Is The Current Vitriol Within The Country Responsible For The DC Shootings?

[esmith]

The OP's shameless attempt to turn this despicable shooting into an excuse to attack criticism of Trump is about as morally disgusting as one has come to expect from the right wing these days.

I have no issue with those that criticize President Trump, what I have a problem with is with those that, in your own words, use despicable words, actions, or any other means to express violent actions against any elected official. Examples are those like Kathy Griffin, Rosie O'Donnell, Madonna, the current play Caeser to name a few.
As far as your accusation as to this post I suggest you check out your side of the political spectrum. Try Virginia Governor McAuliffe. So maybe you righteous indignation should look elsewhere. All I implied is that when those in positions of national coverage seem to condone violent actions against elected officials they might just set-off a person who has an agenda against elected officials and if they are somewhat mentally disturbed the possibility of them following through is increased exponentially.
If one pays attention to the news one will see that it is those on the "left" or those using the "left" to further their agenda far outweigh the actions of the "right".

 

[Quetzal]

If one pays attention to the news one will see that it is those on the "left" or those using the "left" to further their agenda far outweigh the actions of the "right".

That's true, but it really depends on the network, right? In that case, the number of networks that have more liberal views do outnumber those who align more with conservative views. At least, at this moment.

 

[metis]

It seems every day since President Trump won the election the vitriol against the President and Republicans have increased in a exponential manner.

As some others have correctly stated, where was your outrage when Trump literally threatened some protesters at his rallies? What about "lock her up"? What about saying that someone might "2nd Amendment" Hillary?

OTOH, many here have consistently denounced any kind of threats or use of violence regardless of party.

But let me just add this, namely that there simply is no justification whatsoever for someone to grab a gun and shoot an innocent person, so the blame largely must be assigned to who did the shooting. But we also need to remember that words also matter, and I hope this nasty rhetoric on both sides of the aisle stops now!

 

[Quintessence]

Is it possible that this vitriol was an enabling factor in today's political terrorist attack against Republican members of Congress?

Of course it is. Many of my countryfolk understate the power of words, but as a student of the bardic arts, I am not among them. The stories we tell shape the realities we perceive. And the realities we perceive shapes the actions we take within our realities.

That said, it would be a mistake to oversimplify the situation by saying that toxic dialogue was the driving factor, or the most significant factor. There is simply know way to assess that. Far more relevant than this is the fact that only an idiot with muddied thinking would ever conclude that violence against any political party would solve anything. All such behavior does is provide a rallying point of solidarity, which strengthens the group targeted, not weaken it. It also tends to prompt irrational responses in the name of security. I suspect we're going to see something similar to what we saw after the twin towers attack - rallying together and a bunch of draconian legislation in the name of security - though perhaps on a smaller scale.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

If words could kill Trump would be long dead.
He both spreads hate and and his words encourage hate in return.
America uses guns as a final argument.

This shooter was not so much a terrorist as a final arbiter, using the traditional method.
When you use a Gun in this way you have no further hope, and your own death is all but inevitable.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Is it possible that this vitriol was an enabling factor in today's political terrorist attack against Republican members of Congress?

No doubt Trump's vitriol had some part to play.

 

[esmith]

At the present time we do attribute self-radicalization of some persons that commit acts of terror to the propaganda of radical Islamic terrorist organizations like ISIS. Yet we seem to balk at the idea that a political terrorist like Hodgkison could be influenced by the vitriol being expounded by the current anti-Republican rhetoic. Ask yourself why that is.
If you listen to the current demonizing by the left of Republican ideas you do not hear a different viewpoint or idea. What you hear is that their policies are evil, racist, homophobic,will cause the death of children etc. In today's world those that do not agree with a idea do not want to discuss it, they join a like group, normally on social media, and bask in the accolades of the like minded individuals. If this continues I can see more and more of incidents like this taking place. Just like the increase of attacks throughout the world of radical Islamic terrorist. And no I do not equate any political party with ISIS, like a certain media personality did. All I am saying that if you demonize a group long enough, you will eventually reach someone who reacts violently, as in the Hodgkison case. No I have no proof that this is what set Hodgkison off, just history and speculation.

 

[metis]

If you listen to the current demonizing by the left of Republican ideas you do not hear a different viewpoint or idea.

Absolutely false, plus you keep on ignoring the simple fact that if anyone should be criticized for their over-the-top and incendiary statements it should be the Donald-- but you won't do that.

Therefore, how about some cheese with your whine?

 

[Quetzal]

Yet we seem to balk at the idea that a political terrorist like Hodgkison could be influenced by the vitriol being expounded by the current anti-Republican rhetoic.

Are you equally open to the idea of political terrorists that are influenced by pro-Republican rhetoric?

 

[esmith]

Absolutely false, plus you keep on ignoring the simple fact that if anyone should be criticized for their over-the-top and incendiary statements it should be the Donald-- but you won't do that.

Therefore, how about some cheese with your whine?

So you are saying that the Dem's are not just criticizing Republican ideas but are putting forth alternatives or suggestions. Sure would like to know where you came up with that idea. I haven't heard anything constructive from the Dem's since the election.
So how about some facts to validate your opinion.

 

[Quetzal]

So you are saying that the Dem's are not just criticizing Republican ideas but are putting forth alternatives or suggestions.

Hmm, I didn't get that from his post at all. Seems he was saying that divisive rhetoric has come from the executive branch in addition to media reports. I would agree with that.

 

[esmith]

Are you equally open to the idea of political terrorists that are influenced by pro-Republican rhetoric?

I'm open to objecting to any idea of propaganda that advocates violence no matter who is putting it forward. It just seems that the left or those taking advantage of the left are the major players in today's violence.

 

[Quetzal]

I'm open to objecting to any idea of propaganda that advocates violence no matter who is putting it forward. It just seems that the left or those taking advantage of the left are the major players in today's violence.

Do you have any statistics or data that could link those two ideas? Or is this just a theory/idea?

 

[esmith]

If you listen to the current demonizing by the left of Republican ideas you do not hear a different viewpoint or idea. What you hear is that their policies are evil, racist, homophobic,will cause the death of children etc. .

Absolutely false, plus you keep on ignoring the simple fact that if anyone should be criticized for their over-the-top and incendiary statements it should be the Donald-- but you won't do that.

Therefore, how about some cheese with your whine?

Hmm, I didn't get that from his post at all. Seems he was saying that divisive rhetoric has come from the executive branch in addition to media reports. I would agree with that.

Maybe I misunderstood what @metis said but, criticizing without putting forth a different idea is childish. In addition I am not addressing just President Trump but the Republican Congressional members

 

[Quetzal]

Maybe I misunderstood what @metis said but, criticizing without putting forth a different idea is childish. In addition I am not addressing just President Trump but the Republican Congressional members

Sure, I agree. For me I am finding it hard to link violence to a political party because it seems to happen from both. I do not see a leaning one way or another. I don't see many data sets that can support one or the other, either.

 

[esmith]

Do you have any statistics or data that could link those two ideas? Or is this just a theory/idea?

Take a look a the past incidents of public protest that turn violent; who are the major players in these incidents.

 

[Quetzal]

Take a look a the past incidents of public protest that turn violent; who are the major players in these incidents.

I think it comes from both. If you google "violence alt right/right" you will get a large collection of examples. If you google "violence from alt left/left" you will get another collection of examples. Both sides have extremists. Any attempt to polarize this sort of discussion might be the wrong way to address it.

 

[esmith]

I think it comes from both. If you google "violence alt right/right" you will get a large collection of examples. If you google "violence from alt left/left" you will get another collection of examples. Both sides have extremists. Any attempt to polarize this sort of discussion might be the wrong way to address it.

I did and all I got was for violence alt right/right
1 result (0.82 seconds)
Search Results
What you need to know about the violent protest and riots at uc ...
видеоаварии.рус/video/eqNMyO0dRy8
Do you not think they don't support State Violence? Alt-Right right supporters should be charged with conspiracy as any other group which attemtps to infiltrate ...
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In order to show you the most relevant results, we have omitted some entries very similar to the 1 already displayed.
If you like, you can repeat the search with the omitted results included.

Doing the same for alt left/left I got
About 1,280,000 results
(0.61 seconds)

 

[Quetzal]

I did and all I got was for violence alt right/right
1 result (0.82 seconds)
Search Results
What you need to know about the violent protest and riots at uc ...
видеоаварии.рус/video/eqNMyO0dRy8
Do you not think they don't support State Violence? Alt-Right right supporters should be charged with conspiracy as any other group which attemtps to infiltrate ...
Ad

1. Putting America First - Moral High Ground is Alt-Right‎
   Adwww.theoccidentalobserver.net/‎

1. Explore a Critical Study into our American Predicament. Students Welcome.
   • Studies in Whiteness
   • White Pathology & Guilt
   • Is Universalism So Bad?
   • The Occidental Quarterly

In order to show you the most relevant results, we have omitted some entries very similar to the 1 already displayed.
If you like, you can repeat the search with the omitted results included.

Doing the same for alt left/left I got
About 1,280,000 results
(0.61 seconds)

Oh? Are you sure?

------

Does not appear to be a correlation or a heavy weight of results in either direction.

 

[suncowiam]

Well, that's a first...

A debate is concluded by the number of results from Google.

Gotta put this in my bag of tricks.