As I write this, (5:10PM Saturday, Jan 08, 2011) the Arizona shooter has been identified by name and his Youtube page has been found, but little else has been confirmed about him. And even though there has been no public explanation of his motives (apart from some lunatic ramblings of a Youtube video he posted) none of that is holding back Paul Krugman.
This is from his blog post written at 3:22 PM on the day of the shooting:
We don’t have proof yet that this was political, but the odds are that it was. She’s been the target of violence before. And for those wondering why a Blue Dog Democrat, the kind Republicans might be able to work with, might be a target, the answer is that she’s a Democrat who survived what was otherwise a GOP sweep in Arizona, precisely because the Republicans nominated a Tea Party activist. (Her father says that “the whole Tea Party” was her enemy.) And yes, she was on Sarah Palin’s infamous “crosshairs” list.
Just yesterday, Ezra Klein remarked that opposition to health reform was getting scary. Actually, it’s been scary for quite a while, in a way that already reminded many of us of the climate that preceded the Oklahoma City bombing.
You know that Republicans will yell about the evils of partisanship whenever anyone tries to make a connection between the rhetoric of Beck, Limbaugh, etc. and the violence I fear we’re going to see in the months and years ahead. But violent acts are what happen when you create a climate of hate. And it’s long past time for the GOP’s leaders to take a stand against the hate-mongers.
Not shame, nor reason, nor lack of evidence will restrain him. He immediately jumps to conclusions about the cause of this shooting, and then publicly names the people he views are at it's root. Personally, I'm horrified, both at the crazy man in Arizona, and the one at the NYTimes.
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