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If it turns out that this video was in fact posted by the same Jared Loughner who is suspected of shooting Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona, then we have some sense of his politics. As Ben Smith notes:

“You don’t have to accept the federalist laws,” the video above says; It also insists on the gold and silver standard, talks of revolution, and suggests that the government is imposing “mind control and brainwash on the people by controlling grammar.”

There’s also a clear sense, from watching the above video, that its creator is, at the very least, somewhat paranoid—and perhaps ready to act on his paranoia and anti-government feelings. “I am a terrorist,” says one of the lines in the video.

The question: If the culture were filled with more statements like this, from Bill Clinton in 1995 (and via an e-mail from another journalist), instead of with rhetoric that seems to stoke the kind of anti-government paranoia on display above, would what happened yesterday have turned out any differently?

So I say this to the militias and all others who believe that the greatest threat to freedom comes from the Government instead of from those who would take away our freedom: If you say violence is an acceptable way to make change, you are wrong. If you say that Government is in a conspiracy to take your freedom away, you are just plain wrong. If you treat law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line for your safety every day like some kind of enemy army to be suspected, derided, and if they should enforce the law against you, to be shot, you are wrong. If you appropriate our sacred symbols for paranoid purposes and compare yourselves to colonial militias who fought for the democracy you now rail against, you are wrong. How dare you suggest that we in the freest nation on Earth live in tyranny! How dare you call yourselves patriots and heroes!

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, speaking in Arizona, seems to be pondering the same question:

When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government. The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous. And, unfortunately, Arizona I think has become sort of the capital. We have become the Mecca for prejudice and bigotry.

It’s not unusual for all public officials to get threats constantly, myself included. And that’s the sad thing of what’s going on in America. Pretty soon, we’re not going to be able to find reasonable, decent people who are willing to subject themselves to serve in public office.

UPDATE: Loughner Linked to Anti-Semitic Hate Group?

More on the politics of Jared Loughner, via a leaked Department of Homeland Security memo obtained by FOX News:

Strong suspicion is being directed at AmRen / American Renaissance. Suspect is possibly linked to this group. (through videos posted on his myspace and YouTube account.). The group’s ideology is anti government, anti immigration, anti ZOG (Zionist Occupational Government), anti Semitic. Gabrielle Gifford is the first Jewish female elected to such a high position in the US government. She was also opposite this group’s ideology when it came to immigration debate.

The question remains: To the extent that Jared Loughner has a coherent right wing political philosophy, where did it come from (there are reports that he used to be left leaning), and did this political philosophy become part of his internal justification for the actions he allegedly took yesterday?

Eli Sanders is The Stranger's associate editor. His book, "While the City Slept," was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. He once did this and once won this,...

10 replies on “The Politics of Jared Loughner”

  1. Re: the leaked memo, not surprising if true. Expect elements of the far right to start claiming he was some kind of Obama-sent Manchurian Candidate meant to make them look bad and allow a crackdown.

  2. Yeah! Law enforcement and government NEVER violate our rights! They ALWAYS give us MORE FREEDOM! FUCK YEAH! People should be nothing but greatful to their dear leaders for all the freedom they’ve been given!

    Can we drop the freest country in the world crap? You can’t even quantify freedom. It’s a slogan with no meaning. It’s only purpose is to make old conservatives feel tingly in their underpants.

    This tragedy doesn’t change the fact that the US government is filled with arguably some of the most violent psychotics on the face of the planet. It doesn’t change the fact that Gulet Mohamed, a teenage American citizen, is being tortured and refused entry back into his country by the Obama administration–without any accusation of wrongdoing whatsoever. They slaughter innocents with drones, ruin lives with draconian drug war policies, spy on their citizens while insisting everything they do be completely secret, rack up debt, refuse to hold bankers accountable for defrauding much of the country and nearly driving us all to live in tent cities… should I go on? At best, it’s an incompotent organization that is completely out-of-touch with the results of their decisions; at worst, it’s pure fucking evil, like the Empire in Star Wars.

    Violence is never an acceptable method of achieving political change. But there’s something nearly as ugly as mindless submission like the kind in this blog post. I think I just vomited on my keyboard. I think Bill or Eli owe me a new one.

  4. His politics seems to be “nutbag”. Anyone who has a close friend or loved-one with a serious mental disease, such as schizophrenia, who is literally delusional, knows that politics have nothing to do with nothing. They see conspiracies everywhere. If you’ve talked to people with serious diseases like this, then you’ve heard this sort of incoherent “logic” before. This should be a health and safety issue, not a political issue.

  5. Before the official version of this story is cemented into the public consciousness, giving the feds and homeland security a nice fat blank check to further clamp down on gun laws, and civil liberties let’s consider a few things:

    Eye witness accounts describe a “Caucasian male, approximately 40-50 years old with dark hair” accompanying Loughner, and may have given him a ride to the supermarket. The FBI is looking for this man, who they state “may have been connected to the murders”.

    Early in the Oklahoma City bombing case, the FBI was looking for a second man, described as John Doe 2. Police sketches of the man were released to the media. The FBI later admitted it had did not disclose evidence about informants who claimed Timothy McVeigh had additional accomplices. “Filings in the case also revealed the existence of at least four informants who were part of the Oklahoma City bombing investigation, including the one working undercover and another under an explicit confidentiality agreement”. http://intelwire.egoplex.co/2006_03_30_exc&hellip;

    Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, the “underwear” bomber was delivered to the airport and placed on the plane by a “sharp dressed man” who had influence with airport authorities. http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ss&hellip;
    He was also suspiciously removed from a terror watch list prior to the flight. This event brought in the now popularized “naked body scanners” into our public airports. Former homeland security director Michael Chertoff made millions aggressively promoting the scanners, and consulting for OMI systems, the manufacturer of the scanners a year prior to the “underwear bombing”.

    Loughner probably was a lone nut, but there are already parallels to these other events that I have barley scratched the surface of. These are just two events where the official story is dubious under scrutiny, and the solution was pre-determined, not to mention countless others.

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