At this point, most people are tired of extreme partisans trying to blame the Arizona shootings on talk radio, dissenting opinions, and politicians they don’t like. Why are they tired of it? Because it’s all utter BS at this point. This was a highly disturbed man, and some reports from neighbors who have talked to his parents, they just never noticed he had issues. Which is odd since apparently his father was a stay-at-home dad for decades and the shooter lived at home.
One of the worst offenders in this case is the Pima County Sheriff. And the local press is taking notice:
The world’s eyes, once again, focused on Arizona for the worst of reasons. And Dupnik stood before the cameras interpreting the shootings as politically motivated, despite an increasing weight of evidence depicting the shooting suspect, Jared Loughner, as a mentally ill young man who rambled incoherently about pervasive bad grammar and other apolitical obsessions. Even Dupnik has observed that Loughner had made death threats against others and that they had been investigated by police.
Still, Dupnik used the opportunities to blame Arizona’s lax, new gun laws and, again, the angry “rhetoric” of talk radio. The shootings were spurred, he suggested, by “the rhetoric about hatred, about mistrust of government, about paranoia of how government operates.”
Dupnik took up his cause again on Monday. And, in response, we have to say at last . . . enough. Enough attacks, sheriff. Enough vitriol. It is well past time for the sheriff of Pima County to get a grip on his emotions and remember his duty. …
Dupnik needs to recall that he is elected to be a lawman. With each additional comment, the Democratic sheriff of Pima County is revealing his agenda as partisan, and, as such, every bit as recklessly antagonistic as the talk-show hosts and politicians he chooses to decry. (Emphasis added.)
Pot, Kettle, I think you two know each other.
Sir,
I have been noticing that this sheriff has been give a great deal of air time and credibility by MSNBC and most of the morning news shows. That should not only be not surprising, but also evinces the media agenda to wrongly blame the good guys for this lunatic’s murder spree. Let us hope the good people of that county vote that sheriff out of office and put in a patriot who will actually do his duty and prosecute nutcases instead of persecute patriots.
Thank you for fighting the good fight (oops, was that “violent rhetoric”???), Sebastian, and for keeping us apprised.
Arnie
There is a theory (that I think is going to turn out to be true) that Dupnik’s and his Department is going to be in a lot of trouble for they way they ignored many chances to do something about Loughner.
See this link for more details:
http://patterico.com/2011/01/10/while-were-raising-questions-i-have-a-few-about-sheriff-dupnik/
Loughner’s Mother worked for Pima County and it has been suggested that the Sheriff’s Dept went easy on him due to this.
Hank: I was thinking the same thing. Sheriff Dipstick is trying desperately to spread the blame – much of which belongs to him.
From Limbaugh regarding Dupnik possible motives: “There are a lot of things this Sheriff doesn’t want people to learn. One of the reasons he’s lashing out at me is he’s trying to hide all the things his department could have done to put this guy away before he did this. His department had ample opportunity — I mean how did this guy get a gun?â€
I guess this is another example of there being clear warning signs beforehand, rather than Joe Average suddenly snapping and shooting up the place. I agree with the other posters, I have a feeling that the sheriff is going to be in some trouble.
Check this out:
“Jared Loughner is a product of Sheriff Dupnik’s office”
http://thechollajumps.wordpress.com/2011/01/09/jared-loughner-is-a-product-of-sheriff-dupniks-office/
On the other hand, I thought the Tucson mayor was doing a pretty good job. Last night on the Newshour Gwen Ifill did her damnedest to try to lead him into a denunciation of guns and he refused to take the bait.