Monday, November 4, 2013

#LAX Shooting: It's Jared Loughner and Zeitgeist All Over Again

As is to be expected, when news broke of the shooting at Los Angeles International Airport, the usual suspects were out in force attempting to smear conservatives and gun rights supporters as complicit in the mayhem.



What I noticed was the Southern Poverty Law Center pushing hard on the anti-government, right-wing militia meme.



Despicable people. Especially so since there's little evidence that the suspect, Paul Ciancia, had any coherent ideological program. See Robert Stacy McCain on that, "LAX Shooter: Some Kind of Kook":
There’s this weird little game going on between the Justice Department and the media where bits and pieces of LAX gunman Paul Ciancia’s one-page manifesto keep getting leaked out, and yet it seems no one has the entire note. So the shooter supposedly ranted about the “New World Order” and “fiat currency,” which is being interpreted by some as evidence of a right-wing motive — except, no it’s not: It’s Jared Loughner and Zeitgeist all over again.

Perhaps you’ve forgotten how Loughner, the 2011 Tucson shooter, was a big fan of the pseudo-”documentary” Zeitgeist, which wraps up 9/11 Truther stuff in a lot of conspiracy theory crap about bankers, “fiat currency,” and other such paranoid kook stuff.
Clear enough. And RTWT.

Still, the leftist press is all over the Mark Potok "hate-watch" theory of the right-wing "patriot" anti-goverment types. At yesterday's Los Angeles Times, for example, "LAX shooting comes amid mounting aversion to the TSA":
WASHINGTON — The killing of a TSA screener in Los Angeles is symptomatic of a growing antipathy toward government workers and TSA personnel in particular, experts said Saturday.

Specialists on hate crimes and union officials decried what they said was a general atmosphere of mockery and derision toward TSA agents that they said is amplified by late-night talk show hosts, politicians and news media.

"When people or institutions are vilified on national television and in the public square, you often see people latch on to them as enemies to be destroyed," Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center, said in an interview.

Potok has tracked radical groups for more than two decades. He said alleged shooter Paul Anthony Ciancia appeared to have subscribed to anti-government theories about a conspiracy to take away American freedoms and create a single global government.

The violent outburst Friday has put airport screeners around the country on edge, just weeks before terminals will see a rush of passengers during the stressful holiday season.

As Ciancia allegedly blasted his way through the checkpoint, the 23-year-old was looking for transportation security officers to shoot, officials said, and cursing the Transportation Security Administration.

A note found with Ciancia contained a rant against the government and the words "kill TSA," said a federal law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. "I would love to see people stop making villains out of government workers — they are good people" said J. David Cox, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the union that represents 45,000 TSA employees. TSA officers are verbally abused by passengers every day, Cox said.

"They may go through your luggage, they may question your name on your ticket, but all that is for your protection. It is not to harass you," he said.
Despicable smears. "Tea party" pops into people's minds when they see these "anti-government" memes. And Mark Potok is the f-king last person to trust commenting on this. You might say (cough, cough), he has an agenda.

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