Free Republic

Today Tucson congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) cast her first vote since she was critically injured in a January shooting. You'll recall that in the weeks that followed, the media bemoaned the incivility -- supposedly predominantly conservative in nature -- of the political debate which had allegedly created a climate of hate. But there appears to to be no firestorm over how, just last week, Arizona Daily Star cartoonist David Fitzsimmons fantasized about President Obama sending a SEAL team to assassinate Tea Party-friendly House Republicans.

'Republicans Hate Latinos'' read the headline on Friday's front-page in red, all-capital letters. No attribution. Just stated as fact. That quote has been in the news since labor activist Dolores Huerta used the phrase in an April 3 speech at Tucson High School. The statement appeared as a quotation above four photos, including one of Huerta. Yet in the Star's presentation, the quote was not attributed, instead presented as fact and in eye-catching red... ...Managing Editor Teri Hayt, too, was troubled by the presentation. The quote "should have been attributed properly and not highlighted in red type. The reader is...