's rush to ascribe evil motive says more about their mind set than anything about the Tea Party.

The extreme of the left is always angry and full of vitriol. If they lose elections, they are angry at some conspiracy. If they win elections they are angry that they didn't win enough or they guy won't be lefty enough. If anyone is full of the hate they accuse everyone else of, it is themselves.

Eventually, all of the facts will come out in this case and we will be able to discern motive and mental capacity. In the mean time, could we tone down the rhetoric?

Why couldn't the left take their cue from this statement from our President?

This morning, in an unspeakable tragedy, a number of Americans were shot in Tucson, Arizona, at a constituent meeting with Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. And while we are continuing to receive information, we know that some have passed away, and that Representative Giffords is gravely wounded.

We do not yet have all the answers. What we do know is that such a senseless and terrible act of violence has no place in a free society. I ask all Americans to join me and Michelle in keeping Representative Giffords, the victims of this tragedy, and their families in our prayers.

His follow on statement wasn't bad either.

I would also like to commend Temple of Mut for a more detailed review of the issues surrounding the smear campaign conducted in the aftermath of this tragedy.