Former U.S. Representative from Arizona Gabrielle Giffords (D) and her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, have unveiled a new political action committee today:

…Two years ago, a mentally ill young man shot me in the head, killed six of my constituents, and wounded 12 others. Since that terrible day, America has seen 11 more mass shootings – but no response from Congress to prevent gun violence. After the massacre of 20 children and six of their teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary though, it’s clear: This time must be different.

Americans for Responsible Solutions will encourage elected officials to stand up for solutions to prevent gun violence and protect responsible gun ownership by communicating directly with the constituents that elect them.

Join us today, and tell your elected leaders that Americans are demanding responsible solutions to reduce gun violence…

Read their op-ed in USA Today.

Previously:

Don’t tell me “now isn’t the time” to have a serious conversation about guns (December 14, 2012)

One day (December 14, 2012)

This is America – December 14, 2012 (December 14, 2012)

President Obama: statement on the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut (December 14, 2012)

SB 75: bad timing (December 17, 2012)

Offered without further comment (December 17, 2012)

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D): good grades (December 18, 2012)

Can we talk about gun control yet? (December 26, 2012)

One of those moments:

The typical republican expects everyone else to have a short memory:

Journal; The Mother Next Door

By FRANK RICH

Published: November 13, 1994

….But once Ms. Smith confessed, a new villain had to be found to keep our own internal demons at bay. Enter Newt Gingrich, who rushed into action on election eve with another reliable generic culprit: society. He said the double murder “vividly reminds every American how sick the society is getting and how much we need to change things,” expediently adding that “the only way you get change is to vote Republican.”

Hmmm, that sounds suspiciously like someone was exploiting a tragedy for political purposes, right before an election, even. And the real story got even worse when the facts came out long after that election:

Defending Smith, Stepfather Says He Also Bears Blame

By RICK BRAGG

Published: July 28, 1995

…Susan Smith’s stepfather, who admitted that he had molested her when she was a teen-ager and had consensual sex with her as an adult, told her and his town that he shared her guilt in the drowning deaths of her young sons….

….Mr. Russell, a former member of the executive committee of the South Carolina Republican Party and a member of the Christian Coalition, read aloud from a letter he had written to Mrs. Smith in jail in which he said that his “heart breaks for what I have done to you….”

[emphasis added]

Can you believe that the inside the beltway cocktail weenie circuit continues to have Newt Gingrich appear on our televisions?

Now, we have a political environment where one group consistently uses violent imagery and eliminationist rhetoric, all while continuing to say, “what, who me?”

Previously:

It does happen here : “…can you out run a nine millimeter…” (January 10, 2011)

It does happen here : “…can you out run a nine millimeter…”, part 2 (January 12, 2011)

So, as near as we can tell Courtney Cole’s op-ed about threats of violence directed at individuals running for office has appeared here, at Fired Up!, PoliticMo, in the Kansas City Star, and now, in the Warrensburg Daily Star-Journal. Interestingly, the versions in the Star and the Star-Journal don’t mention the name of the individual in the police report.

But, of course, we do get the typical right wing republican knee jerk reaction when anyone points out the obvious. This, from a long comment in the Star-Journal from someone with the same name as an unsuccessful republican candidate [pdf] in the 2010 primary for Presiding Commissioner of Johnson County:

As always, someone has to make a tragedy into a political argument, when, as the evidence comes to light, this incident in Tucson was clearly non-political.

I can’t grant much credence to Courtney Cole’s claims of threats made during the last election. I’m not saying they’re untrue, just a bit over blown as were many of her statements in her campaign literature. I doubt that she was every in any real physical danger as the election results indicate that only a few thought she was a viable candidate. She seems to still taste the sour grapes of her recent defeat.

Since Ms. Cole threw herself wholeheartedly into the politics of personal destruction during the campaign (referencing the seemingly unending deluge of vitriolic literature that was sent to me daily by her campaign), for her to be chastising the rest of us for any lack of civility seems a little out of place….

….If we’re all to practice more civility, perhaps Courtney Cole should take her own advice and in her next campaign lead us all….

“…I’m not saying they’re untrue, just a bit over blown as were many of her statements in her campaign literature…”

Untrue? Uh, Courtney Cole quotes the offender from the police report in his conversation with the investigating officer as reported by that officer. And, of course, pointing out that the republican incumbent failed to pay his taxes (a fact) is definitely “over blown”. Ah, the “they all do it” defense. Yes, because a threat of violence is a “bit over blown” and equivalent to campaign literature which points out the actual record of the incumbent.

“…referencing the seemingly unending deluge of vitriolic literature that was sent to me daily by her campaign…”

Project much? Unending deluge? Who outspent who? You mean like this, this, or this? Yeah, stating that someone is “guilty by association”, a preeminent American value, in a mailing is so much better than an actual discussion of important issues or the public record.

The commenter evidently thinks everyone else is an idiot.

Are threats of violence like “can you outrun a nine millimeter” acceptable political discourse? Is pointing out the verifiable public record of a candidate the same? Just asking.

I wonder if the commenter spoke up when Newt Gingrich exploited those murders in South Carolina for political purposes. Nah. *IOKIYAR. Being self righteous goes with the territory.

* it’s okay if you’re a republican

Previously: It does happen here : “…can you out run a nine millimeter…” (January 10, 2011)

Courtney Cole (D) had her opinion piece on violent political rhetoric published in today’s Kansas City Star:

Political threats are real, and I’ve heard it firsthand

All over America, people spent last weekend in shock over the senseless murder of six people and the wounding of another 13 in Arizona. It was heartbreaking to read quotes from the family of victim 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green that said she was excited about the political process.

Unfortunately, the political process is ill.

In the last election cycle, when I ran for state representative, I received several threats of gun violence on the campaign trail. The most serious involved a municipal elected official in my area. On the day of the primary, I went to a polling location in my district where I stood and greeted individuals as they left the poll after voting. A municipal elected official heard me speaking with another individual about labor issues as he left the poll with his wife. He became very hostile with me and claimed that he would do whatever possible to see that I wasn’t elected after hearing my support for workers.

A police report on his side of the event states: “According to him they argued … until she asked if he was going to hit her. His reply was, ‘No, but can you outrun a nine millimeter?'”

To me, this was a threat and I was concerned enough to go to the police. But I didn’t draw attention to these incidents during the race. My point in sharing this story now is not to rehash the campaign. I want to offer a specific local example of violence in politics. We would like to think that the vitriol is only a part of the national political scene, however, it made its way to Johnson County, Mo.

I believe we have a responsibility to ourselves, Democrats to Republicans, conservatives to liberals, to respect our democracy and political process as well as each other. Our political environment has become more and more hostile. The unseen victims of the current chaos are all of us. Constructive debate is overshadowed by cheap slams and dishonest robo calls.

Not only does it cost us respect for our neighbors, it crowds out the reason needed to solve our collective problems and make coherent decisions about the future.

We can commit to civility. We can be an example of faith in the democracy that has guided us to being the greatest nation on earth. Just as the mother of the young girl who lost her life last weekend pleads, “I just want her memory to live on because she was a face of hope … a face of us coming together as a country to stop the violence and hatred and the evil words.”

Courtney Cole of Warrensburg, a Democrat, lost in November in her race for state representative in the 121st District, Johnson County, Mo. She is a high school teacher in Higginsville, Mo.

Posted on Tue, Jan. 11, 2011 10:15 PM

It’s really interesting to read the online comments from the usual suspects.

Uh, yep:

Sadly this is nothing new. Your district is small, no one knows you. You received one threat. This happens multiple times daily to federal congressional workers and the president. There will always be crazies on both sides of the political spectrum, but the blame is always put upon the republicans simply because of their constitution view of free gun rights which has proven to decrease crime. This debate will go on forever. Every time someone gets shot with a gun, gun control is always brought up…and even if they were tighten this kid could have got a gun anyways legally or illegally.

[emphasis added]

One is one too many.

Reading comprehension isn’t this person’s strong suit.

“…In the last election cycle, when I ran for state representative, I received several threats of gun violence on the campaign trail….” [empasis added]

Compare Courtney Cole’s published Kansas City Star piece above with what ran here on Monday (and at PoliticMo):

All over America, people have spent the weekend in shock over the senseless murder of six people and the wounding of another 13 in Arizona. It was heart breaking to read quotes from the father of nine-year-old, Christina Taylor Green, who was killed in the attack, “She was excited about the political process.”

Unfortunately, the political process is ill.

In the last election cycle, when I ran for State Representative, I received several threats of gun violence on the campaign trail. The most serious involved Holden City Councilman Jim Nipko. On the day of the primary, I went to the polling location in Holden where I stood and greeted individuals as they left the poll after voting. Nipko heard me speaking with another individual about labor issues as he left the poll with his wife. He became very hostile with me and claimed that he would do whatever possible to see that I wasn’t elected after hearing my support for workers.

Quoting directly from the police report on Nipko’s side of the story: “According to him they argued and increased until she asked if he was going to hit her. His reply was, ‘No but can you outrun a nine millimeter?'”

To me, this was a threat and I was concerned enough to go to the police. The county prosecutor, Lynn Stoppy, refused to pursue the case, dismissing it as only an implied threat.

I didn’t draw attention to these incidents during the race. My point in sharing this story now is not to rehash the past campaign. I want to offer a very specific local example of violence in politics. We would like to think that the vitriol is only a part of the national political scene, however, it made its way to Johnson County.

I believe we have a responsibility to ourselves, Democrats to Republicans, conservatives to liberals, to respect our democracy and political process as well as each other. Our political environment has become more and more hostile. The unseen victims of the current chaos are all of us. Constructive debate is overshadowed by cheap slams and dishonest robo calls. Not only does it cost us respect for our neighbors, it crowds out the reason needed to solve our collective problems and make coherent decisions about the future.

We can commit to civility. We can be an example of faith in the democracy that has guided us to being the greatest nation on earth. Just as the mother of the young girl who lost her life this past weekend pleads, “I want her memory to live on that she’s a face of hope…a face of us coming together as a country to stop the violence and hatred and evil words.”

Courtney Cole, Warrensburg

You think the Star checked out the police report?

And there’s still another incident as described in a September 29, 2010 Warrensburg, Missouri Police Incident Report.

According to the police report a Courtney Cole campaign volunteer who was going door to door had to jump out of the way when a van swerved toward her while the occupants yelled at her.

Yep, this is obviously an environment conducive to a reflective and serious democratic process.

Nah, it’s their world, we only get to live in it.  

I don’t know about you, but I was raised to believe that the pen is mightier than the sword, and when I studied the French Revolution in History class, I admit freely that I was sickened by Jean-Paul Marat, and I felt a certain affinity for Charlotte Corday, the assassin who silenced with a dagger the violent rhetoric that spawned the Reign of Terror. And she did so because she was convinced — and rightly so — that the hateful, vile, poisonous rhetoric of Marat was destroying her country, was directly responsible for the September Massacres and was hurtling her country toward civil war. In short — Marat was the Sarah Palin of the French Revolution and his paper, The Friend of the People was her Faceook page.

In the short term, Marat became a martyr, but history has been far kinder to Corday and held the contemptible little man to proper account.

I do not want history to repeat itself and I certainly do not want Sarah Palin to be a martyr.

I want her to be forgotten.

Unfortunately, I don’t think that is going to happen.

Not with so many on the right doubling down and circling the wagons around their Mean Girl leader. Indeed, Bloody Bill Kristol is accusing me of “McCarthyism” for criticizing her for her role in lowering the discourse of this country.  

But damnit, she is culpable.

And Bill Kristol damn well knows it. And so does Sarah Palin. That is why her first instinct upon hearing that the shooting had happened, before the names of the victims were even known, she was scrubbing her website and her facebook page. But the violent imagery and rhetoric is so pervasive that short of taking the sites down completely, there is simply no way to eradicate it.

Fox News knows she bears some responsibility, too. That is why, as soon as her name was mentioned by an attendee of a candlelight vigil that the network was covering, they cut the feed, proving once and for all that they are not a news organization, but a propaganda organ for the hard-right radicals and would-be fascists in this country. They don’t want to risk reality and awareness encroaching on the minds of the least-informed, most-misinformed, news consumers on the planet.

And Ross Douthat does, too. That is why he contorted himself like a pretzel in his column today trying to put responsibility for political violence on the shoulders of the left — as if this country even had a “left.” Douthat harkens back to the 60s to make his case — Oswalt was a ‘Marxist of sorts’ and George Wallace was shot and paralyzed by someone who wasn’t all that interested in politics at all, he just wanted to shoot someone prominent and he couldn’t get close enough to Nixon. But he actually inadvertently bolsters the opposite case, and that is that words matter.

Not so much to you and me and other rational, thinking people. We can put the rhetoric in context. But we know that there are irrational and disturbed people out there, and political opponents seem to have forgotten that when prominent people — like the new Speaker of the House — say things like “he may be a dead man” about a member of the opposite party, like Boehner did about Rep. Driehaus after he voted for the healthttp://blogs.pitch.com/plog/2010/03/emanuel_cleaver_spit_on_–_now_with_video.phphcare bill, some of the less-stable will take your words to heart. A right wing blog posted directions to his house, and the death threats started. Here in Missouri, anti-healthcare reform zealots took a coffin to Representative Carnahan’s home and burned him in effigy. And don’t forget that my Congressman was spit on.

Given all that, this doubling-down on the part of the right wing is at the same time expected, yet unbelievable.

Only someone with a pathological level of cognitive dissonance could argue that the discourse on the right has no responsibility, even though we just had an election season that saw a Senate candidate in Nevada talking about “Second Amendment remedies”. Before that we had a Congresswomen from Minnesota look into television cameras and say, sincerely, that she wanted her constituents “armed and dangerous” in opposition to climate change legislation.

This all matters, and what happened Saturday was a symptom of the cancer that is destroying our society.

See, here is the thing everyone forgets about dog-whistles — it isn’t just your dog that hears it when you blow one. Other dogs in the vicinity hear it too, and if one of them is already quite mad, the results can be what we saw Saturday.

So unless — pardon the pun — that is what the media and the right wing noise machine are shooting for, then they need to shut the fuck up.

For GOP politicians striking the right note in the wake of the Tucson shootings is a delicate matter. Republicans are either quiet or defensive – as indeed behooves members of a party that has not exactly gone out on a limb to disavow “Second Amendment remedies.” Take a look at the twitter accounts of most Missouri GOPers from Sunday; if they mention Gabrielle Giffords at all, it is only to offer polite condolences for her unspecified misfortune. There’s certainly something to be said for decorum at a time like this, but, as Politico‘s David Catenese remarked about the silence emanating from GOP Senate challengers:

… in today’s world where it’s increasingly simple to communicate instantly, I found it curious that most candidates for the world’s greatest deliberative body haven’t yet found time or a way to offer their thoughts on what will be the dominant story of the weeks to come.

One exception was Todd Akin (R-2nd) who felt empowered to observe that Americans are free “to express their opinions, to argue and disagree. But this is in a totally different realm. It’s a whole different thing when you talk about murder.” No kidding! One wonders if Rep. Akin, who last year was willing to rile up the yahoos with jokes about lynching Democratic congresspeople, might have just discovered that it’s not a good thing for public figures to implicitly approve of or suggest violence?  

Some GOPers have already started playing defense, of course, and I expect that more of our Missourians will soon join the “who me” team as well. These guys know what they’ve been doing and they really don’t want to say sorry. We can already see their playbook taking form: Arizona’s Senator Jon Kyl remarked about the shooter, Jared Laughner, that “it’s probably giving him too much credit to ascribe a coherent political philosophy to him.” Laughner was just a whack job and you can’t blame Kyl or the GOP for all the whack jobs in the country, right?

When I hear such crass efforts to distance oneself and one’s political and ideological fellow-travelers from the violence in Tucson, Bill Clinton’s remarks at an event commemorating the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing come to my mind:

What we learned from Oklahoma City is not that we should gag each other or that we should reduce our passion for the positions we hold – but that the words we use really do matter, because there’s this vast echo chamber, and they go across space and they fall on the serious and the delirious alike. They fall on the connected and the unhinged alike …

One of the things that the conservatives have always brought to the table in America is a reminder that no law can replace personal responsibility. And the more power you have and the more influence you have, the more responsibility you have.

Only one Missouri politician has so far indicated that he understands the importance of personal responsibility as we go forward. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-5th) observed on “Meet the Press” that:

We are in a dark place in this country right now … . The hostility is here. People want to deny it, it is real. Members of Congress either need to turn down the volume, begin to try to exercise some high level of civility, or this darkness will never be overcome with light

I can already hear the more truculent citizens who have enjoyed the past two years of GOP-approved wilding whining about freedom of speech. Such misguided individuals I refer to Matthew Iglesias, who gets the correct response just right:

The idea that upholding important basic liberties requires us to refrain from moral criticism of misconduct is wildly misguided…. There’s something wrong, ethically speaking, with suggesting that your political opponents are orders of magnitude more monstrous than they really are. People who don’t want formal rules policing conduct have an especially strong interest in demonstrating that the absence of rules doesn’t mean a society in which there are no norms of conduct that encourage sociability, cooperation, etc.

In other words, we are personally responsible for our conduct, for what we say and how it influences others. Get it?

Violent rhetoric in our political discourse has become commonplace.

Sheriff Clarence Dupnik: Arizona ‘Mecca For Prejudice & Bigotry’

First Posted: 01- 8-11 11:18 PM   |   Updated: 01- 9-11 08:28 AM

….While speaking, the sheriff said that himself it included, “it’s not unusual for all public officials to get threats.” However, he said the sentiment doesn’t come without consequences.

“And that’s the sad thing of what’s going on in America,” he explained. “Pretty soon, we’re not going to be able to find reasonable, decent people who are willing to subject themselves to serve in public office.”

A representative of the Faux News Channel took issue with Sheriff Dupnik’s words on the subject.

In Holden, Missouri, on August 3, 2010 – from a Holden Police Offense/Incident Report:

Holden Police Department

110 W. Third St. Holden, MO 64040

Offense/Incident Report

….On 08/03/10 at approximately 10:15 hours, reporting officer Cpl. Michael Scott Brandt, #308, was on duty in the City of Holden. I was contacted at the Holden Police Department by Courtney Cole in regards to an incident that occurred outside the Polling center in Holden.

According to Ms. Cole, she was standing outside the polling center speaking to a voter when an argument between herself and a male subject, she identifies as Jim Nipko, began. During their argument Mr. Nipko stated, “I’m not voting for you just based on that. I hate what they are doing. I am going to go get my nine millimeter.” According to Ms. Cole, during their argument Ms. Nipko was yelling at Mr. Nipko to get in the car.

I went to Mr. Nipko’s residence to speak with him about the incident. Mr. Nipko stated that he did have an argument with a candidate running for office. According to him they argued and increase until she asked if he was going to hit her. His reply was, “No but can you out run a nine millimeter.” I told Mr. Nipko that he could not say things like that especially around a polling center. I advised Mr. Nipko that I would need to speak with Major Martin and the Prosecuting Attorney, and that I would get back to him.

M.S. Brandt, Cpl.

….Printed 08/16/2010 05:51:35 PM

We received a copy of a letter to the editor (Update: at PoliticMo) written by Courtney Cole, the unsuccessful Democratic Party candidate in the 121st Legislative District race in November, in response to the incident in Arizona:

All over America, people have spent the weekend in shock over the senseless murder of six people and the wounding of another 13 in Arizona. It was heart breaking to read quotes from the father of nine-year-old, Christina Taylor Green, who was killed in the attack, “She was excited about the political process.”

Unfortunately, the political process is ill.

In the last election cycle, when I ran for State Representative, I received several threats of gun violence on the campaign trail. The most serious involved Holden City Councilman Jim Nipko. On the day of the primary, I went to the polling location in Holden where I stood and greeted individuals as they left the poll after voting. Nipko heard me speaking with another individual about labor issues as he left the poll with his wife. He became very hostile with me and claimed that he would do whatever possible to see that I wasn’t elected after hearing my support for workers.

Quoting directly from the police report on Nipko’s side of the story: “According to him they argued and increased until she asked if he was going to hit her. His reply was, ‘No but can you outrun a nine millimeter?'”

To me, this was a threat and I was concerned enough to go to the police. The county prosecutor, Lynn Stoppy, refused to pursue the case, dismissing it as only an implied threat.

I didn’t draw attention to these incidents during the race. My point in sharing this story now is not to rehash the past campaign. I want to offer a very specific local example of violence in politics. We would like to think that the vitriol is only a part of the national political scene, however, it made its way to Johnson County.

I believe we have a responsibility to ourselves, Democrats to Republicans, conservatives to liberals, to respect our democracy and political process as well as each other. Our political environment has become more and more hostile. The unseen victims of the current chaos are all of us. Constructive debate is overshadowed by cheap slams and dishonest robo calls. Not only does it cost us respect for our neighbors, it crowds out the reason needed to solve our collective problems and make coherent decisions about the future.

We can commit to civility. We can be an example of faith in the democracy that has guided us to being the greatest nation on earth. Just as the mother of the young girl who lost her life this past weekend pleads, “I want her memory to live on that she’s a face of hope…a face of us coming together as a country to stop the violence and hatred and evil words.”

Courtney Cole, Warrensburg

Evidently, in our current political environment “can you out run a nine millimeter[?]” now passes for acceptable discourse.

“…Pretty soon, we’re not going to be able to find reasonable, decent people who are willing to subject themselves to serve in public office…”

From Steve Benen:

…in the 21st century, a Republican senator who wants to convey a basic observation about rhetorical excesses, has to do so anonymously. We’ve reached the point at which a GOP senator wants to say that “tone matters,” but can’t quite bring himself/herself to say so on the record…

That speaks as loudly as scrubbing your web site and someone else mumbling about “surveyor’s symbols”. Also, too.

Seriously.

The last Twitter post yesterday morning from Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D):

Rep_Giffords  Gabrielle Giffords

My 1st Congress on Your Corner starts now. Please stop by to let me know what is on your mind or tweet me later. 21 hours ago

Early last August:

Arizona: the good, the bad, and the ugly

…There’s still a lot of good in Arizona. Like Raul Grijalva (D) and Gabrielle Giffords (D). And it’s a toss-up whether Missouri or Arizona has the most egregious eye roll inducing right wingnuts. If pressed I’d have to give a slight edge to Arizona…

President Obama at the White House yesterday afternoon:

Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D): …things, for example, we’re on Sarah Palin’s targeted list. But, the thing is, the way that she has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gunsight over our district. When people do that they’ve got to realize there’s consequences to that action…

FLASHBACK: Gabby Giffords Faced Threats Over Heath Care Vote

….Giffords’s father Spencer Gifford, 75, told the New York Post that her enemies were “the whole Tea Party….”

….Giffords was also one of the members of Congress “targeted” by Sarah Palin for their vote on health care. An image posted on Palin’s Facebook page featured crosshairs over the geographical districts of 20 members of Congress.

On Twitter, Palin linked to the page with this message: “Commonsense Conservatives & lovers of America: “Don’t Retreat, Instead – RELOAD!” Pls see my Facebook page.”

Since the incident today, Palin’s staff removed Gifford’s name from the list on her “Take Back The 20” site, which has since gone down….

[emphasis added]

ddayen  David Dayen

I’ll say this, if your first instinct after hearing about a tragedy is to scrub your websites, you have a problem as a political movement 13 hours ago

And at what cost?