Mr. Gwatney has died from his wounds. My prayers go out to his family and friends.

Methinks the lady doth protest too much...!

Let's face it -- if you repeatedly tell desperate and unstable people that Group X is the source of all their pain and suffering, and a clear and present threat not just to them but their whole COUNTRY, you shouldn't be surprised if eventually someone from that group feels motivated to do something about it.

Go talk to those Unitarians in Knoxville, for example.

And then go do a web search on the word "eliminationism" -- you'll find some rhetoric that will make your hair curl.

I'm not saying that the left doesn't have its share of nutjobs, but some of the right's nutjobs just happen to have significantly sized audiences.

My sincere sympathies to the family of Mr. Gwatney. The perpetrator of this act was simply sick.

cassy, I predict one or more of our liberal readers bringing forth links to "rightwingers" who have done exactly the things you've said they haven't. In 5....4....3....2

Whoa, Skip was fast on the draw, and not sympathy one for the family who has just experienced loss.

Ref republican "hate speech"

I guess Baldwin suggesting that Henry Hyde and his family be drug out into the street at night and stoned (Clinton impeachment) was okay because it was you know a democrat proposing it.

I have personally seen the results of the "conservative" morons. Vandalism to my car and the front of my house for displaying "No Iraq War" signs. My friend and mechanic, a Sikh, had the front window of his shop bashed in and "Go Home Rag-head" spray painted on his garage door.

I have no doubt of the political bent of these idiots.

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How about some cites to back up your allegations.

"excuse me? are you really saying there is such a thing as a "sensible motive" for assassination of any public servant, right, left, conservative or liberal?"

No, he's saying that it makes a lot more sense that someone would go nuts and kill his former boss because he got fired than that some unstable right-wing person would murder a not-particularly-well-known political operative because of messages he absorbed into his brain from talk radio.

BDS has been spread far and wide by the democrats media outlets, so much that the media is suffering from total insanity themselves. Time to build thousands of insane asylums, or make the democrats dreams become nightmares and build the re-education camps. Either way, democrats are no longer mentally capable of being allowed on the streets. Lock em up and throw away the keys.

"I have no doubt of the political bent of these idiots"

Umm how do you even know that the shooting had a political motive?

Meanwhile lets talk about the conversative sites having to shut down comments on the threads like the liberal sites did when Tony Snow died.

And speaking of vandalism how many cars with Suppport the troops bumper sticks and magnets have been vandalized? How many soldiers have been threatened by leftist "peace" demonstrators? How many times do folks on the right have to endure being called things like baby killers, murderers, etc

Start looking at your side of the fence before you throw unfounded accusations on the RIGHT side of the fence.

cassy, I predict one or more of our liberal readers bringing forth links to "rightwingers" who have done exactly the things you've said they haven't. In 5....4....3....2

Is there something wrong with that? Would you prefer to be exposed to honesty and accuracy, or do you just want to get caught up in some "rah rah libruls are eeeeevil" furor, even if it's based on what you clearly acknowledge to be falsehoods?

I hope the Gwatney family finds peace and comfort in the coming days. I wish them well. There can be no doubt of what a horrible tragedy and loss this has been for them.

U.O.G

"I have personally seen the results of the "conservative" morons. Vandalism to my car and the front of my house for displaying "No Iraq War" signs. My friend and mechanic, a Sikh, had the front window of his shop bashed in and "Go Home Rag-head" spray painted on his garage door.

I have no doubt of the political bent of these idiots."

Dr. Lava; Were they caught? Is that how you know the vandals were "conservative" morons? Or is it just that in your world only conservatives support the troops? You're so certain when you state, "I have no doubt of the political bent of these idiots" but you've given us no evidence, only your story. And based on the wording of that story, I'm not likely to just accept an undocumented follow-up statement from you.

So a Democrat official is murdered and all the reflexive lefty morons assume a "right-winger" committed the crime? It does not occur to their pea brains that the killer might have had a different motive? Really these people are scary...brown-shirt thinking thugs.

I have personally seen the results of the "conservative" morons.

Lava, what about my SUV that was keyed and vandalized at a recent ColdPlay concert? Was that a result of my "Friends of Coal" sticker on the back, or just a general pogrom against SUV's?

I think neither...it was probably done by stoned idiots that are incapable of thinking beyond the one millimeter thickness that contains their attention span.

yes it is horrible that he died this way..

what is gods name are you liberal rats talking about now. THERES ALWAYYS SOMEONE TO BLAME. something happens and BAMM! its someone elses fault. you should all be ashamed for yourselves..

john mccain has the experience, not obama hussein the celebrity /:

This Jerry guy needs serious medical help.

What really gets me is for ALL the talk and ALL the paranoia and all the bullsh*t the leftists propogate themselves, I have yet to see ONE death camp or ONE politically motivated Kristallnact Styled Anti-Liberal event in the United States, despite ALL of the terror induced and deranged calls of 'eliminationism' and others...

if the Conservatives were truly as evil as the NeoFascist-Socialist Leftiod retards say we are, then let me tell you, there'd be no contest... Conservatives outnumber the Liberals by a 100 to 1 in the majority of the country, and we haven't started slaughtering them yet. Whats holding us back? Something most Liberals lack: Common Decency and Respect for Others Opinions, no matter how offensive it or repellant it is. Its a seriously sad thing to see.

My prayers are with BOTH families as THEY are the true victims in this awful moment.

It is a damned shame this happened, and my sympathies go out to anyone who lost a family member or friend today.

That said, this was the action of one man, and the only person to be held responsible or accountable for it is him. No one else. Period. Not talk show hosts, not writers, not his minister, not his family, not his pet gerbil, not anyone except him.

His motiviations honestly do not matter to me - the rationale of a murderer is irrelevant. He has demonstrated that he cannot rationally operate within society any more, and should therefore be removed. There is no excuse for his actions, but his actions are his. This incessant need to blame someone else indicates a marked lack of responsibility and/or backbone on the part of the people doing the finger-pointing, and is childish to the extreme.

Ok, You guys are right. There's NO POSSIBLE WAY that incessantly repeating hateful rhetoric can lead to violence...

Oh, wait - ever hear of the Rwandan genocide?

Words are powerful, and those entrusted with $100 million contracts and millions of listeners like Hannity and Limbaugh need to recognize the weight of their words.

Oh, wait - ever hear of the Rwandan genocide?

That was brilliant Denver. Lesssee....I had a program in America, at the foot of the DemUnderground Hills...

You're a regular Isak Dinesen here with your Africa guilt. Too bad it makes no sense, at least here.

The whackjob trolls are out tonight!

"if the Conservatives were truly as evil as the NeoFascist-Socialist Leftiod retards say we are, then let me tell you, there'd be no contest... Conservatives outnumber the Liberals by a 100 to 1 in the majority of the country, and we haven't started slaughtering them yet.

Hello, DHS? Can you arrest a citizen who isn't brown ?

Let's face it -- if you repeatedly tell desperate and unstable people that Group X is the source of all their pain and suffering, and a clear and present threat not just to them but their whole COUNTRY, you shouldn't be surprised if eventually someone from that group feels motivated to do something about it.

Oh, you mean like "Bush is the cause of all evil in the world, Blame Bush! BusHitler McHaliburton"...you mean like the sort of trash that the leftist groups have been spouting for the past 8 years?

You mean like THAT?

Oh, no, you will say, THAT's totally different.

Go away, Skip.

Oh, wait - ever hear of the Rwandan genocide?

Right, sure. Rush Limbaugh incited the Rwandan genocide. Okay, pull the other one, it whistles.

Learn your history before you spout such crap. Rwanda has had several GENERATIONS of internal and external strife, dating back to the colonial era. The fuse for the the bloody violence was the shooting down of Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana, and Cyprien Ntaryamira, the Hutu president of Burundi--not some goddamn politcal pundit on the telly.

By the way, why didn't Clinton the Hero do something about that?

Returning back to topic. I agree, this is a tragedy for both the victim and assailant's families.

"I have no doubt idea of the political bent of these idiots"

Fixed.

(would someone tell my why the strike HTML works in preview but not in posting?)

Cassy, it's pretty easy to find nutjobs on Kos and DU. The fact is, when a party chairman is gunned down, people are going to assume political motives, even if it was just some random nut, as appears to now be the case.

Meanwhile, isn't it kind of hypocritical to accuse them of exploiting a tragedy for political gain when you're using the exact same tragedy as yet another way to demonstrate the moral depravity of the left?

Oh, and BigCountry, I really hope you appreciate the irony of lecturing "NeoFascist-Socialist Leftiod retards" about respect for others' opinions.

It's sad that Democrats can't actually wait till the reason WHY something happens is determined before spreading their sick hate on those who had nothing to do with it...

:(

So it's okay for the leftwingers to spew anti American propaganda, which is picked up by news outlets televising to our country's enemies in the world, giving comfort, aid and ENCOURAGEMENT to them, but we must blame talk radio? LOL.

How about that t shirt that P Diddy recently wore to an awards show that said "Obama Or Die"

What is that suggesting?

Trolls must be too stoned to hit these talking points:

Man lost job goes on homicidal/suicidal rampage.

a) It's all Bush's fault - if he hadn' ruined the economy, increased gas prices, etc. etc. he wouldn't have lost his job and had to go and kill someone.
b) It is obvious that the lack of gun control laws in the State have led to this tragedy.
c) Black helicopters and a puff of smoke from the grassy knoll, why this is another black ops kill. Apply tin foil to cranium liberally.

Amazing that a man can be killed by a kook, putting a family in distress and instilling fear in so many people and the first thing out of the mouths of the deranged is that it was some right-winger and talk-radio is the culprit.

This smacks of the reflexive, knee-jerk reaction that 'it was some crazed right-wing operative' who beat up Randi Rhodes. With this type of thought process, every time someone is killed we should look first at the victim's political standing and blame the other side.

"Would you prefer to be exposed to honesty and accuracy, or do you just want to get caught up in some "rah rah libruls are eeeeevil" furor,..."

Wait a minute. Isn't the whole premise here the left's "rah rah conservatives are evil" furor? Nice try, Brian.

And dr lava, you never fail to impress me. Last year someone egged my car in the driveway. If I thought as you do, I should have no doubt it was a Florida State fan as I had a Gators sticker on my bumper. Or ... it could have just been kids doing what kids do.

I'm so sorry for Gwatney's family. I hope they get some answers soon and find some peace.

You know the conspiracy thing goes two ways here. Bill Gwatney was a superdelegate supporting Hilary Clinton. Tom Lantos was a Clinton Superdelegate too, and he recently died.

MAYBE, Obama is killing off Clinton Superdelegates to prevent her from stealing the nomination in a floor fight at the convention.

Also, the guy who just died in Denver with a pound of cyanide in his hotel room was from Somalia. What country neighbors Somalia? Kenya, where Obama's father comes from. Coincidence? HMMMMM?

/sarcasm

Umm...are these the same people who regularly defend vulgar and/or violent "entertainment" as protected by free speech? You know, the ones who dismissed out-of-hand the idea that Marilyn Manson's music was a driving influence behind the Columbine massacre.

Kinda odd how explicitly violent lyrics can't possibly incite someone to violence, but all our "loaded codewords, subtext, and calls for action" not only can, but regularly DO drive people to murder.

Regardless how you feel about the violence in music and movies and the like, or what your perception of the effects of exposure to that sort of entertainment, most rational people would either fall on one side of the question or the other, not on both.

Of course that's ascribing a trait to "liberals" that they obviously find insulting.

How about adopting a genuinely liberal viewpoint for once: Free speech is free speech. Drop the "only approved speech is protected" mindset. With the prog-left so desperately searching for a Nazi regime parallel, one would think they'd notice there's an easy comparison right under their upturned noses.

Just more of the left working to accumulate the "evidence" necessary to pass the Fairness Doctrine and remove these evil, hate mongers from the air should the Obamessiah actually win in Nov. Their concern is that a few folks might actually take offense at having their rights violated so completely, in spite of the fact that it's really "for their own good.'

#17: Conservatives outnumber the Liberals by a 100 to 1 in the majority of the country, and we haven't started slaughtering them yet.

You're as sick as you are stupid. 100 to 1? Then why is Obama beating McCain by a statistically significant margin in every poll? Oh, right--statistics is a liberal discipline, tainted by the beard of Lenin! (To use smaller words: you're a f*cking idiot.)

#30: How about that t shirt that P Diddy recently wore to an awards show that said "Obama Or Die"

What is that suggesting?

Sean Combs was riffing on that cheesy "Vote or die" slogan from a few years back. It was a really stupid youth voter turnout initiative, that had little impact and embarrassed those associated with it. Nothing to do with violence, unless you're some sort of context-proof language-bot that only takes words at their most literal meaning. If so, you might want to avoid music, poetry, ironic t-shirts, and sarcastic people.

#9: Scrapiron, people died to give you freedom of speech so that you could smear your verbal feces all over the internet. Just because you have disdain for people with a formal education, doesn't mean you need to advertise how uneducated you are every time you leave word-droppings in comment threads.

There's no evidence to suggest that this guy was murdered by a conservative because he was a Democrat. However, you all should stop accusing "the left" (which I guess means the majority of Americans who hate Bush, like Obama, and want the war in Iraq to end) of being enemies of your country. A patriotic person is (in principle) duty-bound to report enemies of the state to the authorities; or, if they're of the far-right NRA-libertarian mindset, they might have disdain for the state such that they defend their nation themselves rather than put faith in the legal system. "Hannity and Limbaugh and Malkin told me that liberals are evil... but judges and the poh-lice is liberals too!... so I gotta do somethin' about 'em, because Michelle Malkin told me that they are going to destroy our country and replace the Bible with On the Origin of Species in the Courtroom! Say, I wonder if Michelle would visit me in jail?"

Yes, liberals hate Bush and hate his policies (or lack thereof), but Bush is not the conservative movement. Saying that liberals are evil communists who need to be stopped (or something to that effect) could conceivably drive an unstable self-styled conservative to do something about the enemies in his/her midst. That is eliminationism. It's repugnant, and conceivably it could drive unbalanced individuals to murder innocent people for having political views the deem unacceptable.

Hyperbolist - geez man get a grip,

Overly verbose, but the point was made, and it's hardly controversial.

The difference between the far left and the far right is this.

THe mainstream right condemns the far right whackos.

The mainstream left is the far left whackos.

'Ok, You guys are right. There's NO POSSIBLE WAY that incessantly repeating hateful rhetoric can lead to violence...

Oh, wait - ever hear of the Rwandan genocide?

Words are powerful"

Oh wait. So all the kill Bush, kill Cheney, Kill Rice, Kill Roberts, Kill Alito hate speech is all right in your book. I dont seem to see you speaking out against it.

So if someone were to try to assasinate Bush then you wouldnt chalk that up to the hate speech at sites like DU, KOS and Huffington post where they have lots of readers?

People in glass houses shouldn't throw rocks.

And again, nowhere has it been proven that this was politically motivated. Guess innocent until proven guilty doesnt matter when a Democrat is hurt. Also the shooter didnt even say anything political other than he had lost his job. Maybe he was volunteering with the DNC. Have you thought of that? I mean it isnt in the papers but then again neither is the fact that he was a republican. If you want to make leaps of illogic why cant I.

Oh wait I am not an idiot.

"Saying that liberals are evil communists who need to be stopped (or something to that effect) . That is eliminationism. It's repugnant, and conceivably it could drive unbalanced individuals to murder innocent people for having political views the deem unacceptable.
"

I notice that you didnt say that saying Bush, Cheney, et al are Hitlers, evil, against the poor, blood for oil, murderers, babykillers, etc etc Is

"repugnant, and conceivably it could drive unbalanced individuals to murder innocent people for having political views the deem unacceptable."

Nope you just chose to say that only republicans can be whackos and not liberals.

Again your logic ISNT.

I said liberals can't be wackos? Man, you're thick.

"Saying that liberals are evil communists "

Speaking of which. Which party has gotten the support of the CPUSA the last few elections?

Answer : Not republicans.

And actually I think liberals are more social*sts than communists but hey I am not a member of CPUSA so they should know better than I.

"I said liberals can't be wackos? Man, you're thick."

I never said that you didnt imply that liberals cant be wackos. I merely pointed out that you only choose to use the right to illustrate your point of wackos acting on rhetoric to do violence.

Why dont you try understanding what I wrote.

Talk about someone being thick. That is like the Clinton accusing someone of adultery because they held a door open for a woman.

For starters, you can stop implying that Daily Kos is some lunatic fringe blog. It's pretty mainstream; the link you posted to Daily Kos contains nothing more than timelines and prayers offered up to the man's family. We need to stop it with this "right wing vs. left wing" nonsense.

Nick

How about posting on the Daily Kos and Du the same thing.

Oh wait, your post would get wiped out and you would be banned from posting there again. Try it and come back to report on us about your mainstream site.

As I said the wackos have become the mainstream for the liberals.

...or you think the mainstream are wackos because you're firmly entrenched in the 28 percenter neo-con corner, which has shifted further and further to the right since Dick Perle and Paul Wolfowitz got their tendrils into your federal government. Kudos, I guess, for sticking to your guns.

"28 percenter:" Check.

"Neo-con:" Check.

Limiting references to "Neo-cons" to Jews: Check.

Yup, hyper's got his Democratic Underground talking points all lined up. Next up should be a reference to Haliburton or Exxon or AIPAC...

J.

"or you think the mainstream are wackos "

As I said for the left side of the political arena the wackos HAVE become the mainstream.

Everything is Bush's / Cheney's fault. THe latest is the Soviet invasion of Georgia is a Cheney plot to swing the election towards McCain.

The obvious media bias is another example.

It isnt hard to see what I mean you just have to open your eyes. Next time you read something on DU Daily Kos Huffington post just change the words Bush or Cheny for Obama. change the word right wing for left wing.
Change the word republican for Democrat.

Do that and you would be outraged at what is being written.

Well an interview with a classmate (computer school) of the killer pretty much clears it up that it was political hate driven against Democrats.

I'm sure that's not going to quiet any of the Ted Nugent fans here down.
Folks it's time to back it down a dozen notches, nobodys got any business bombing a lezbian bar in Atlanta or an abortion clinic in Oklahoma much less shooting doctors or politicians - not in America.
It's being driven from somewhere, and you had better put yourselves in check before the nation is forced to put you there.
Freedom of speech has limits and they've been exceeded too far, for too long.

"Maybe he was volunteering with the DNC. Have you thought of that? I mean it isnt in the papers but then again neither is the fact that he was a republican. If you want to make leaps of illogic why cant I.

Oh wait I am not an idiot."

Apparently yes you are. The news has reported that he voted as Republican in the last primaries and that he was not a volunteer, he offered to just before he murdered the poor man.

What you are is ill informed and loudmouthed, Democrats are not Socialists or Communists they are the oldest political party in the United States and characterizing them as you have IS hate speech in the eyes of a patriot like myself who served this country and swore to defend the Constitution.

Another Retired Military:

"Apparently yes you are."

So Retired Military's admission that his scenario was a leap of logic to demonstrate "leaps of logic" already taken makes him an idiot? Dude, that's some weird logic you got going there.

Please give us the proof that Hannity, Limbaugh, etc. were the driving force for this man's actions. That's the point here, isn't it? You wouldn't be skirting the issue, would you?