After Giffords Shooting, Rep. Grijalva Says Tea Party Made Us Cannon Fodder

[RamboLiberal]

In the wake of the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and the shooting of more than 20 others in Tucson today, fellow Arizona Democrat Rep. Raul Grijalva denounced a political environment poisoned by "anger, hatred, and division." In a phone interview with Mother Jones, Grijalva called the assault "horrible and unbelievable and shocking….It's hard to explain and really difficult to comprehend." Grijalva—who was also the recent target of violent threats—went on to blame the polarized political climate for creating an atmosphere that fueled violence:

We never entered (politics) believing that we were taking our lives in our hands...we're feeding anger, hatred, and division for quite a while. Maybe it is time for elected officials and leaders in this country that have been feeding that disease to realize that there are consequences to it. I hope people stop and think that we can be opponents, but we don't have to be deadly enemies…to demonize another person because of a disagreement and to make them expendible is not a democracy, it's not the America I know.

Asked whether the tea party right deserved to be singled out for particular blame, Grijalva assented:

(When) you stoke these flames, and you go to public meetings and you scream at the elected officials, you threaten them—you make us expendable you make us part of the cannon fodder. For a while, you've been feeding this hatred, this division…you feed it, you encourage it….Something's going to happen. People are feeding this monster….Some of the extreme right wing has made demonization of elected officials their priority.

http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/01/grijalva-giffords-shooting-tea-party-palin

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who represents a district adjacent to Gabrielle Giffords's, said that Saturday's shooting is a consequence of the vitriolic rhetoric that has arisen over the past few years among extreme elements of the Tea Party.

"The climate has gotten so toxic in our political discourse, setting up for this kind of reaction for too long. It's unfortunate to say that. I hate to say that," Grijalva said in an interview with The Huffington Post. "If you're an opponent, you're a deadly enemy," Grijalva said of the mindset among Arizona extremists. "Anybody who contributed to feeding this monster had better step back and realize they're threatening our form of government."

Grijalva said that Tea Party leader Sarah Palin should reflect on the rhetoric that she has employed. "She -- as I mentioned, people contributing to this toxic climate -- Ms. Palin needs to look at her own behavior, and if she wants to help the public discourse, the best thing she could do is to keep quiet."

Grijalva said that his family has been provided with protection and that he expects further precautions will be taken by Capitol Police when he returns to Capitol Hill.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/08/grijalva-palin-needs-to-l_n_806283.html

[OHdem10]

1. "We are going to try using the ballot, but if that does not work we

may try bullets." Woman at Meeting in VA of the
Tea Parties. They were planning a march on Washington.

The New Representative from Fla(WEST) had a chief
of staff whom he fired for saying something
eerily close on Ballots and Bullets.

Who can forget Angle and her "Second Ammendment Remedies."

[bbgrunt]

2. k and r. I'm looking forward to hearing

republicans repudiate the hate talk......but lacking that, it is good that dem public leaders speak out vociferously.

[Ikonoklast]

3. Give him an armed guard...a platoon sized one.

Let the crazies go up against members of the U.S. military if they want to harm Democrats.


We need to stop fucking around, the other side is serious about using violence to attain their political agenda.

They want people like you, me, and Rep. Grijalva DEAD.

[SoCalDem]

4. The problem with what he said, is this

The right KNOWS what the consequences of their rhetoric might be, and they EMBRACE it (privately). They deliberately use coded speech & clever "cartoon-ish depictions" precisely so they can "back away" from the inevitable carnage that will follow..

They are Pavlovian in their approach to language and they always know just exactly what "trigger words' to use, to rev up their various parts of "the base"..

Their base is, well...base in every sense of the word.

Definitions of base:

* noun: a support or foundation

Example: "The base of the lamp"

* noun: place that runner must touch before scoring
* noun: (electronics) the part of a transistor that separates the emitter from the collector
* noun: installation from which a military force initiates operations

Example: "The attack wiped out our forward bases"

* noun: a flat bottom on which something is intended to sit

Example: "A tub should sit on its own base"

* noun: the principal ingredient of a mixture

Example: "Glycerinated gelatin is used as a base for many ointments"

* noun: the place where you are stationed and from which missions start and end
* noun: (anatomy) the part of an organ nearest its point of attachment

Example: "The base of the skull"

* noun: the bottom or lowest part

Example: "The base of the mountain"

* noun: (numeration system) the positive integer that is equivalent to one in the next higher counting place
* noun: the bottom side of a geometric figure from which the altitude can be constructed

Example: "The base of the triangle"

* noun: any of various water-soluble compounds capable of turning litmus blue and reacting with an acid to form a salt and water

Example: "Bases include oxides and hydroxides of metals and ammonia"

* noun: lowest support of a structure

Example: "It was built on a base of solid rock"

* noun: the stock of basic facilities and capital equipment needed for the functioning of a country or area

Example: "The industrial base of Japan"

* noun: the fundamental assumptions from which something is begun or developed or calculated or explained
* noun: a lower limit
* noun: the most important or necessary part of something
* noun: (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed
* noun: an intensely anti-western terrorist network that dispenses money and logistical support and training to a wide variety of radical Islamic terrorist group; has cells in more than 50 countries
* verb: use as a basis for; found on

Example: "Base a claim on some observation"

* verb: use (purified cocaine) by burning it and inhaling the fumes
* verb: assign to a station
* adjective: illegitimate
* adjective: having or showing an ignoble lack of honor or morality

Example: "That liberal obedience without which your army would be a base rabble- Edmund Burke"

* adjective: of low birth or station (`base' is archaic in this sense)

Example: "Baseborn wretches with dirty faces"

* adjective: not adhering to ethical or moral principles

Example: "Base and unpatriotic motives"

* adjective: (used of metals) consisting of or alloyed with inferior metal

Example: "Base coins of aluminum"

* adjective: debased; not genuine

Example: "An attempt to eliminate the base coinage"

* adjective: serving as or forming a base

Example: "The painter applied a base coat followed by two finishing coats"

* name: A surname (very rare: popularity rank in the U.S.: #30771)

[guruoo]

5. As so often is the case, one must follow the $$$...

to discover the fountainhead of this evil.