Loughner’s actions raise questions about what medical treatment is available for the mentally ill―virtually none, even in a case like this where college classmates were fearful that he might turn to violence―and about the widespread availability of weapons like the Glock 19, whose sole purpose is mass, indiscriminate mayhem through the firing of dozens of rounds in a few seconds.
But the most important issue is what led Loughner to target a Democratic congresswoman. Understanding this necessarily requires an examination of the political circumstances that shaped the gunman’s actions.
Here the central role was played by the ultra-right media campaign mounted by Fox News, talk show hosts like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, and the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party, including one Republican Senate candidate who called for a “Second Amendment solution” to political issues―i.e., the use of firearms.
As the World Socialist Web Site explained yesterday (See “Arizona assassination spree tied to political right”), the political conceptions in Loughner’s Internet postings are expressed in the vocabulary of the ultra-right media and the Tea Party, including his references to gold and silver backing for US currency, the predominance of the English language, and attacks on sections of the US Constitution, like the 14th Amendment, targeted by the ultra-right. He also reportedly remarked that a young woman who had an abortion was a “terrorist for killing the baby.”
Moreover, both Fox News and the New York Times have reported, citing law enforcement sources, that Loughner may have links to a white supremacist publication called American Renaissance. Ongoing investigation may well develop more evidence of connections to the extreme right―a prospect that makes the “deranged individual” explanation even less credible.
MORE:
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/jan2011/ariz-j11.shtml
