Since the murderer who shot up the Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado screamed “No More Baby Parts,” asking what he heard, or read, that motivated him?
Over the course of the past few days, I’ve replayed in my head Carly Fiorina’s vile statement about Planned Parenthood at a Republican debate at least 50 times. And I keep thinking she effectively committed murder.
At least one person agrees with me. In Blood on Republican Hands: Killer Screamed “No More Baby Parts” at Planned Parenthood, Colin Taylor reviews the remarks of Trump, Cruz, Rubio and Fiorina that could have motivated the murderer. I couldn’t agree more with his concluding remarks:
Why won’t moderate Christians denounce this terrible attack? Why aren’t we collecting databases on alienated white men who own machine guns? Their hypocrisy is absolutely disgusting, and now the blood is on all of their hands.
But especially yours, Ms. Fiorina.
Yes, Trump, Rubio and Cruz are scumbags, and their statements about Planned Parenthood were scurrilous, but, getting back to my original question, what specifically motivated the murderer, doesn’t the analysis start with: Did the murderer see Fiorina’s infamous mini-speech at the Republican debate, when she demanded that we “watch a fully formed fetus on the table, its heart beating, its legs kicking while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain”?
Can anyone doubt that if the Colorado Springs murderer saw Fiorina that night, or later saw the video, that’s what pushed him over the edge? If one were affirmatively trying to incite violence towards people affiliated with Planned Parenthood, could he or she have been any more effective than Fiorina?
The bottom line is we may have an accessory to murder running for President. Welcome to the “greatest country in the world.”
No, Bob, I don’t think Carly Fiorina inspired this nutcase to commit murder. I think he was quite capable of coming up with the idea on his own. Of course once he started with Planned Parenthood, he seemed to forget that was what he was doing and decided, instead, he would shoot the Police. I don’t have the expertise to really make an assessment, but they guy seems a few cards short of a full deck. It would be interesting to know where he got the gun.
No, the ideas very clearly came from the videos. Yes, he may have learned of them from a source other than Carly Fiorina, but if you were ranking the communication most likely to motivate a nutcase to commit murder, hers would be right at the top of the list. Reckless statements that appeal to raw emotions have consequences, Steve. It may not have been Fiorina who motivated the guy, but some right-wing gasbag somewhere did. If Republicans had collectively refrained from using those concocted videos to score dishonest political points, those cops would be alive right now. As far as I’m concerned, they all have blood on your hands. And the fact that you’re squirming around trying to rationalize supporting one of them doesn’t speak all that well for you either.
No, Bob, I wasn’t squirming trying to rationalize my support for any of the candidates. I had made no connection whatsoever between what was said and what this deranged idiot did. I still don’t, for that matter. No one said, “Someone should be killed” over this issue. No one even hinted that someone should be hurt. Opinions were voiced over the sale of aborted baby parts, but that was as far as it went. The nutcase who fired the guns is the one who decided that killing someone was the answer. No one told him to do it and no one, to the best of my knowledge, even suggested it. The only one who can be held responsible for the killing of the three people is the man who did the killing.
When you try to blame Republicans for the killer’s action, you are doing exactly what you accuse them of doing…you are using the tragedy to score some cheap political points. You don’t know that those three dead people would be alive if the subject had not been discussed; you are just making that up out of whole cloth. And as far as “having blood on my hands”, well, I know what it is to have blood on my hands, Bob, and this isn’t it at all. If you meant to shock me with that, you missed.
“Opinions were voiced over the sale of aborted baby parts, but that was as far as it went.”
Body parts were not sold, Steve. So, you drank the kool-aid and concluded body parts were sold. Some nutcase drinks the same kool-aid and decides to shoot up a clinic. Think what you want, but these Republican politicians are knowingly creating an atmosphere that is conducive to what happened in Colorado Springs.
You know that I if I wrong, Bob, I will correct myself and apologize. My understanding is that Planned Parenthood routinely sells the bits and peices left over after an abortion to laboratories and scientists who use the bits and peices for stem cell research. Planned Parenthood says they only recover their expenses in the transaction and their is no profit in the sale or auctioning of the parts. That is my understanding. If I am wrong, please correct me.
They donate the parts and the donee pays the expenses of transport. Defining that as a sale is right-wing framing and it’s dishonest. When I give used clothing to Goodwill, but charge them with the responsibility of transporting it from my house, did I sell my clothing or donate it?
Words matter. Saying that Planned Parenthood “sells” body parts is a lie.
Well, Bob, if that is what they then do, I have been wrong and I understand your anger. The videos gave the impression that the “reimbursement” was negotiable. That appears to be a wrong.. Thank you for giving me the straight story.
No patrons or staff of Planned Parenthood were among the injured, yet, five police officers were, one fatally. It is obvious that Dear was targeting cops as a result of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ rhetoric and not PP.
Two of the deceased were patrons of the clinic. This had nothing to do with BLM which is a non violent movement.
Have you seen the guy and where he lived? The guy was a lunatic living on the fringe. Of course this blog will present him as a main stream Republican holding holding what they will claim are main stream Republican views. As Obama’s crew says, “Never let a good crisis go unexploited”.
“Why aren’t we collecting databases on alienated white men who own machine guns?”
I don’t think it is broken down by the category “Alienated White Men”, but we do have a database on people who legally own machine guns in the United States. It’s called the National Firearms Act of 1933 (as amended) database.
The GOP is responsible for their hate speech and the violence in induces. They know it happens, they just don’t care, there is nothing christian or compassionate about them. A actual working gun registry would be a good place to start, gun laws have not been enforced for a long time and this is the end result. Guns should never be in the hands of the insane.
It’s not that I am ignoring your tired liberal screed about the GOP, hate speech, insanity, Christianity, compassion, whoe cares more, etc. etc. I just have one question for you:
How will gun registration stop crime?