[quote name='mykevermin']In and of themselves, no.
But the violent rhetoric of the right, simultaneously promoted and denied by people like Glenn Beck, certainly influences people to do violent things. Think about that influence: the shooter is being lionized as a hero by *some* on the right.
Instead of being a moment of national solidarity, it's a moment where we continue to tear at our fresh political wounds. The inability to come together in sadness and out of respect for a public servant (much like was the case when Ted Kennedy died a year ago) shows that we live in a winner-takes-all society, and winners never back down. Winners never apologize, and winners are okay with bad things happening if it leads to good results for them.
The talking heads will deny it, but Beck is certainly partially a cause of the fact that a national politician can be the victim of an assassination attempt (for now), and people aren't universally appalled. I don't think he wants politicians to die, but I think he doesn't care, either. He's a whore. He's an entertainer. He'll say whatever it is you want him to that will make him a buck. He hypes products predicting the impending apocalypse on his program (you can't trust the US Dollar, buy gold; you can buy food storage BY THE YEAR for your bomb shelter from an advertiser on his show - not just a commercial advertiser, but an on-program advertiser that he does the voice work for). He screams about how our freedoms and liberties are being taken away from us by Obama and leftists. He promotes the looming apocalypse without saying the "a" word itself. An easily influenced person who listens to his show certainly fears the government, fears what the government is doing, hears the "tree of liberty/blood of tyrants" quote, and thinks of themselves as a martyr. He's not being vindictive, he's saving the United States from certain doom. In his mind.
People are afraid that Obama will "take their guns," and then people who share their political perspective kill half a dozen people and almost assassinate a Congresswoman. Yet that, if it leads to the introduction of some kind of weapons ban, the blame will be placed on Obama, not the person who tried to kill Gifford - and the ease/speed in which they were able to fire off 15-20 rounds of ammunition.
I can guarantee you that Congresspersons will now have Secret Service on them everywhere from probably-next-week forward through forever. At what cost to the taxpayer?
But I digress. Of course violence on the right is promoted. You can't say "Glenn Beck made this happen" and you can't say "Sarah Palin made this happen." But you can say that the fearmongering, apocalyptic foreshadowing, and violent/revolutionary rhetoric and see how the *culture* of the right in a winner-takes-all society promotes these kinds of violent acts.[/QUOTE]
Yes, but should asshats like Beck, Palin and (I know she wasn't mentioned, but I just have to throw her in there because I hate her most of all) Coulter be prevented from saying the retarded things that they say just because there are always going to be crazies out in the world who act on these things? That's a mighty steep slippery slope.