DEMOCRATS AND Republicans have both been calling for an end to extreme political rhetoric in the aftermath of Saturday’s shooting.
Lawmakers have been careful to stress that the shooter, identified as 22-year-old Jared Loughner, has a troubled past and appears mentally unstable.
Regardless of whether it is determined that Loughner also had political motivations, members of both parties said politicians and the media played a role in setting an example of civility.
"We are in a dark place in this country right now; the atmospheric condition is toxic," Rep Raul Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat, said on NBC's Meet the Pressprogramme.
“My colleagues are very concerned about the environment in which they are operating.”
On CBS's Face the Nation, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyercalled the political climate in recent years an "angrier, confrontational environment" and cautioned that "what we say can in fact have consequences".
Republicans also said it’s time for members of both parties to come together.
“We ought to cool it, tone it down, treat each other with great respect.”
The shooting has also put a spotlight on former Alaska governor Sarah Palin. Last year, Giffords was one of 20 Democrats who supported healthcare legislation targeted for defeat by Palin’s political action committee, SarahPAC.
The posting on Palin’s Facebook page included a map of the US with the crosshair symbols for a rifle scope dotting the locations of each lawmaker’s home state.
An aide to Palin said the images were never meant to evoke violence. “We never ever, ever intended it to be gun sights,” Rebecca Mansour said.
But Democratic senator Dick Durbin said such images “invite the kind of toxic rhetoric that can lead unstable people to believe this is an acceptable response”. – (Bloomberg)