This is exactly why I am loathe to spend even a dime in the state of Aryzona. When we went through a on our last trip to Texas from Nevada, we tried to only buy gas and some quick drinks and snacks.

The place is a mass bucket of hate. I’ve been there to do projects at my old job many a time and it has gotten much more angry and vile in just a short period of time.

I’ve had to unfriend people I know who live there who have turned into angry bigots and use a twisted form of Christianity to justify it. The culture of the place is apparently built to make hate a viable source of life, like oxygen.

They keep making heroes out of people dedicated to humiliating others, to making skin color a crime. Jan Brewer. Joe Arpaio. Jon Kyl. That Trent Franks asshole who keeps pushing conservative talking points instead of concentrating on how his fellow legislator was the target of a terrorist attack. That quisling McCain who gave us the glory that is Sarah Palin and refused to muzzle her violent hate speech when he had a chance.

Don’t get me wrong. The Grand Canyon is beautiful. Tucson is an interesting place. Flagstaff is gorgeous. Payson is a great place to relax.

Snowball is, however, full of assholes.

And apparently, so is much of the rest of the place.

Comedy Central video link

Some conservatives are spending more time attacking Sheriff Dupnik than in listening to what he is saying.

He named no names, though admittedly you can read between the lines, and is asking us to tone down our rhetoric.That’s it. The guy is asking for responsibility and a bit of civility…and he’s getting attacked for it.

Here is a writeup on what sheriffs in Aryzona SHOULD be like, instead of the racist Arpaio up the road.

Nate Silver doesn’t know what motivated random three-named-white-guy to go on a gun rampage in Tucson. Hell, no one really does though we all have our theories to what did not help.

What is more telling is that the rates of death threats and violent incidents against our elected officials is way, way up. Like hundreds of percentage points up.

Is it because of irresponsible hate speech? The fact that the president is a black man? Crowding psychosis? Who knows. But we should do what we can to try to remove and reduce any violent speak that may contribute to that culture.

This is the conservative game of kill the messenger.

Without naming a single name, Sheriff Dupnik put himself on the conservative hitlist, literally or figuratively remains to be seen.

All the man said is that violent speech may lead to violent behavior and if we don’t quit the former we’re going to get more of the latter.

Now the offended – remember, no one was singled out – are screaming for his head and trying to get him run out of office.

Kind of makes you think he had a point, no?

It should not matter that Jared Lee Loughner is a Republican. A whack job with a gun killed people and his party affiliation didn’t restrain him.

That said, so many Republicans are playing the “not me” game and talking about how only Liberals kill that it is instructive to point out that they’ve got their own loons. This guy *might* be one of them.

And if he isn’t, then how about Timothy McVeigh? Or even the asshole who flew a plane in the IRS building in Austin?

Or how about all these domestic terrorists?

Hate is hate and you need to condemn those who push it as a tool for political gain. THAT is the message and anyone being too defensive about it is probably somehow responsible as well.

We’ve heard about the unknown nitwit who shot up Congresswoman Giffords’ office last year, but that was one of many real or threatened gun incidents last year.

What I did not know was that her office was shot up after a local Tea Bagger there said those who supported the heath care bill should have their windows smashed. Not sure where I read that but I don’t have it handy.

So yeah, there’s no direct link between telling people the president is a socialist, illegal alien Kenyan who wants to take your guns and that the country is run by Democrats who need to be “targeted” with “Second Amendment remedies” but it sure the hell doesn’t look good either.

This needs said.

By more people. In more places.