The Tucson massacre: aTexan take.......

The Tucson shooter, Jared Laughner, is not known to the public. My take is that he suffers from psychological maladies that engender insecurity and paranoia and make him feel capable of and justified in righting perceived social ills. In a word, he is insane, although he may not be so judged by a jury of his peers.

Never mind, the guy is a nutter, acting alone and very much influenced by contemporary political and media rhetoric.

It is this rhetoric that has focused public attention. Both the political right and left are accused of employing martial and inflammatory phrases to characterize the personality, intent and disposition of public figures.

Yes, the Tea Party is a prime suspect, especially in the use of terminology in which individuals with whom they disagree should be placed in the cross hairs of public scrutiny and assaulted with the verbal weapons of our most articulate sharpshooters.

This accusation is not limited to the political right, but the new conservative movement including the Tea Party are very much guilty of employing inflammatory rhetoric. This includes Sarah Palen, Rush Limbaugh and a host of others.

I have long believed that their poison words will come to no social good and have long rued the inability of their opposition on the left to not refrain from responding in kind.