The titular "head" of the GOP has spoken and it's incredibly ugly.
Radio's foremost purveyor of hate, Rush Limbaugh has reacted to the scary mugshot of Jared Lee Loughner, the suspected gunman in the Arizona shooting, by saying that "the reason Loughner is smiling in the picture is because he knows he is backed by the 'Democrat' Party."
Limbaugh conveniently forgets the congressperson who was shot was a Democrat....as were many of the other victims...
"What Mr. Loughner knows is that he has the full support of a major political party in this country. He's sitting there in jail. He knows what's going on, he knows that...the Democrat party is attempting to find anybody but him to blame. He knows if he plays his cards right, he's just a victim. He's the latest in a never-ending parade of victims brought about by the unfairness of America...this guy clearly understands he's getting all the attention and he understands he's got a political party doing everything it can, plus a local sheriff doing everything that they can to make sure he's not convicted of murder - but something lesser."
Even for Limbaugh, he sounded more unhinged than usual on this topic. I hope that he's really worried the Arizona tragedy may result in a backlash against talking heads like him. That would go directly to his bottom line, which is in reality all that he is concerned with.
It will be interesting to see if there is any ratings effect or sponsor loss.
Yesterday, Limbaugh irrationally placed the blame on Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik saying:
"You're in charge of keeping this community safe, sheriff." "I would wager that the sheriff knew of this shooter long before this event."
Then Limbaugh suggests that Dupnik is actually hoping the shooter is acquitted at trial
"My guess is the sheriff wouldn't mind if the shooter was acquitted."
Limbaugh then goes on to a more general verbal attack against Democrats. Limbaugh's language and tone are likely exactly the kind of "vitriol" Dupnik was criticizing in his earlier comments. Limbaugh claims that he cannot tell the difference between Democrats and the president of Iran. Limbaugh goes on to say that Democrats are attempting to purposefully destroy the country. Finally at the end, Limbaugh claims that Dupnik is the one responsible for the heated political rhetoric and claims that Dupnik's comments may inspire yet another shooter.
Just wondering out loud here ... has Limbaugh expressed anything like sympathy or compassion for the victims and their families or made a denouncement of the crime? This a purely rhetorical question....