Shooting Spurs Calls to Temper Political Heat

The mass shooting in Arizona that killed a federal judge and gravely wounded a Democratic congresswoman tripped a heated debate over political rhetoric and violence on Sunday.

Jonathan Weisman reports at wsj.com, a spokeswoman for former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin denied that targets superimposed on congressional districts on during the fall congressional campaigns were meant to be gun sights. The district of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, an Arizona Democrat who was shot in the head Saturday and who remains in critical condition, was included on the map.

The actions of an unstable individual shouldn't be blamed on a political movement or group, several Republican lawmakers said Sunday. "Of course, we want civility instead of incivility and, of course, we don't want violence. But, in all of the talk about this we have to be careful about imputing the motives or the actions of a deranged individual to any particular group of Americans who have their own political beliefs," Sen. Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.) said on CNN Sunday.

Conservative group Tea Party Nation in a statement Saturday decried the shooting.  "Congressman Giffords was a liberal, but that does not matter now. No one should be the victim of violence because of their political beliefs," it said. The statement added that, "no matter what the shooter's motivations where, the left is going to blame this on the Tea Party Movement."

But some Republicans, Democrats and those close to Ms. Giffords, said the shooting should yield a national moment of reflection after a season of political heat and violent imagery.

"This talk did not cause this crime. But this crime should summon us to some reflection on this talk. Better: This crime should summon us to a quiet collective resolution to cease this kind of talk and to cease to indulge those who engage in it," David Frum, a Republican and former speech writer for President George W. Bush, wrote on his website.

Newly elected House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) said Saturday he was "horrified by the senseless attack" and called the shooting "an attack on all who serve."

One of the focal points of the debate has been the use of what looked like cross hairs from a gun sight imposed over congressional districts, including Ms. Giffords's, by Ms. Palin's political action committee during the election campaign.

Palin spokeswoman Rebecca Mansour in a radio interview refuted allegations that the imagery was an incitement to violence.



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Giffords Story: A Lesson In Leaping To Conclusions (NPR.com)