Does this tragedy reflect the state of political debate in the US?
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Monday, 1 Jan. 2011
|18:06 - 19:00 GMT
Another grey morning in London today, Nuala wrote about the shooting in Arizona over the weekend and I鈥檓 spending the early part of my shift moderating your blog posts and looking over comments on Facebook and Twitter. It wasn鈥檛 long before many of you started to draw a link between the tragedy and tone of political debate in the US.
Cant compare the 2 cases, the 1 in pakistan and this one in tucson,,,,coz we have heard evryone here in the US condemning this act whereas in pakistan the killer of governor Taseer is hailed as a religious hero by many,,,,,, Vicky
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18:37
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Salome emailed - I am wondering what this conversation would be if the shooter was a Mexican or Muslim? Why are they always a lone disturbed man when they are white and a whole violent group/race of people if they aren't white?
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18:35
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David in Tuscon emailed: I've had to listen to the right wing call me a murderer, a Nazi, a communist, and worse for my entire life. As far as I can see, what we Democrats are now doing to Palin and Limbaugh is just payback for what they've do e to us for years.
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18:31
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Agata from Germany on Facebook - Americans overeact/ jump to conclusions. Every single plane which crashes is suddenly connected with terrorism or suicide bombers. Then if anybody from the public dies or is killed by armed men, people assume things. Sometimes people are just unstable
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18:31
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Bigpacific on the blog - When a culture is permeated with disrespect, aggression, and the self-indulgence of posting images like a gun sight targeting the opposite point of view or letting one's mouth run off (whether audibly offline, or via posting/tweeting online) without stopping to put a filter between the reaction and the words that follow... we lose civil discourse and endanger everyone, including ourselves
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18:30
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Nate from Portland on the blog - First, this guy was nuts and Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck et. al. are not responsible. There are certainly lefties trying to suggest otherwise, but the majority of us are not. That said, political discourse in this country is in sorry shape
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18:30
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E-Z on the blog - It is a sad day when parliamentarians can no longer feel comfortable in meeting their constituents. Given what happened in Tucson (AZ), do we (in the USA) still believe that we can disagree with our (political) opponents without spewing hatred and calling for their destruction?
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18:27
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Mers in Oregon on the blog - As a previous resident of Arizona, this did not surprise me. There is an Old West Outlaw-type, "you can't tell me what to do" attitude that seems to prevail there. Their lax concealed weapons laws are an example.
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18:25
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@bbc_whys: this has nothing to do with some Sarah Palin map etc.
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18:24
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Michele Kunz emailed - Once again, we have a deranged person with access to deadly weapons, i.e. firearms, doing such terrible harm at an open forum. We must change this culture of the right to bear arms - I am outraged, saddened and feel so badly for all the victims, their families and our society as a whole
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18:24
113631290
Ryan emailed from St Paul emailed - So where was all the outrage when the Left was demonizing President George Bush? The 大象传媒 seemed to conveniently ignore this when it was levied against a Republcan.
Comment sent via SMS
18:24
116115500
I am an Australian living in Kansas city. In Australia after a massacre over 10 yrs ago guns were outlawed. In KC last year there were 104 homicides. That鈥檚 2 a week. Get rid of guns and surely this society would be a safer place. Anna
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18:21
113631290
Michele in Minneapolis emailed - Once again, we have a deranged person with access to deadly weapons, i.e. firearms, doing such terrible harm at an open forum. We must change this culture of the right to bear arms - I am outraged, saddened and feel so badly for all the victims, their families and our society as a whole
Comment sent via YOURSAY
18:20
113631290
Katherine emailed - The shootings in Tucson are attributable simply to untreated mental illness. The extremely limited resources for the mentally ill in the U.S. should be the focus of discussion surrounding this incident.
Comment sent via Facebook
18:18
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Cheri Hash on Facebook: Fox News' pandering to the lowest common denominator is to blame for many things, but the jury is still out on this one. I have a feeling that this guy would have found a needle in a haystack in order to justify his actions.
Does this tragedy reflect the state of political debate in the US?
| Monday, 1 Jan. 2011 | 18:06 - 19:00 GMT
Another grey morning in London today, Nuala wrote about the shooting in Arizona over the weekend and I鈥檓 spending the early part of my shift moderating your blog posts and looking over comments on Facebook and Twitter. It wasn鈥檛 long before many of you started to draw a link between the tragedy and tone of political debate in the US.
Your comments
Comment sent via SMS
Cant compare the 2 cases, the 1 in pakistan and this one in tucson,,,,coz we have heard evryone here in the US condemning this act whereas in pakistan the killer of governor Taseer is hailed as a religious hero by many,,,,,, Vicky
Comment sent via YOURSAY
Salome emailed - I am wondering what this conversation would be if the shooter was a Mexican or Muslim? Why are they always a lone disturbed man when they are white and a whole violent group/race of people if they aren't white?
Comment sent via YOURSAY
David in Tuscon emailed: I've had to listen to the right wing call me a murderer, a Nazi, a communist, and worse for my entire life. As far as I can see, what we Democrats are now doing to Palin and Limbaugh is just payback for what they've do e to us for years.
Comment sent via Facebook
Agata from Germany on Facebook - Americans overeact/ jump to conclusions. Every single plane which crashes is suddenly connected with terrorism or suicide bombers. Then if anybody from the public dies or is killed by armed men, people assume things. Sometimes people are just unstable
Comment sent via BLOG
Bigpacific on the blog - When a culture is permeated with disrespect, aggression, and the self-indulgence of posting images like a gun sight targeting the opposite point of view or letting one's mouth run off (whether audibly offline, or via posting/tweeting online) without stopping to put a filter between the reaction and the words that follow... we lose civil discourse and endanger everyone, including ourselves
Comment sent via BLOG
Nate from Portland on the blog - First, this guy was nuts and Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck et. al. are not responsible. There are certainly lefties trying to suggest otherwise, but the majority of us are not. That said, political discourse in this country is in sorry shape
Comment sent via BLOG
E-Z on the blog - It is a sad day when parliamentarians can no longer feel comfortable in meeting their constituents. Given what happened in Tucson (AZ), do we (in the USA) still believe that we can disagree with our (political) opponents without spewing hatred and calling for their destruction?
Comment sent via BLOG
Mers in Oregon on the blog - As a previous resident of Arizona, this did not surprise me. There is an Old West Outlaw-type, "you can't tell me what to do" attitude that seems to prevail there. Their lax concealed weapons laws are an example.
Comment sent via Twitter
@bbc_whys: this has nothing to do with some Sarah Palin map etc.
Comment sent via YOURSAY
Michele Kunz emailed - Once again, we have a deranged person with access to deadly weapons, i.e. firearms, doing such terrible harm at an open forum. We must change this culture of the right to bear arms - I am outraged, saddened and feel so badly for all the victims, their families and our society as a whole
Comment sent via YOURSAY
Ryan emailed from St Paul emailed - So where was all the outrage when the Left was demonizing President George Bush? The 大象传媒 seemed to conveniently ignore this when it was levied against a Republcan.
Comment sent via SMS
I am an Australian living in Kansas city. In Australia after a massacre over 10 yrs ago guns were outlawed. In KC last year there were 104 homicides. That鈥檚 2 a week. Get rid of guns and surely this society would be a safer place. Anna
Comment sent via YOURSAY
Michele in Minneapolis emailed - Once again, we have a deranged person with access to deadly weapons, i.e. firearms, doing such terrible harm at an open forum. We must change this culture of the right to bear arms - I am outraged, saddened and feel so badly for all the victims, their families and our society as a whole
Comment sent via YOURSAY
Katherine emailed - The shootings in Tucson are attributable simply to untreated mental illness. The extremely limited resources for the mentally ill in the U.S. should be the focus of discussion surrounding this incident.
Comment sent via Facebook
Cheri Hash on Facebook: Fox News' pandering to the lowest common denominator is to blame for many things, but the jury is still out on this one. I have a feeling that this guy would have found a needle in a haystack in order to justify his actions.