Wednesday, August 13th, 2008...11:11 am
Breaking: Arkansas Democratic Party Chairman Shot
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Bill Gwatney, a former Arkansas State Senator and chairman of that state’s Democratic party, was shot this morning. Not too many details as of yet, but the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has a story.
UPDATE (2:24 PM): CNN is reporting that Mr. Gwatney has passed away.
9 Comments
August 13th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Now the man that came into the headquarters shooting is dead – we may never know his reasons… crazy! Of course my thoughts are with Mr. Gwatney and his family right now. How horrible.
August 13th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
RIP, Bill.
August 14th, 2008 at 7:22 am
Ted, why does Sharon have her signs deep inside District 1?
http://www.gilacourier.com/?p=35
August 14th, 2008 at 8:34 am
Scott,
Why is Carroll campaigning in LD 27? In another party’s primary?
August 14th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Scott, it is called WORK. People post signs to hit people driving to-from work….
August 14th, 2008 at 11:44 am
I suspect we will know the reason before too long.
The police have already said that this guy did not know Mr. Gwatney, and none of the people in the office recognized him.
The immediate trigger appears to be that he lost his job shortly before the shooting. Unemployment was also the trigger that set off a man who shot ‘liberals’ in a Unitarian church in Tennessee.
So while we should wait for the police investigation to finish before drawing any conclusions, it appears that propaganda that links liberals with job losses (despite verifiable statistics that more jobs have been created during Democratic administrations than Republican ones) may be driving some unemployed people who also happen to be inclined towards violence to believe that Democrats or liberals are responsible for their joblessness and act accordingly.
August 14th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
It is likely the result of successful Republican propaganda. Much sympathy to Mr. Gwatney’s family and friends.
I must say, however, that I’m not still not hearing much from the DNC that effectively counters the toxic messages that have poisoned our country.
August 15th, 2008 at 8:26 am
I agree with Italiana–when are the Dems going to start holding the R’s responsible for their poisonous messages that are now leading people down a path of destruction?
Come on, Charles Manson was jailed for his role in causing murder—I know outrageous comparison, but that was the prosecutions tactic to jail him.
It is always the locals that scare me far more than anyone in the middle east. RIP Bill.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Italiana and Bridget:
A better comparison than Charles Manson would be Sheikh Abdul al-Rahman (the ‘blind cleric’) who is in prison for inciting the first World Trade Center bombers to commit murder with his anti-American tirades in his mosque.
If I incite a mob to riot, then I can be tried for any damage they cause, even if I personally don’t take part in the riot.