Shaming Arizona.

No surprises.

Sunday's shooting at a church in Knoxville, Tennessee is shocking in only one respect: That it doesn't happen more often. Turns out the uneducated, unemployed truck driver who walked into a unitarian church with a 12-gauge shotgun and 76 rounds of ammo is one of North America's millions of brainwashed, bitter and flagrantly hateful right-wing nutjobs who pin their failings on evil 'others' of every imaginable stripe. Police found a note that stated he 'hated the liberal movement' and was upset with 'liberals in general as well as gays'.

So of course he felt justified to murder a 60-year-old 'liberal male' and a 61-year-old 'liberal woman' and wounded six other 'liberal strangers'. Know what else his note said? That liberals have 'hamstrung America's war on terror'.

Give that man a primetime Fox News talk show!!!

My mom, brother and niece live outside of Knoxville. In my 20 years of traveling to East Tennessee I've met many people like this murderous loser who are encouraged by frothing right-wing radio and TV cretins to hate their countrymen and women for holding beliefs different to their own. It's no surprise whatsoever that police found this guy owned books by America's multi-millionaire preachers of hate and intolerance: O'Reilly, Savage, Hannity.

And I can tell you straight away -- there are millions of North Americans who believe what this guy did was long overdue.

I know the neighborhood where this shooting took place -- my brother and his wife rented a house among its tree-lined streets and multi-story brick homes before buying a home in the foothills of the nearby Smoky Mountains. It's no hillbilly haven: The University of Tennessee's sprawling campus is just down Kingston Pike and massive SUVs are parked outside upscale shops and restaurants for miles. So what was it about this church that set this nut-job off? It advocates for women's rights and gay rights, provides sanctuary for political refugees and feeds the homeless.

Again: It advocates for women's rights and gay rights, provides sanctuary for political refugees and feeds the homeless.

Liberal values all. Values I would be proud to stand up and call my own. And in the United States of America in 2008, values that can get you blown away by a shotgun-wielding madman.

Sad news.

Sen. Edward Kennedy has been diagnosed with an inoperable and cancerous brain tumor. The kid brother of JFK has spent his entire adult life representing the state of Massachusetts. Along the way he's suffered personal failures, been targeted by late-night comedians and vilified by Right Wing Haters as the living symbol of 'liberalism' in the U.S. To me, he's a sadly dying breed: A man of conviction and compassion.

WaPo comments were predictably filled with hateful rants. I posted this rebuttal:

Such is the world we live in: A man is diagnosed with an incurable brain tumor and the Right Wing Haters dance and sing and post in uppercase letters how indignant they are about this imperfect man receiving accolades for a life dedicated to public service.

Such brave patriots, these anonymous posters. Poking out of rat holes to celebrate the sadness of others, spreading their electronic flatulence, rejoicing in collective ignorance and hypocrisy. Such miserable cretins.

My condolences go out not just to the Kennedy family, but to future generations of U.S. citizens who will be forever scarred by the legitimization of Right Wing cowardice and dishonor.
5/20/2008 7:34:24 PM