Hell Yes Let's Place Some Blame

While we contemplate the white murderer of black Philando Castile walking free even though the victim's death was live-streamed, let's remember who keeps it impossible for anyone who is not white, male, straight, christian, conservative and rich from getting justice in this country.

Charlie Pierce

How did things get so "caustic"? Well, who was it that mainstreamed Rush Limbaugh, and all the little mini-Limbaughs who still haunt the radio dials all across the country? Who was it that bought and sold the Purple Heart Band-Aids that mocked John Kerry's service? Who cheered on the Swift Boat liars? Who were the people who accused the Clintons of murder and drug-running? Who were the Birthers? We certainly know who the Birther-in-Chief was. He was the guy who also called upon "Second Amendment people" to confront Hillary Rodham Clinton, and what price has he paid for his lies and slander? He's the damn President* of the United States.

Who was it that brought automatic weapons, out in the open, to rallies held by the previous President of the United States? As it happens, one of the latter incidents happened in Phoenix, where Gabby Giffords got shot, and the reaction to it was a combination of lethal weapons and radio talk, via HuffPost:

"Oh, it's not a game," Chris interjected.

"—-with what I imagine is a loaded weapon," Sanchez continued.

"We know what we're up against," Hancock continued. "We're up against a tyrannical government that will rob the next generation as long as they can get away with it."

Come to think of it, who was it that sold all those T-shirts about "watering the tree of liberty," and who was it that led the cheers for armed sedition at the Bundy Ranch and at the bird sanctuary in Oregon?

Who was it that tweeted out the following, almost a year ago?

Senator Rand Paul‏Verified account @RandPaul

.@Judgenap: Why do we have a Second Amendment? It's not to shoot deer. It's to shoot at the government when it becomes tyrannical!

Why, that was Senator Rand Paul, a former presidential candidate and someone who might have been wounded himself on Wednesday had the Capitol Police not stepped in when they did.

Are there destructive people on the left? Of course there are. But this kind of politics and this kind of rhetoric has been part and parcel of the conservative Republican mainstream for decades now. (It was telling that the sound clip Todd used came from Newt Gingrich, because a lot of that original mainstreaming is his responsibility.) The Democratic Party doesn't elect one of those black-masked idiots to Congress. But the Republican Party is more than happy to send this guy. From USA Today:

"Not a single radicalized Islamic suspect should be granted any measure of quarter," Higgins, the Louisiana Republican and freshman congressman, posted Saturday after an attack on unarmed people in London. "Their intended entry to the American homeland should be summarily denied. Every conceivable measure should be engaged to hunt them down. Hunt them, identity them, and kill them. Kill them all. For the sake of all that is good and righteous. Kill them all."

Civility means more than cooling down what we say to each other. It also means treating our fellow citizens with dignity and respect in the policies through which we govern ourselves. The everyday violence of poverty is no less destructive to our national character than are our now-predictable mass shootings, over 150 of them this year.

And yes of course the cowardly motherfuckers are using the shooting to justify not holding town halls.