just a thought about blaming talk radio for shooting

[radioguy39nj]

The person who pulled the trigger was Jared Loughner.  There is such a thing as personal responsibility.  Loughner apparently had very deep issues.  There were apparently red flags that weren't picked up.  No evidence exists he ever listened to Beck, Rush or Sean.  Apparently, he was a heavy metal fan.  Any one blaming Ozzy Osborne?   

In 1977, a 15-year-old defendant in Florida blamed TV intoxication for the murder of his elderly neighbor.  Ellis Rubin, the defense attorney, claimed popular police shows of the day, namely Kojak and Police Woman, made violence acceptable.  According to Rubin, his client didn't know the difference between real life and a TV show.  The jury wasn't buying it and convicted the defendant.

[flashback]

a person who would do what the shooter did could have been set off by tom and jerry.by any music he may have listened to.by  violent movies he saw.by anything  he saw or heard.

the problem is the shooter not his influences.

just to make absolutly clear what i mean i am not blaming any outside influence at all.the total blame was the shooter.

[MattParker]

It's easy to tell who the Dittoheads are: The ones who are quick to let talk radio off the hook for the toxic political atmosphere it has created; the ones who are repeating the self-serving statements made by Rush and the other hate-mongers. 

If somebody shouts "fire" and people panic, why it's their own fault if they panic and people get trampled.  As one of Rush's commercials says, "People judge you by the words you use."  A court will judge the accused shooter for his actions.  Society and God will judge Rush for his words.

I wonder what you people would be saying is Sarah Palin or some tea bag politician had been shot.  You all would probably be demanding Ed Schultz' and Keith Olbermann's head on a platter.

[quadraphonic]

There hasn't been years of hue and cry against Ed Schultz and Keith Olbermann. People have not been conditioned to blame them if some whackjob shows his whackness by doing something harmful to others.

Before there were any facts in this case, the Pima sheriff threw out the old "hate and rhetoric" saw, and the media bit.

Like other people said, the only person to blame for this is Loughner. He didn't have a team of people pushing him. If he saw some literature about guns and targets and extrapolated "Kill Giffords" out of that, that's all on him.

[flashback]

regardless of who he shoots.liberal ,Conservative  or middle of the road.republican, Democrat or libertarian  i blame the shooter  not radio or tv hosts.none on the left or right.

[Don C]

You all would probably be demanding Ed Schultz' and Keith Olbermann's head on a platter.

No we wouldn't. Enough of this "toxic atmosphere" myth. Do I have to remind you that only 200 years ago our vice president MURDERED one of his political rivals? Stop acting like Rush Limbaugh was the first person to ever say something mean about someone. If anything, we're more civil now than we have been in years.

[flashback]

if a concervative did the same thing when a concervative was shot to media people on the left i would be just as much against it.it is not a political belief to me.it is a what is right and wrong belief.

[MattParker]

No we wouldn't. Enough of this "toxic atmosphere" myth. Do I have to remind you that only 200 years ago our vice president MURDERED one of his political rivals? Stop acting like Rush Limbaugh was the first person to ever say something mean about someone. If anything, we're more civil now than we have been in years.

It wasn't murder (let alone MURDER).  It was a duel.  You'd probably say they were two guys exercising their 2nd amendment rights.  Burr gave Hamilton the chance to "take it back" and apologize, but Hamilton, like his right-wing successors today, wanted to show how tough he was and refused.  Hamilton lost in spite of cheating (he doctored the pistols so his had a hair trigger).  Like Matt Dillon in the classic TV Gunsmoke opening, Hamilton missed but Burr did not.

[Don C]

but Hamilton, like his right-wing successors today

If my eyes rolled any further back in my head, they'd get stuck.

If you have concrete proof that this guy was influenced by any of the people you claim he was, then share it. I'm sure media outlets would be falling over themselves to get to you if you had this smoking gun.

Sometimes a nut is just a nut.

[KeithE4]

No we wouldn't. Enough of this "toxic atmosphere" myth. Do I have to remind you that only 200 years ago our vice president MURDERED one of his political rivals? Stop acting like Rush Limbaugh was the first person to ever say something mean about someone. If anything, we're more civil now than we have been in years.

It wasn't murder (let alone MURDER).  It was a duel.  You'd probably say they were two guys exercising their 2nd amendment rights.  Burr gave Hamilton the chance to "take it back" and apologize, but Hamilton, like his right-wing successors today, wanted to show how tough he was and refused.  Hamilton lost in spite of cheating (he doctored the pistols so his had a hair trigger).  Like Matt Dillon in the classic TV Gunsmoke opening, Hamilton missed but Burr did not.

Burr was charged with murder, but never went to trial.  The charges were eventually dropped, but he fled New Jersey after the duel.  Duels were illegal in New York (a capital crime there) and New Jersey in 1804.