A Wink And A Nod

Barry:

This would be as good a time as any that we as a nation to consider the base level of discourse that passes for political debate in this country. It used to be merely embarrassing, now its crossed a line in creating danger. Perhaps its time to point a finger at the people who have poisoned the well of discourse in this country — the usual suspects who find it both politically advantageous and lucrative to speak in terms of slaughtering the opposition, “taking aim” at opponents, who have personalized and demonized opponents to a point where tragedies are all but inevitable.

If you haven't seen it, be sure to check out the map of crosshairs in Barry's post that survived a deletion attempt by its creator.

Except for the shooting itself, the most despicable part of this episode has been the boilerplate expressions of sorrow from the hatemongers and their enablers who are shocked that someone might read between the winks and respond to the environment they create.

How about the tragic irony of the shooting location -- the home state of the senator who plucked a running mate from obscurity and gave her a national platform. And on Tucson specifically, be sure to note the city in this news report from last year.

I've written it several times before: it's time for a few high-profile incitement prosecutions and for some corporate cable and radio licenses to get yanked. These scoundrels live for ratings, book sales and personal appearances, so there is no such thing as bad publicity and they will relish playing the victim of "government oppression." Just make sure their broadcast signal is no stronger than a pirate radio show hosted from an undisclosed location deep in the Chugach Mountains.

I'm the last person who would have said this before the past year or two. And I don't have much faith in the Obama administration/Justice Department/FCC to do this intelligently. But action needs to be taken before we get something that makes Oklahoma City look like amateur hour.