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How is "favoriting" the Communist Manifesto suggest his political leaning?

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vaberella Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-11-11 09:57 AM
Original message
How is "favoriting" the Communist Manifesto suggest his political leaning?
Edited on Tue Jan-11-11 10:16 AM by vaberella
In school, I had to read the Commmunist Manifesto for my Poli Sci class, it was required reading. I bought Das Kapital for interest. I also have Ron Paul books...and I believe in the gold standard although I'm a more liberal capitalist---meaning capitalism is good when monitored. :D


In any event this is crap---to suggest that someone's book collection defines who you are. In my "self-help" section of my library I have "Zombie Survival Guide."

I went by the fool was saying on his youtube. And those words were teaparty language. Those were not left-wing statements. Book readings mean nothing. Most people when they're against something have a wide collection on what they're against in order to refine their arguments. We all know a few teabaggers have Obama's book.


And I'm sure if anyone went into the house of anyone on DU---they would all find right wing books. Maybe a few Newt Gingrich novels. His library is not that interesting---except to say that ALL are about toppling the government. Even Marx. He cared about giving power to the people. <---Very right wing. (This is a simplistic look. I know).

In my view, a favorite or ownership really means nothing.
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onenote Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-11-11 10:12 AM
Response to Original message
1. I thought he had listed that book, along with many others, as his "favorite" books
Not exactly the same as simply owning a copy. On the other hand, drawing any conclusions about the guy (and, in particular, about his motivation in trying to assassinate Gabby Giffords), from the fact he listed the Communist Manifesto among his favorite books is as speculative as trying to draw those conclusions from the presence of any one of the other books reportedly on his favorites list, including the Wizard of Oz, Siddhartha, Aesop Fables, The Odyssey, Alice Adventures Into Wonderland, Fahrenheit 451, Peter Pan, To Kill A Mockingbird, We The Living, Phantom Toll Booth, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Pulp, Through The Looking Glass, The Old Man And The Sea, Gulliver's Travels, Mein Kampf, The Republic, and Meno.

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vaberella Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-11-11 10:15 AM
Response to Reply #1
2. He did list. I apologize. Which means he probably never owned or even read it.
I know I favorited several books I never read.
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slackmaster Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-11-11 10:19 AM
Response to Original message
3. At the end of the day, it's going to turn out that the shooting had nothing to do with politics
And a lot of people who expressed knee-jerk reactions on both sides are going to look very, very foolish.
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vaberella Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-11-11 10:22 AM
Response to Reply #3
4. We'll have to wait and see. It seems politically leaning to me. n/t
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onenote Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-11-11 10:26 AM
Response to Reply #3
5. I think that will depend on how one defines "politics"
At this point nothing has come out to suggest that he was motivated by partisanship, but there are some indications that he targeted Gabby because, as a political figure, she represented something at odds with his warped worldview. The very fact that he referred to it as an assassination is some indication that he viewed it as a "poltiical" (but not necessarily partisan) act.
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slackmaster Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-11-11 10:28 AM
Response to Reply #5
6. Exclusive: Loughner Friend Explains Alleged Gunman's Grudge Against Giffords
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onenote Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-11-11 10:39 AM
Response to Reply #5
7. the article seems to support the notion he wasn't partisan, but had a warped view of government
and personalized that view in Gabby as a representative of government.
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woo me with science Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-11-11 11:09 AM
Response to Reply #5
8. It sounded to me from the friend's report
that he had a personal grudge against her because she would not engage with his bizarre questioning at a campaign event.
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kestrel91316 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-11-11 11:09 AM
Response to Reply #3
9. Bunk. Even he said in writing it was assassination. That is, by definition,
political.
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slackmaster Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-11-11 11:25 AM
Response to Reply #9
13. See reply #6. Political yes, but that does not mean he targeted her for ideological reasons
Edited on Tue Jan-11-11 11:26 AM by slackmaster
Or because anyone told him to target her.
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bhikkhu Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-11-11 11:19 AM
Response to Reply #3
11. a political figure, at a political event, is shot by a nutjob obsessed with politics
its hard to avoid the implications there.
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be_long Donating Member (13 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-11-11 11:16 AM
Response to Original message
10. quick synopsis
quick synopsis:

No, you can not join us, you've been rejected..!

You'll have to leave, you've been expelled, you need to have a mental exam..!

How much is it, 500 smacks, I'll take it..!

31 bangs later, click clang, enjoy your new home..!

I still hate the government, government hires an attorney to defend the hater..!

Guard says, this guys nutz, completely nutz, nobody is gonna understand this fool,
but he wants to talk to the newsy peeps, get in touch with the beck fella, they'll relate..!

we'll be right back.
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Alcibiades Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-11-11 11:21 AM
Response to Original message
12. Why do you expect such a claim to be based on logic?
Context does not matter. People are saying this because it is what they have been told to say. They did not come up with it themselves. These are the same people who claim "Mein Kampf" is somehow Marxist. The only logic involved is this:

1. Learn right-wing talking point.
2. Repeat right-wing talking point.
3. Repeat.

He was also an online gamer, enjoyed hardcore music, and was a community college student. This shooting had more in common with such events such as Viginia Tech or Columbine than, say, the typical act of political violence. The guerrilla, terrorist, freedom fighter or revolutionary is a rational person who cares passionately about their cause, but believes traditional means of political expression will be to no avail. They may have personality flaws, mainly a wanton disregard of human life, but then governments have the same flaws when it comes to things such as pursuing foreign policy by military means. A von Brunn or an Eric Robert Rudolph would be examples, as would certain members of the militia movement, the RAF, etc.

The campus killer, on the other hand, is a spree killer. They are troubled folks with mental health histories. It is a form of murder-suicide, with the killer finally obtaining their sought-after importance by racking up the body count, and ending their own suffering, to boot. Laughner certainly would have had suicidal ideations: he simply never got to that part of the plan. He also shares common elements with the various celebrity killers, such as Versace's killer, Andrew Cunanan, Lennon's killer, Mark David Chapman, and other assassins such as John Hinckley. Laughner combined an assassination with a spree killing, making him fairly unique, but he had the same sort of obsession with his intended victim that all these sorts of folks display. His choice of a youngish, attractive woman as his victim is also fairly unusual.

It's pretty uninteresting to examine his political philosophy, except to the extent that we might be looking for a "smoking gun," something that would show culpability on the part of folks who have dangerously inflamed the political debate. I'm not sure it's that interesting, though. It's a bit like examining David Berkowitz's opinion of dogs, or looking to David Koresh for theology. These folks are seriously ill. Some may become fixated on a political personality, or a celebrity, or some institution that has "wronged" them.

If you'd like some more insight into someone like a Laughner, read the wikipedia entry on spree killers, a subhead under serial killers:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_killer

You'll learn more about this sort of sick person from this than from an inquiry into what he read, or liked, or claimed to have read or liked. I think that the list itself was calculated on his part to make him appear more well-read than he probably was. He also certainly knew that this list would enhance his importance as yet another thing for folks to analyze after his attack. All that is missing is the obligatory Catcher in the Rye reference.
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DrToast Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-11-11 11:30 AM
Response to Original message
14. It sounds like he just liked books that are considered subversive
I doubt he understood what the hell most of those books were about.
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27inCali Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-11-11 12:58 PM
Response to Original message
15. one of those books that a lot of young pseudo-intellectuals claim to read
but rarely ever do.
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vaberella Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jan-11-11 01:01 PM
Response to Reply #15
16. Very true. I definitely had to read it...twice!! Once for Anthro and another for Poli Sci.
n/t
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