Apparently Rep. Gifford’s father is unable to distinguish between a political opponent and a lunatic who wants to blow your head off. I am sure that she was asked much more pointed and heated questions at Town Halls than the one that Loughner asked, yet none of those people ever tried to harm her. In her father’s defense he has to be absolutely beside himself with grief.
Exactly. I was disturbed by how many commentators (without the excuse of personal grief) rushed to tar political disagreement with the same brush used for the lunatic who wants to blow your head off.
I do think they are going to attempt to use this to criminalize discourse and dissent, even though in reality Loughner's act clearly had nothing to do with anything rational. But they're trying to create the meme, and that's why I think it's so important for us to prevent them from controlling the discussion.