Jared Loughner's Friend Says That He Was Not Political

It would seem that facts don't matter to many on the left side of the aisle regarding the horrific Tucson shootings, as they are trying to gain a political advantage from the fallout of this evil perpetrated by Jared Loughner.  Many folks are seemingly convinced, regardless of all of the evidence and witnesses to the contrary, that somehow it is the "hateful rhetoric" from the right that was the catalyst for this murderer's actions.  In one more fact to the contrary, which will inevitably be ignored by many on the left, Jared's former best friend says otherwise at about 2 minutes and 30 seconds into this 3-1/2 minute video below: 



The politicization of the actions of this kid who seemingly was mentally unstable and NOT responding to the "hate-filled" marching orders given to him by Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, or Sarah Palin is disgraceful.
The posturing and political grandstanding, particularly from the Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders, to gain political advantage over the deaths and injuries of these people borders on the ghoulish. 

I have had numerous debates on other blogs about this issue and almost invariably my leftist friends claim that the right needs to stop with their "hate and violence-inciting rhetoric", and in the rare instances where this has occurred I am in complete agreement.  However, I find it ironic and maddening that the left has been guilty of the same and worse and yet this is dismissed as fiction created by the right in order to exonerate their complicity in these murders.  Michelle Malkin wrote an excellent piece that absolutely destroys that notion, however, as she has an impressive list of leftists inciting or engaging in violence.

The bottom line is that everyone, particularly those with a public forum, need to be responsible in their speech.  Those listening need to take things in context and not twist the message or exaggerate the intent of the speech in order to try and gain advantage.  If someone truly does try to incite violence, then by all means, they should be called on it and publicly chastised at a minimum.

There is a reason why our Founders specifically placed Americans' right to free speech as our first amendment in the Bill of Rights.  Good, healthy, vigorous political debate is specifically to what they were referring and indeed it is this right when exercised that helps the best ideas to flower forth to help govern our nation.  Without this right to free speech, including that which we find as foolish or even repugnant, is necessary to maintaining the health of our representative republic.  We should all strive to listen to the words and the meaning behind the words of our fellow Americans and not twist them around in libelous or slanderous fashion simply because the strength of our own words and ideas might be lacking in comparison.

All Americans can and should come together to insist on such, while holding those people responsible that truly do attempt to incite violence.  There is no place for that in our country.