Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) holds Beck, Limbaugh responsible for Arizona shooting

[sabra]

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20110111/NEWS/101110314/1001/news

WASHINGTON — Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore., pointed a finger at two of the nation's most well-known political commentators in the wake of the shooting of an Arizona congresswoman.

"The right-wing media has fueled a horrible outcome. They fed this vitriol," Schrader of Saturday's shooting in Tucson, Ariz., where 20 people, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., were shot. Giffords remained in critical condition Monday. Six were killed, including federal Judge John Roll.

Schrader specifically blamed conservative talk show hosts Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh.

"I hold them personally responsible. I don't know how they can sleep at night after this," Schrader said.

He added: "This is a horrible comment on where we are going as a nation. Hopefully, people will wake up."

[Waiting For Everyman]

1. K&R Glad to see him speaking out publicly.

I'm glad for every one who does it. Thanks, Rep. Schrader.

[HuckleB]

2. Thank you for speaking up, Rep. Schrader.

[EFerrari]

3. This is one of those times when you find out what people are made of.

:kick:

[Carolina]

4. K&R

[slackmaster]

5. It hasn't even been established that the perpetrator ever listened to Beck or Limbaugh

Premature conclusion is premature.

We do know that he had a bizarre grudge against Rep. Giffords.

http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/01/jared-lee-loughner-friend-voicemail-phone-message?page=1

[tridim]

6. It doesn't matter. This stuff is all amplified on the MSM.

Their target audience isn't just their listeners and viewers, it's all Americans.

[reformist2]

7. Jared's rantings are full of the same paranoid verbiage they spew.

It's in the air. Jared clearly absorbed it, reprocessed it, and came up with his own unique consipiracist amalgamation. It's quite easy to trace back the origins of his "thinking".

[slackmaster]

9. Paranoid verbiage of all stripes sounds the same

The man is clearly paranoid.

[reformist2]

13. Yes, but how did he get that way? Listening to people talk

about new monetary systems, keeping people from owning gold and silver, big government takeovers, etc. That's the stuff he wrote about. You know where that rhetoric comes from, and it's not MSNBC or NPR.

[me b zola]

10. You don't have to listen to their shows to be affected by them

The media talks about their outrageous comments w/o condemning them. People who do listen to the shows repeat the hate that flows from their microphones--the more hateful the more it gets repeated. Their hate speech hangs like a fog over our nation and has become part of our atmosphere. We are all affected by it.

[slackmaster]

11. Interesting theory

We're all affected by it only to the extent that we allow ourselves to be affected by it.

[JuniperLea]

12. The weak and feeble minded, the toxic mind, etc. ...

Have very little resistence to such things. And when they are loners, they do big things to get attention from "the cool kids."

Edited to say, ideology has zero to do with it. They latch onto the loudest, most emotionally charged rhetoric to fuel their own paranoia and desire to be one of the cool kids themselves.

[reformist2]

14. Also, latching onto bizarre ideas makes some people feel special, even superior to others.

[JuniperLea]

16. That makes sense...

When you look back over all the crazy killers we've seen over the past half century or so. Manifestoes... entire religions... going after high-profile people to make a splash in the media. Crazy way to grab your 15 minutes.

[slackmaster]

20. I suspect that some of it has to do with Giffords being successful, intelligent, and attractive

An older, desirable woman who is way out of Loughner's league.

[me b zola]

22. I agree

And the more emotional or psychological difficulties that a person is having, the more they are susceptible to it. When violent speech is treated by the media as normal, when calls to violence are so pervasive, then someone who is susceptible will see acting out in a violent manner as an acceptable act.

[Skidmore]

8. I wonder if he can look at the colleages in the Congress

who stood back and let them rampage and the politicos they hired to structure their campaigns? Can Bachmann sleep at night? How about Palin? How about people like Luntz? Or McCain, a bitter spiteful old man, who unleashed the full force of the Teabagger movement us? How about Ailes, Murdoch, & Rove? Or the Cheney family, merchants of hate and war.

[JuniperLea]

15. I'm sure they sleep just fine...

Sociopaths that they are.

[bdamomma]

17. they are sleeping fine and have their minions doing their dirty work.

[Kingofalldems]

18. K and R for the unreccers

[upi402]

19. must be media lurkers unreccing this

rec'd!

[valerief]

21. Bravo! nt