Posted this in my Slashdot Journal, but I can't illustrate it there very well :)
Related 1/15/2011: James Fuller's death threats create an atmosphere of fear.
The running tally of Loughner's Tea Party-ness
The running tally of Loughner's Tea Party-ness
 |
| via TMZ.Com |
1. He was into Sarah Palin, his Facebook Page said so, therefore it is her fault.
No, actually someone else put up a FB page for him and spelled his name wrong, coincidentally the same way AP spelled it wrong when the story broke, and Palin's name was spelled wrong too. Not very Tea Party.
 |
| "Jered Laughner" vs. his real name. |
1.a Sarah Palin targeted Rep. Giffords with rifle-scope cross-hairs, prompting Loughner to shoot her
The "target" marks pre-date Palin by quite a few years and the marks on her page are digital map markers, not a depiction of rifle scopes. Even on the scopes in movies, the cross hairs stay in the circle. Compass points do not. If the critics were right about the Tea Party, even a nut like this would notice that. Not very Tea Party.
The "target" marks pre-date Palin by quite a few years and the marks on her page are digital map markers, not a depiction of rifle scopes. Even on the scopes in movies, the cross hairs stay in the circle. Compass points do not. If the critics were right about the Tea Party, even a nut like this would notice that. Not very Tea Party.
2. Rush Limbaugh and others like him influenced Loughner
Well, maybe if he took time out of his busy days of listening to Metal and burning weed*, maybe. But none of his classmates noticed that. They did notice his appreciation of Johnny Darkly Not very Tea Party.
 |
| Johnny Darkly |
3. His YouTube page featured alternate currency advocacy. Well, yes it did. I have not been able to confirm the report that he wanted to use weed as the alternate currency. Mother Jones says he wanted to use gold or silver and the Guardian infers that he did. Could be Tea Party-ish.
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| G. Gordon Liddy, gold celebrity. |
4. He was a huge Right Winger! Must be Tea Party
Not according to anybody talking about knowing him. They said he was a disruptive leftwing pothead. Not very Tea Party.
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| Willie Nelson Tea Party? |
5. He hated the government and burned flags! Both true, according to his writings and videos. Still, not very Tea Party. Seeking responsible government and disliking the past regime enough to vote them out is a far cry from shooting congresspersons. Burning flags is so not Tea Party.
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| Kramer is so not Tea Party |
6. He said don't trust the government. True, just like a lot of people from '9/11 trufers' to Al Sharpton. The Tea Party has no monopoly on that one.
7. He tried to join the military. True, but he failed his drug screening. Not very Tea Party.
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| The Vietnam War was a long time ago. |
10. He had a creepy skull thingie in the back yard in a tent True, still not very Tea Party.
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| I think Loughner's was different |
11. He shot a Left-Winger, he must be Tea Party
Gun rights, concealed carry advocate Giffords was not "Leftwing" at all. She was Bluedog.
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| By gabriellegiffords |
12. He wore a hoodie!
Pair a red bandanna with that and you have a left-leaning anarchist. Not very Tea Party.
Pair a red bandanna with that and you have a left-leaning anarchist. Not very Tea Party.
Revisiting that "don't trust the government" point, it would be wise to put that Pima County Sheriff Dupnik at the top of the list. Yes, the one who was blaming Palin and others for what may be more his fault than anybody else's. Loughner did not need Obamacare, he need to get arrested for the threats he was spewing for ages before this incident and then he would have been denied a handgun. If he would have been medically deemed unbalanced, same thing.
Via The Cholla Jumps:
The sheriff has been editorializing and politicizing the event since he took the podium to report on the incident. His blaming of radio personalities and bloggers is a pre-emptive strike because Mr. Dupnik knows this tragedy lays at his feet and his office. Six people died on his watch and he could have prevented it. He needs to step up and start apologizing to the families of the victims instead of spinning this event to serve his own political agenda.Jared Loughner, pronounced by the Sheriff as Lock-ner, saying it was the Polish pronunciation. Of course he meant Scott or Irish but that isnâ(TM)t the point. The point is he and his office have had previous contact with the alleged assailant in the past and that is how he knows how to pronounce the name.Jared Loughner has been making death threats by phone to many people in Pima County including staff of Pima Community College, radio personalities and local bloggers. When Pima County Sheriffâ(TM)s Office was informed, his deputies assured the victims that he was being well managed by the mental health system. It was also suggested that further pressing of charges would be unnecessary and probably cause more problems than it solved as Jared Loughner has a family member that works for Pima County. Amy Loughner is a Natural Resource specialist for the Pima County Parks and Recreation. My sympathies and my heart goes out to her and the rest of Mr. Loughnerâ(TM)s family. This tragedy must be tearing them up inside wondering if they had done the right things in trying to manage Jaredâ(TM)s obvious mental instability.Every victim of his threats previously must also be wondering if this tragedy could have been prevented if they had been more aggressive in pursuing charges against Mr. Loughner. Perhaps with a felony conviction he would never have been able to lawfully by the Glock 9mm Model 19 that he used to strike down the lives of six people and decimate 14 more.
*I am all for legalizing MJ, but very much against substance abuse. Use does not equal abuse.
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