BigSqwert

I don't know if the envelopes I use can hold liquids. I'll try.

And this is what I mean when I say that this violent political rhetoric can cause something like this to happen again even if this particular incident wasn't caused by it: via

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jan 11, 2011 -> 11:49 AM) I was at the game last night and even from the top of the UC the dunk looked amazing. First time I ever went to the UC. Very cool experience. Sat center court, two rows from the top. The cool thing was, I had a beautiful view of the 1st half of the National CHampionship game too and than saw the 2nd half from hotel. Dang. Wish I knew you were there. We had lower level suites.

^ seems logical to me.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jan 11, 2011 -> 09:32 AM) On a more serious note, I would love for the Bears to get their hands on that WR from Oregon, that Maehl guy.... He'll probably wind up with New England.

And for those asking that this thread be closed I completely disagree. Although it's a bit heated, there's been some pretty good dialogue in here for the most part.

And jenksismyb****, there is a lot of reflecting that should be done because of this tragedy. Our political discourse, gun control, health care (why a mentally unstable person goes untreated), etc. I don't think it's smart to just mourn/treat this as some isolated incident and put blinders on without discussing some of these issues.

iamshack, Matt Tiabbi echoes your sentiment:

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 11, 2011 -> 11:21 AM) Great! Also, touche

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 11, 2011 -> 11:16 AM) Do you have proof of this? Because this is the part I don't agree with. This is the part where I think the media (both sides pointing the finger at the other side) is making s*** up. Palin and politicians don't belong in this conversation, period. This guy was crazy. End of story. That's the only conclusion here. Until some EVIDENCE comes out that he was motivated by that crap, it has nothing to do with it. Bringing up the "let's use this tragedy to tone down the rhetoric" is just a cop out. It's blaming what some asshole did on how we speak about/to one another. It's fabricated bulls***. I point back to my quote of Thomas Jefferson. Blame him. Blame Obama for using a gun quote. Blame US history. I can bring up a million examples and somehow relate it to this tragedy, but it doesn't mean it's the cause or that it played any part WITHOUT EVIDENCE. Continuing to bring this s*** up is purely political. You want to point the finger and say "these assholes on the right/left are the reason this happens. If they only spoke nice to each other this stuff wouldn't happen." BULLs***. It would, because some people are just CRAZY. Luckily you've figured it all out for everyone and we can now close this thread.

Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis finally confirm they'll be in The Hobbit

I blame Reagan for eliminating the Fairness Doctrine in news media for creating this cesspool of vitriol on the air.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Jan 11, 2011 -> 11:07 AM) Doctor: Giffords' 'Prognosis For Survival Is 100 Percent' That's so great to hear. indeed

Birds Dying Because of DADT Repeal

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jan 11, 2011 -> 10:56 AM) See, I just disagree with that. There is a point where some people are just absolutely bats*** crazy and are going to do bats*** crazy things, because they got some thought put in their mind somehow, some way. In the meantime we are going to all curb our rhetoric and behavior until we can hardly express ourselves anymore, because someone might misunderstand it and go running around with a gun and kill someone. Terrible things happen in this world, and when you become a politician, you put yourself at a much greater risk to take the brunt end of it, unfortunately. You really can't see a scenario where someone who's lost their job and is struggling keeps getting told "take your country back!", "reload!", "they're going to kill your grandmother!", "Death panels!", "communist/nazi/socialists are taking over!" might somehow be affected by that being beaten into their head? And hearing/seeing something like this at a political rally:

We'll see how reliable Verizon's network is after they add a trillion people.

Priceless Glenn Beck: We Must Stand Together Against All Violence (With A Gun In Our Hands)

Glad that we can agree.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 11, 2011 -> 10:15 AM) And considering the age and sex of the person involved here, it is much more likely that they had more exposure to this, versus Sarah Palin, as it is way more prevalent in our society. Why did he target a congresswoman and not his boss? His priest? His neighbor? Random people on the street? Perhaps hearing and reading violent political rhetoric from both sides of the aisle had affected him over time. Violent symbolism in politics is completely over the top and needs to be repudiated by the politicians/pundits that use that king of rhetoric. Who knows how that type of talk will affect the loose nuts out there in the future.

Evading drinking outings is a crime in my book.

Crime, if you ask me.

I guess I'm the only one around that noticed an obvious uptick in violent rhetoric from political candidates in recent years.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jan 11, 2011 -> 10:00 AM) In light of recent events and the things you're saying now, why do you still find it necessary to say, "more of the violent rhetoric in the last two years has been from the right", as if that dismisses or makes what little of it came from the left dismissible via comparison? Also, this considers your even right about more of it coming from the right, as there are zero tangible statistics that can prove such a thing...being someone who stands mostly in the middle, I've seen plenty of it from both sides over the years, and one pointing to the other saying, "Oh yeah, well...they do it more than we do!", doesn't make it okay. I"ll concede your point about the "overwhelmingly from the right" but Palin specifically had a sniper's target on her website with Gifford's name attached to it. Gifford even commented on it and said that it could lend to violence (paraphrased) in a video in recent months. For a potential Presidential candidate to not even comment on that and say "maybe that was the wrong thing to do" instead of getting defensive and having it scrubbed from the website tells me a lot.

Sullivan with a must read blog entry on the topic.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 11, 2011 -> 09:46 AM) I don't remember you s***ting on him or any other blowhard who has used violent metaphors to prove their point. You went after a specific person to further your anti-GOP opinions. I think that was the issue people had, not your point that the rhetoric needs to stop. Because the overwhelming majority of violent rhetoric in the last 2 years has been from the right. And the guy most vilified from your side as "being the same", Olbermann, went ahead and apologized for any comments he had made and recommended that everyone do the same. That was the whole point. Palin and others didn't bother to apologize and saw no reason to. And AGAIN, I am not blaming Palin or anyone on this specific incident but they have to have some self reflection, as Olbermann demonstrated, and say "Hey, that wasn't right what I said/did back then...I'm sorry and won't do it again".