The Giffords shooting, politics,violent rhetoric and news media cowardice

 In the immediate aftermath of the Giffords shooting the mantra of the news media was that they didn't know and didn't want to speculate if the shooting was politically motivated. But given that 20 people were shot and 6 killed, it didn't take a CSI to know that congresswoman Giffords wasn't shot by someone trying to steal her purse.

It took the sheriff of Pima county to make the point over and over and over again at the same press conference, that he blamed the violent rhetoric of "some" in the media and in politics, commentators on radio and television, political candidates and those in elected office, with motivating and unhinging an already unhinged person to pick up a gun and empty it at a Democratic congresswoman and a crowd of her constituents,  disturbed person who obviously believed the rhetoric he was hearing and took it literally. Rhetoric from conservatives that Democrats were tearing down America and turning it socialist. Especially when it came to, of all things, healthcare.

When the sheriff began talking about and blaming the violent rhetoric spewed by "some" as the motivation behind the shooting, everyone knew who the ":some" were. Conservatives in congress, on radio and television, and political figures like Sarah Palin and Michele Bachman. It was Palin who talked about putting political opponents "in the crosshairs".

But CNN, who was covering the story wall to wall refused to specifically talk about who the "some" were that the sheriff was referring to, keeping it vague and obtuse. It is the kind of cowardice by the news media and commentators that allowed the rhetoric to flourish in the first place. Cowardice that gave those who spewed the rhetoric confidence that they wouldnt be held accountable or slapped down by a media that is generally intimidated by conservatives. Or at the very least, chooses to let the red meat rhetoric heat up the atmosphere for the sake of ratings.

A particularly galling piece of journalistic cowardice came from a writer named Matt Lewis, who accused liberal bloggers of "immediately politicizing" the shooting. In Lewis' view, pointing out the connection between the violent rhetoric of conservatives and what happened in Arizona was "politicizing" the shooting. It obviously was too much for Lewis to realize that the shooting was political and airing political motivations behind a political shooting is not "polticizing". It is not besides the point that the target was a Democratic congresswoman who had been threatened before and had her office vandalized and shot at because of her yes vote on healthcare reform.

But Lewis was doing what most in his profession do -make excuses for the right wing use of violent words in polticial discourse, make excuses for the schmuck at the anti- healthcare rally with the sign that he brought his gun,  fake some kind of spineless objectivity so he doesn't have to offend anyone. And act like its just politics. Even over a horrendous tragedy like this. Even more galling was Candy Crowley on CNN Sunday morning, discussing the violent and inflammatory rhetoric that  has come from conservatives disgracefully saying while interviewing senators Lamar Alexander and Dick Durbin that " Democrats are just as guilty as Republicans arent they". This thoroughly dishonest characterization when Democrats are not just as guilty was some attempt on Crowley's part to be "balanced". Dont lay blame where it really belongs,dont identify the offenders for fear of offending the offenders,and pretend everybody does it.

It also has to be said the Democrats and Obama as well as those covering politics, bear much of the blame also. Instead of forcefully standing up against the violent rhetoric, instead of fighting back against it, instead of Democrats and the news media voicing outrage at the Hitler signs and swastikas showing up at town hall meetings on health care, instead of getting tough and taking the shootings at Democratic offices and threats made to people like Bart Stupak for his vote on healthcare as an example of conservative lunacy, news outlets like CNN treated all of it as just politics,and Democrats and Obama especially didn't fight back.Obama not only didn't fight back and use his office to condemn those attacks and make the ugly rhetoric and threats a major issue, an issue that could have even been used in the last congressional election, Obama just capitulated,stayed silent in the wake of the lunatic behavior of some conservatives, and everyone treated it as just politics.

Even now the news media is in denial. As recently as Monday morning, Chris Jansen on MSNBC said, "there is still no evidence that the shooting was politically motivated". The FBI has released evdience that the shooter referred to what he was about to do as an :"assassination". The victim was a member of the United States congress. Other vicitims were her staff members and constituents. Evidence has been found that the shooter attended a previous event hosted by Giffords as well as a letter from the shooter to Giffords indicating displeasure with her and her positions. And yet the media, still afraid, and still in denial, are still unwilling to look at and admit their own complicity based on their own low "man bites dog"  journalistic standards when it comes to politics, in contributing to a violent and hate filled political atmosphere. To them it was just politics.

Now 20 people are shot, six dead including a nine year old girl and a Democratic congresswoman is in intensive care after getting shot in the head at a political event.  And the media still won't say it was politics.