Shot in the Dark

Creeping Sanity

Watching The Today Show this morning, I saw very, very little talk about “vitriolic conservatives” in the coverage of the Giffords shooting.

And now, even the Arizona Republic is putting its foot down on Pima County sheriff Clarence Dupnik, a Democrat who blamed conservative rhetoric for the shooting before the blood had even dried at the Safeway.

Fair enough – he was emotional.  But then he repeated the charge yesterday.  And even the Republic is saying enough is enough:

And, in response, we have to say at last . . . enough. Enough attacks, sheriff. Enough vitriol. It is well past time for the sheriff of Pima County to get a grip on his emotions and remember his duty.

With each passing hour, we learn more about the 22-year-old suspect. And everything we learn adds to the profile of a deeply troubled young man detached from reality. There is nothing to date that suggests any partisan motivation for his crimes, whether right-wing or left.

Dupnik needs to recall that he is elected to be a lawman. With each additional comment, the Democratic sheriff of Pima County is revealing his agenda as partisan, and, as such, every bit as recklessly antagonistic as the talk-show hosts and politicians he chooses to decry.

When even some parts of the mainstream media (we know, the NYTimes is beyond hope) get it, maybe there’s some hope.

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Mitch Berg

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22 responses to “Creeping Sanity”

  1. bosshoss429 Avatar
    bosshoss429

    From what I remember from past rips to AZ, the Republic seemed to be a little more balanced than most fishwrappers, but then, the last time I read it was in 2003.

  2. MyGovIsNuts Avatar
    MyGovIsNuts

    There’s a very simple answer for why Deputy Dimwit (Dupnik) is spewing what he’s doing….you KNOW he’s covering up for all the signals and signs that his department ignored about this guy.

  3. Kermit Avatar
    Kermit

    You can’t really blame the Sheriff. Deeply troubled and detached from reality is the way liberals seem to define most people that disagree with them.

  4. MyGovIsNuts Avatar
    MyGovIsNuts

    Rule #1: If you really want law-and-order, never elect a DemocRAT as sheriff. Instead of protecting the public from criminals, all they seem to want to do is run to the nearest microphone and whine. On a side note, does anyone know who the current glory-seeking microphone hound in the Mn State House, now that Laura Brod is gone?

  5. nate Avatar
    nate

    This is the same guy who said in April that Arizona’s new immigration law was stupid and he wouldn’t enforce it, despite that whole “oath” thing he did when he took the job.

    Idiot.

    .

  6. Johnny Roosh Avatar
    Johnny Roosh

    I heard on the radio today that in fact the Sheriff was aware of this person as being dangerous to himself and others and his department may end up sharing some of the blame for allowing the perp to circulate.

  7. Dog Gone Avatar
    Dog Gone

    This seems to be a sheriff who only takes action against people who are actually doing something wrong. It is not up to the sheriff to intervene in this man’s mental health care, including forcing any kind of evaluation.

    What exactly would you suggest that the sheriff DO with this person, prior to his doing anything illegal?

    This man’s mental status SHOULD have been on the computer list which would have prevented him from buying a weapon. It isn’t because Arizona is behind on getting those names data-entered. THAT is not the sheriff’s job. But so long as the state doesn’t fund getting caught up with that list in order to prevent people from buying guns who should not, this could happen again.

    Who should be blamed for not funding this? Pretty much the same people who funded the Arizona ‘death panel’ decision about health care, under which two actual people, not hypothetical people have died. I think the deaths on Saturday could be attributed to the same lack of funding existing provisions, laws, legislation, etc.

    Good for you, Sheriff D., for previously refusing to enforce a law he believed would be unconstitutional in many of it’s provisions, until after a court made a determination. Most of those very provisions were found to be bad by the courts, and they were ordered NOT to be enforced.

    That sure seems consistent to me with his oath. Hmmmmm isn’t that exactly the kind of thing the oathkeepers encourage people to do? NOT enforce unconstitutional laws that conflict with their oat?

  8. Dog Gone Avatar
    Dog Gone

    Apparently Roger Ailes at Fox News disagrees with you.
    http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/11/ailes-to-fox-anchors-tone-it-down/?nl=afternoonupdate&emc=aua2

  9. bubbasan Avatar
    bubbasan

    To help Doggone out, reality here is that the man can only be put on a “no buy” list when he has had some sort of due process, which it could have been well within his power to initiate.

  10. Kermit Avatar
    Kermit

    Speaking of Roger Ailes, where’s that FACTCHECK about what you accused Fox News of saying about the AZ nutjob, Dog?

    Then you can explain exactly which “of those very provisions were found to be “bad” by the courts, and they were ordered NOT to be enforced. Which ones, exactly?
    “Bad”. That’s a new legal term. Could we get a definition from Learned Foot?
    FACTCHECK time again.

  11. Terry Avatar
    Terry

    Dog Gone, if you are refering to AZ’s decision to defund certain very expensive surgeries paid for by medicaid, what is your point?
    Do you really think that there is enough money to pay for the healthcare of everyone? This is a harbinger of things to come under Obamacare.

  12. Bill C Avatar
    Bill C

    Good for you, Sheriff D., for previously refusing to enforce a law he believed would be unconstitutional in many of it’s provisions, until after a court made a determination.

    In other words, dereliction of duty. It is NOT his job to interpret the law or decide which laws are constitutional or not. He swore an oath to uphold the laws as written, not as he saw fit. In addition, he made reckless, potentially jury tainting comments regarding the “vitriol” and “tone” from people like Rush Limbaugh. He gave the defense attorney the best Christmas present he could have given. But since he has been elevated from simple law enforcement officer to politician, as is often the case, duty gets thrown under the bus in favor of his political career.

  13. Nachman Avatar
    Nachman

    Dog Gone:

    When I was a cop in NY, I used NYS Mental Hygiene Law 9.41 to bring someone into psych emergency. Arizona has a similiar statute, 36-525 sub B:

    “a peace officer may take into custody any individual he has probable cause to believe, based on his own observations, is, as a result of mental disorder, a danger to self or others…”

    As with the subject of Israel, you are ignorant.

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  15. bosshoss429 Avatar
    bosshoss429

    Yup, Doggy, once again, you screwed the pooch with your drivel.

    Bill C expresses my sentiments exactly! I’m sure that there are some legal provisions in every state’s batch of laws, to remove an idiot like Sheriff Dumbnik, for failure to enforce the laws that he swore to uphold. At the least, he should be tried and convicted of dereliction of duty.

    I wonder what your take would have been on Deputy Dawg if he had been a GOP member? I’ll give everyone 3 guesses and the first 2 don’t count.

  16. bosshoss429 Avatar
    bosshoss429

    I would also like to give some kudos to Barbara Walters for her comments about this tragic incident and defending Sarah Palin, to a point. She did mention that the map with the crosshairs was a bad idea.

    She loses points for not pointing out that the Dimwads used targets over GOP districts, before the crosshairs map came out.

  17. jpmn Avatar
    jpmn

    Dog Gone says “This seems to be a sheriff who only takes action against people who are actually doing something wrong.”

    It has been reported that this nut job has made Death threats to other people before. That the Sherriff’s office has pooh poohed those threats and encouraged those threatened not to press charges.

    Making Death Threats may not be “doing something wrong” in your eyes but, I think most people would disagree.

  18. justplainangry Avatar
    justplainangry

    Making Death Threats may not be “doing something wrong” in your eyes but, I think most people would disagree.

    Those threats must not have been made against the DumbocRATS, so of course, they were ignored.

  19. Kermit Avatar
    Kermit

    Making a movie about assassinating George W. Bush was just fine by the Rational Left in Congress and the Media. No vitriol there, nope. It sent a thrill down their leg (or something).

  20. jpmn Avatar
    jpmn

    From NPR__________Loughner, 22, who is in law enforcement custody, lives near the scene of the shooting, which killed six people and injured at least a dozen others, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik said there’s reason to believe Loughner has “a mental issue” and described him as “unhinged.” Dupnik said he believed Giffords was the target of the attack.

    “As we understand it, there have been law enforcement contacts with the individual where he made threats to kill,” Dupnik said during a press conference Saturday evening. But he wouldn’t say who those threats were aimed at._________________

    Dupnik admits on NPR that the suspect had made Death threats. Somehow those threats didn’t result in Felony charges. If Felony charges had been brought up against this guy he would not have passed a NICS check wether the case was pending or if he was found not guilty because of insanity.

    An FFL dealer would not have sold him the gun had the Sheriff followed up on those alledged Death threats. Dupnik isn’t responsible for this but he and his office possibly could have stopped it before it happened.

  21. Bill C Avatar
    Bill C

    Dupnik isn’t responsible for this but he and his office possibly could have stopped it before it happened.

    Based on what you said about his admission of death threats, jpmn, he’s a hell of a lot more responsible for this incident than Sarah Palin EVER was.

    (Which she wasn’t at all)

  22. nate Avatar
    nate

    Maybe Dupnik didn’t like that law, either, so he’s decided not to enforce it, hoping that it’s found unconstitutional someday, as he did with the immigration law.

    That would make everything okay, right Dog Gone? Because local Sheriffs should be praised for picking and choosing which laws they’ll enforce, rather than upholding and unforcing ALL the laws.

    .

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