[Vision2020] A Resolution for the 112th Congress (after the Tucson Tragedy)

[nickgier at roadrunner.com]

January 12, 2011 Opinion » Bill Cope  Boise Weekly

Both Sides? No! 
Labrador licks the hand of equal culpability
by Bill Cope

"We have to be careful not to blame one side or the other, because both sides are guilty of this. You have extremes on both sides. You have crazy people on both sides."

The preceding is a quote from Rep. Raul Labrador, the newest member of Idaho's Congressional delegation. He said it on Jan. 9 on Meet the Press, less than 24 hours after 20 people were gunned down in Arizona--with six never to rise again--and less than four days after he was sworn into Congress.

Lest we start thinking of Labrador as a some sort of analytical genius who can cut through the most convoluted national dilemmas with only four days of experience under his belt, it must be pointed out he was merely aping what he'd heard from the big kids in his sandbox. Republicans across the land had barely let the smoke clear from that Safeway parking lot before they were Johnny-on-the-job of pulling their fannies out of the accountability fire. It wasn't even clear whether or not Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords had survived, and spinsters for the right (along with plenty of servile complicity from national newscasters) were spouting that if indeed it turns out the Tucson violence was incited by the toxic tone of current national politics, let everyone remember that "both sides are guilty of this."

Alrighty then, Congressman Labrador, let us see if you can put your memory where your mouth is. Let us say that you and the people you doggedly mimic are correct, that there is an equal portion of toxic tone coming from the left as comes from the right.

Of course, we both know there isn't. But for the time being, I will play along by conceding that for every Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck, Michael Savage or Ann Coulter, there is a voice on the left spouting equally vile and fraudulent sewage.

I will, however temporarily, pretend that for every mob of gun-toting, race-baiting clowns dressed up like Ben Franklin, there is an equal mob of demented, hate-dripping leftists gathering in a public forum somewhere, screaming that Republican leaders are Muslims and anti-American and aren't even real citizens of the United States. I will agree, even though we know it isn't true, that the left has in its corner a network of propagandists every bit as dishonorable and dishonest as Fox News and the goons of talk radio.

So, Congressman Labrador, having come to your phony and contrived position that "both sides are guilty of this," it's your turn to do something for me. I ask you to name one Republican representative who is currently lying in a hospital with a bullet wound through his or her brain put there by a deranged leftist. Just one, that's all I ask. Because if you can do that, name one, then we are still equivalent, as I have a name to match yours. Rep. Giffords, whose bullet wound is compliments of a deranged asshole whose anti-government ravings put him, I think you would agree, more to your side of the ideological cut than mine.

Also, name one liberal who has stormed into a public museum and gunned down an employee on the basis of that employee's ethnicity, as in the case of James W. Von Brunn, a very un-liberal racist who attacked the Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2009 and killed black security guard Stephen Johns.

Name one progressive church group that plotted to kill a cop, then bomb the funeral in order to slaughter policemen en masse, as did a radical right Christian militia just last year.

Name one progressive who fired on a conservative congregation, killing two and wounding five, as did a Tennessee conservative on a progressive congregation in 2008 because, as the killer himself admitted, he objected to their tolerance of gays.

Name one figure in the anti-abortion cause who was murdered by a crusading Pro-Choicer, as was Dr. George Tiller, Barnett Slepian before him and six other abortion providers since 1993. And before we leave the subject, name one anti-abortion office or institution anywhere in the country that has been bombed.

We could continue, Congressman. There is an ever-expanding dossier of right wing terrorism, which we sure wouldn't want to call "right wing terrorism" for fear of upsetting right wingers. And I'm not even including the pervasive campaign imagery of guns and crosshairs, the rhetoric of "Don't retreat ... reload," the threats of "Second Amendment solutions" and using bullets if the ballot doesn't work, of watering the Tree of Liberty with blood, all of which erupted from your ideological soulmates during recent years.

But there is one incident I don't believe we can afford to pass over, Congressman Labrador, even if every right winger in the country gets his nose out of joint because I bring it up. So, final question, Congressman: name one Democrat, liberal, progressive, leftist, socialist ... whatever you wish to label my side with ... who parked a truck filled with hundreds of pounds of explosives outside a federal building--or any other building--and intentionally, willfully, blew 168 of his fellow Americans, including children in a day care center, to kingdom come.

The proof is in who pulls the trigger. Even if your party-line horseshit of shared culpability were true--which it's not--it's always my side that ends up with the dead people. And what are we to make of that, Congressman? That there is something about your ideology that attracts deranged assholes? Or perhaps the ideology comes first, then the derangement.

Tags: Bill Cope, Raul Labrador


RESPONSE BY SANE, STALWART BOISEAN:

Re: “Both Sides? No!”
As always Bill Cope is right on. And, as always, the rightwingnuts who complained about Cope's op-ed had nothing of substance to defend their position. When failed governor Sarah Palin can talk about "reloading" and putting target sites on congressional districts and ex-drunk Glenn Beck talks about strangling liberals, what kind of civil discourse is that? Ann Coulter is so vicious it's a wonder some animal hospital hasn't quarantined her for rabies. Sadly, all of the rabid rightwing talk show hosts spew the same kind of venom usually associated with the KKK, Brown Shirts, and neo-Nazis. Whatever happened to the intelligent, civil discourse of real conservatives like a William F. Buckley, Jr. or a Russell Kirk? I guess they were too educated (too "elite"?) for the unwashed, uneducated rubes who make up the current Republicrat base. The day the rightwingnuts propose some sort of national restriction on access to guns by the unstable then I'll listen to them. The rightwingnuts and their NRA bosses are leading us toward a country that will look a lot like Somalia -- or the Swat Valley.-- Gary Crabtree <jampot at roadrunner.com> wrote: 
> " I think it is just as extreme to say that the volatile political rhetoric of the
> radical right and the climate it created, and the Palin poster in particular,
>  had nothing to do with the shooting. "
> 
> I might be willing to accept this if there was even a shred of evidence 
> that the psychopath had seen the map or paid any attention to right
> wing commentary. So far, the indications are that he didn't and your
> claims appear to be made up of moon beams, fairy dust, and a heaping
> shovel full of wishful thinking
> 
> g
> 
> 
> 
> 
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "Joe Campbell" <philosopher.joe at gmail.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2011 8:28 PM
> To: "the lockshop" <lockshop at pull.twcbc.com>
> Cc: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] A Resolution for the 112th Congress (after the Tucson Tragedy)
> 
> > What is the uber left? What policies do they hold? What are they
> > saying about Palin that is so egregious? Be specific. Use quotes.
> > 
> > I know that I've made some claims about Palin and the shooter, but
> > most of my claims were distorted by you and by Roger. I never blamed
> > Palin, for instance. I certainly never claimed that she was
> > responsible in any way. It would be an extreme claim to say that she
> > was an accessory, which I don't believe and never said. But I think it
> > is just as extreme to say that the volatile political rhetoric of the
> > radical right and the climate it created, and the Palin poster in
> > particular, had nothing to do with the shooting. In between the
> > extreme all and nothing claims are a variety of more plausible views
> > and I haven't said which of those I accept because I really don't know
> > what to say about it.
> > 
> > You say "Stop trying to tarnish your ideological 'enemies' with
> > reasons for a event that just are not there." But this is such a joke
> > it is not funny. I'm merely asking that Palin and others stop using a
> > "bullseye" to target their political enemies, that the right stop
> > referring to everyone on the left as a communist, that they stop the
> > distortion and the over-the-top rhetoric. That we realize, as one V
> > post put it, we are hovering around the same spot on the political
> > compass. Again, there is nothing radical about any of this and it is
> > precisely the very same request that you're making. So I find that
> > ironic!
> > 
> > Add to this that if I had political motives, what I'd do is keep my
> > mouth shut wrt criticisms of Palin. What I'd try to do is get her to
> > win the Republican nomination since she is one of handful of people
> > that Obama has a chance of beating. She is simply not electable. I
> > hope she does win the Republican nomination for that very reason (but
> > she won't). So if I were playing political gamesmanship I'd keep quiet
> > about her. I wouldn't criticize her. It makes no sense to criticize
> > her if you're a Democrat and your only concern is to get Democrats
> > elected. She is the best thing for the party in years. But I'm out of
> > politics and have more broad social concerns, like the well being of
> > our country. I'm using this as an opportunity to try to get the
> > over-the-top rhetoric to stop.
> > 
> > Lastly, wrt to your claims about "surveyor symbols" that is just plain
> > stupid. I'm not saying you are stupid since I don't think for a minute
> > that you believe that story. So the fact that I don't believe it can't
> > be a slight against me. No one believes that story, and we're not all
> > members of the uber left. Even the folks telling that story don't
> > believe it.
> > 
> > Here's a nice article on the issue.
> > 
> > http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2011/01/gunsights_or_surveyor_symbols.html
> > 
> > At the end of this article there is a comment from Palin herself,
> > tweeted after the election: "Remember months ago 'bullseye' icon used
> > 2 target the 20 Obamacare-lovin' incumbent seats? We won 18 out of 20
> > (90% success rate;T'aint bad)."
> > 
> > Nothing about surveying here from the horses mouth. Try explaining
> > this! Or better yet, try dropping this stupid fairytale altogether. NO
> > one is buying it.
> > 
> > On Wed, Jan 12, 2011 at 5:25 PM, the lockshop <lockshop at pull.twcbc.com> wrote:
> >> The symbol means here, this place, this location on the map. In other words
> >> this is a district where we would like a Republican to be in office. Sort of
> >> like X marks the spot. Why the uber left keeps trying to make this tragedy
> >> about Sarah and the right is really an unsavory mystery. The shooter was
> >> crazy. Stop trying to tarnish your ideological "enemies" with reasons for a
> >> event that just are not there.
> >>
> >> g
> >> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joe Campbell"
> >> <philosopher.joe at gmail.com>
> >> To: <nickgier at roadrunner.com>
> >> Cc: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
> >> Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2011 4:46 PM
> >> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] A Resolution for the 112th Congress (after the
> >> Tucson Tragedy)
> >>
> >>
> >> Another question: What possible meaning or significance could surveyor
> >> symbols have? Why that symbol?
> >>
> >> On Wed, Jan 12, 2011 at 4:26 PM,  <nickgier at roadrunner.com> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> A note to Roger and Gary:
> >>>
> >>> When Democrats start calling for "Second Amendment" solutions, then I will
> >>> consider your losing battle to make Democrats more violent.
> >>>
> >>> If Palin meant those to be surveyor symbols, why did she accompany the map
> >>> with the tweet "Don't Retreat, Reload"? Could it be that the webmaster
> >>> couldn't find the cross-hairs symbol that he really intended and needed?
> >>>
> >>> Nick
> >>>
> >>> A RESOLUTION FOR THE 112TH CONGRESS
> >>>
> >>> Whereas, the Pima County Sheriff rightly said that violent rhetoric has
> >>> consequences;
> >>>
> >>> Whereas, abortion clinic doctors were marked with cross-hairs and “four
> >>> doctors, two clinic employees, a security guard, and a clinic escort were
> >>> killed”;
> >>>
> >>> Whereas, GOP Senate candidate Sharon Angle and Tea Party leaders declared
> >>> that a “Second Amendment” solution may be necessary for the Obama
> >>> administration;
> >>>
> >>> Whereas, in November of 2009 a person brought a handgun to one of now
> >>> critically wounded Rep. Gabriel Giffords’ community gatherings;
> >>>
> >>> Whereas, GOP Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin targeted 22
> >>> Democratic seats with a symbol that Giffords, a gun owner, took as
> >>> cross-hairs (the map was followed by a tweet that said “Don’t Retreat,
> >>> Reload”);
> >>>
> >>> Whereas, Gifford’s opponent Jesse Kelley asked supporters to "shoot a
> >>> fully automatic M16" to "get on target" and help "remove Gabrielle
> >>> Giffords";
> >>>
> >>> Whereas, on Fox Business News Sarah Palin offered praise for Kelly: "I
> >>> don't feel worthy to lace his combat boots";
> >>>
> >>> Whereas, on January 12, 2011 four GOP leaders in Arizona, criticized as
> >>> McCain supporters, resigned after violent threats from Tea Party activists;
> >>>
> >>> Whereas, Giffords’ office was vandalized right after she voted for the
> >>> Affordable Health Care Act;
> >>>
> >>> Whereas, the U.S. lags other industrialized countries in mental health
> >>> services, and Arizona ranks second to last in the U.S.;
> >>>
> >>> Whereas, repeal of the Affordable Health Care Act has no chance of passing
> >>> Congress;
> >>>
> >>> Whereas, Americans, sometime by polls of 2-1, support major aspects of the
> >>> Affordable Health Care Act;
> >>>
> >>> Therefore Be it Resolved that the repeal of the Affordable Health Care Act
> >>> be withdrawn;
> >>>
> >>> Be It Further Resolved that more funds be provided for mental health
> >>> treatment;
> >>>
> >>> And May It Further Resolved that all Americans stop demonizing their
> >>> political and religious opponents and refrain from using violent rhetoric
> >>> about them.
> >>>
> >>> And Finally May It Be Resolved that on the eve of the MLK Holiday all
> >>> Americans attempt to embrace the ethics of non-violence that Martin Luther
> >>> King drew from Mahatma Gandhi and his own Christian faith.
> >>>
> >>> =======================================================
> >>> List services made available by First Step Internet,
> >>> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
> >>> http://www.fsr.net
> >>> mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> >>> =======================================================
> >>
> >> =======================================================
> >> List services made available by First Step Internet,
> >> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
> >>              http://www.fsr.net
> >>         mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> >> =======================================================
> >>
> >>
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> >>
> >>
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> >>
> > 
> > =======================================================
> > List services made available by First Step Internet, 
> > serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.   
> >               http://www.fsr.net                       
> >          mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> > =======================================================