JR Dieckmann
Partisanship, Finger Pointing and the Giffords Shooting
January 11, 2011

Partisan political attacks are all a part of the game, I suppose, but it has become much worse over the past couple of years since the nation has had to deal with the policies of Barack Obama. It is not just me saying this. Now that Democrats are on the defensive, even they agree.

But then, now that they are the minority in the House and lost their super majority in the Senate, they are also now calling for bipartisanship and compromise - something they refused to consider over the past two years. The real fight is over policy, not party.

It is not hard to understand why some people want to turn the Gabrielle Giffords shooting into a political shooting match: Anything to promote their cause and try to make the other side look bad. What they really accomplish is to make themselves look foolish in failing to recognize that the major dispute in our country is not Democrats vs. Republicans but rather socialism vs. capitalism, which crosses both party lines.

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik said he suspected that the growing vitriol, hate and anger against the government, and the widening rhetoric of armed resistance in the political discourse, played a role in the shootings. The extremely partisan Democrat, Dupnik, got in front of the cameras and started blaming the "vitriol" on talk radio and "certain television programs", those that "make a living on vitriol." This is not being reported in most news media and even Fox News cut to a commercial at that point in his diatribe. I am sure Rush, Mark, Glenn, and the rest will have plenty to say about that on Monday morning.

Giffords' father, 75-year-old Spencer Giffords, was asked if she had any enemies. He wept and replied, "Yeah, the whole Tea Party.” "Tea Party?” he was asked. "Yes, all of them" he replied. In the elder Giffords' view, the vast majority of Americans as represented by the tea parties are his daughter's enemies. He has obviously been misled by his sources about who the tea party people really are and what they represent. He must be a Keith Olberman fan.

Paul Wellman placed his handwritten sign among the collection of candles, flowers and messages outside Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' office: "Blame Palin. Blame the Tea Party". The 60-something former miner did not wait to explain why. "They're trying to say that a lone nut was responsible for this, but Sarah Palin and the Tea Party might as well have put the gun in his hand," he said. Another sign read: "Republicans are murderers and un-American." Again, the finger points directly at the Republican Party. What about all those independent, Libertarian and Democrat tea party members who disagree with Obama - don't they count?

John Roll, killed in the shooting, was a federal judge who drew scorn and vitriol for ruling in favor of illegal immigrants in a lawsuit against an Arizona rancher in 2009. The police at the time said extremists made serious threats to kill Roll and his family, in part spurred by local talk radio hosts.

Does that surprise anyone? Most Arizonians are fed up with illegal aliens infesting and infecting their state and want them out. Naturally, the issue is going to be discussed on talk radio and the citizen outrage is going to be heard. That doesn't mean that talk radio is promoting violence by allowing people to express their views.

The evidence from 22-year-old Jared Laughner's own ramblings posted on MySpace and YouTube indicate that he was confused, mentally unbalanced, high on Marijuana and possibly other drugs, and had his own ideology about how the country should be. He was neither Republican nor Democrat. He was neither conservative nor liberal. He was a self-styled revolutionary with his own deeply embedded ideals on government and society.

He hated the current government, both Republicans and Democrats alike. He adamantly defended his understanding of the Constitution, but at the same time found his favorite readings in Mien Kampf and the Communist Manifesto. This confused young man was a delusional, nonpartisan, radical mental case with a gun.

He could have gone after anyone who represented the government but Rep. Giffords is his congressional representative and offered a target only a few blocks away from his home. This shooting was not political in the sense of right vs. left, Republican vs. Democrat. It was political only in the sense of establishment vs. revolution.

Nevertheless, there are those who want to make it a partisan political issue. Giffords is a very moderate Democrat and former Republican. If the shooting was about right partisan politics, then why not go after a liberal socialist progressive?

Obama is constantly pointing fingers at, and attempting to place blame for everything on Republicans. When the public objected to Obamacare, he pointed fingers at Republicans. When the public objected to his stimulus spending, he pointed fingers at Republicans. When Democrats refused to pass Cap & Trade, Card Check, and the Dream Act, Obama blamed Republicans even though they had no power to stop any congressional legislation.

Obama sees everything through partisan party glasses but complains when partisan attacks come from the right. He’s a cry-baby when he doesn’t get things his way and it’s always the Republicans’ fault.

It isn't about Democrat vs. Republican. It is about conservative vs. progressive. It is about capitalism vs. socialism. It is about patriotism vs. subversive. It is about protecting and defending the Constitution vs. rejection and destruction of the Constitution. The debate crosses party lines and has nothing to do with Democrat vs. Republican. Obama misses the target every time because he refuses to admit that what he advocates is Marxist socialism. Republicans and many Democrats alike do not want socialism in America.

The leftists in Congress voiced numerous objections to the reading of the Constitution to open the 112th Congress in the House of Representatives.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-CA) called it "propaganda."

Jay Inslee (D-WA) objected and complained that Democrats were not given the appropriate 72 hours to read and consider the document - something that he was obviously unfamiliar with.

Dahlia Lithwick of Slate.com called adherence to the Constitution "a fetish."

This amounts to the same thing as these same people calling the tea party people "teabaggers." It is the political left that is unhinged. It is the left that are the perverts. It is the left that hates America.

Reading the Constitution in front of a liberal is like holding a cross in the face of Dracula.

The problems of this country will never be solved as long as they are seen as Republican vs. Democrat. When we can start seeing the problem as constitutional conservatism vs. communist socialism, then maybe we can move on and start dealing with the real problems. The problem that caused Gabrielle Giffords to be shot will not be solved by partisan finger pointing.

You won’t find a Republican or conservative in this country who would not have stopped the Giffords shooting if they could have. Nor will you find a Republican or conservative who doesn’t regret what has happened. I wish the very best recovery for Congresswoman Giffords and hope she will be able to return to her life and her Congressional work in the near future. I also want to express my sympathies to the other injured and the families of those who lost their lives in this senseless tragedy.