I'm not saying that Jared Loughner was a Republican. I'm not saying that Sarah Palin, Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh or any of the dozens of other Republican politicians and pundits that spread hatred and violence were in his mind at the time of his horrific crimes. Maybe they were, maybe they weren't. If anyone knows, they aren't talking for fear of creating problems in his criminal prosecution. Based on most of the professionals I have heard that are speculating on Loughner's condition think he is schizophrenic or psycho effective (schizophrenia with bipolar disorder). People like this are especially susceptible to suggestion. While Loughner was probably not politically motivated, he was a sick fish swimming in a poisoned ocean. Most fish can withstand the poison, but not the sickest ones. While it is unquestionably Republican politicians and pundits that poisoned the ocean with their unrelenting promotion of hatred and violence, even they may not be the ones most responsible. In recent days I have been thinking about the legacy of Republican hatred from the past, and it hit me that hate and violence are usually not a grass roots thing. They are astro-turfed from the top down. Poisoning the ocean does not happen without the process being fertilized by lots and lots of money. That's what happened in the 1960s. That's what is happening today. I had not started to do the research needed to connect the dots when I found a video at Crooks and Liars with Ed Schultz and Mike Papantonio that do so. Here is that video:
rest at http://www.politicsplus.org/blog/?p=3864
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