After the mainstream media and other liberal politicians spent several days blaming the Tea Party for the mass killing in Tucson, Tea Party leaders call for prayer.
-- From "Guest Spot: Tea partyers call for prayer, not blame, after Arizona shootings" by Mary and Bob Meyer, cofounders of the Suffolk County 9-12 group, posted at Riverhead News-Review 1/11/11
The Suffolk County 9-12 Project joins all citizens in condemning the horrific attack, allegedly committed by Jared Loughner, in Tucson, Ariz., in which six innocent victims were killed and 19 were wounded, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, at a constituent event on Saturday.
Suffolk County 9-12 Project is a tea party organization that believes in achieving our goals through peaceful means and engaging the citizenry in the political process. We by no means condone acts of violence in any way, shape or form. We are committed to the rule of law, upholding the Constitution and promoting limited government.
We mourn the loss of life and those who were wounded in this senseless tragedy and act of violence. Our thoughts and heartfelt prayers go out to Ms. Giffords, as well as to the massacre victims . . .
We call on our elected officials to refrain from using a senseless tragedy as a platform to propagate their own political agenda. In a time of crisis and mourning, certain leaders have been assigning blame to specific groups and individuals in a shameless and reprehensible attempt to gain stature for their position. We, at the Suffolk County 9-12 Project reject that kind of political posturing. . . .
We urge all tea party patriots and citizens to pray for the victims and their families during this difficult time.
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From "We're Arizona shooting victims too, says Tea Party co-founder" by Chris McGreal in Tucson, U.K. Guardian 1/11/11
. . . Trent Humphries says there is another innocent victim left by Jared Lee Loughner's killing of six people and wounding of 14 others in his assassination attempt against Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. It is his Tea Party movement and, more particularly, his family. The killings, he says, are evolving into a conspiracy to destroy his organisation and silence criticism of the government.
The local sheriff, Clarence Dupnik, quickly pointed the finger at talk radio and . . . Tea Party supporters in Arizona . . .
Humphries is having none of it. "A lot have taken as gospel that the sheriff says that this was caused by talk radio, by Tea Party extremists, that that must be the case. I think it's done a lot of damage. It's given people the idea that somebody like my wife and I caused this murder. There's no evidence. And there's no evidence Sarah Palin caused this murder," he said. "The Democrats are using this opportunity to bludgeon their opponents. People don't want to hear that it was just some stupid, evil act that had no bearing in rationality. They want it to make sense."
There's no doubt that some people are blaming Humphries directly. He accuses the sheriff of prompting a string of accusatory emails. One said: "You people are responsible for the murder of a child, a judge and seven other innocents today. May you rot in hell."
Another accuser wrote: "It's time to change your message of hate. If not, get out of politics because the American people are not going to take it any longer. We want our country back."
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From "Massacre, followed by libel" by Charles Krauthammer, posted at Washington Post 1/11/11
The charge: The Tucson massacre is a consequence of the "climate of hate" created by Sarah Palin, the Tea Party, Glenn Beck, Obamacare opponents and sundry other liberal betes noires.
The verdict: Rarely in American political discourse has there been a charge so reckless, so scurrilous and so unsupported by evidence.
Not only is there no evidence that Loughner was impelled to violence by any of those upon whom Paul Krugman, Keith Olbermann, the New York Times, the Tucson sheriff and other rabid partisans are fixated. There is no evidence that he was responding to anything, political or otherwise, outside of his own head.
Finally, the charge that the metaphors used by Palin and others were inciting violence is ridiculous. Everyone uses warlike metaphors in describing politics. When Barack Obama said at a 2008 fundraiser in Philadelphia, "If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun," he was hardly inciting violence.
To read the entire column above, CLICK HERE.
