Yes, he is who pulled the trigger so many times. He committed the crime in front of so many witnesses. He should be prosecuted for that, but he was not alone. His accomplices may not have been on his shoulder whispering in his ear, his accomplices never met him, but the echoes of invoking a violent rhetoric in the ether of a culture were enough provocation and not just for the young Jared.
The voice of Bill O'Reilly echoing through the mind of Scott P. Roeder sending the vibes onward from a glorious victory over the evil liberal doctor. The voice of Anne Coulter echoing back from the halls of the Supreme Court lamenting that no one has poisoned a liberal justice's dessert. The voice of Rush Limbaugh echoing from the tin edged speakers of the AM band across the nation with a resonance of hatred of the liberal menace. The voice of Glen Beck squeaking along with the vibration of chalk on slate spewing pseudo-intellectual gibberish with only one clear message of the coming of the evil liberal to destroy America. The voice of Sarah Palin, shrill in her grizzly-mama persona taking aim at the liberals from the cover of an alleged Christian ethos. The voice of Michele Bachmann wanting her constituents armed and dangerous in support of her positions. The voice of Chuck Norris predicting a revolution. The voice of Katherine Crabill who urged her constituents to use the ballot box before they need the bullet box. The
list goes on, and the voices echo in Moose lodges, American Legion halls and corner bars on, and on and on. Ever thrumming the dissonant chord that thinking people have placed among the background noise as competing with more pressing needs, but its effect is clearly contributing to the feeling that there's something terribly wrong. Because indeed there is something terribly wrong but you won't discern what it is from the noise.
That isn't the only reason prosecuting a single individual here is not enough. There was also the deafening roar caused by vacuum of the voice of reason. Even the conservative presidential candidate did not act to damp the heat of the emotions constituents displayed by shouting kill him about his opponent until after it became painfully clear it had become a rally cry. There was the flood of money financing the bus tours and advertisement which whipped the foam of lies to higher peaks, while still the voices of reason were silenced.
Even after they had been warned during the presidential election of what the rhetoric would lead to, they continued. In fact, they wailed over the unfairness of the report from the DHS stating that the culture they had created would lead to such a thing. Instead of soul searching, they redoubled their efforts in denigrating not just liberal positions, but liberals themselves. Worse, even now after this heinous act, the conservative position is not to establish a reasoned debate of issues, but to consolidate a cover of innocence. There is no remorse there. There is no shame.
The prosecution of an individual is not enough this time. The first amendment protects your right to send these vibes and messages into resonance, sure enough, but it does not protect you from the consequences of your broadcast.
There's a notion called depraved indifference in the law. Where if your actions are taken without regard to negative consequences, you are responsible for the results.
No, the prosecution of an individual in this case is not enough. Not this time. Never again.
-Hoot