I have very few conclusions to draw about this entire sordid Loughner affair, but there are a number of things that should be commented on.
There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that Jared Lougner is a nut case. Of course, that should go as the first point in any attack such as the one out in Arizona. But perhaps some comparisons are in order here to put a frame around this situation.
Might we reasonably say that the suicide bombers surrounding Islam, also lack sanity? There is some argument back and forth on that particular point among the supposed experts, but I feel it’s safe to say that such actions as a suicide bomber would take would qualify one for the “I love me” jacket at the very least.
[1]Notice , please, that thus far I have not made any mention whatsoever of political persuasion, one way or the other. The point that I am making here, is that regardless of one’s political persuasion, one can be insane.
Amusingly, in at least one discussion that I’ve been involved with this past week, it has been pointed out that the only thing that stands between Jared Lougner and America, is the government funded and run mental health care system. Amusing, and alarming at the same time, because we see how well governmental intervention works, don’t we?
That said, then, why is it that the subject of sanity, or insanity in Jared Lougner wasn’t brought into the discussion until such time as the left figured out that they couldn’t pin this nutcase and his actions on the Tea Party, or on Sarah Palin, or on conservatism in general? I mean, the bodies want even cold yet in Arizona, before leftist pundits from all over the country were pouncing on what they doubtless saw as an unprecedented opportunity to score points , political points, against the right. We even saw calls from some leftists to return to the days of the “fairness doctrine” [2]. Any opportunity to quell dissent by use of government force … Never let it be said that the left side of the ‘sphere is not opportunistic. However, once the word came out that you couldn’t pin this one on the right, suddenly and with amusing predictability, we saw calls for not casting blame. [3]
This seems to me to be of a piece with something I’ve pointed out about democrats many times over ; the only time you ever see Democrats talking about bipartisanship, is when they had their asses handed them, at the voting booth. In this case, when the situation did not turn into the wet dream of far leftists everywhere, suddenly they are all interested in making nice, lest the Public/Voter Relations situation get too far out of hand. That’s key. After all, what is the talk of limiting terminology used in political discussion (crosshairs, gunned terminology, etc. ) but an attempt by the left to control the narrative?
Let’s illustrate this a little more closely; When John Hinckley tried to cap president Ronald Reagan, I don’t recall the left standing up and calling for more civility in politics to prevent this kind of attack, do you? As a matter of fact I recall a certain celebratory mood from some on the left that day. To say nothing of some of the stuff I read in the weeks following that event. Precious little of those writings can be found these days. there, again, control of the narrative is all.
Clearly the left will continue to try and find some way to manipulate this situation to their own advantage. Even the funeral of the victims is being manipulated by the left, including the White House, to the advantage of the left. That’s a subject I’ll touch on next time.