As the world is aware by now a Democratic congresswoman by the name Gabrielle Giffords was shot in Tucson Arizona. Right now she is in intensive care and is able to respond in a very limited way through what is reported to be hand movements. During this same attack at least six innocent people were killed.

Pima county Sheriff Clarence Dupnik has announced that there have been six other people killed in the shooting. Among the victims were chief federal judge John Roll, a congressional aide to Giffords, Giffords’ director of community outreach Gabe Zimmerman and a 9-year-old girl.

Dupnik said that at least 12 people had been wounded in the shooting.

The shooting only came to an end when two men tackled the shooter and held him down.

Giffords was struck in the head by a bullet point-blank range as she attended a public event at a Safeway supermarket in which she was meeting with her constituents. The man the police have in custody as the shooter is Jared Loughner, 22, whom the police have described as mentally unstable, and possibly acting with an accomplice. Police are currently searching for an older man who was seen speaking with the suspected shooter earlier in the day.

US President Barack Obama spoke in a press conference in Washington about the shooting calling it an “unspeakable tragedy”.

Janet Napolitano, homeland security secretary, issued a statement on the shooting, saying: “I am deeply saddened by reports that Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Chief Judge John Roll and others were attacked … There is no place in our society or discourse for such senseless and unconscionable acts of violence.”

Right Wing Hate Mongering

Spicer said that Giffords, a Democrat, was seen by Republicans as one to beat in the recent US midterm elections and was heavily criticized by 2008 vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. The former Alaskan governor depicted Giffords in a cross hair among others indicating that those people needed to be eliminated. The imagery and context that was used by Sara Plain clearly indicates that she was calling for their assassination.

I would also like to remind Miss. Palin that advocating the murder of a politician is an act of terrorism under your beloved Patriot Act. And it is also called treason, a crime for which you can be executed for. It is a shame the media and more importantly, law enforcement, will not be calling for Palin to be arrested and charged with terrorism, or incitement to violence as many in the right wing media like Glenn Beck should.

This congresswoman has been murdered by the same increasing terrorist attacks that have been coming out of the right wing. Most notable for the conspiracy theories and hate mongering on the network is Glenn Beck who has been responsible for right wing terrorism before.

Byron Williams came to California with hopes of killing employees of the ACLU and the relatively unknown Tides Foundation. He was pulled over by California Police and had a shoot out, injuring two officers. Eric Bohert at The Huffington Post believes that Glen Beck may have had something to do with it. If not for Beck, its doubtful that Williams would have ever heard of The Tides Foundation, let alone hate them enough to try and kill them.

Indeed, for more than a year Beck has been portraying the progressive organization as a central player in a larger, nefarious cabal of Marxist/socialist/Nazi Obama-loving outlets determined to destroy democracy in America. Beck has routinely smeared the low-profile entity for being staffed by “thugs” and “bullies” and involved in “the nasty of the nastiest,” like indoctrinating schoolchildren and creating a “mass organization to seize power.”

Beck has mentioned the Tides Foundation 30 times on his Fox News Show, accusing them of being anti-capitalist, far left radicals and indoctrinating children. There are no records of any other talk show mentioning the Tides Foundation.

There are others…

Richard Poplawski got in argument with his mother and she called the cops. When the cops arrived Poplawski was waiting for them with a bulletproof vest and shot five police officers with an AK-47, wounding two and killing three, including an African American.

Poplawski’s shooting of police officers seemingly had no motive until police looked into his background. Poplawski was a white supremacist who frequently posted on the Neo-Nazi, extremely Pro-Ron Paul site Stormfront and Alex Jones’ New World Order conspiracy theory site, Infowars. Poplawski would post videos of Glenn Beck with Ron Paul talking about FEMA Concentration Camps onto Stormfront. In the video, Paul would speculate that while there was no evidence of FEMA concentration camps, he still believed they might come in the future.

And there were more…

John Patrick Bedell was a Ron Paul style libertarian, who was a member of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, an institute credited as being the driving force for Ron Paul’s political and economic philosophies, which was founded and run by Ron Paul’s former chief of staff and long time friend and companion, Lew Rockwell. Bedell would post on the Ludwig von Mises site about how government was criminal. Rockwell refers to the Pentagon as the Pentagram (evil satanic symbol) and subscribes to the John Birch society New World Order conspiracy theory.

Bedell himself was a conspiracy theorist, who believed that 9/11 was set up by the government. We can see how the combination of conspiracy theories and anti-government sentiment led to Bedell taking out his anger on what his hero, Lew Rockwell called the “pentagram.”

And finally…

Charles Dyer is a man who never committed a violent act against the government but proudly proclaimed himself a “domestic terrorist.” Dyer was instead arrested on a domestic charge for allegedly raping a 7-year-old girl. While Dyer may or may not be guilty of that charge, he was definitely guilty of possessing a grenade launcher stolen from an army base. Police also found residue that led them to believe that he had been storing explosives.

Dyer was a member of the Oathkeepers, are a paramilitary organization comprised of former and current military and law enforcement members. The SPLC has said the Oathkeepers are concerned about a coming dictatorship, concentration camps and a general New World Order. The Oathkeepers are headed by Stewart Rhodes, a former Ron Paul staffer. They have received support from Glenn Beck, Lou Dobbs and conspiracy theorist radio host, Alex Jones.

The incidences of right wing terrorism are increasing all the time. This is but a small sample of the violent hateful nature of the right wing and what it has in store for the world. These are people who claim that selfishness and greed are the only way society and economics will function. With these acts have have been given but a small glimpse of the kind of world they want to live in. Frankly, I am one who certainly wishes never to live in such a world.

It is quite clear that the media is trying to cover up the terrorist nature of the right win. If these attacks had been committed by a Muslim, or a black man, or even a leftist, they would not doubt be referred to as acts of terrorism. However, since they were committed by a white right wing man, they are referred to a so-called “lone wolf” incidents. The hypocrisy is absolutely astounding.

Politicians like Ron Paul and media types like Alex Jones and Glenn Beck are as guilty of drumming up paranoia and anger at the American government as Islamic clerics who refer to America as the great Satan only to see their followers turn to terrorism. Fox News, CPAC, and the Tea Party movement must all be held accountable for the conspiracy theories and anti-government hatred and paranoia that leads people directly into violence.

Sheriff Dupnik pointed to the caustic political rhetoric that has consumed the country as he denounced the shooting.

“When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government. The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous,” the sheriff said.

Law enforcement officials said members of Congress reported 42 cases of threats or violence in the first three months of 2010, nearly three times the 15 cases reported during the same period a year earlier. Nearly all dealt with the health care bill, and Giffords was among the targets.

The Socialist Analysis

By acknowledging the right wing links to the shooter I am in now way denying any possibility of mental illness on the part of Loughner. There is no doubt that someone acting alone in such a manner would commit these horrible violent acts without at least a modicum psychosis. Children are not murdered by a single stranger with a political purpose. Obviously Loughner should be examined by a psychologist before he stands trial.

There is a lesson to be learned here about the availability of mental health services in the United States. One could very well argue that the much lower rates of killing sprees in other industrialized nations could be affected by the availability of professional mental health help. Had some sort of program or service been available to Loughner, this whole tragedy might not have happened. In the very least some incidences would be avoided and those affected could lead better lives.

Unfortunately health care in the United States is not intended to serve the needs of human life. It is intended to serve the profit making of a few elite individuals. The lack of health care to those who need it is a proven sign that the market does not work in providing for human need. This problem and many others like it can only be solved, or at least lessened by establishment of a socialist health care system.