a few thoughts from Arizona

I'm getting some flak from right-wing friends about liberals 'using' this event for political gain. Wow.

First, generally speaking, when people are getting murdered, it's nice to leave their friends alone for a little bit even if you think they're offending you. I know pulling yourself out of constant political debate is hard, but consider being civilized for a moment.

Second, this is not a question of whether Jared Loughner is a Sarah Palin fan or not. Violent rhetoric anywhere in American politics increases the chances of things like this happening. It makes all sides more violent. It opens the door to crazy people of all stripes.

Third, when we say we'd like people to stop using metaphors of murder about Democratic politicians, that's not for political gain. It's just for not-getting-shot-anymore gain. We're not going to take down Sarah Palin's career by noting that she put targets with gunsights on our congressmen, and she's not going to lose the next election because she doesn't do that any more. We just want that to stop.

Fourth, the right can certainly point out examples of Democrats using violent rhetoric. I wish those would stop too. I think they're cherry-picked examples and false equivalences, but that's a pointless and endless argument. Here is what is relevant: it's us that keep getting killed. Every real political act of violence in this country for decades has targeted those on the left, and most of them have come from those on the right. Some incidents of domestic terror have no involvement in domestic politics - the Fort Hood shooting, for instance. But the rest have been George Tiller and anthrax to Harry Reid and Oklahoma City and Eric Rudolph. So maybe the rhetoric on the right is worse or maybe the crazies on the right are more susceptible, but either way that's where the problem is.

Fifth, this.