Politics of tragedy: Contrasting reactions to Tucson and Ft. Hood shootings

[Originally published at The US Report]

On Nov. 5, 2009, a US Army officer opened fire in a Fort Hood (Texas) medical facility, killing 13 and wounding 30. On Jan. 8, 2010, a man opened fire at a townhall-style event at a Tucson, Ariz. grocery store, killing 6 and wounding 20. Both events appear similar, but media reaction and impact are drastically different.

The sole suspect in the Fort Hood shooting is Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist. Eyewitness reports state that Hassan shouted “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is great) before opening fire on soldiers preparing to depart for Afghanistan.

The sole suspect in the Tucson shooting is Jared Lee Loughner, a 22-year-old who lived at home with his parents after being suspended from college. Loughner opened fire on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and constituents at a townhall-style event at a grocery store.

Both shooters used automatic pistols with high capacity (20- or 30-round) magazines. Loughner used a common 9mm Glock pistol, and Hasan used a 5.7mm FN Five-Seven, which fires bullets that can penetrate the body armor used by law enforcement. While the Tucson shooting has resulted in a surge forward on the gun control issue, there was virtually no push after the Fort Hood shooting, despite Hasan’s use of the so-called “cop killer” gun.

Americans were advised “not to jump to conclusions” on Hasan and his motivations. But in the immediate wake of the Loughner shooting, media parroted shameless politicians and activists who said that the shooter may have been a member of the U.S. military, or that the “anti-government” Tea Party, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, and other conservative radio hosts provided the motivation for the Loughner killings.

Meanwhile, the media made virtually no effort at all to bring attention to the Ft. Hood shooter who was a Muslim. Politicians repeatedly assured us that Hasan was a “lone wolf” terrorist, and to date have still not mentioned the well-documented Islamic motivations behind the massacre. The media did make the leap to suggest that Hasan suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder – despite the fact that he never went to war.

The Loughner shooting isn’t the first time public figures made quantum leaps to conclusions – New York City’s mayor Michael Bloomberg raced to the microphones to pin the 2010 Times Square bombing attempt on an opponent of health care legislation. Even terrorism is an opportunity to score cheap political points.

It appears that Loughner’s alleged right-wing motivations have been discredited by the facts (how many conservatives burn American flags and list The Communist Manifesto and Mein Kampf among their favorite books?), and that conservative media isn’t to blame (we have since learned that he didn’t listen to radio or watch television). Perhaps he wasn’t right or left, but just a nut with a gun. But the New York Times is still shamelessly pushing the issue, suggesting that Republican governor Jan Brewer and opposition to immigration and the health care bill created an environment conducive for politically-motivated mass murder.

As the facts begin to undermine the disinformation campaign being waged on the American people, it seems that “heated political rhetoric” is now the last remaining instrument of blame for those exploiting the tragedy.

If we want real examples of heated rhetoric (also known as constitutionally-protected free speech), we should look no further than those who have publicly wished for the deaths of George Bush, Dick Cheney, Rush Limbaugh, and many other Republicans or conservatives. Our president is guilty of this rhetoric himself, and his supporter Bill Ayers has gone so far as to bomb government buildings. But it appears that the so-called left and their allies in the media are about the only ones trying to take advantage of tragedies for political gain.

We can only speculate as to the media’s motivations behind covering for Hasan. Most likely, they would have used the Fort Hood shooting to push for gun control as well, but the Islamic factor likely carried far more baggage than would be acceptable, so this case was simply swept under the prayer rug.

However, we can clearly see that media and some politicians have taken full advantage of the Tucson murders – regardless of the facts – to push their political agenda: marginalizing and ultimately silencing their opponents in addition to stripping gun rights.

Apparently those in media and government will stoop to any level in order to accomplish their objectives.

Sources:

Hasan Ft. Hood shooting: ‘Secondary trauma’ to blame?
Time Magazine

Ft. Hood Jihadist consulted cleric about whether killing US soldiers was permitted under Islamic law
Jihad Watch

Governor strives to restore Arizona’s reputation
The New York Times

Obama: ‘If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun’
The Wall Street Journal