For those of you who were in a coma the first week of 2011: In the immediate aftermath of the Tucson massacre, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik couldn't stop himself from inserting his fact-free, pro-Democrat personal opinion about what might have spurred Jared Loughner to mass murder, asserting that there was "no doubt in [his] mind" that political "vitriol" constantly spread by television and radio commentators would eventually be proved to be a significant contributing factor.
Here is Dupnik being grilled gently by Fox News' Megyn Kelly on Monday, January 9, 2011:
Fast forward to two and a half weeks later, Wednesday, January 26, 2011. At this point, it has long been established by Loughner's friends, former girlfriends, creeped-out college classmates, frightened teachers, and investigators combing his personal effects that contrary to the media narrative Dupnik reinforced, the 22-year-old was a time bomb destined to explode Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' world years prior to Sarah Palin's "crosshairs" map, the ObamaCare vote, the Tea Party movement, or the first primary victory of then-Senator Obama. On this same day: On his California State Senate homepage, State Senator Yee makes public a vile, profane, obviously racist (and somewhat illiterate) faxed death threat his office received from a person specifically making reference to Limbaugh's artificially controversial 18-second impersonation of President Hu.
I will NOT link the image of the fax here, but an accurate description of it is in the text of the press release:
The faxes received by Yee include a graphic of an American flag adorned pickup truck dragging a noose.
The faxes that were sent to Yee’s office today also state (with misspellings):
FIGHTING The Marxist Nigger Thug Hussein Obama & Fish Head Leeland Yee
To: JoBama Rectum Sniffing Moron LEELAND LEE
Achtung! [German word meaning “watch out”] Fish Head Leeland Lee. Rush Limbaugh will kick your Chink ass and expose you for the fool you are.Without exceptions, Marxists are enemies of the United States Constitution! Death to all Marxists! Foreign and Domestic!
However convenient it is to State Senator Yee to receive hate mail mentioning Rush Limbaugh in the same proximity as an image of a pickup truck dragging President Obama's head in a noose (a detail not specifically mentioned in the statement), there is no doubt in my mind that the fax is authentically from a bonafide racist. It has the same type of crude, pre-Photoshop, clip art, ransom note graphics as I remember from the eighties, when disciples of Tom Metzger's White Aryan Resistance group would paste ugly posters like that in Bay Area phone booths (remember them?).
I hesitated to publish the text of the threatening fax, but I needed to -- it's relevant to the disclosure that preceded it on Yee's release (link, bold mine):
SAN FRANCISCO – After condemning offensive comments by Rush Limbaugh, Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) today was sent a racist death threat via fax to his San Francisco and Capitol offices. The faxes have been turned over to the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms to investigate.
The expletive-laden faxes contain graphics and language similar to messages Yee receive [sic] in April 2010 after he called for Sarah Palin’s speaking fee at California State University to be disclosed. Recently, the Pima County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona contacted Yee regarding the April faxes and a possible connection to faxes found during the investigation surrounding the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
Yee's previous claim to national fame was demanding that a private education foundation associated with Cal State-Stanislaus reveal how much it was paying Governor Palin to come to Turlock, CA to speak at a $500-per-person fundraiser. The foundation insisted it wasn't legally required to reveal the contract. CSUS said it had no information about the foundation's contract. Then dumpster-diving Palin-hating students found shredded pages of the contract the university said it didn't have, containing the quasi-damning revelations that Palin would be receiving less than her previously-reported $100,000 fee, that she wants to fly the 2,700 miles from Alaska first class (or, alternately, by Lear Jet), and that she insists on bendable straws for her lectern water bottles. What a diva, right? In the end, Palin's speech went on without a hitch.
But, I digress. One April 2010 faxed threat -- one of at least two missives much more disgusting than the recent ones -- is described thusly on Yee's page:
The fax, which included a graphic of an American flag adorned pickup truck dragging a noose, also states “FIGHTING The Marxist Nig**r Thug Hussein Obama” and “Safeguard the Constitution, Death of all Domestic Marxists!”
Not to discount the danger (at worst) or discomfort (at the least) that such a slimebag may cause to State Senator Yee, but come on ... it's the same sicko.
Now, back to Pima County. If we take Yee's Chief of Staff Adam Keigwin (author of the press releases) at his word, as of January 26th, Sheriff Dupnik's office "recently" had requested to see Yee's April threat faxes in association with the investigation of Jared Loughner's savage attack: A "possible connection to faxes found during the investigation surrounding the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords."
Huh? You mean a "possible connection" between the looney loser whose closest associates agreed within hours of the shooting he didn't pay close attention to politics, didn't listen to talk radio, didn't vote in 2010, didn't pledge allegiance to the right or left, and whose stated conspiratorial obsessions were devoid of bigotry? You mean the guy we can reasonably presume didn't send either fax to Leland Yee since whoever sent the January one could not possibly be in police custody, where Loughner has been since he was held down by bystanders in that Safeway parking lot in Tucson?
Dupnik's office has put a gag on details about Loughner's attack, so we have not lately seen nor heard the Sheriff double, triple, or quadruple down on his pseudo-prophetic opinions about its root causes. But his department is still spending time chasing down information about threats that appear to be irrelevant to the prosecution of the individual we all know murdered six of his constituents! This indicates to me Dupnik knows the chances his bold assertions were prescient are dwindling, and he's got to scramble to avoid being exposed as unduly political and unprofessional.
Pardon the mixed metaphors, but in short: Dupnik is grasping at straws to cover his posterior. Not a good look.
Coming up: Why Leland Yee's and other Chinese-American politicians' offense at Limbaugh is selective, overblown, and IMHO, insincere.
4 comments:
Gee I thought those posters were a work of art! Tom Metzger
What's so amusing is that as the weeks have gone by, it's becoming increasingly apparent that, if anything, Loughner is COMPLETELY UNAWARE/INDIFFERENT to current political affairs and events. One friend emphatically stated that Loughner did not watch the news, read the papers, or listen to talk radio. He only cared about weird conspiracy theories which defied categorization (or, at least, attracted those on the far right AND far left).
It's either the same sicko sending stuff to Yee or....Yee and his people forgot which imagery they used the last time.
Hey Smithee, come on over to my blog and leave a comment. I've been writing a lot about Jared Loughner and would be interested in your insights.
Post a Comment