when I heard about the LAX shooter... semi-automatic rifle... that's bad enough... another case where the firepower is way over what ordinary citizens need... but that's ANOTHER debate.

BUT then I heard he appears to attack TSA employees because he's very anti-government. (literature found on him). IF that's confirmed by evidence they find in his apartment / flat... do all the right wing anti-government haters bear some responsibility for antagonizing these kooks ! ....especially when they talk of exercising 2nd amendment rights. I mean there are laws against citing riots and talk of sedition... the anti-government rhetoric has gotten so heated on the right and with many conservatives, that they border or cross those lines...

I DO NOT know what can be done about it or to individuals, but I believe they should watch their hate speech and/ or qualify it... but most don't !

Does anyone else feel this is contributing to the senseless violence?

And what's even more hypocritical is that when Bush was President you were "with us or against us" and do the Patriotic thing (even if you disagree)... but now BO is President... hating the government and being anti-government is a good thing to them ! WHAT BS !!

i don't think that you can blame folks who speak out of their convictions for the actions that others take. If you start doing that, you might as well say bye bye to freedom of speech.

The only one who can stop a bad guy with convictions is a good guy with convictions.

If you convict enough of 'em, then we've got no problems. That's why prisons are a growth industry!

Drudge is featuring the ABCNews' story of the TSA shooting, take a look at the comments. Seems the rightwing is applauding TSA worker deaths and think there should be more. Of course their opinion is that these are Obama's "brownshirts" … and this shooting proves that gun registration doesn't stop gun violence (and that this isn't really gun violence, becuase government workers should die). Sickening.

I agree to a point, BUT you can't yell "FIRE !" in a theater.
But let's say they find anti- government literature in this guys back pack that targets the TSA... (there's a hint that may be the case). IS whoever published it liable ?? (especially if it's False !) What happened to the GOPs call for personal responsibility ?

All I'm saying is the rhetoric needs to be toned down. Like one commentator said- people have disagreed for ages, but it seems in the last decade or 2, one side demonizes the other, calls them "the enemy", dehumanizes them, etc. That's the same BS - twisted theology the Nazis used to attack Jews in Germany before WWII... "they're not human","they're not "Us"..."they're not patriots", "they're responsible for all our woes"... etc. The result was Kristallnacht !!
THAT's where I believe some of these kooks are headed... not Kristallnacht per se, but consistent violence against the Government and their own opponents.

YoYo - speaking of convictions... does that include demonizing opposing views as evil, anti-God, anti-Christian, anti-American ? There's no logic to it !! It's just slanderous name-calling !

Yelling fire is one thing. Saying that the government is tyrannous and that something ought to be done about it is something else entirely. It'd be good to specify the "something to be done," like for instance go on strike, or occupy the streets with demonstrations, or petition the government fiercely and repeatedly. But in a world where free speech is important, I should have the freedom to say "The government is tyrannous and something should be done about it" without having the statement censored and me thrown in jail for sedition. I despise the idiot right, and think that their spokespeople often verge on sedition. But when Sarah Palin says something like "The government is tyrannous and the blood of patriots in the past has been shed to get rid of tyranny," should she be silenced? The statement verges on asking for armed insurrection by "patriots." Is it seditious? I would say not at all. The people who interpret the statement into a call for armed insurrection, and then act on that call--that's a different thing. Back in the 60s you could be deeply anti-government as part of the SDS and not have joined the actions of the Weather Underground. When the FBI took it on itself to attack the SDS, I objected. I didn't object to their targeting the Weather Underground.

Excellent comment. This should be on everyone's bullitin board.

Dave

OK I see your points.... it just disturbs me some of these are so full of hate and intolerance.
and if GW Bush was doing this it'd be "fine" ! I didn't see them protesting Medicare Part D !

I agree completely! What some of the idiots say is deeply disturbing. So fight fire with fire--match speech with speech!