What hell? I just got a breaking news alert that a Congressman has been shot?

[Hawkmoon]

Oh dear, how are the lefties going to spin this one?

By calling for more gun control!

"TRUMP! has ushered in a new era of violence. We're afraid! We MUST do something to curb all this violence!

I know -- let's take all the guns away from the people who aren't causing the violence."

[Perd Hapley]

The nut's letters to the editor of his hometown paper.

http://www.bnd.com/news/local/article156092134.html

Actually looked at that link. When a guy writes the same letter to the editor every two weeks...

[makattak]

You know, thank God that no innocent person was killed in all of this.

And I mean that fully: Thank God. I believe that He has given the country grace to step back from an abyss. A chance for the left to realize where they've been pushing.

I doubt very much they will take His chance at clarity and will likely just brush this off. Just as 9/11 failed to wake people up, this too will fail.

His mercy is unfailing, but I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever.

[Fly320s]

I'm all for bashing the Loony Leftists, but most liberals don't think the way many of you make them sound.  In fact, most liberals sound just like us when the roles are reversed.  Same sarcasm. Same blame of intolerance.  Same view that nothing will change.  And even the same bad-mouthing of the bad actors.

[Perd Hapley]

His mercy is unfailing, but I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever.

I think I've heard that somewhere before...

[AJ Dual]

I'm all for bashing the Loony Leftists, but most liberals don't think the way many of you make them sound.  In fact, most liberals sound just like us when the roles are reversed.  Same sarcasm. Same blame of intolerance.  Same view that nothing will change.  And even the same bad-mouthing of the bad actors.

Well, except for that part about them being wrong and all...

[makattak]

I'm all for bashing the Loony Leftists, but most liberals don't think the way many of you make them sound.  In fact, most liberals sound just like us when the roles are reversed.  Same sarcasm. Same blame of intolerance.  Same view that nothing will change.  And even the same bad-mouthing of the bad actors.

Most?

You mean the 61% that think Bush likely knew about 9/11 beforehand?

The whatever large percentage that think that Trump, Donald Trump, is about to bring about a "Handmaiden's Tale" in this country?

The people who think that the "CHRISTIAN TALIBAN!" is the scariest thing to exist in the world, and is always waiting to seize this country and start blowing up Buddhas? (Oh, and enact the Handmaiden's Tale that Donald Trump wants, too.)

The ones that think using government force on Christians to bow to their belief system is just how it should be?

That "sane" left?

[DittoHead]

"TRUMP! has ushered in a new era of violence. We're afraid! We MUST do something to curb all this violence!

I know -- let's take all the guns away from the people who aren't causing the violence."

Spot on:
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/06/reinforcing-the-boundaries-of-political-decency/530334/

the president of the United States is himself the country’s noisiest inciter of political violence

the U.S. is vulnerable to this crime because targeted killing typically requires access to a gun—and guns are easier to acquire here than in any comparably developed society. We’ll learn more about when the Alexandria murderer decided on his crime, and whether his weapon was legally acquired. The commonwealth of Virginia certainly did its utmost to ease his way, however, by conferring the legal right to move about with an openly brandished rifle.

[MillCreek]

The conservative movement of course does not have entirely clean hands. Consider Timothy McVeigh.  You all remember Tim, don't you?

[makattak]

The conservative movement of course does not have entirely clean hands. Consider Timothy McVeigh.  You all remember Tim, don't you?

I do. Can you remind me, because I can't seem to recall- how many violent riots, political assassination porn, violent threats on congressmen and their families were going on just prior to Oklahoma City?

I know the right is terribly violent, so maybe I've just forgotten the specifics over the past 20 years.

[makattak]

Of note, also, McVeigh was 27 at the time of his murders.

27 is right in the middle of the prime 18-35 age for greatest violence and criminality.

This nutjob was 66. Unless he'd had a recent psychological break, that's VERY odd, for a 66 year old to become a nutjob assassin.

[T.O.M.]

My $.02, for what it's worth, is that politics in general has gotten a lot nastier.  Not just the elections, but the way people act on political issues.  Growing up, Reagan and O'Neil fought on a lot of issues, but would also have a drink together.  There were a lot of cross-party line friends.  Doesn't seem that way any longer.  Now seems a lot more like you can't be cross-party friends.  Can't respectfully disagree.  And, from what I see on the net, it gets pretty damn personal, too.  Even around here, it's "the Loony Left", and that's polite compared to some things I see on Facebook and other places.  And, when it gets nasty and personal, some people will respond.  And this is among people towards the middle.  Get on the ends of the political spectrum, and it's not only personal.  It's not only nasty.  For some of them, it's words of war.  And I see it on both sides.  I'm worried about how ugly it's going to become.  And I'm also worried that this incident is the one which removes the taboo from shooting .gov officials, and we end up with others choosing this same type of action.

[MillCreek]

I do. Can you remind me, because I can't seem to recall- how many violent riots, political assassination porn, violent threats on congressmen and their families were going on just prior to Oklahoma City?

I know the right is terribly violent, so maybe I've just forgotten the specifics over the past 20 years.

It looks as if you have forgotten some of these violent events on the right, for example when President Obama was elected, but since they were reported in the MSM, perhaps you discount such reports.  A quick Google will pull up the data for you.  The point is that neither side has clean hands, despite the efforts of one side to demonize the other.  This ties in with what Chris is saying.

[Perd Hapley]

The conservative movement of course does not have entirely clean hands. Consider Timothy McVeigh.  You all remember Tim, don't you?

Huh? I don't recall anyone saying that the Right is staffed entirely by saints.

[makattak]

It looks as if you have forgotten some of these violent events on the right, for example when President Obama was elected, but since they were reported in the MSM, perhaps you discount such reports.  A quick Google will pull up the data for you.  The point is that neither side has clean hands, despite the efforts of one side to demonize the other.  This ties in with what Chris is saying.

http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/presidential-campaign/305749-republicans-employ-double-standard-to-discredit

Here's the article I'm sure that you read. I'll note they quote ONE (1) specific incident for which they provide details and then do a lot of handwaving around the rest. (Including a GREAT many that were hoaxes... but since they didn't provide any details, I can't show it because they purposely tried to obscure that fact.)

As I said, show me the riots. Show me the widespread violence. There are always scattered examples of attacks around elections. (For example, the fake attack a Romney election worker claimed to have been subjected to.)

THIS kind of violence is unprecedented, at least in my politically aware lifetime. (that's 30+ years)

If we want to go back to the last time it was violent like this, you'd have to get to the Weathermen and the Black Panthers... oh hey, it's the left again! (I should say, "STILL" since the very same people responsible for the violence are now the leaders of the left.)

[Brad Johnson]

This nutjob was 66. Unless he'd had a recent psychological break, that's VERY odd, for a 66 year old to become a nutjob assassin.

Only if he wasn't already a nutjob. Given what I'm seeing of his past, nutjob describes pretty much his entire adult life.

Brad

[makattak]

My $.02, for what it's worth, is that politics in general has gotten a lot nastier.  Not just the elections, but the way people act on political issues.  Growing up, Reagan and O'Neil fought on a lot of issues, but would also have a drink together.  There were a lot of cross-party line friends.  Doesn't seem that way any longer.  Now seems a lot more like you can't be cross-party friends.  Can't respectfully disagree.  And, from what I see on the net, it gets pretty damn personal, too.  Even around here, it's "the Loony Left", and that's polite compared to some things I see on Facebook and other places.  And, when it gets nasty and personal, some people will respond.  And this is among people towards the middle.  Get on the ends of the political spectrum, and it's not only personal.  It's not only nasty.  For some of them, it's words of war.  And I see it on both sides.  I'm worried about how ugly it's going to become.  And I'm also worried that this incident is the one which removes the taboo from shooting .gov officials, and we end up with others choosing this same type of action.

I'm frightened. My wife works to be politically neutral on facebook and has been shaken by things the leftists want. The visceral hatred they show frightens her, as they have clearly stated they want to destroy the livelihood of anyone who voted for Trump.

I used to think the left was just mistaken and misguided. Now that the mask is off, I see that they are actively evil.

[AJ Dual]

My $.02, for what it's worth, is that politics in general has gotten a lot nastier.  Not just the elections, but the way people act on political issues.  Growing up, Reagan and O'Neil fought on a lot of issues, but would also have a drink together.  There were a lot of cross-party line friends.  Doesn't seem that way any longer.  Now seems a lot more like you can't be cross-party friends.  Can't respectfully disagree.  And, from what I see on the net, it gets pretty damn personal, too.  Even around here, it's "the Loony Left", and that's polite compared to some things I see on Facebook and other places.  And, when it gets nasty and personal, some people will respond.  And this is among people towards the middle.  Get on the ends of the political spectrum, and it's not only personal.  It's not only nasty.  For some of them, it's words of war.  And I see it on both sides.  I'm worried about how ugly it's going to become.  And I'm also worried that this incident is the one which removes the taboo from shooting .gov officials, and we end up with others choosing this same type of action.

Nah. It's cyclical.

Witness the era of Jefferson vs. Hamilton vs. Burr.  Buying/creating newspapers to slander each other, culminating in an actual duel where Hamilton died.

[Ben]

While certainly problems exist across the political spectrum, the problem I'm seeing is the mainstreaming of violence oriented "resistance".

When Obama was elected, the mainstream "resistance" everyone in the MSM and elsewhere pointed to was the Tea Party. People whose most quirky behavior was occasionally wearing funny hats and cleaning up after themselves at protests. Mainstream as of now seems to be the antifas. Pepper spray and urine bombs are a long ways from funny hats and Gadsden flags.

[RevDisk]

Nah. It's cyclical.

Witness the era of Jefferson vs. Hamilton vs. Burr.  Buying/creating newspapers to slander each other, culminating in an actual duel where Hamilton died.

Yep. Another era I was just reading about was the American imperialism fad around the Spanish American War. Nasty politics combined with an age of yellow journalism.

[Angel Eyes]

"One down, 216 to go"

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/337782-gop-rep-received-threatening-email-with-subject-line-one-down-216-to-go-after

The person who sent the email then wrote in the body of the email, "Did you NOT expect this?"

"Did you NOT expect this? When you take away ordinary peoples very lives in order to pay off the wealthiest among us, your own lives are forfeit. Certainly, your souls and morality were lost long before. Good riddance,” the email said.

Yep . . . this is going to end well . . .

[Doggy Daddy]

"One down, 216 to go"

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/337782-gop-rep-received-threatening-email-with-subject-line-one-down-216-to-go-after

Yep . . . this is going to end well . . .

What's that Matt Bracken has been saying for a while about us being "one mag dump" away from CW2?

[MechAg94]

"One down, 216 to go"

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/337782-gop-rep-received-threatening-email-with-subject-line-one-down-216-to-go-after

Yep . . . this is going to end well . . .

That sad thing is that someone on some discussion board that text you quoted makes sense.

[MechAg94]

My $.02, for what it's worth, is that politics in general has gotten a lot nastier.  Not just the elections, but the way people act on political issues.  Growing up, Reagan and O'Neil fought on a lot of issues, but would also have a drink together.  There were a lot of cross-party line friends.  Doesn't seem that way any longer.  Now seems a lot more like you can't be cross-party friends.  Can't respectfully disagree.  And, from what I see on the net, it gets pretty damn personal, too.  Even around here, it's "the Loony Left", and that's polite compared to some things I see on Facebook and other places.  And, when it gets nasty and personal, some people will respond.  And this is among people towards the middle.  Get on the ends of the political spectrum, and it's not only personal.  It's not only nasty.  For some of them, it's words of war.  And I see it on both sides.  I'm worried about how ugly it's going to become.  And I'm also worried that this incident is the one which removes the taboo from shooting .gov officials, and we end up with others choosing this same type of action.

I try to refer to them as leftists to differentiate a little bit.  I know a couple of people who think they are liberal.  They aren't crazy, but if I asked them to explain exactly why they don't like Trump, I doubt I would get a substantive reply that I could understand and respond to.  One is an engineer I worked with in the past.  We talked politics a little.  He seemed to believe every media rumor about Republicans as fact and dismissed every media rumor about Democrats as baseless (including a lot of documented facts).  He was sure his POV was correct.  I could argue with him a bit about specific things, and we might agree on what the end result ought to be, but we very much disagreed on the means to get there and which politicians were likely to do it.  

One of the biggest differences I see is most Republican voters I hear from despise their elected officials (outside a very few) but vote for them anyway.  I don't see many liberals who feel that way about the Democrats they vote for.  I am sure there are some, but I don't see it.  

[MillCreek]

Huh? I don't recall anyone saying that the Right is staffed entirely by saints.

Saints and sinners on all sides, in my opinion.  The difficulty is in using the saints or the sinners to argue that they represent the whole.