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May 21, 2013
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Myth of the Lone ShooterPosted on Jun 3, 2009It is believed that the shooter acted alone. Surely, that’s true. No one else was standing beside suspect Scott Roeder when it is believed he murdered Dr. George Tiller in the sanctuary of his church. But Michael Griffin also acted alone when he killed David Gunn in 1993. Paul Hill acted alone when he killed John Britton in 1994. John Salvi acted alone and so did Eric Rudolph and James Kopp. This suspect is hardly lonely in this murderous cast of lone actors. It was an isolated incident. So it was. There was no grand scheme of assassinations. But it was also an isolated incident when Tiller’s clinic was first bombed in 1986. It was an isolated incident when he was shot in both arms in 1993. Each anthrax threat, each invasion, even the vandalizing that took place last month at his Wichita clinic were all linked in a daisy chain of “isolated incidents.” Advertisement No doubt. But where was the shock at the fringe groups they forgot to disavow? At the “Tiller Watch” page that Operation Rescue featured? At the postings by one Scott Roeder calling Tiller the “concentration camp Mengele of our day”? At the Defensive Action Statement that says murdering an “abortionist” is “justifiable”? Were they also shocked by the everyday mainstream rhetoric that casually refers to abortion as murder? Did they worry about the movement strategy designed deliberately to target providers, the weak link of abortion rights, driving clinics out of 87 percent of our counties? Pro-life leaders denounced the murder. So they did. But how inconvenient that some of their own “stars” seemed less than mournful. That Randall Terry called Tiller a “mass murderer” who did something that “was literally demonic.” Or that the Army of God called the suspect “a hero.” Or that the “comments” on a rash of blogs piled vitriol onto the body of the late doctor. Or that Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council worried most that “what [Tiller] did is being glossed over.” I have covered far too many such murders. As a First Amendment absolutist, I don’t believe that words kill. But this week, I can’t help wondering whether rhetoric can justify a crime in the mind of a fanatic. Can’t words provide the sort of perverse moral platform that jihadists stand on and the alternate universe in which a “lone nut” can find a home? Consider the verbal targeting of “Tiller the Baby Killer” that preceded this assassination. What do you say, for example, about Bill O’Reilly, who attacked Tiller repeatedly as someone who would “kill a baby a half-hour before the baby is supposed to be birthed for no reason whatsoever other than the mother has a pain in her foot”? Or should we let O’Reilly say it himself? The unrepentant Fox News host boasts “no backpedaling here. ... I report honestly every single thing we said about Tiller was true.” Except that it wasn’t. I regret that, even in mourning, Tiller’s family cannot escape abortion politics. He was a doctor of last resort for many women, especially those women for whom the sonogram did not bring joy but tragic tidings. He refused to be cowed. At the very least, he should be buried with truth. I don’t blame everyone who checks a pro-life box on the pollster’s chart. I know that ambivalence is the emotion often cast onto the sidelines of this debate. But it is well past time for the anti-abortion movement to denounce those who are in the profession of inflaming passions: Those who call Obama the “most pro-abortion president ever.” Those who ratchet up the rhetoric on a Supreme Court nominee. Those who cull doctors from their honored profession by labeling them “abortionists.” At the Notre Dame commencement where Obama was picketed, the president asked, “As citizens of a vibrant and varied democracy, how do we engage in vigorous debate? How does each of us remain firm in our principles, and fight for what we consider right, without demonizing those with just as strongly held convictions on the other side?” One way is for those who truly “denounce the murder” to take on the chorus, the back-up singers, who still provide the doo-wop for the next deranged soloist. You see, this suspect was not such a lone gunman. And no, I am afraid, this was not an isolated incident. New and Improved CommentsIf you have trouble leaving a comment, review this help page. Still having problems? Let us know. If you find yourself moderated, take a moment to review our comment policy. |
By Night-Gaunt, June 5, 2009 at 3:46 pm Link to this comment
Sorry Godistwaddle not all of them are that way, but there is a faction of extremists that are working to make themselves the only church and type of Christianity in this country.
Fighting to destroy religion is a dead end and just leads to the kind of violence of a Mao or Stalin. We need neither. That would be antithetical to the spirit of the Bill of Rights. As are the Dominionists who are the cancer in our body politic. Backed by some of the richest and most powerful families and corporations. Now they are a danger but it is going to be very difficult to uproot them peacefully. They put us into this situation we are in with a bloated military and surveillance complex watching over us while our economy is in a shambles and on the verge of collapse. It didn’t happen blindly or accidentally.
That is also why even though birth control and abortion are legal, it is very hard to find and use. On purpose.
Report thisBy rockinrobin, June 5, 2009 at 2:26 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
divide & conquor: THIS is the pattern of the supposed 2 party system who’s agenda is to target & harm; TRUTH is simple: Rush L, when ASKED why there even WAS a 2 party system when the AGENDA of BOTH is IDENTICAL: exploitation; which is the TARGETING and HARMING of US the PEOPLE for PERSONAL PROFIT & GAIN; stated: well, the PEOPLE must have a CHOICE. WHY? to MISLEAD and DECEIVE; toss out Pro life; & pro choice to COVER UP the TRUTH that with the chemical companies/Congress/& Pentagon UNITED to RULE the WORLD cuz they have SUCCESSFULLY done such a CLEVER job of DECEIVING the PEOPLE of the USA; TRUTH is they have SUCCESSFULLY been #1 in INFANTS DEATHS here FIRST and now GLOBALLY for DECADES; claiming “population control” is a LIE. It keeps their POCKETBOOKS FULL & continuous WAR everywhere including paying $1b to CREATE and TRAIN a TALIBAN cuz it is a TEAR DROP compared to the trillions & trillions & trillions their own POCKETBOOKS have; FOLLOW the MONEY folks! NOT emotional issues! Rockefeller owns 93 percent of Pharma; Monsanto makes agent orange, white phospherous, & FORMALDEHYDE used in almost everything in the USA; CHEMICALS to HARM YOU makes them trillions; money paid to DRS brings them trillions; chemicals used in WAR brings them trillions more; ALL politicians & elected officials have EXTREMELY close connections to Halliburton, Monsanto, Pharma; & they work with CRIMINALIZED CORPS (whom they wrote LAWS for saying NOT ONE IS RESPONSIBLE nor can SHAREHOLDERS be held accountable); POCKETBOOKS OVERFLOWING cuz they will NEVER have enough. & a FINANCIAL GAIN is like COCAINE; delighting in cruelty, manipulation of media, emotions, etc; no wonder they justify themselves in their minds for all they do to us, cuz we are so incredibly stupid we DESERVE what they dish out. They wrote law: no longer need to list ingredients. NOT democracy at all folks; it is FASCISM; with the PEOPLE not even recognized nor having any rights only Corps; Backed up by judges who go right along with their illegal activities. Health care would COST their pocketbooks; not in THIS Gov’s agenda & they want to take it globally as they have SUCCESSFULLY DECEIVED us for decades; have all the money you want, do whatever you want, however you want & never be brought to justice; THIS is the manta of the USA “elected” officials & GOV; starting in cities, counties, States, and FED; BTW, they KEEP 2/3s of ALL aid given to ANYONE for “overhead costs”;
Report thisBy PatrickHenry, June 4, 2009 at 5:26 pm Link to this comment
By godistwaddle, June 4 at 7:48 pm #
I’m with you on taxing churches, lobbys, nonprofits, foundations and any charity which over 50% goes to administrative and fund raising fees. Currently most charities only put 20% of your dollar to where it is needed the rest is kept for fundraising fees, salaries, perks. The salvation army is least corrupt with their ratio being about 78% going to the people who need it.
Next time they solicit money from you ask them. They are required to tell you. The info will come from the person who takes your credit card number (the manager), the one who calls you is usually kept in the dark, is a volunteer and believes all the money goes to those whom the charity is for.
Report thisBy godistwaddle, June 4, 2009 at 4:48 pm Link to this comment
It is time to start taxing churches, with a view to destroying religion. Even moderate Christ-tards provide cover to the extremists, enabling them be suggesting that “faith,” the renunciation of reason, is of any worth whatsoever.
Report thisBy Inherit The Wind, June 4, 2009 at 4:01 am Link to this comment
Night-Gaunt, June 4 at 1:06 am #
This American Christian terrorist networks are all over including our own military. Hawkeye this is no distraction because it is just as much a danger as a financial collapse. They will be the foot soldiers for those eager to bring down the remains of our Republic and replace it with a Theocracy they have been wanting for many years. We are literally teetering on the edge of an abyss.
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I don’t know if we are teetering still on the abyss—we certainly were in the fall of 2006. The military, primarily the Air Force and USAF academy needs to purged of these fanatical religious right-wing-nut extremists.
Funny how the conceal-carry advocates are never defenders of liberal causes….but if this violent terrorism by the Right continues it may well be necessary to stop them. I don’t advocate violence but I DO advocate self-defense because LEOs cannot be everywhere.
Report thisBy Night-Gaunt, June 3, 2009 at 10:06 pm Link to this comment
This American Christian terrorist networks are all over including our own military. Hawkeye this is no distraction because it is just as much a danger as a financial collapse. They will be the foot soldiers for those eager to bring down the remains of our Republic and replace it with a Theocracy they have been wanting for many years. We are literally teetering on the edge of an abyss.
We are in a worse state than it was in 1934 when they last tried to take over our country with a corporate state. Their wait is almost over.
Report thisBy Thomas Mc, June 3, 2009 at 6:31 pm Link to this comment
If the military does not take out the Christian Taliban, we are soon going to have the very same problem Afghanistan & Pakistan have with the Muslim Taliban.
Right Wing terrorism is the root of all evil.
Report thisBy Inherit The Wind, June 3, 2009 at 5:23 pm Link to this comment
Wow! Here I am in TOTAL, and ABSOLUTE agreement with both Purplegirl and PatrickHenry. 100%. I can’t agree more! We may be at each other’s throats elsewhere but here it’s shoulder to shoulder against genuine 100% home-grown American terrorism.
This prick and everyone who helped him and encouraged him should be charged as terrorists, as malevolent and bent on destroying America as Al Qaeda.
Report thisBy BobZ, June 3, 2009 at 4:03 pm Link to this comment
We now have an official “right wing terrorism” problem. A large segment of our society are deeply disturbed that we have a black man as president. They have been inundating the gun store and gun shows and buying up all of the ammo in the country. The profile of the killer of Dr. Tiller fits with the demographics of the middle aged white guy who listens to Rush Limbaugh and watches Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity. They get their marching orders from the right wing media and think it is ok to take the law into their own hands if they don’t agree with the law. They are hiding behind the bible and getting encouragement from anti-choice bigots like Randell Terry. They are all guilty of giving guys like Scott Roeder the idea that society will let him get away with murder and that we will applaud him for it. What a sick bunch of people that call themselves American’s.
Report thisBy PatrickHenry, June 3, 2009 at 3:39 pm Link to this comment
Murder is murder, whether it is sanctioned by Cheney to his secret hit teams or by a nation state such as Israel and the extrajudicial assassinations they carry out against suspected terrorists on another nations soil. These “justified” acts of murder are no different than Tillers.
Lone shooters commit these religious murders out of the belief they are doing good but there is usually a more sinister force behind it with an agenda.
Report thisBy Paul Bradford, June 3, 2009 at 3:31 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Purple Girl,
These days, advocating for the unborn is kind of like advocating for Palestine. The cause is noble, but the fact that terrorists have taken up your cause makes it all but impossible that justice will come your way.
PLCC has only two goals: 1) Advocating for the very young and 2) Promoting respectful and productive dialogue between people with different perspectives on the abortion issue.
I hope you’ll consider the possibility that not everyone who believes that it’s vital for us to reduce abortions is a misogynist. I actually claim to be more Pro-Choice than Pro-Choicers because I not only believe that it should be up to the mother to determine whether abortion is best for her, I believe that it should be up to the mother to determine whether abortion would be best for her child. I’m quick to acknowledge that she has responsibility for herself, her body and her life just as she has responsibility for her child’s life, her child’s body and her child’s life.
Obama says we need to trust women with these decisions and he’s right. We don’t need to tell women what to do, we simply need to be clear about who deserves human rights and what our responsibilities are to each other. Women will make the right choice. I’m confident of that.
Paul Bradford, Pro-Life Catholics for Choice
Report thisBy taikan, June 3, 2009 at 3:30 pm Link to this comment
Rather than letting the state prosecute Roeder for simple murder, the Department of Justice should charge Roeder with a violation of section 2332b (acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries) of the federal criminal code. And anyone who has provided Roeder with any assistance in the past should be charged with a violation of section 2339A (providing material support to terrorists). Then maybe the general public would start to understand that these people are terrorists.
Report thisBy 'gezelda, June 3, 2009 at 3:23 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
If we want to think of ourselves as “a moral nation” we are going to have to think serioiusly about all the killing that goes on here at home and in various places all over the world where we are involved, directly or indirectly, in that killing and dying—random or organized—most of it avoidable and counterproductive. War, murder and starvation CAN be eliminated—but only if we understand the roots of our homegrown violence better. As long as we obey some “gut reaction” to kill in order to solve problems, believing that “they” deserve to be killed, we are lost, sooner or later.
Report thisBy Virginia777, June 3, 2009 at 12:54 pm Link to this comment
I believe that words can kill.
Report thisBy altara, June 3, 2009 at 12:37 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
ABORTION DR. MURDER AND ACCOUNTABILITY
In the case of waterboarding and other torture, many have demanded that those who authorized it be held accountable. Those responsible could include VP Cheney and even the lawyers who wrote legal opinions with specious reasoning to support the use of torture. This accountability has meaning, since torture is a crime.
Similary, there is a question of accountability in the case of Dr. George Tiller, a Dr. who provided health care for women in need, and who was shot and killed as he attended church on Sunday. In addition to the suspect in custody, should anyone else be accountable? I think so, even though the criminal actions involved may not constitute a crime.
There are anti-abortion leaders and groups that call abortion doctors murderers, and those that foment violence against abortion clinics. Some have expressed gratitude for the killing of Dr. Tiller. The very tactics used incite hatred of these health care providers - pamphlets and vocal cries of “murderers”, “blood on your hands”, etc. and huge trucks emblazoned with images of bloodied fetuses.
Let these actions be considered a crime in the court of public opinion. Let anti-abortion leaders oppose abortion responsibly, recognizing that abortion clinics and doctors are lawfully and with honest dedication providing a medical service.
homer http://www.altara.blogspot.com
Report thisBy bernard martin, June 3, 2009 at 11:09 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
As a Progressive(not a democrat), I voted for Obama but find myself now disillusioned & cheated. Nothing in reality has changed. The rhetoric, originally vowing a new way forward, now equivocates back to what, I believed, was spurned. This nation is nothing more than a velvet-gloved, facist corporatocracy with ever increasing(and frighting)theocratic tendencies. No wonder the the reactionries want to destroy the public education system; all the better to ensure the public’s continued gullibility.
Report thisBy hippie4ever, June 3, 2009 at 9:46 am Link to this comment
“As a First Amendment absolutist, I don’t believe that words kill.”—Ellen Goodman
Oh I do: how many gay or lesbian youth have committed suicide after having been taunted, bullied, defamed and ridiculed by their straight counterparts? Thousands. For decades.
What happens to these early perps who bully their peers into such misery & despair? These homophobic, pro-breeding bullies? Apparently they mature to become adult bullies of a woman’s right to choose. Older, nastier, better organized, well financed (no doubt by the Catholic & Mormon churches), and well armed. Probably the U.S. military taught them how to shoot.
What should be done about them? Eric Holder sent U.S. Marshalls to protect women’s health care providers (I won’t insult them like the mainstream media who called them “Abortion Doctors” in print & on the air!!!) but this will not prevent further assassinations. The FBI must infiltrate these organisations in order to catch these murderers. These conspiracists who enabled the likes of Roeder.
I realise some will take offense at government intervention, but if we’re honest we have to admit that the government has always infiltrated our organisations, esp. anti-war and immigration groups. Let them do the same to our enemies, in defense of women and their rights. At least the FBI would be honouring their legal mission to defend the laws of the United States.
Will the Obama Administration do this? Probably not; like his “support” for gay rights, the POTUS follows his political-animal instincts. Currently he’s trying to build a conservative base for the Democratic Party; this doesn’t help his agenda so I expect more deafening silence from Obama.
Report thisBy Night-Gaunt, June 3, 2009 at 8:42 am Link to this comment
I wish I could recall where I heard or read that the various Christian terrorist groups tell their warriors to be a “lone gunmen” or “lone wolf” in their actions. They have seen what has happen to their sister groups like the Aryan Nations and Ku Klux Klan in the past so they don’t want to be sued out of existence. That and continue to propound a terrorist mind set to one and all. They have help from the FBI and local law enforcement as well. Just look at how Scott Roeter committed two Federal crimes before his murder of Dr. Hillerand nothing was done when they were reported. Maybe we just think we are in a vigorous multi-cultural ‘democracy’ and not a budding theocracy of the lay like minded.
It will be interesting of the Obama administration actually does more than simply say they are appalled at what happened. We would expect that of the previous Bush administration but not Obama’s.
Report thisBy Rodger Lemonde, June 3, 2009 at 7:06 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
How many of these more rabid pro life people wouldn’t be here if abortion had been freely available to their mothers?
Report thisBy rudyspeaks, June 3, 2009 at 6:49 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Where in the Bible is abortion even mentioned?? Leviticus forecloses every sexual activity that doesn’t result in pregnancy (birth control, homosexuality, etc.) yet is oddly silent on abortion. Jesus preached in Jerusalem where abortions were being performed but saved his wrath for money lenders and pharisees. This isn’t about religion. It’s about sexual repression, as the “pro-lifer’s” (sic) obsession w/ birth control suggests.
Report thisBy Purple Girl, June 3, 2009 at 5:54 am Link to this comment
If these Religious leaders names were Mohammad and were preaching from a Mosque- they would have all been rounded up and detained at Gitmo as enemy Combatants and Terrorists long ago.
Report thisAnd let’s be clear as to Who they are actually trying to terrorize and oppress- Women.
When BillO says “if you want to kill your baby just pay Tiller $5,000”...He’s insinuating that Women are blood thirsty murders who seduce the poor innocent men to get impregnanted just so they can sacrific the unborn…sounds very much like the accusations used during the Inquistion and Witch trials- Consorts of the Devil.Interesting the Testicles never warrant mention or responsiblity in these Holey Rollers logic.
And what makes their tactics any different than those in Afghanistan who are trying to deter (terrorize) girls away from attending School- destroy the School, assasinate the educators and attack those female students entering. has Acid been used in the attacks on Women entering these clinic yet? They’ve already Bombed clinics and assasinated the providers. Hell these terrorist are willing to bomb events not even related to the service - Atlanta Olympics.
These are also the same people who refuse to use education or encourage/offer Birth control to reduce or eliminate these unwanted pregnancies to avoid Abortions. They Want Woman to return to the days of Bare Foot and pregnant. Much like their kissing Cousins the Taliban.
These people not only hold the same misogynistic attitudes towards woman as the Taliban, they use the same murderous Terrorist tactics as AQ. Merely Calling them the ‘Christian Tailban’ falls short of the reality of what they truely are.Hell their ‘dancing in the streets’ after these murders is no different than when the radical Muslim Groups ‘danced in the Streets’ after 9/11.If fact, They raise there assasins up as if they have been Martyred.
Dr Hern(?) on Maddow stated the only thing difference between these’Christians’ and the Taiban is 8000 miles. I beg to differ- the only difference between these so called ‘Christians’ and Al Qaeda is 8000 miles.Seems these ‘Christians’ are nothing more than one of AQ’s ‘Sleeper Cells’ who truley “Hate US for our Freedoms”.
They state that they hear no sorrow for the 60,000 fetuses terminated- When in fact we have, by working to reduce the number of Unwanted pregnancies thus avoiding the use of abortions. Who seems to be the facilitators of Abortions- those who refuse to provided funding for Reproductive education and birth control.The Blood that is on the hands of these ‘Christians’ is not only from the Docs and innocent bystanders they have slaughtered in their blind religious zeal, but all the embryos & fetuses they helped create from instituting ignorance and blocking preventive methods.
By Inherit The Wind, June 3, 2009 at 4:55 am Link to this comment
These so-called “lone gunman” are clearly the IMF of the anti-abortion movement…“As usual, if you are apprehended, the Secretary will disavow all knowledge.”
That’s precisely what we see. They drum up passions with inflammatory language, then when the KKK-like murder happens, they denounce, but always with a “but…the victim was a shameless, godless, sadistic murderer of innocent angelic babies who deserved what he got…but we deplore his murder.”
I’m more afraid of one of these home-grown terrorists than I am of Al Qaeda.
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