The Gabrielle Giffords shooting and the political blame game

Predictably, ‘theories’ about the motivations of Jared Laughner, the man alleged to be responsible for the Gabrielle Giffords shooting, are all over the internet, with Sarah Palin and the Tea Party movement being presented as somehow responsible – at least in part – for Loughner’s alleged actions. Apparently, for example, the fact that Giffords appeared on a Palin ‘target’ map may be significant.

However, looking at Laughner’s online ravings, we find nothing approaching a coherent political outlook, with a stated admiration for both Mein Kampf and the Communist Manifesto, the claim that the US Government is employing ‘mind control’ through ‘controlling grammar’, as well as bizarre numerological formulae:

To claim that material such as this has anything to do with Republican or Tea Party politics is clearly fallacious. By the ‘logic’ currently being employed by some regarding Loughner, the following may also be significant in ‘explaining’ murderous actions:

• John Wayne Gacy was an enthusiastic Democratic Party member and as a Democratic precinct captain had his picture taken with First Lady Rosalyn Carter.

• Ted Bundy was a Republican Party activist and worked on two election campaigns, even managing the Seattle office of Nelson Rockefeller’s Presidential campaign.

Rather than immediately leaping to knee-jerk political conclusions about the Giffords shooting, we’d be far better off leaving the analysis until all the evidence is in.