Tucson tea party founder says Giffords to blame for getting shot

[meegbear]

Source: RawStory.com

One tea party leader says that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) has herself to blame for getting shot in the head Saturday.

The Arizona congresswoman shouldn't have attended an event "in full view of the public" if she had security concerns, according to Tucson Tea Party co-founder Trent Humphries.

Giffords warned MSNBC's Chuck Todd last year that there would be "consequences" to violent rhetoric and imagery after Fox News' Sarah Palin released a graphic which placed crosshairs over the congresswoman's district.

"But the thing is that the way that (Palin) has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gunsight over our district," Giffords said. "And when people do that, they’ve gotta realize there’s consequences to that action."

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/01/tucson-tea-party-founder-giffords-blame-shot/

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But Humphries thinks Giffords was just speaking out against Palin for political gain.

"It's political gamesmanship," he told the Guardian. "The real case is that she (Giffords) had no security whatsoever at this event. So if she lived under a constant fear of being targeted, if she lived under this constant fear of this rhetoric and hatred that was seething, why would she attend an event in full view of the public with no security whatsoever?"

"For all the stuff they accuse (Palin) of, that gun poster has not done a tenth of the damage to the political discourse as what we're hearing right now."

"There are people who are genuinely confused, scared, and I understand it. But there are also people who are deliberately manipulating this event and tragedy for political ends," Humpries added.

:grr:

[niyad]

1. but, but, words and actions don't have consequences. therefore, he cannot blame her

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Dear Tea Party, not everybody in this country is a coward and lives in fear.

[xchrom]

3. humphries is an ass-hat with a voicebox. nt

[Ken Burch]

5. More like an ass-hat with an ass-box.

n/t.

[begin_within]

4. When all else fails, blame the victim.

[jtown1123]

6. Classic victim blaming. Absolutely disgusting.

[Yavin4]

28. Yes, How Dare She Get In The Way of Those Bullets!

Un-fucking-real these people are.

[onecent]

7. What a crock

oF SHIT!!!

[Ineeda]

8. Disgusting, but not surprising. n/t

[FourScore]

9. Other than the Speaker and the leaders of both parties,

Members of Congress do not have security detail. I just learned this from this interview:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x192204

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. When my congressman canceled his public events because he had received death threats

the local tea party called him a coward.

These people are just despicable.

[RKP5637]

11. The teaparty has made it far easier to identify them as the real creeps in society. n/t

[GSLevel9]

12. Idiot. nt

[teabaghater]

13. Is it "Dick" Army

who actually formed the "TeaBaggers"? Name and so on? Or was it someone in the Medical Insurance Industry, like the guy that went after Micheal Moore?

[spanone]

14. keep it up teaparty...soon you'll be a sad asterisk in america's history

[thecrow]

15. deliberately manipulating this event and tragedy for political ends

Who is?
Humphries is.

Giffords was not "living under CONSTANT FEAR of this rehtoric and hatred that was seething", she was doing something that was normal for her, trusting her fellow citizens to treat her with the RESPECT that she treated them with.

Where does he think we live? Yemen?
Maybe his little tea party can gain some traction there.
I hope the Guardian calls him out on this.

[Toucano]

16. In full view of the public?

Get thee to a smoke-filled back room, Giffords!

Or maybe she's supposed to run away like Sharon Angle?

[FiveGoodMen]

17. The Tea Party will only have itself to blame when...

(can't finish the sentence for obvious reasons)

[City Lights]

18. That's farked up.

:grr:

[RedCloud]

19. This guy truly did "Not See" his argument from beginning to end.

[arbusto_baboso]

20. Just when I think they can't go any lower....

They do.

[kestrel91316]

21. She was without security because she has raw courage.

Something the RWers wouldn't recognize if it came up and bit them in the ass.

[arbusto_baboso]

23. True. Righties seem to be cowards, to a man.

[raccoon]

22. What a dipshit. nt

[bluethruandthru]

24. So, by his logic, if Sarah Palin goes outside without an armed

security detail and gets shot...would it be her own fault?

Somehow I don't think Humphries would think so.

[Jamastiene]

26. I agree.

In the video, Palin was saying it is the right wing's first amendment right to talk about killing Democrats. Now, she's whining that she, supposedly, got a death threat. I take it she doesn't feel the same way about it now as she did when she made that video the other day. Amazing how fast the tables turn, isn't it?

[Jamastiene]

25. Sounds like the same crap they say about rape victims.

It sounds like he's saying she asked for it and deserved it or something. It sounds just like what we hear so often after a rapist rapes a woman.

That guy is a fucking asshole.

[yellowcanine]

27. The tea party crowd seems determined to ride this down to the no credibility whatsoever level.

Unbelievable. People are still grieving the losses and they are in CYA mode.

[bdamomma]

29. sick a$$ people they never stop.

[bullwinkle428]

30. Keep it classy, baggers.

:eyes:

[Crankie Avalon]

31. "It's up to YOU to make yourself bullet proof against OUR supporters." nt

[EFerrari]

32. And talking about incitement is more dangerous than incitement.

As walldude noted over the weekend.

[jeepnstein]

33. Amateur Hour!

Here's a useful bit of political wisdom. Never blame the victim of a highly publicized and emotional crime like this one. It just doesn't sell with the locals. "She was asking for it" just doesn't sound very smart of compassionate.

It's also not too smart to make up campaign material that could later be used to make you look like a fool. Hmm... I guess we will know them by the fruits they bear.

Only a Teabagger would think that Congressional Representatives travel with a security detail. That's how out of touch they are. They view government as something you only have access to with a ticket and connections. The concept of a politician openly meeting constituents is totally foreign to them. If it weren't for the serious money some people are throwing at them to keep them in the news they would have never made it for more than a month.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

34. This is cut from the same vile cloth as...

...the scumbag who posted on Palin's Facebook page that "Christina Taylor Green was probably going to end up a left wing bleeding heart liberal anyway."

http://obamalondon.blogspot.com/2011/01/inexplicable-edits-on-sarah-palins.html

[Cleita]

35. Classic blame the victim.

"She was asking for it."

:puke: