An Aside on the Reaction to the Attack in Tuscon, Arizona

Jared Loughner's attack on Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords might be seen as just another alarming example of what happens when a disturbed young man gets his hands on an assault rifle. By many accounts, he had raised the suspicions of a number of people who had even casual contact with him, and his senseless violence looks very much like other such acts we have seen in the United States in the not-so-distant past.

But Giffords represented the Democratic Party in a hotly-contested state, where some rhetoric has been angry, especially around the state's immigration laws. According to Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, in his press conference following the shooting, he is "not aware of any public officials who are not receiving threats." As part of that rhetoric, Sarah Palin (whose role in American political life is as strange as it gets) used a gun-sight graphic on a map of certain Congressional districts, including the one represented by Giffords. Palin even crowed about the effectiveness of the graphic on her Twitter page: "Remember months ago 'bullseye' icon used 2 target the 20 Obamacare-lovin' incumbent seats? We won 18 out of 20 (90% success rate;T'aint bad).

When some people, particularly Democrats, including Sheriff Dupnik, pointed out that such rhetoric might encourage some to react more violently than they might otherwise, Republicans went ballistic. Palin responded in a strange Facebook video in which she says that she saddened by the killing, but that she has no responsibility in the matter at all. She even refers to the tradition of American duelling over political disputes (which was excoriated at least as early as 1803, when Alexander Hamilton was killed by Aaron Burr) as the moidel for political discourse.

It's odd to see people like Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin expressing anger over the vitriol of the liberal press. Of course, it';s worth noting that even their comments about liberal anger are angry, and they have nothing introspective or careful to say about the rhetoric in Arizona.

On the other hand, some conservatives have expressed dismay, and Speaker John Boehner's speech in the House last Wednesday was truly conciliatory. I just wish we could focus more on these concessions and attempts at compromise than on the accusations.