In the wake of the tragedy in Arizona, there has been a rush to pin the shootings in Arizona on the rhetoric of the right and the Tea Party despite there being no evidence to support this. As Rahm Emanuel has said, never let a crisis go to waste. The left is using the tragedy to further their own agenda – regulation of free speech – and now Rep. Clyburn, Al Sharpton, and Congressman Sherman looking to blame the right and regulate conservative speech.
To show how ridiculous it is to link Jared Loughner to talk radio and the Tea Party, Pat played some audio from Congressman Sherman, who admitted in an interview with Megyn Kelly that there is no evidence to support the comparisons.
Congressman Sherman said, “Well, it's clear from his web postings that he had picked up some of the extreme right positions such as that our currency is not real currency, et cetera. You do hear that in the blogosphere on the extreme right. But again my point is if you have a heart attack, you stop smoking, whether or not you can absolutely prove that the nicotine that you've taken in caused that particular heart attack because you know that breathing in toxic fumes is going to be harmful to our political system.”
What’s wrong with this statement? Well, pretty much everything.
First, the Congressman only uses Loughner’s obsession with currency to tie him to the right. But as Glenn points out, George Soros is concerned about currency as well.
What else does Loughner believe in? Well, he seems to share some interests as Van Jones. Stu said Loughner believes in “The Communist Manifesto, one of his favorite books, the fact that he believes George W. Bush took down the twin towers.” Stu added, “His classmates say he was a left‑leaning guy, that he was a pot‑smoking hippie, that he was quite liberal.”
Glenn made the point that the right could try and peg the killer as a left-wing liberal, but they haven’t because its unnecessary and wrong. Glenn said, “Maybe we just haven't played the game enough. Because that's what ‑‑ that's what people say: Well, they'd do it to us. Well, they're doing it to us. So maybe we should do it to them. Is that the solution; is that the answer? Or would that lead to more trouble? That would lead to more trouble. You have to believe that the truth shall set you free. No matter how dark it is, the truth shall set you free.”
Glenn said that it was important to stand fast and to speak the truth. He said, “So the first day was the victims and the shooter. Who were they? The second day was what are the people in Washington going to do? What are the people with power? What is their response and their plan? Today it's about you. So now what are you going to do about it? You know the facts. You know who this guy was. You know the truth. You now know what they're going to do. You know the Republicans are not mounting an aggressive campaign. You know that the progressives are. You know that the media is in bed with the progressive campaign. They have a story line and they will execute that story line. You know it. You see it. It is only a matter of time before voices go away. Which brings me to you. What have you done to strengthen your voice?”
Glenn said it was important to prepare yourself by being armed with the facts. He said, “You must be your voice. Have you prepared? Have you done enough homework? Have you put yourself in a position of credibility with your friends? And your family? Look, some people are not going to listen to you. Get over that. Most of them will be in your own family. Get over that. Have you put yourself in a position to reclaim your own voice?”