We Need To Put The Guns Down...

Dupnik and Giffords under different circumstances

And We Need To Put The Gun Metaphors Away.

That was how Keith Olbermann began his "Special Comment" on a special edition of Countdown this evening. By all means, please watch it since you won't see anyone else on national TV with the guts to call out Sarah Palin, Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck (as well as violent GOP thugs Sharron Angle and Allen West) and the Tea Party idiots for the mass murder scene and assassination of a federal judge and the attempted assassination of Congresswomen Gabby Giffords in Tucson today.



Olbermann sounded very much like Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik at his press conference this evening, referring to his state as a "Mecca for prejudice and bigotry." Dupnik acknowledged that the hatred, bigotry, hysteria and vitriol pouring out of (right wing) radio had a hand in what happened in Tucson today.

"When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government," he said. "The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on this country is getting to be outrageous and unfortunately Arizona has become sort of the capital. We have become the Mecca for prejudice and bigotry."

Mr. Dupnik said it is time for the country to "do a little soul searching."

He added: "The vitriolic rhetoric that we hear day in and day out from people in the radio business and some people in the TV business ... This has not become the nice United States that most of us grew up in."

Later, he said: "It's not unusual for all public officials to get threats constantly, myself included. That's the sad thing about what's going on in America: pretty soon we're not going to be able to find reasonable decent people willing to subject themselves to serve in public office."

Darrell Issa seems to be investigating everything else; I wonder if he'll investigate the causal relationship between for-profit radio and TV stations broadcasting hatred and calls for violence on the public airwaves and gun violence. I don't really wonder; I know he won't. Did Boehner cry over this at least?