Too many times I hear or read of these stories-- Gunman shoots family, self in murder suicide and I lament gun violence in our society... and then I think -- was it a Fox News viewer? Was it what we call a wingnut? I know that this has often created much ire, and people get pissed off if I write of this ponderance. The Arizona shooting yesterday proved to be no different.

Or was it?: This is horrible enough. Two women, one man and a young child are dead by the hands of a man who had been the focus of hate watch groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Anti-Defamation League, as well as other groups. He was well known, and embraced by some politicians in Arizona. Russell Pierce actually ordained Ready as an elder in the Church of Latter Day saints. He wasn't the only politician at the baptism. It is safe to say he was known in political circles in Arizona.

And sadly, he decided to attend an Occupy Phoenix event last year.
Here is J.T. being interviewed by a Ron Paul supporter at an Occupy event. People will start telling you this guy is a Dem. When they do, remind them he did so to run against Arizona's Pinal County Sheriff, Paul Babeu. You may remember him: J.T. Ready, during that same time came to the attention of the Pinal Country Dems: So, to be clear, this was NOT the actions of a Dem. It was the actions of an ultra-conservative.

I'm not saying Ron Paul or Russell Pierce are in anyway, shape or form, directly responsible for what happened. I am saying that extreme talk, extreme rhetoric - spoken and embraced - have proven time and time again to lead to deadly results.

He brought an assault rifle as a private citizen to what was supposed to be a peaceful protest. Now he is dead, and took 4 other people with him. Are these the kind of people we want in charge of our city councils, sheriff's offices and state legislators? I may be painting a broad brush here, but right now I don't care. This is our blog, and this is my platform to speak my mind. Too many times we are told these tragedies are isolated incidents, and this time it is clear to me many people were drawn to the flame of hatred and fear that J.T. Ready embraced and espoused. Make no mistake about this -- it is not about party -- it's about a deadly ideology.

Some people embrace it without ever realizing that YES: the worst can happen. They get caught up in a feeling that anger can be empowering. That is actually true, but what matters regarding feelings of anger and fear is what is done with those feelings. Extremism leads to deadly results. We will learn more in the coming days and weeks as to what led this man -- who was willfully embraced by people for his activism -- to commit such a violent act, but one thing I can say, it's not like he didn't warn us that he was willing to commit acts of violence upon people as a private citizen. In my opinion, it's not just another isolated incident-- it's not just a lone wolf or one bad apple. it is the result of terror filled policies cropping up in state/local legislatures, fueled by an anti-government hatred around our nation, and people are dying as a result. Things are going too far, too often, in this nation. Many of our politicians - federal, state, and local - have veered right to support the Tea Party with some of the same rhetoric that was espoused by this very man. Is this the kind of nation we really want to be?

and

Raine