Democrats Remorseful Following Wednesday's Shooting.... Not

When Jared Loughner shot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords at a public event in Tucson several years ago the left-wing media, Democrats, President Obama, and the left in general blamed right-wing rhetoric, even singling out Sarah Palin for her comment about reloading instead of retreating if things got tough. Obama addressed the nation and said we needed to "tone down the rhetoric," meaning the shooting was the fault of the Republicans because of their statements.

Fast forward to 2016. Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton's running mate said during the campaign that Democrats need to "fight Republicans in the streets." So far in 2017 we've had a 'comedian' pretend to behead President Trump,  a rap  star pretending to shoot the President, a play in New York showing Trump being killed by his own staff, and countless celebrities denouncing Trump - some saying he should be taken out and one saying she wanted to "blow up the White House."

So on Wednesday, when a crazed Democrat, armed with a rifle and looking for Republican House members, went on a Republican shooting spree it was nice to see the leadership on the left take responsibility and tell their constituents to tone down their rhetoric that could be fueling the violent acts being committed.

Yeah right... in a perfect world. In reality, leaders on the left blame Donald Trump and the Republicans for the violence the left is wreaking on the right. Nancy Pelosi is apparently outraged by the fact that Republicans are, in part, blaming Democrats for the violent rhetoric coming from the left that certainly could be a factor for the shooter on Wednesday.

So when a Democrat gets shot (by a registered Democrat) the left blames "right-wing violent rhetoric." And when a Republican gets shot by a Democrat, who has voiced his hatred for Trump and the Republican Party very clearly, the Democrats blame Trump and Republicans for the left-wing violent rhetoric.

Sure, that makes sense, right?

Yesterday, CBS anchor Scott Pelley blamed Donald Trump's tweets about the main stream media for the violence. Pelley cited one tweet in particular.

"The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!"

How Pelley decided that this tweet made a crazed Bernie supporter want to shoot Republicans is beyond my grasp.

Disgraced former South Carolina governor turned U.S. Representative, Mark Sanford, also blamed Trump. He cited a statement by Trump during his campaign when Trump said he'd like to punch a protester in the face. Sanford, who suffered through a rocky governorship when it was discovered he had a mistress, also said Trump's statement about paying a supporter's legal bills if one of them punched the protester in the face. Again - how did that influence the shooter in any way?

More likely the shooter was influenced by the rhetoric from the left and by some of the internet groups he followed.

James Hodgkinson's choice of Facebook Groups are telling. He followed:

The Road To Hell Is Paved With Republicans
Join The Resistance Worldwide!!
Rachel Maddow For President 2020
The Democrats

He was also a member of the group "Terminate The Republican Party" and "I Hate Donald Trump."

I'd say that's enough reason to believe he was influenced by his own kind rather than the Republicans.

Twitter erupted with left-wing hatred following the shooting, with many liberals not only supporting Hodgkins' actions but praising him and voicing their wishes that he could have wounded or killed more Republicans. Tweets such as these below went on throughout the day.

The Only Good Fascist is a Dead One.”

“That’s a Shame but babies blown to bits at Sandy Hook was worse and Scalise takes money from the @NRA”

“If the shooter has a serious health condition then is taking potshots at the GOP leadership considered self defense?”

“If KKK support Steve Scalise dies, the shooter deserves a holiday, true leadership. Now the trumps, kush, & miller need to be transitioned.”

One Republican representative has even received death threats via letter.

Hey liberals... hate much?

It seems the Democrats in Washington have backed off of the rhetoric for now. But I have yet to see them call for their constituents nationwide to do the same. They just don't have it in them to say "The violent rhetoric on our side may have influenced the shootings on Wednesday and we need to stop it and return to civility. We are all Americans."

Not going to hold my breath for that...