Arizona shooting spotlights ‘toxic’ political climate
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WASHINGTON — Recriminations and soul-searching burst forth Sunday over whether an inflamed political climate influenced a gunman to shoot a US congresswoman and 19 other persons in Arizona.
From the left and the right, politicians and commentators seized on the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Saturday as either a reflection of the passions stirred up by rabble-rousing conservatives or the isolated act of an unhinged psychopath.
Liberals highlighted a map posted online ahead of the November elections by Sarah Palin’s political action committee showing the United States with the locations of vulnerable politicians, including Giffords, designated with cross-hairs.
Palin’s trademark war cry — “Don’t Retreat, Reload” — also came under fire.
“These sorts of things, I think, invite the kind of toxic rhetoric that can lead unstable people to believe this is an acceptable response,” said Dick Durbin, the number two Democrat in the Senate, in an interview with CNN..... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110111com6.html
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