Placing the blame
In an article in last week’s Jewish News, figures quoted in a JTA article by Ron Kampeas (“Giffords and the price of vitriol”) echoed the New York Times editorial board, Paul Krugman, Keith Olberman, various Democrats who have their own agenda, and assorted left-wing pundits and talking heads in blaming the shootings in Arizona on various members of the right wing.
In contrast to the above mentioned authorities I would like to posit a different scenario, i.e., the whole thing was a vast left-wing conspiracy in which the nut case in Arizona, who was described by friends as a left winger who read Karl Marx (and was no doubt a closet Communist) was apolitical, was registered as an Independent and didn’t vote in the last election, was driven to take action by such as Democratic Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski, who said of an opponent, “he should be shot, he should be put up against the wall and shot. He’s a crook,” and then Gov., Sen. Joe Manchin, who shot a real bullet through the Obama health-care bill; and the Democrats who put up a target list with bulls eyes on Republican districts; and other notables who called for the death of President George W. Bush.
After all, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was a blue dog Democrat who was not on board for all the president’s agenda, wasn’t she? Considering all of the above, why wouldn’t it cause a left-wing whack job to take action?
If you can believe one of these view points, why not the other? Frankly I think that both are garbage, not based on any knowledge of what was in the shooter’s head, but on cherry picked incidents that prove their own point, leaving out anything that doesn’t. Fortunately, polls show a majority of Americans agree with me.
Martin W. Cotler
Maplewood
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