Associated Press
In the wake of tragic gun violence, most politicians realize the decent, responsible thing to do is send sympathies to those affected while leaving politics out of it. Others aren't as sensible.
After the Columbine massacre, for example, then-Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) blamed science textbooks for the murders: "Our school systems teach the children that they are nothing but glorified apes who are evolutionized [sic] out of some primordial soup."
In 2007, after the Virginia Tech massacre, Newt Gingrich blamed liberals for supporting "situation ethics," adding, "Yes, I think the fact is, if you look at the amount of violence we have in games that young people play at 7, 8, 10, 12, 15 years of age, if you look at the dehumanization, if you look at the fact that we refuse to say that we are, in fact, endowed by our creator, that our rights come from God, that if you kill somebody, you're committing an act of evil." Gingrich, explaining the VT tragedy, went on to condemn Halloween costumes and the McCain-Feingold campaign-finance law.
And this morning, after the slayings in Aurora, Louie Gohmert weighed in with some stupidity of his own.
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) said Friday that the shootings that took place in an Aurora, Colo. movie theater hours earlier were a result of "ongoing attacks on Judeo-Christian beliefs" and questioned why nobody else in the theater had a gun to take down the shooter.
During a radio interview on The Heritage Foundation's "Istook Live!" show, Gohmert was asked why he believes such senseless acts of violence take place. Gohmert responded by talking about the weakening of Christian values in the country.
"Some of us happen to believe that when our founders talked about guarding our virtue and freedom, that that was important," he said. "Whether it's John Adams saying our Constitution was made only for moral and religious people ... Ben Franklin, only a virtuous people are capable of freedom, as nations become corrupt and vicious they have more need of masters. We have been at war with the very pillars, the very foundation of this country."
"You know what really gets me, as a Christian, is to see the ongoing attacks on Judeo-Christian beliefs, and then some senseless crazy act of a derelict takes place."
I see. So, in the mind of this strange Republican congressman, a madman killed 12 people because of ... the separation of church and State? The First Amendment is to blame for a shooting spree in a movie theater?
If decency had any place in American politics, this would be an immediate career-ender for the ridiculous congressman from Texas. Some political missteps are simply unforgivable.
Update: Gohmert also wondered aloud why no one else in the theater was armed, complaining that the victims should have shot back.
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This statement from the quote in the post stands out to me:
"only a virtuous people are capable of freedom, as nations become corrupt and vicious they have more need of masters."
"...more need of masters"
WOW!!!!! - there is a good - solid American value!!!!!!!!!!!
The shooter must have been one of the "terror babies" he warned us about!!!
Wow, if only Jesus had a gun, he could have prevented himself from being crucified. Idiot!
It's unfathomable to me that anyone could think the outcome would have been better, if other people were also firing bullets in the dark, crowded, smoke-filled theater. As far as I'm concerned this homunculus is wading through corpses to pander to his base.
Why is it that so called chritian right extremists are the very people that profess their faith and therefore makes them and their ilk better then proceed to show what narrow minded ignorant selfish people they are? The very antithesis of supposedly christian values?
Christianity has no value(s)..
Today's Christians is not what I learned when I was growing up. Today they preach about an angry, intollerant, vengeful God, I learned about a loving and forgiving God. He loved ALL his children and there were NO EXCEPTIONS.
How do people like him (and there are many) keep getting elected to office? What does that say about the people voting for them.
Wasnt that John Adams' defense of the British after the Boston massacre? Feh.
It will probably turn out that, like the Gabby Giffords shooting, the carnage is primarily due to large-capacity clips. Also, the assault rifle. Both of which used to be banned under Federal law.
I always say that the only thing you need an assault rifle for is hunting people.
Having blown off steam at this idiot with a rant on another blog, I'm left to wonder at the imbecility of thinking what was really needed in this situation was more bullets coming from more directions.
Gigantic room filled with people, bizarre, flickering lighting and disorienting loud music and sound effects from the THX system, a twenty five degree slope to the room to maximize the number of human bodies between each bullet and its target. A sudden, unexpected outburst of violence to trigger a massive release of fight or flight hormones. Mass chaos. And, oh yeah, two or three or ten would-be heros who think they know how to use a gun because they've fired it at paper targets that aren't returning fire while wearing ear protection and pack it around hoping to be the hero in just such a scenario.
Right, Louie. Clearly what's going to happen under those circumstances is that each of the solid citizens exercising their sacred Constitutional right to pack around a nine millimeter penile extender everywhere they go is going to calmly draw, flick off the safety, correctly identify the target and then take him down with a single, perfect headshot from twenty or thirty yards away.
No way would that ever turn into a panic stricken six or ten way firefight with all the would-be heros misidentifying the other heros as evil killers and unloading their clips at each other, putting everyone else in the jam-packed theater into the middle of a six or ten way cross fire with no cover.
Idiot. Evil idiot. Reflexively unloading the NRA tripe without even once thinking that one of these days, the NRA "the answer is more people with more guns" mouthpieces are going to get what they ask for and the blood of every person massacred by a would-be Second Amendment hero will be on their hands. And, of course, they'll blame liberals and not lose a moment's sleep
Wish I had noticed your reply before I made mine - you made the gunslinger point far better than I did. I would hope that even the NRA would weigh in and exclaim "In there, under those circumstances??!?"
Can't be said often enough.
And nope. I guarantee you the NRA won't say that. I can hear Wayne LaPierre from here saying, "not on my watch, sister!
So, let me see... I'm a Christian so...let's arm ourselves to kill people. I'm a Christian so we should have had a good old fashioned shoot out...like at the Christian OK Corral.
It seems that being a Christian is optional and only applies when you're in a room of other Christians and only applies when you want to make a point that we should behave in un-Christian ways and then claim our Christianity supports it.
But when people are going hungry and have been victims - the Christian thing to do is to let them suffer because God helps those who help themselves which is found in the book of 'no bible ever written by man.'
i'm a Christian so government should stay out of my life. except when I want to carry an Uzi into a day care center - that's my God given right.
goodness, it's hard being republican and christian all at the same time - except when it's not.
These damned " PRETEND CHRISTIAN " right wing nuts need to " STFU ".
They are PATHETIC !!!!
I have to wonder what's taking so long for the dictionary to list "Gohmert" as a synonym for "stupid." He's a waste of oxygen.
Charles Starkweather (teenage spree killer) and Charles Whitman (UT belltower sniper) committed their crimes during the "family values" heyday of the 50's & 60's. Both were white, clean cut American boys who basically went nuts. If that's a gross oversimplification, I'm sorry, but it's frustrating to listen to morons like this guy who take a horrific act like this and force it through their Political Agenda Meat Grinder.
NO..I won't be tricked into believing that if we ALL have two opposit sex parents, go to the same church as everyone else and have plenty of guns to go around, that America will be just fine and dandy.
Some of the worst violence in the world has been committed by religion? What's the thinking here?
And people with guns at a Batman movie? What the hell would that be about? I'm thinking how Tony Soprano would really appreciate that. Bada boom, bada bing.
I agree that there is nothing "Judeo" in what this idiot thinks are "Judeo-Christian" beliefs. I also wish these crazies would stop using the words of the Founding Fathers as justification for their self-seving bigotry. Nine of those Founding Fathers were Freemasons, including George Washington, John Hancock and Benjamin Franklin, and whose members practice Buddhism, Sikhism, Hinduism, and Islam, as well as Christianity and Judaism. Mr. Gomert, Ms. Bachmann, and others of their ilk should be censored in the House for their irresponsible speech.
He says that the First Amendment caused it, and then derides the victims for not returning fire? Should the dead six year old have been suitably armed as well? The shooter was obviously not intending to die, so the NRA will discount him (“I have only five words for you: From my cold, dead hands.”
Charlton Heston (1923-2008)
U.S. actor and gun rights activist
May 19, 2001 speech at an NRA convention in Kansas City)
Personally, I prefer to write off Heston's far right turn and NRA activism to early stage Alzheimer's and let it rest.
Huh? when Jesus said "Thou shalt not kill", I'm pretty sure he meant everybody !! all this posting of 10 commandments by Extreme Christians, yet Jesus said all those are trumped by " my commandment to you is to love one another as I have loved you" where is it Christian to shoot anyone ? shooting back in a crowded dark panicked theater is just plain a crazy recipe to kill or maim more innocents. We should all take a hard look at violence in society and in what ways we produce so many angry unblanced people. It is totally awful to lash out with vitriole when we should be reaching out to victims and families and communities who have been attacked. By the way, I live in Blacksburg at VT and am a VaTech alum.
These politicians are an insult to the name of Judeo-Christian values. They have no idea of what that means. If I were religious I would start rebelling against what some are doing to religion. Why aren't you of faith speaking out against these people? To my way of thinking Judeo-Christian values would include mental health and social programs to help people and prevent this madness from happening in the first place. I doubt that Judeo-Christian values include handing everyone a gun and reverting back to the wild-wild west.
Wow, pots calling the kettle! It's not like the NRA hasn't underwritten each and every @!$%#ing one of them! Nah...
This man is the product of a Texas election........FILTH
maybe instead of toting guns everywhere, we should all invest in helmets and bullet proof vests.....to protect ourselves from all the "right thinking" nuts out there....perhaps the fashion designers could bring out spring and fall lines....
Gosh, I thought all tragic events were the fault of the gays.
Jesus wept.
The insensitivity is what Mia Angelo told you about when she said "When Someone Shows You Who They Are Believe Them"
Let's see. Assume for a moment that someone or another was packing in the theater, ready to take someone out if needed.
In the dark theater. In the dark, smokebombed-by-the-shooter theater, filled with panicked innocents. Is the Representative suggesting that he'd have taken that shot? If so, he's an even bigger moron than he's letting on, and that boggles the mind.
If someone there was armed, I thank them for not being stupid.
As i was reading this Gohmert nonesense i kept thinking of a line i heard on current tv last month bearing to the Healthcare Law.
I must say i have some queasiness reading about Rep. Gohmert.
I am always astound by the lack of compassion that so many from the right, portray.This inability to put oneself into somebody else's shoe is just psychopathic to me.
Why, Oh why can't this man ask himself this--What if my child or spouse or any relative had been a victim of this senseless shooting.
I hope nothing bad happens to Rep. Gohmert and his family,but one never knows,I can bet, all those victims had made plans for the week end,without knowing how their lives and those of their love ones would be changed forever.
I live in Columbine-valley Colorado,and i can feel how this act has awaken the community's memory of what happened here [long] ago.Many families still struggle till this day.
Christian Values do NOT comport with this madman's behavior. The behavior of much more reflective of GODLESS, anti-christian, anti-life (like the filicide supporters), anti-Liberty, and anti-pursuit of Happiness ideologies of the godless Utopian Statists whose immorality and lack of ethics derive from none other than Obama's heroes: Marx, Fanon, Mao, and the Marxist Professors at Columbia.
William, you don't have a clue as to Christian values. You are confusing Christian values with politics. Shame on you.