Jared Loughner is undeniably a disturbed and unstable young man. I’m sure there will be articles, ‘in-depth’ TV exposes, public and private debates, medical and lay opinions, books, movies, blogs and tweets that will probe and sensationalize the tragedy of the “Tucson Massacre”. There will be outrage and real and feigned sadness and concern for the victims and their families. And then, like too many similar tragedies, time will soften its impact and any progressive sanity, (like the Brady Bill), will become marginalized. Lessons won’t be learned; not where the 1st and 2nd Amendments are concerned. We will not tackle the root cause, retreating instead into the comfort of our real national pastime, denial.

Almost immediately following the breaking news of Saturday’s shooting rampage, the common theme on TV and the Web was that, ‘heightened inflammatory rhetoric could be culpable for such acts of violence’, (referring mostly to rhetoric from the right, although everyone was trying to be very careful not to go there). And now that there is a ‘crazy’, beady-eyed, bald face to attach to the crime, the most responsible for stirring the cauldron of hate are stepping up one at a time to spin their version of denial:

Rush Limbaugh – “What Mr. Loughner knows is that he has the full support of a major political party in this country. He’s sitting there in jail. He knows what’s going on, he knows that… the Democrat party is attempting to find anybody but him to blame. He knows if he plays his cards right, he’s just a victim.” Way to ease the tension, Rush, when it’s you who are clearly one of Mr. Loughner’s accomplices for calling out to anyone who will listen to take a stand against the ‘…socialist, Jew-loving, friends of the lazy and shiftless, aka Democrats’ and restore America to real Americans. – DENIER

Glenn Beck – “I believe that people can be evil and people can be good. But it is up to them. No one else.” So, Glenn, why have you chosen to be evil? (Oh, and thanks for your thoughts on Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. But aren’t you concerned that people will look at this as a kind of reverse Frank Rich career move?) – DENIER-ER

Sarah Palin – “There are those who claim political rhetoric is to blame for the despicable act of this deranged, apparently apolitical criminal….pundits should not use a ‘Blood Libel’…that’s reprehensible!” You showed great restraint by stopping short of saying, ‘so why are you looking at me?’. But as the central speaker in rally after rally you have never shied from your “locked and loaded” analogies or your calls to “take back the country!” It’s one thing to give a speech and make up your own words, but to give a speech with real words without knowledge of their meaning? – QUEEN OF DENIAL

There were thousands of posts and public statements by some of the most irresponsible of the rhetoric-mongers looking to add gentle, though tardy, balance to their unbridled past diatribes. What was missing, (like John Boehner’s presence in Arizona), was ownership of and remorse for accountability. The case for Jerad Loughner being a singular, deranged perpetrator of a heinous crime seems more and more likely, but young minds, irrational minds even more so, are fueled by the unfiltered claptrap of those above and many, many others. What has become acceptable as a 1st Amendment right of speech and opinion has, in fact, become a jihadic affirmation of dangerously antisocial behavior. The urge to fulfill destiny by spraying a crowd of innocents with gunfire is no different than a suicidal bomber blazing to glory in a crowded marketplace. The bombers and shooters may be listening to revered living or dead mentors or imaginary head voices prodding them to action, but the words, the incendiary words…can’t be denied.

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President Obama – “…expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together.” – if only.