“When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government—the anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous,” said Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, an elected Democrat, at a news conference Saturday evening. “And unfortunately, Arizona, I think, has become the capital. We have become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry.”The left has jumped all over the Right, primarily Rush, Beck, and Palin, for inciting this guy to violence. The media has castigated the Tea Party and those crazy Internet right-wingers for creating a climate of hate that pushed this man to the limit. Consistent with the left's entire program, they need someone to blame. They need an external construct that imposes itself on individual persons and causes their actions. The edifice at fault, always an "enemy" of the left, deprives individual of their autonomy, making us all robots subservient to the insidious forces of society.
Unsurprisingly, I don't fault the "incendiary" political climate for this. I blame one crazy, mentally ill nutjob for acting on his own accord. As we see time and time again, this crazy individual simply couldn't hide that he was a crazy individual. Everyone saw it. He wrote about crazy stuff. He posted crazy stuff on the Internet. He acted in a manner such that it was obvious to everyone this guy was crazy.
So why then can't we simply call a spade a spade. Why can't we characterize this man for what he is? And then why don't we, as a society, have any measures in place to act on what we know about this crazy person?
Well to define this man as irredeemable would constitute surrender to biological determinism, the bane of liberal creationists and social constructionists. Liberals will not allow society to "give up" on anyone, not even the most hardened criminals or the dumbest children. Liberals imbue society with immeasurable power to successfully cultivate, nurture, and mold every single individual. It takes a village, from the cradle to the grave.
Yet what if we did "give up"? To even consider such a thought would be akin to fascism, a concept liberals define as government taking any necessary steps to protect its constituency from inexorable harm. When I was eight, I understood that bad things would always happen and that the only way to stop them would be harsh and, sometimes, unfair treatment. In general, to countenance any such preemptive initiatives tacitly implicates genetics as the defining factor in behavior.
The government used to be "fascist". Deinstitutionalization of mental health facilities began in the 1950's and continues to this day. In that time period, the number of persons classified as mentally ill and therefore justifiably subject to institutionalization has dropped by a considerable amount (found data suggesting it's been cut by 3). We used to understand that some people simply could not function in regular society and were not only a threat to themselves, but to others. So we locked them up and society didn't have that many crazy people walking around.
Sure, we had to tolerate an imposing government, but we understood that hard decisions needed to be made sometimes. Now, liberals view society as a large scale Oprah, but instead of trips and cars, it gives away mental acumen, work ethic, and social stability.
[FWIW: He seems to have a liberal past, but has probably morphed into a conspiracy nut, Alex Jones type. However, his political tilt, even if he was a "liberal pothead", shouldn't be the focus.]
20 comments:
What's the connection with AmRen?
"He had some connection to American Renaissance run by the venerable Jared Taylor"
Jared Taylor has responded to that claim here: http://www.amren.com/mtnews/archives/2011/01/american_renais_16.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assassinated_American_politicians
From 1820 to 1950, 16 American politicians were assassinated. From 1950 to present, 16 or 17 American politicians were assassinated. So, based on frequency of assassinations, your thesis seems to hold up - but you would also have to take into account other factors, including population growth. It's not ironclad.
(This doesn't take into account assassinations of non-politicians like King or Lennon. Adding in other assassinations might make a difference.)
I agree that it's ridiculous to blame this on the likes of Sarah Palin.
Still, when the likes of Faisal Shahzad commit or attempt to commit mass murder, one can observe that Muslim leaders really do create a bona fide atmosphere of hate and incitement.
Dumbnik, er Dupnik is absolutely right. I'm tired of the attacks on President Johnson, the suggestions that he murdered Kennedy, the attacks on our military and our war against Communism in Vietnam.We should crack down on these anti-American "protestors." I'm tired of their "smash the state" rhetoric.
Wait? What year is it?
There's no evidence of a connection to amren at all, you should be ashamed of yourself... ugh
What's the difference pre-1950 and post-1950? Two things:
1) Cheap and easy mobility for the masses aka cars and aircraft. Before then these were more luxury items for the upper classes.
2) Television. Radio was pretty common in the 30s and 40s, but television really allows people to think they know (and hate) a politician because you can see their face. Radio was too impersonal. Heck, outside of the most local elections few people in 1820 had any idea what a politician they were voting for looked like.
Deinstitutionalization of mental health facilities began in the 1950's and continues to this day. In that time period, the number of persons classified as mentally ill and therefore justifiably subject to institutionalization has dropped by a considerable amount (found data suggesting it's been cut by 3).
Umm, to clarify, you are talking about VIOLENT mentally ill people as being a priority to lock up, right? Because mentally ill people are not normally violent and the definition of what constitutes mental illness is often fuzzy since psychology with its tendency to overdiagnose diseases such as ADHD is probably only a notch or two more scientific than Voodoo.
I have removed the bit about AmRen.
We used to understand that some people simply could not function in regular society and were not only a threat to themselves, but to others. So we locked them up and society didn't have that many crazy people walking around.
Sure, we had to tolerate an imposing government, but we understood that hard decisions needed to be made sometimes.
Hard indeed.
I once had a wife ask me to commit her BiPolar husband because he dangerously............threw a can of Coke on the floor. My own sister has schizophrenia, is long-term employed, and contributes a net positive to income taxes. She's had dangerous flares, but no one would be well served for her to be locked up. Most schizophrenics are harmless.
I say this entirely without malice, One: I think you are mentally ill for recommending Freedom Twenty-Five. This guy has nothing new or interesting to say. For God's sake, he thinks the problem with public schools is bad teachers!
Jared Lee Loughner is the type of guy I knew when I was younger. A political correct loser whose politics are based action movies and video games. I will not be surprised if V for Vendetta is his favorite movie or the Matrix trilogy. Also I would not be surprised if the dude loves Alex Jones. I have now a former friend that is a big Alex Jones fan that told me last night he hopes the congresswoman dies. They are a sick and silly breed. Worst than any neo-nazi I ever met. Also the fact he went to community college sounds very much like my loser conspiracy nut friends. You would not believe the number of losers who are getting media degrees at a communtiy college and are big time left-libertarian conspiracy nuts. They are just rampant. Many of them voted for Ron Paul, Obama, or think the system is to corrupt to vote in. Many of them are omegas that are really into anime. Also they are either really Christian or family guy type atheist. I can not tell you the weirdness of these people. Loughner fits the profile.
This might send bad signals, but I actually prefer a system that doesn't lock up the "dangerously" mentally ill that well.
Simply because I'm quite certain that in the near future psychiatry and psychology will serve a similar function in the West as they did in places like the Soviet Union.
"Racism", Sexism, a White woman desire to haver a family, exclusive heterosexuality, "fundamentalist religiosity" all of these have the potential to be in our dystopia near future declared mental diseases.
15 minutes ago (2:30 p.m. Pacific), I was classified as insane, and mentioned in the same breath as "that Arizona guy," by a Jewish lawyer in Marin County. I am not kidding. The circumstances? Well, a few days ago I upbraided him for violating the lockerroom "no cell phones" rule. That's it. Guy must have poor eyesight, as I was sitting right there as he recounted the tale to his buddy.
It gets worse. Apparently he made numerous death threats (Moe Lane has details) and the Sheriff did not act.
Because Momma Loughner works for the Pima County Board of Supervisors.
One rule for thee, another for me.
That is ... pre-revolutionary. The guy was able to kill six people because a connected member of the political class pulled strings to keep him from being arrested and institutionalized.
Whiskey - wrong as usual. Cops routinely ignore vague threats of future harm, because established case law in just about every jurisdiction requires them to. I can't decide whether I wish you were legall trained. You might be the only guy who wouldn't turn out more annoying thereby.
Heh. You should read Thomas Szasz before accepting the "psychiatry" of the 50s and 60s.
NutupOrShutup "I will not be surprised if V for Vendetta is his favorite movie or the Matrix trilogy. Also I would not be surprised if the dude loves Alex Jones."
People often attempt to blame all the ills of society on their least liked group of people. So the Left blames the Tea Party and Sarah Palin, to the Right he is a pot smoking, non-religious liberal, and to the government propagandists he is a conspiracy theorist.(i.e. Truther)
Such rantings don't tell me anything about Jared Loughner, only the psychological dispositions of those making the statement. But I already know what groups of people Olbermann, Hannity, Krugman etc don't like. They are merely using another tragedy to cast their opponents in the worst possible light. These are sentiments that they are already imbued with, they just need a tragedy to allow themselves to say how much they really hate their opponents.
Nevertheless, it is strange(or not) how the mainstream media jumped on Sarah Palin right after the shooting occurred. It was as if they were all reading from the same script. I'm not saying...I'm just saying.
I noticed the Alex Jones reference, did you know that he actually thinks that the Archbishop of Canterbury is a Druid high priest!? And that Ronald Reagan was a communist?! Apparently, Alex Jones isn't aware of Reagan's knowing of a sound refutation for communism:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQAwdEdAT3Y
Alex Jones needs a serious lesson in lex parsimoniae, learn to apply Occam's Razor, not confuse "lay" and "lie", not modify adjectives with adjectives, and dial back the histrionics. Alex Jones also disparages John D. Rockefeller, Bill Gates and other captains of industry, although their sound business minds and organizational abilities have helped exponentially raise America's standard of living and provided jobs for millions.
"1) Cheap and easy mobility for the masses aka cars and aircraft. Before then these were more luxury items for the upper classes."
Someone who understands why the upper classes typically hate technological advances and change! Alex Jones talks about John D. Rockefeller as if he was "an elite", yet, because he was a nouveau riche baptist he was rejected by the old-money establishment at the time.
Whoa, congratulations on getting quoted by Derb!
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