Tea Party Patriots Leader: Giffords Shooting "Not a Political Act"

As politicians and pundits continue to parse the motives of 22-year-old accused gunman Jared Loughner, Tea Party Patriots co-founder Mark Meckler said Monday that connecting the Tea Party with the incident is "politicizing an enormous human tragedy."

In an appearance on CBSNews.com's "Washington Unplugged," Meckler said, "It's outrageous that the media and some folks in politics jumped to that immediately. They looked to gain political points out of something that's an enormous human tragedy."

"It shows how dehumanized our political system and our media have become."

In a post Sunday on the website for Tea Party Nation (a separate Tea Party group), founder Judson Phillips wrote: "In a moment, a leftist lunatic destroyed a half a dozen lives."

Calling the message "craziness," Meckler said people like Phillips and Tea Party Express' Sal Russo "should know better." According to Meckler, Russo said earlier Monday this incident is an example of the Tea Party movement becoming the victims.

"This is not a political act. This is an act of a person who is not mentally well and we should deal with it in those terms," Meckler said in an interview with CBS News political analyst John Dickerson.

"It's our responsibility as people in the public sphere to push the conversation to the human tragedy and remove it from the political," he said.

CBS News' Bob Orr, Jan Crawford and Nancy Cordes and Politico's Jonathan Martin also appeared on "Washington Unplugged" Monday, as well as Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and CBS News' Dr. Jennifer Ashton live from Tucson.

[thomasmc1957]

Black GOP chairman resigns due to terrorist threats from Tea Party:

http://www.azcentral.com/community/ahwatukee/articles/2011/01/11/20110111gabrielle-giffords-arizona-shooting-resignations.html#ixzz1AqMYTq70

[mountainstates1]

The Tea Party and Sarah Palin will never see a problem with hate-speech. Their low intellect won't allow higher level thinking. That's why the Tea Partiers attrack the dis-enfranchised, the low-lifes, the racists, etc.. it's given them a voice.

[CarloCaraluzzo]

The Tea Party was born during the Town Hall debates in which members of this group caused violent confrontations and many of them to confuse the process. Then Palin puts cross hairs on Democrates pictures and a Tea Party member attacks them. Hmmmm. Do we need Sherlock Holmes to figure this out?

[Cattzen]

A confirmed Registered Republican Assailant with a legally purchased FireArm distinctly chose to attend a POLITICAL Public gathering presented by the Districts US House of Representatives and, specifically targets at point blank range the Democratic Representative.

Let's not mix words, or intent. The suspect purchased the firearm in November during the 2010 mid-term election, and chose this very week Republicans were to bring a vote on a Repeal of the Healthcare Reform Act.

The Rhetoric and misleading interpretations have gone too far, and this could be only the beginning of an entire generation of individuals planning (as directed) in taking their own beliefs to task in a violent manner.

[jimbom121]

How is a pre-planned assination attempt on a congresswoman not a politcal act?

[CarloCaraluzzo]

Because it was a Democrat who was attacked thats why.

[kenalexruss]

This ninny wouldn't know a political act if it bit him on the butt! I hear he's pretty good at a lynching though - really knows how to ramp up the hysteria...

[WeHappyFew]

No it was an act of utter stupidity in a society that prizes fame and firearms at any cost.

[mountainstates1]

I think you just described the platform of the Tea Party!

[DriveU]

An outright denial or acceptance does not make the difference we the citizens need to guard ourselves from psuedo patriots and psuedo saviors.
This is the moral of the story which hit USA because of a coward of AZ who signed up to all the treachery of words spewed by some politicians to nurture their own dark agendas and ambitions

[Wh0]

In Germany, the Extremists of Left and Right (Anarchists & Neo-Nazis) are mentally unstable, emotional misfits of society who swing interchangeably from left to right depending on what suits them. IT IS THEN USELESS TO CATEGORIZE HIM AND BLAME IDEOLOGY, BUT BEST TO BLAME ANY SIDE WHO ENCOURAGED VIOLENCE IN THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE.

[simpleconservative]

The liberals posting here miss the entire point. This freak had copies of Mein Kampf and Marx tracts as his favorite reading materials. Sorry lefties but this crazy is one of your guys. So many subjects and so few brains to go around!

[marionetta-2009]

Mein Kampf is a screed of the far right. Nice try.

[WeHappyFew]

verysimpleconservative,
look up syncretism.
History shows with sickening clarity When it comes to Nazism "socialism" was merely window dressing.