AR Democratic Party Chair Shooting
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A gunman entered the Arkansas Democratic Party headquarters Wednesday and shot the party chairman, who was hospitalized in critical condition, authorities said.
The gunman asked to speak to the party chairman, Bill Gwatney, and fired three shots at the office near the state Capitol. "He came in and went into this office and started shooting," police Lt. Terry Hastings told reporters near the party headquarters. Gwatney, a former legislator, was in critical condition, Hastings said. Party officials confirmed the victim was Gwatney.
The suspect was chased into Grant County, south of Little Rock, and apprehended after being shot, the police spokesman said. The suspect's condition and motive were not known. ...
Our thoughts and prayers go out for Bill Gwatney, his family.
Update via CNN:
The chairman of the Arkansas Democratic Party died Wednesday, hours after a shooting at the party's headquarters, according to a statement from former President Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
How unspeakably tragic.
Thoughts and prayers to his family.
10 to 1 odds that the suspect was a Faux watcher.
I read that the suspect died from his wounds. True?
I'd like to offer up my condolences as well. Absolutely senseless.
Liberal Derangment Syndrome?
I hope this guy lives so we can get his story.
Will they report this like they are with Edwards?
My sympathies go to his family. So very tragic. And unnecessary.
Aged Blue Lensman @ 3:
Now, lets not start this. It's pointless speculation and just makes the rest of us look like conspiracy nuts.
He has died. RIP
Is this yet another case of paleo/neo-con eliminationism?
Bettabuck...
Hate to say it, but what are the odds this is another GOP nutjob with a gun?
Seems to be happening with a lot of frequency these days, GOP guys killing others. Bush/Cheney have killed over 1 million in Iraq, and are responsible for about 2,000 deaths in Georgia (for encouraging Georgia to launch the genocidal attack). Then there are the types who spewe Rush and O'Reilly hate quotes, and then kill.
I wonder why the cops are taking so long to release the name of the killer...
the wrong to bear arms.
Charles Wilton @ 9:
The suspect or the victim?
RIP
leftminded @ 12:
The victim.
The Radical Right is a dangerous animal NEVER to be trusted.
leftminded @ 12:
Sadly, both.
OMG
Guy probably listened to Rush, Savage, and Hannity all day long.
I give up. I see the pendulum swing from the right has taken full effect and infected the crazies on this side of the spectrum as well.
krisken @ 19:
You mean the killer was a liberal, and not GOP? Or by "swing to the left" do you mean that you disagree with our speech? Does this make you want to get your gun?
So it goes. A Unitarian church group was just shot up because they are "liberal", and now this. Hate radio works, and the right wingnuts are going to keep murdering progressives. Time to arm ourselves (unfortunately).
My thoughts and prayers go out as well.
I hope that search this guy's place and find out what motivated him to do this. My biggest fear is that they'll find some more rightwing crap ala Limbaugh, Savage, and Fox Noise that might have compeled him to lose it.
I literally feel sick to my stomach over this.
The freaks are coming out of the woodwork and all the MSM wants to talk about is Edward's cock.
Horrifyingly tragic...best wishes & thoughts to the family, can't imagine.
The right wingnut/con-servative....a walking time bomb, simple as that.
Ok...so about my posting moniker....things like this make it easy to post under that name....
Better quadruple president Obama's presidential secret service security detail and put out an APB for Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly, Savage, and the rest of the multimillionaire magic bean sellers masquerading as megaphones for idiotic white males who can't think for themselves....
That's absolutely horrible. Best wishes to his family and friends.
Bart @ 20:
No, I'm saying that making unsubstantiated and stupid comments were once the providence of many people on the right. Do you feel better knowing you are now part of that crowd?
Tragic. My thoughts and prayers go to Mr Bill Gwatney's family and friends.
This reminds me of the murder of Harvey Milk and Mayor Moscone here in SF, also by a conservative. And then there was the church shooting last year. I will never be associated with such slime, yuck !!
Drilling Solves Nothing (aka right wing hater @ 24:
You kidding? They don't need to kill Obama. When you control elections, you don't have to kill the opposition, you just cheat to keep the office (see 2000 and 2004 elections...).
Dookiestix @ 22:
Ditto:
My prayers go out to the family and friends of Mr. Gwatney.
I hope that the shooter was just a wacko and not a reich-wing wacko...at least that would be more "normal" for America.
tyler82 @ 28:
Oops I meant church shooting last MONTH!
All we are saying is give peace a chance, some of my favorite lyrics. Today is so sad and my tears and prayers to his family. How sad.....How sad that a person can not have a political opinion without being called anti American. Guess the Dems need to cover each other's back. What a damn world we are living in. Won't even try to guess what this demented person was thinking. Lost a good friend Alan Berg from the same type of crime. Good God people, lets pull together to stop the insanity.
Rusty The One Shackleford @ 4:
Yes both dead. Very very tragic.
krisken @ 8:
Nope. Nice try. It's not a conspiracy when people are calling for torturing and murdering people out in the open... you know... like on air and in print?
The GOP doesn't care about human life. The NeoCons are truly criminals.
I'm with BlueLensemen. I'm also willing to bet 10 to 1 that the crazy man (read NeoCon hit man) was a Fox News watcher.
When the last insane right winger killed some liberals I said that we would see more of that kind of behaviors.
Sadly... I WAS RIGHT.
My bet is the shooter was an Ann Coulter groupie!
Via MSNBC....
Witnesses said the gunman entered the party offices shortly before noon and said he wanted to see Gwatney about volunteering. Party officials said the man forced his way into Gwatney's office and fired three shots, then fled in a blue truck.
"He said he was interested in volunteering, but that was obviously a lie," said 17-year-old party volunteer Sam Higginbotham. He said the man then pushed past employees to reach the chairman's office, where he fired three times.
Gwatney, a former state senator and a Hillary Rodham Clinton superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention this month in Denver, had served 10 years as a state senator.
Motive = right wingnut hysteria/lunacy...that good enough?
krisken @ 26:
It's not an "unsubstantiated comment" to wonder out loud whether this is yet another instance of rightwing nutjob with a gun going after "liberals." What are you, one of those rent-a-trolls the GOP has famously got working on sites like these? see this: http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/9835/rentatrollmu5.jpg
Another sad case of domestic terrorism
Let us all pray or hope that we can live in a society with opposing views are tolerated and violence is not used to force anyones agenda.
tyler82 @ 31:
There was a church shooting last year as well. The media tried to keep that one under wraps, so it was barely mentioned.
Very sorry to hear this kind of news.
I hope this wasn't politically motivated. If so - you really need to reform your media and put a tether on FOX.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26181389/
After the midday shooting, the suspect was chased into Grant County, south of the capital, and apprehended after being shot. Police fired at the man but it wasn't known whether he also suffered self-inflicted injuries.
Moments before the Democratic headquarters shooting, a man with a gun threatened the building manager of the Arkansas State Baptist Convention headquarters seven blocks east. It wasn't known if the incidents were related.
Dan Jordan, the denomination's business manager, said the building manager asked the man what was wrong and that he said "I lost my job."
Check it at TPM -- apparently Mr. Gwatney owned some auto dealerships, and the shooter had just been laid off last week. So that's what the investigation is zeroing in on. Not political, but some kind of perceived revenge.
Call me cynical, but I hope the shooter was a right-wing militia wackjob. That's called domestic terrorism.
Bart @ 37:
Bart...also agree with your election fraud...I just hope 'the math' is too much for them to steal it again...
I'm going to go with rent-a-troll...
Check it at TPM — apparently Mr. Gwatney owned some auto dealerships, and the shooter had just been laid off last week. So that’s what the investigation is zeroing in on. Not political, but some kind of perceived revenge.
You mean the dood blamed the Democrats for his economic pain?
JimboSlice @ 38:
Amen, although your moniker seems to pay homage to a rather crass and violent guy, Kimbo Slice.
Bart @ 37:
You obviously don't know me, so I'll let that comment slide.
I believe that when combating monsters, we have to be careful not to become one. Of course, you're welcome to your own speculation, but courtesy would dictate that we at least show proper respect to the man who died before trying to make a martyr out of him and labeling all who oppose our own ideology as blasphemers. This isn't a religion, and republicans aren't the enemy at our doors. Aggression has never convinced others. Maybe it's time you examine your methods and how effective they are in convincing others of the logic in your arguments?
Forget it. I'm out. I'll be back later when the sane people are back on again.
krisken @ 47:
Hey sweetie, when you start equating people wondering out loud on a discussion board with the GOP faking us into a devastating war, killing "liberals" at Unitarian churches, and otherwise lying for profit, then you obviously have a screw loose. I'm not here to "convince" anyone, least of all a GOP mole like you. I'm here to hang out with people who have a grasp of what's going on in the world, and who want to lament the sorry state of this corporate oligarchy called USA.
krisken @ 48:
We'll leave the light on for you...
Suggestion - listen to right wing nut talk radio for a few days and come back here and let us know if we're 'over-reacting'...or 'reaching' on this...
krisken @ 48:
Funny, that's what GOP-sters say when you try to argue with them and they have to try to defend their statements. "I'm out of here..." Uh-huh...
We live in an armed madhouse and unfortunately its the right wingers who are predominately armed and prone to violence.
My condolences to the victim's family.
krisken @ 26:
He walked into the Democratic party headquarters.. asked for the Democratic Party Chair.. and shot him 3 times in cold blood..
Do you honestly think that wasnt politically motivated? It sounds an awful lot like the guy who killed those poor people in the unitarian church... he had stacks of Hannity, Coulter and Limbaugh's writings. "Liberalism is a disease etc..." These people have gone past attacking liberals for their political beliefs.. people like Limbaugh daily attack liberals on a very personal basis.. they insist daily that Barack Obama is dangerous etc..
Is it really any wonder that some bitter individuals pick up on that and use it to direct the hatred they're harboring?
Flaming people in this thread is pretty morally questionable btw.. get your head straight.
Bart @ 51:
Or maybe it's that there's no reasoning with someone as far gone as you. Or maybe I am actually heading out of the house. Or maybe I'm insulted by your childish "sweetie" comment, even if I am a man. See, in my mind, you're the one trolling. I figure you're a GOP plant trying to give fodder to the O'Reilly/Malkin/Hannity whack jobs that we're such awful people posting on message boards. Of course, I could be wrong.
Bart @ 51:
Isn't that what Hannity said when Alan Colmes started to tell him about McShames affair?
LD @ 53:
All I'm saying is there isn't any proof yet. How hard is that to understand?
Geeze people. Refuse to be a partyline idiot like the loyal Bushies and all of a sudden you're a traitor.
I heard on CNN that there was another shooting in the area of a Baptist Church HQ- has anyone else heard that ? Also has the "shooters' Name been released or been made public?
Dhalgren @ 45:
No. Mr. Gwatney apparently was this guy's ex-boss. It appears he got laid off and it drove him off the deep end. So this tragedy doesn't appear to be politically motivated.
If you want to pick a bone with Republicans, though, the chairman of the Arkansas Republican Party released a condolence statement in which he referred to Mr. Gwatney as the chairman of the Arkansas "Democrat Party". Classy.
LD @ 53:
Correction: Via MSNBC….
Witnesses said the gunman entered the party offices shortly before noon and said he wanted to see Gwatney about volunteering. Party officials said the man forced his way into Gwatney’s office and fired three shots, then fled in a blue truck.
“He said he was interested in volunteering, but that was obviously a lie,” said 17-year-old party volunteer Sam Higginbotham. He said the man then pushed past employees to reach the chairman’s office, where he fired three times.
Anyone who is tired of the BS happening in the US is welcome to re-locate to Canada.
Actually -we need more people to vote our version of Bush out of office - and with global warming, our climate will be more like California in a few years!
Glad to have ya!
krisken @ 55:
Who cares what O'Reilly/Malkin/Hannity think? If they can't find something to rant about on an internet discussion board, they'll just post it themselves and rant about it. Ever heard of "false flags?" There's a lot of that going around the past 8 years.
Yeah, perhaps the nutjob killer wasn't politically involved and was just hearing God's voice in his ear, and there's not rightwing connection. But it's a sign of the times we live in when it's entirely plausible that this could be yet another rightwing nutjob murder. These are the values of the GOP, murder, mayhem, lying, stealing, no respect for life. If you think otherwise, then you must be a troll.
Idle speculation does nobody any good. Who knows what the guy listened to or read? Wait for the facts to (hopefully) come out and then make sure those fact stay straight, no matter what. That's the responsible thing to do, and that's one of the things that should distinguish us from the Right. Idle bullshitting ought to be left in their capable hands.
I know what I suspect, but all I can do for the moment is suspect it.
Ranchero @ 59:
Link to confirm this, please.
krisken @ 47:
Where the fuck have you been the last 7 plus years? The repubs ARE the enemy at the door. Lies, murder, graft, homophobia, misogyny, race baiting and on and on, destroying this country and the Constitution.
They deserve our utter contempt!
Jeon Ji-Yung @ 65:
Careful, they've already marked me as some trolling GOP plant. I'd hate for them to alienate anyone else for rational thinking.
Also...just saying....when was the last time you heard of a Republican being shot and killed/or attacked in this manner? Or any right wingnut GOPer?
Can't think of one...can anyone?
It's tha Liberual meidia!!!
I wonder what books the shooter kept on his shelf.
At what point will the racist and xenophobic hate-speech such as that offered by Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, and Michael Savage be recognized for what it is? Would they ever take responsibility for their actions?
Say what you want about the liberal leanings of Keith Olberman, Al Franken, and the majority of column writers and editorial staff at the NYT - when has one of their readers killed under their own partisan reasoning?
It is important for this nation that we have a strong two-party system, and therefore important that the Republican Party regain its footing and hold its head up high once again. The media that overtly and covertly supports the existing GOP line is not helping them and is proactively hurting the people of this great nation.
The sad days continue to pile up in us.
My deepest sympathies to the Gwatney family.
My question is what is the political atmosphere in Ark? Granted the gunman was a whack job but why did he take his revenge on Gwatney? Why not repubs? I know that's a dark and possibly morbidly stupid question. But I think questions about motives are natural after learning about such a shocking event.
Again, my condolences to the family.
Aged Blue Lensman @ 3:
Add white, middle-aged, NRA member to that. But there will be no menton of that, will there?
Jeon Ji-Yung @ 65:
Well put, Jeon Ji-Yung. You made the point that krisken was probably trying (un-artfully) to make. But idle speculation is our national pasttime. Just watch CNN, Faux or MSNBC, or read any of the rags these days. They're filled with rightwing idle speculation, passed off as "news." Same on web discussion boards, idle speculation is welcomed in fact.
I don't know if this guy was a deranged leftie, a deranged rightie or just someone pissed at the world in general but.. Well one thing is certain... Preventing posters fantasy comments pertaining to violence on blogs... any blogs... Does not necessarily preclude idiots, assholes and lunatics from taking violent actions.... Not to be contrued as giving this site a ration of crap... Just stating a fact.... My condolences to the family of the 'victim'.............. As to the purpose, politics, and other specifics of the perp??? Yea, we'll just have to wait and see if anything on that comes out......I would be willing to bet that IF it turns out he was a card carrying repub/NRA/fundamentalist religous type... I suspect that shit will be totally downplayed by our (in)famous MSM............JD
You will all just have to wait, and if the shooter is found to have his abode papered with Ann Coulter, Savage and their ilk, you will hear about it in a brief briefing, and that will be the end of it so far as the MSM is concerned, just like the Unitarian shooting. Old news in 24 hours, then Paris and Britney will be back on top.
'Tis hopeless...
Bart @ 63:
Actually, I'm glad you asked, because it made me go back to the source to fetch the URL. The article has since been updated, and in the update, it turns the guy was NOT a former employee. So the story is still evolving. Check the Arkansas Times site, and the direct link is http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/2008/08/capitol_ave_crime_sce...
End to the in-fighting--
Please stop saying nasty thiings to Krisken. All s/he was pointing out was that it's too early to theorize on possible political motivations for this crime. A man has been killed, and we can honour that by paying our repects first and foremost. When motive is discovered, *then* is the time to start commenting on the guy's politics. It sounds as though he was angry at his boss for losing his job. We don't need to start name-calling in our own sphere simply because somebody said 'pay your respects first'. And I believe Krisken is right: if somebody like Bill O'Reilly got wind of comments like 'It's Fox's/Bush's fault' and tomorrow it turns out the shooter was only angry because he'd lost his job, O'Reilly would use us to attack liberals for *weeks*.
Someone died. It's horrible.
We need to start there.
Condolences to his family, and to the whole country.
Liquid @ 74:
He. And yes, that's all I was proposing.
Drilling Solves Nothing (aka right wing hater) @ 65:
I think when one time when Cheney went hunting he shot a pheasant in the right wing.
let's stick to the issue - a man died...this thread is not about hatemongering , or nitpciking fights......it is about a man that was working at the Democratic HQ and was shot and died....it is a sad thing...for the staff and volunteers and his family....What motivated it and what really happened will come out in the next few days....
Ranchero @ 73:
Thanks for the link. Tim Johnson is the shooter's name, according to the link you provided (quoting unnamed sources). We'll see what unfolds.
krisken @ 55:
From the July 29 NYT: "A man who the police say entered a Unitarian Universalist church in Knoxville, Tenn., on Sunday and shot eight people, killing two, was motivated by a hatred for liberals and gay people, Chief Sterling P. Owen IV of the Knoxville Police Department said Monday."
A few other noted bits of right wing calls to violence:
Rush Limbaugh: "I tell people don't kill all the liberals. Leave enough so we can have two on every campus -- living fossils -- so we will never forget what these people stood for."
Stop the ACLU [post since removed]: Rope + Tree + ACLU Lawyer = Pinata
Ann Coulter: "We need somebody to put rat poisoning in Justice Stevens' creme brulee. ... That's just a joke, for you in the media."
Melanie Morgan: "A great deal of good could be done by arresting Bill Keller having him lined up against the wall and shot."
Lee Rogers: "[T]he day will come when unpleasant things are going to happen to a bunch of stupid liberals and it's going to be very amusing to watch."
Bill O'Reilly: They ought to hang this Soros guy.
So excuse people for seeing a pattern.
You don't have to be a conspiracy theorist to assume that this guy was a raging right wing fox "news" nutcase. Maybe the shooting was for different reasons altogether but keeping in mind the Fox "news" watcher who shot up a church last month because of their supposedley liberal policies and the daily blood soaked rantings of Michael Savage and the like, can anyone (anyone sane, that is) blame us for believing this to be the case?
Liquid @ 74:
Who cares what Fox might do or say? They make shit up. They don't care what actually is written.
And it's not "too early to theorize" on who killed the guy and why. This isn't the victim's discussion board where you would naturally keep it to condolences. This is a left-leaning site where people can get together and talk about the sorry state of things under the GOP, and where the occasional troll (or person posting as someone else) can throw in the other side...
It looks like the right-wing's attempt to dehumanize Democrats and liberals is coming to fruition. This shit needs to be parked where it belongs...at the doorstep of Faux News and Douche Limbaugh!
Cantor de Mambo @ 80:
I know there's a pattern. I'll be shouting at the top of my lungs as well if the information turns in that direction. I refuse, however, to be caught up in a whirlwind of negative emotions and stereotyping (there's a huge difference between Republican and Neocon) before I have any facts. I'm funny like that ;)
krisken @ 8:
No, you don't get it. The FAUX watchers are the conspiracy nuts, blaming the evil liberals for every wrong in the world. If you don't think that the 24/7 demonizing and hatemongering by limbaugh, oreilly and the rest of the propagandists has an affect on some desperate people, if you don't think that it doesn't manage to put them over the edge, you haven't been paying attention.
Of course, I'd love to be wrong about this...
I posted above asking if anyone else had heard that there had been a shooting/gun incident at a nearby Baptist Church ? I then did find it over at CNN:
"In Sheridan, Arkansas, where the chase ended, a crowd gathered near the suspect's blue pickup as police cordoned off the area with yellow crime-scene tape. What appeared to be bullet holes could be seen in the truck's windshield.
Before the pursuit, Hastings said, witnesses reported that the suspect entered a nearby Arkansas Baptist State Convention after the shooting and pointed a gun at an employee.
The man was "white as a sheet," convention official Dan Jordan said."
I don't know if the two incidents were related or not. And not much info has still not been released about the shooter...not that I can find anyways...( well, other than FOX saying it was "Tim Johnson"..I would like to see more info from another source.)
Bart @ 82:
It has nothing to do with what they say, it has everything to do with giving what they say substance. As a liberal, I will not be someone who gives the liars and message twisters a hook to hang their hat. That's what it is about.
When we are ruled by our emotions and not our minds, we've already lost.
krisken @ 84:
I know there's a pattern. I'll be shouting at the top of my lungs as well if the information turns in that direction. I refuse, however, to be caught up in a whirlwind of negative emotions and stereotyping (there's a huge difference between Republican and Neocon) before I have any facts. I'm funny like that ;)
Well good for you. Why don't you come back and join in the posting once the investigation is complete, the trial has been decided, and the killer pardoned by Bush. There's no sense in your being caught up in anything going on here.
krisken @ 84:
But not as funny as the church lady.
Condolences to both families.
krisken @ 87:
It has nothing to do with what they say, it has everything to do with giving what they say substance. As a liberal, I will not be someone who gives the liars and message twisters a hook to hang their hat. That's what it is about.
When we are ruled by our emotions and not our minds, we've already lost.
I thought you said you had to go somewhere and couldn't participate here anymore this afternoon...?
Diana @ 85:
I do get it. I really do. I just refuse to jump into the pond before I know if it has piranhas in it.
This makes right-wing voter suppression techniques look like a kid's birthday party by comparison.
Condolences to the chairman's family.
When will the right-wing mouthpieces have the grace to offer condolences? Or do they have to wait for a signal from HQ?
Bart @ 90:
I thought you said you had to go somewhere and couldn't participate here anymore this afternoon...?
You're right, I do. Sometimes speaking your mind takes precedence.
Darth_Romney @ 83:
It worked in Rwanda too.
My sympathies to Gwatney's family and friends.
Excerpts from Yahoo Article . . .
The Baptist Connection:
Police said they don't know the motive for the 51-year-old suspect, whose name has not been released. However, they said moments after the shooting, he pointed a handgun at the building manager at the nearby the Arkansas Baptist headquarters. He told the manager "I lost my job," said Dan Jordan, a Baptist convention official.
She needn't worry:
Karen Ray, executive director of the Republican Party of Arkansas, sent her workers home early "out of an abundance of caution."
krisken @ 84:
<blockquoteI know there's a pattern. I'll be shouting at the top of my lungs as well if the information turns in that direction. I refuse, however, to be caught up in a whirlwind of negative emotions and stereotyping (there's a huge difference between Republican and Neocon) before I have any facts. I'm funny like that ;)
I agree that people shouldn't jump to conclusions. Sometimes the closeted homosexual caught with a gay crack whore or soliciting sex with a boy is a conservative Democrat. But, let's face it, it's usually a Republican.
Not sure what the neocon v. Republican distinction is about in your comment. I'll agree that neocons are a subset of Republicans (in reality neocon is a euphamism for Fascist, but the fascists know that thier political philisophy needed re-branding and that they wouldn't get anywhere starting a third party, so they decided to take over the willing Republican party . . . sort of like when the Nazis "invaded" Austria).
I'm sorry in advance, but the first thing that crossed my mind was that this man seemingly has the same motive as the man who shot the people in the Tennessee church several weeks ago. As if some people were telling their followers to attack the librul democrats. Like I said from the outset, I apologize if this offends, but it's just what I thought.
dejah @ 92:
The chairperson of the Republican Party in Arkansas, Dennis Milligan, offered condolences, but referred to Gwatney as the "Democrat Party Chairman" (as pointed out above). Apparently condolences last half a sentence; whereas, juvenile party loyalty-based name-calling continues unabated.
tyler82 @ 28:
Hey all,
Be careful, I know this is making everyone furious. I spit out some bile on the post with Insanity Hannity foaming at the mouth. There is no information available as of five minutes ago on who this guy really is, and what his motive was.
Let's wait, then all meet up in D.C. for a protest of hate radio, if the worst becomes true. Time to get off our butts and hit the streets, brothers and sisters.
jimbojames @ 97:
That was my first thought, too.
krisken @ 47:
I just spent ten to fifteen minutes working on a post but wanted to refresh the comments before I did. Basically, krisken, I'm totally with you on this one. We do ourselves no good by being rude and making these accusations without all of the facts. We all know what kind of slime gets spewed by guys like Rush, Hannity, et. al. There very well could be a link here and I honestly wouldn't be totally shocked. Then again there might not be. Let's just wait and see. If there turns out to be a link, everyone can tell me that they told me so.
Bart, I don't see what exactly you hope to accomplish with your speculations.
Dookiestix @ 22:
Don't forget Glen (or is it Glenn) Beck. He's as bad as they come.
Old Billy Hussein @ 98:
I hadn't even noticed that. Unbelievable.
God, save me from "your people."
Drilling Solves Nothing (aka right wing hater) @ 65:
You mean besides when they shoot each other, like in their gay triangles?
Hey everyone:
I've had to turn to this on youtube quite a few times lately.
Youtube: Going to a town by Rufus Wainwright...........it suits the mood, trust me.
I'd link to it, but can't get it to work, sorry.
BrokenArrow @ 105:
What a great tune! THanks for the recommendation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUIsQo4K70Y
Lyrics:
"Going To A Town"
I'm going to a town that has already been burnt down
I'm going to a place that has already been disgraced
I'm gonna see some folks who have already been let down
I'm so tired of America
I'm gonna make it up for all of The Sunday Times
I'm gonna make it up for all of the nursery rhymes
They never really seem to want to tell the truth
I'm so tired of you, America
Making my own way home, ain't gonna be alone
I've got a life to lead, America
I've got a life to lead
Tell me, do you really think you go to hell for having loved?
Tell me, enough of thinking everything that you've done is good
I really need to know, after soaking the body of Jesus Christ in blood
I'm so tired of America
I really need to know
I may just never see you again, or might as well
You took advantage of a world that loved you well
I'm going to a town that has already been burnt down
I'm so tired of you, America
Making my own way home, ain't gonna be alone
I've got a life to lead, America
I've got a life to lead
I got a soul to feed
I got a dream to heed
And that's all I need
Making my own way home, ain't gonna be alone
I'm going to a town
That has already been burnt down
I am going with a GOP whack Job. Each and every one of you repug-licans, can thank your heros Oreilly and Rush for probably putting this idea into the guys head. Also the reason they don't release the shooters name is b/c we will find out that exact fact. That he was a mentally ill republican, who on the advise of some modern day nazi's decided the best way to get it off his chest is by shooting the lead democrat in hi s state.
FAO C&L moderators:
Leaving out the perspective that this man was an employee of a car dealership that Gwatney was part owner of, will lead many here at C&L to start screaming for the heads of Fox News, Limbaugh, Hannity and others.
You may want to update this story with that information. I've found it on other blogs already, so please check it out before it gets too out of hand here.
To have 200 comments here on C&L about how this guy was a victim of right-wing talk-radio smear merchants, only to find out that's not true at all, would be a horribly embarassing and tasteless thing to allow.
[The story is constantly changing. I read accounts that said the ex employee story was not true. As for the comments-they are the sole responsibility of the poster-Sitemonitor]
Let's get to the bottom of this crime. (You know we can't rely on the MSM.) Let's get to the bottom of the Anthrax attacks. Let's get to the bottom of the Bin Laden mystery. Let's get to the bottom of the Diebold software election fraud. Let's get to the bottom of the WMD claims. The Jeff Gannon story. The media SUCKS.
Bart @ 109:
You are welcome, and thank you so for providing the link. I got issues. Just makes me sob..........really sob.
Jesus Hussein Christ @ 111:
I left out the part where this man was just fired.
[The story is constantly changing. I read accounts that said the ex employee story was not true. As for the comments-they are the sole responsibility of the poster-Sitemonitor]
Yet another instance of right-wing terrorism on American soil.
Numinous @ 35:
Could not agree more-what has happened to our country? Shades of Nazi Germany.....
Jesus Hussein Christ @ 111:
Agreed.
Your blog will remain relevant only if you are aware of what this fellow says.
[Right. And all the stories say the guy was NOT an employee. Why do you find a story with no link to trump our story with many links? Sitemonitor]
Read the whole string, and I understand how quick we can be to judgment on motives and using our past experiences to predict the lunacy of this act.
I just wanted to add, when a nation has lost it's credibility, and you can't even trust the FBI and local law enforcement to give you the truth any longer....you tend to jump to conclusions as your only means of coping. (e.g. Kennedy assassination, anthrax suspect, Twin Tower collapse, etc.)
My money is riding on the nut crazed repug that sits in front of the propaganda network and has all the right wing stations punched in on his radio, but I could be wrong.
I heard the shooter was a 50 year old gun toting unemployed white male. Sounds like a Hannity/Limbaugh/O'Reilly fan to me.
Jesus Hussein Christ @ 114:
Link to this, please. Someone already said this, and linked to a source which had corrected the story and removed this. If you have this from a major news source, I'd like a link.
Hang on folks. Let's leave the hasty generalizations and unfounded attacks to the republicans. We are better and smarter than that. Maybe the guy did lose his job and was pissed to the point of snapping. Maybe not, but at least wait for some evidence to come out.
Don't be fooled: Jesus Hussein Christ @ 114 is just trying to earn enough John McCain points to redeem for an ashtray from Cindy's plane.
tio wally @ 122:
Yeah, see this link:
http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/9835/rentatrollmu5.jpg
How sad. My condolences to his family - I can't even imagine getting that phone call that my husband, who worked in an office, was shot and killed. Poor them, poor all of us.
As for the fact checking, this link quotes Lieutenant Hastings as saying the shooter was not
a former employee.Greetings to all here, by the way. I hope I did the link thing right - I usually just lurk and read. Rene
Jesus Hussein Christ @ 111:
Hey Zeus, What other blogs are carrying this info you talk about? I'd like to check them out.
Bart @ 120:
the sheriff said he wasn't a former employee!
this is a limbaugh hannity oreilly savage coulter apprentice
First a liberal church is attacked by a right wing nut job, now the chairman of the Arkansas Democratic Party. Amazing how those right wing nut jobs are so prone to violence. They're inspired by Limbaugh, Savage, Coulter, Hannity, O'Reilly, and a whole host of other right wing media folks. How many more will there be??
This is the THIRD incident of violence or potential violence against liberal democrats in the last few weeks....a shooting in a church, a man in a bounty hunter class arrested for threatening to shoot Obama in the head, and now this.
This is a waku-up call, people....I hope that goons like Savage, O'Liely and Hannity quickly realize that using terms like <strong>"The Stop the Radical Obama Express"and "We need to do whatever it takes to make sure Barak Obama doesn't become president" and "Everything we stand for in America will come to an end if Obama is elected" ...statements like these have the distinct potential to strike the tuning fork in the demented brain of the next Timothy McVeigh.
Personally, I am going to start contacting Hannity's advertisers....language like this is PROVEN to be dangerous.
The right-wing, mouth breathing racists are gonna be coming out of the woodwork between now and November. They're going ape shit over the possibility of an African-American Democrat becoming president.
I'm sorry this happened, but I'm not suprised.
I'd like to convey my condolences to the family of Bill Gwatney.
Words can't express what you must be going through.
Please take note that there are people out here thinking of you at this time of loss.
sincerely
ger.
Mary Fitz @ 116:
Not just shades. The NeoCons are using the full pallete of Nazi Idology. Remember that their top man (G. W. Bush) is the grandson of a Nazi supporter, who helped Nazi Germany kill Americans.... All while Making a tidy profit.
Thankfully, the FBI seized most of it, but not before getting a TON of evidence.
How that man escaped the electric chair is beyond me.
Lefts face facts. The NeoCon's are the drinking from the same well as the Nazis, and other fascists.
Spicegal @ 127:
Don't forget the hostage crisis at the New Hampshire headquarters of the HRC campaign last Nov.
Luckily, that one ended peacefully.
RE sitemonitor comment in 117: Kudos.
My first thought was the possiblity of local personal beef, which is partially supported by the guy losing his job
However, his losing his job may have a lot to do with the disastrous economic policies under the republicans leading to sky-rocketing gas cost (so the gas guzzlers that still predominate lots go unsold; there's also the credit crunch.)
However, the victim being an Obama super-delegate is an interesting feature. It could be an attack on Obama indirectly through an intermediary. I'd like to see bill o'really try to ambush interview Obama now.
Jeff @ 128:
I hope that everything the US stands for WILL come to an end if Obama is elected. But don't hold your breath. Anyone who would pull off false flag attacks on the US (the Bush Admin), go to war on phony grounds and kill a million (Bush again), and assassinate members of the US congress (likely Bush guys again) isn't going to go quietly, but will use their same dirty machine to hold onto power and keep on keepin' on. Evil won't leave power due to an "election."
I'm probably wrong about this( at least I hope I am) But I have this awful feeling that this guy is the same as the last one who shot up the Unitarian church.
I'm sure the cops have been through all of his possessions by now. There has to be more info out there now about this lunatic.
My condolences to his family. God bless.
An ER tech friend at UAMS in Little Rock said that Mr. Gwatney took one shot to the head and two shots to the chest.
That sounds like a deliberate target / execution style killing rather than a random act of violence.
Just my opinion.
Just an FYI, folks: it looks like the shooter, Tim Johnson, was previously employed at Gwatney's car dealership, so, it is quite possible, and likely, that this had to do with Johnson losing his job. So, probably not politically related.
My condolences to his family and friends.
How long will it take Fox and Liars to concoct a fairy tail story about how this gunman was really a closet gay-liberal and did it to make the right-wingers look bad?
"Obviously, the victim deserved it. If he had only listened to the heartfelt pleas to change his liberal ways and embrace the Real America, and stop appeasing the terrorists or Hitler or Stalin or the commies or illegal alien invaders....those Castro-loving, tree-huggin, spotted-friggin-owls, socialists....."
mudshark @ 136:
I think that the NeoCons will try to cover up the shooter's motives.
That's just my two cents.
Can we stop with the disgruntles employee stuff now?
"Immediately after the shooting, police sources said they were working to confirm tentative information that the suspect was a former employee of a Gwatney car dealership. The Little Rock police said, however, at an afternoon news conference that the shooter, whom they did not identify, was NOT a Gwatney employee and, so far as they knew, never had been, contrary to some reports mentioned here earlier in the day. Hastings said they hoped to learn from family more about Johnson's background."
http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/
This could be like the Unitarian church. It could be something absolutely unlike it. Innocent until proven guilty. Let's not make any snap judgment calls until the facts are in. Just because Saddam Hussein is an asshole doesn't mean he has weapons of mass destruction. Let's just wait for the facts, and take this moment to consider the possible scenarios here - all of them, even ones that don't suit our own political ends. Gotta be careful, lest we become that which we hate.
He wasn't a disgruntled employee!
http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/
Oh no, that's terrible. Condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.
William Teach @ 139:
he went into the office and asked to see the chairman of the party
2 shots to the torso and 1 well aimed head shot is known as "Mozambique". This guy was probably a practiced shot....maybe had some training. It is pretty much 100% effective at killing the intended target. That makes this even scarier as this kind of seems like a deliberate act of assassination instead of just some pissed off wacko.
Actually, this case tickled my brain.
I recall that there was an attack on a Hillary campaign headquarters in the last 6 months where a person was killed. Hillary was out of town at the time, and there were complaints she didn't make an announcment right away. But she travelled there right away, cancelled her campaign stops for the day, and issued an announcement after the victim's family was notified (to prevent their learning of the tragedy off the news.)
This seems to imply a potential connection with today's incidents, as well as the Universal Unitarian church shooting. The connection need not be causal, particularly when dealing with disturbed minds. Justice Murphy wrote a footnote to the Supreme Court Case decision A Book Named "John Cleland's Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure" v Attorney General of Massachusetts (1966):
"Heinrich Pommerenke, who was a rapist, abuser and mass slayer of women in Germany, was prompted to his series of ghastly deeds by Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments. During the scene of the Jewish women dancing about the Golden Calf, all the doubts of his life came clear: Women were the source of the world's trouble and it was his mission to both punish them for this and to execute them. John George Haigh, the British vampire who sucked his victims' blood through soda straws and dissolved their drained bodies in acid baths, first had his murder-inciting dreams and vampire-longings from watching the 'voluptious' procedure of--an Anglican High Church Service!"
It should be noted that John George Haigh was trying to build an insanity defense, which failed, and there was no evidence he drank blood, and he was hanged but Murphy's statement is clear. He claimed to have developed a thirst for blood when having it sermonized how Jesus shed his blood for us. It's useless to try to establish causal relationships between what someone of irrational mind reads and entertains themselves with, with their criminal acts.
However, the conservatives in free-speech cases did NOT favor Justice Oliver Wendell Holme's Clear and Present Danger test, and prefered the Justice Hand's (?) Bad Tendency test. So to not be interested in what todays killer read is inconsistent (liberal interest in knowing is inconsistent too), however, after the massive abuse of NSL's the past few years by the FBI, and the conservative's support thereof in the name of fighting terror, spotlights their inconsistency moreso.
Canuknotusa @ 117:
As you said the story keeps changing. But, this is really no excuse for so many here to be wanting the heads of wingnut talk-radio gasbags. (i guess this is where suddenly I'm a troll, or part of the GOP.)
As the police also mentioned:
"He reportedly made an irate visit to a dentist a year or so ago, but later returned to apologize."
Must've been one of those lunatic-left lib dentists!!!!!
And I don't want to sound like the comment-police here, but some of you people are pretty disgusting. Immediately trying to blame this on talk-radio asshats who had nothing to do with this. Even the most vile thing to come out of Sean Hannity's mouth doesn't mean he has bloody hands because some psycho killed someone.
this sums it up pretty well:
"As quick as some on this board sought to make it a political issue makes me wonder if they are secretly hoping it is."
Yep. Makes me wonder too.
Dookiestix @ 23:
You dont say
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