Leaders: 'Despicable' act has nothing to do with activist opposition
Tea party activists condemned today’s shooting and said they are concerned that the act will be blamed on their movement.
“A lot of people have bets on how long it will take before they blame this on the tea party and that’s absolutely ridiculous,” Debbie Dooley, a national coordinator for Tea Party Patriots, told Congress.org.
The national coalition group condemned the attack on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), who was shot while meeting with constituents outside a Tucson Safeway. The group also called on activists through Facebook to pray for the victims and their families.
“This heinous act will change the interaction between elected officials and their constituents,” the group’s Facebook wall said. “People also pray for the safety of congressmen, senators, President Obama and other elected officials in the aftermath of this shooting.”
Elsewhere on the social networking site, users blamed tea-party leader Sarah Palin for stoking anger against Giffords.
“This tragedy rests sorely [sic] on your doorstep Ms. Palin,” Bartholomew Hayes wrote in one post. “Your irresponsible rhetoric has brought senseless violence against the American people.”
Tea partyers said such finger pointing was “nonsense.”
“Does that mean there can never be a political opposition to anything,” Randy Lewis, a Patriots spokesman, said. “It is so wrong and inappropriate on either side for people to take incidents like this and try to spin them to some political advantage.”
In Arizona, where the Pima County Tea Party Patriots had held a “retirement party” for Giffords ahead of midterm elections, activist Karen Schutte-Rossman said she was numb.
“It was a couple blocks from where we live,” Schutte-Rossman said. “We don’t have things like this happen here. No one promotes violence that I know of in the tea party.”
-- Ambreen Ali, Congress.org
“A lot of people have bets on how long it will take before they blame this on the tea party and that’s absolutely ridiculous,” Debbie Dooley, a national coordinator for Tea Party Patriots, told Congress.org.
The national coalition group condemned the attack on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), who was shot while meeting with constituents outside a Tucson Safeway. The group also called on activists through Facebook to pray for the victims and their families.
“This heinous act will change the interaction between elected officials and their constituents,” the group’s Facebook wall said. “People also pray for the safety of congressmen, senators, President Obama and other elected officials in the aftermath of this shooting.”
Elsewhere on the social networking site, users blamed tea-party leader Sarah Palin for stoking anger against Giffords.
“This tragedy rests sorely [sic] on your doorstep Ms. Palin,” Bartholomew Hayes wrote in one post. “Your irresponsible rhetoric has brought senseless violence against the American people.”
Tea partyers said such finger pointing was “nonsense.”
“Does that mean there can never be a political opposition to anything,” Randy Lewis, a Patriots spokesman, said. “It is so wrong and inappropriate on either side for people to take incidents like this and try to spin them to some political advantage.”
In Arizona, where the Pima County Tea Party Patriots had held a “retirement party” for Giffords ahead of midterm elections, activist Karen Schutte-Rossman said she was numb.
“It was a couple blocks from where we live,” Schutte-Rossman said. “We don’t have things like this happen here. No one promotes violence that I know of in the tea party.”
-- Ambreen Ali, Congress.org
It only been a matter of time before the Tea Party hate, rhetoric and the constant call to arms by Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Sarah Palin. The republican party and the tea party are joined at the hip with mindless lies and out outlandish conspiracy theories that feed the minds of the ignorant and the bigot. I am saddened but not surprised, our house is divided by politicians and zealots.
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