We Told You So. . .

First off, this post will offend a lot of my right-wing friends, and while I hate to be dick, I am angry, and this post is meant to share my anger with the world in a constructive way. Hopefully, you will understand why I'm angry, rather than get offended. But, with that said, we (the Left) told you (the Right) that your rhetoric was going to get someone killed. And it may have.

On Saturday, when I heard that Representative Giffords was shot, I immediately had a picture of a suspect in mind - white, conservative, and in his mid-20's to mid 40's. And guess what - so did everyone else. When asked, Giffords' father pointed the finger directly at the Tea Party, as did the Sheriff, and every other Democrat and/or liberal in this country. There's a good reason for that - Sarah Palin put a crosshairs on Giffords, her office was vandalized during the health care debate, protesters showed up to her events fully armed, and her Republican opponent held fundraisers where his supporters could shoot an M16 at target with her name on it.

Now, it may be the case that the gunman was not a conservative or a Tea Partier, but rather a lone nutjob with his own agenda. But here's the thing - does he fixate on Giffords without so much heat put on her by the right? Does he even know who she is? We don't know that much. But if it is true that he had no connection with the right wing, don't celebrate, or blame liberals, but rather, breathe a sigh of relief because you got lucky. Really lucky. By the way, in the two days that have passed since the shooting, Senator Bennett and Representative Danny Davis have both received death threats

And if you want to respond to this post by saying that Democrats or liberals are doing this too, please cite specific examples - not from commenters on an open website, but examples from liberals similar in stature to Glenn Beck, Sharron Angle, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, hell, I'll even go with someone equal to Michelle Malkin's stature. And that's the difference - there are nuts on both sides, but the conservative leadership is actively courting the crazies. And we warned you that this could have serious consequences. Hell, the night before she was shot, Congresswoman Giffords wrote to friends and colleagues to tone down the rhetoric.

And so, I say, we told you so. But guess what, whatever indignation and anger you might feel is nothing compared to the anger we liberals feel over the shooting. Everyone is losing. Oh, and don't you dare complain about the politicization of this tragedy - the attempted assassination of a political leader is a political.