The New Rhetoric From Tea Party Nation

John McCain wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post calling President Barack Obama "a patriot."

I disagree with many of the president's policies, but I believe he is a patriot sincerely intent on using his time in office to advance our country's cause. I reject accusations that his policies and beliefs make him unworthy to lead America or opposed to its founding ideals. And I reject accusations that Americans who vigorously oppose his policies are less intelligent, compassionate or just than those who support them.

McCain went on to praise Obama's speech at the memorial of the Tuscon, Arizona shooting. McCain agree with Obama's message that blame for Jared Loughner should not be cast on the Left or Right. This sent Judson Phillips of the Tea Party Nation into a shit fit.

"If Obama were simply incompetent, we might expect that he would occasionally get something right. What we see from Obama is not an incompetent fool. He knows exactly what he is doing. From being raised by a mother who hated America, to associating with America hating communists in his youth, he gravitated to communist, America hating professors in College and associated with America hating political groups until it looked like he might actually go somewhere in his political career.

"Obama is no patriot and neither is McCain. McCain’s supporters always point to the years he spent as a POW in Viet Nam. He did serve this country in ways most of us cannot imagine. But that does not give him a free pass for the rest of his life."

Phillips is attacking the President and a Vietnam POW. Yet Phillips somehow believes he is the true patriot. Apparently, Phillips didn't get the memo about the new tone. The more likely scenario is Phillips got the memo and tossed it in the trash bin.

Cenk Uygur on Right-Wing Rhetoric

Florida progressive activist Susan Smith should find this video interesting. We had a Facebook comment discussion on how much responsibility does right-wing pundits and Tea Party candidates are to blame for Jared Loughner's murdering rampage in Arizona. My position is I find the violent rhetoric of Sarah Palin, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and Glenn Beck reprehensible. It is protected speech. Unless they were conspiring with Loughner (and I am not suggesting they were) they are in the legal clear.

Cenk Uygur makes a compelling counter argument that conservative pundits and Republican politicians bear blame for several violent incidents in recent years.

GLENN BECK: “I’m thinking about killing Michael Moore and I’m wondering if I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire somebody to do it. No, I think I could. I think he could be looking me in the eye, you know, and I could just be choking the life out of him. Is this wrong?”

Beck needs to ask if murdering Michael Moore is wrong?

Beck has publicly stated, "I could give a flying crap about the political process." Beck told Forbes he runs an "entertainment company." Beck's brand of entertainment is making a public death threat to get attention. Beck always will be first and foremost a shock jock.

Jared Loughner Was An Independent

The Washington Post reports Jared Loughner registered as an independent in 2006. He did not vote in the 2010 election. I doubt that will put an end to debate of which political side Loughner belongs to.

I have stated there is no evidence Loughner was involved with the Tea Party. There is evidence pointing to Loughner being an anti-Semite. The Department of Homeland Security is investigating whether Loughner is involved with the hate group American Renaissance. Loughner has read "Mein Kampf." Loughner's scary mug shot bears the appearance of a skinhead. None of this is conclusive. Hopefully, the criminal investigation will make matters clearer.

I don't blame Sarah Palin or Rush Limbaugh for the shooting deaths of six people. I do blame them for their despicable rhetoric. Many people of tired of the violent language used by conservative pundits and Republican politicians. Gabrielle Giffords' being shot was the breaking point for many progressives who tired of conservatives making jokes about killing liberals. Instead of Palin, Limbaugh and Glenn Beck understanding why the Left would be angered at being painted as targets for the Right's crosshairs they either played victim or accused the Left of playing politics. I have yet to hear a person call Palin or Beck the voices of centrist reason.

Jared Loughner & American Renaissance

Tea Party Nation is blaming the the Left for alleged shooter Jared Loughner's rampaged that left Rep. Gabrielle Giffords wounded and six others dead. The Department of Homeland Security is investigating if Loughner has ties to the anti-semitic group American Renaissance. AR swears it has no ties to Loughner and is not racist. The homepage of American Renaissance's web site reveals a hate group. Here are some of their article descriptions.

Man Attacked By Kids At L’Enfant Metro—Bystanders Watch, Film It (Video),
Black girl attacks white man.

The Profound Problem of Muslim Immigration, EuropeNews;
They come to conquer.

Heroic Media: ‘The Most Dangerous Place for African-American Children Is the Womb’, Black Voices;
Black women 5 times more likely than whites to have abortions.

Did the First Humans Come out of Middle East?, London Telegraph;
Out-of-Africa takes another knock.

Laboring for US Citizenship, China Daily (Beijing);
Chinese want anchor babies, too.

Detroit in Ruins: The Photographs of Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre, Guardian (London);
What happens when the whites leave.

State Lawmakers Announce New Law to End Birthright Citizenship and Anchor Babies, Examiner;
Hispanics are livid.

Mayfair Mall Closes Early After Tumult, Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee);
Race unspecified, but we can guess.

They can "guess" the race? What great journalism. They can "guess" the race? What great journalism. No one will mistake for Media Matters.

Loughner is currently in FBI custody and has invoked his fifth amendment rights. The gun Loughner was carrying was legal. Arizona does not require a permit for gun ownership.

Update: Judson Phillips sent this message out to his Tea Party Nation followers. The message is blame the Left for the shooting. Phillips fails to explain why the Left would target one of their own.

The hotheads on the left have been using Twitter, Facebook and other social media to spout off for the last 24 hours. Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas fired off a tweet saying, “Mission accomplished Sarah Palin.” Hotheads like him will fade. Next week we will see a more serious attack from those who are the masters at the dark arts of media and politics.

This attack has already started and you can see the liberal meme forming. They will say the tone and rhetoric from conservatives and the Tea Party is responsible for this crime. In Politico today, first an unnamed “Republican” (read RINO) Senator said, “tone matters.” Politico then quoted an unnamed Democratic operative who followed the same “tone matters” line, blaming the “overheated rhetoric” for the shooting, then saying Obama should “deftly pin this on the Tea Partiers,” just like Clinton placed the blame for the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.

In 1995, Clinton then tried to blame conservative talk radio, especially Rush Limbaugh, for the terrorist bombing. The tactic worked then, backing conservatives off and possibly helping to ensure a second Clinton term.

The line we will see for the next few weeks is going to be that rhetoric and tone of the message from the Tea Party is responsible for this attack. Let’s ignore the fact that this guy was not only nuts, but also a card carrying liberal. The hard left is going to try and silence the Tea Party movement by blaming us for this.

In a decent world, we could all take a moment to mourn for those killed by a liberal lunatic. Political civility is long since dead and the left will not let us do this.

So be it.

The left is coming and will hit us hard on this. We need to push back harder with the simple truth. The shooter was a liberal lunatic. Emphasis on both words.

Where does one get their liberal card?

Phillips' proof that Loughner is an Business Insider article quoting a Twitter user saying Loughner smoked a lot of pot and listened to classic rock in high school. The same could be said about filmmaker Kevin Smith. Phillips' evidense proves nothing. There is also no evidence that Loughner was involved in the Tea Party movement. Why Phillips and others on the Right are doing pushback is because violent rhetoric has been used for so long by Sarah Palin, Fox News and the Tea Party movement against the Left. The recent shooting his what reality looks like. Their fantasy world bubble has been popped and they are doing damage control.