John Patrick Bedell

Here’s a no-brainer for you: Pentagon shooter John Patrick Bedell was anti-government. We know this because A) he attacked the government B) he left rambling writings on the Internet stating his hatred for the government (hence the attack) and C) he didn’t shoot-up a coffee bar (despite the help that would have provided anti-open carry lobbyists). Here’s another incontrovertible fact: Bedell was not well. Put all of these together and you have an obvious connection between Bedell and the Tea Party movement and the Republican party. Apparently so. “Under increased scrutiny for the rampant anti-government rhetoric of the Tea Party movement, along with its often violent imagery and open talk of insurrection, right-wingers seemed anxious, even frantic, to hold up the Pentagon killer as proof that they weren’t responsible for — or connected with — every political act of vigilante violence that makes headlines these days,” Media Matters‘ Eric Boelert writes (and links with gay abandon). “But as more details emerge about the incident, the far-right bloggers may wish they hadn’t shone a spotlight on the disturbing Pentagon story. If anything, as we learn more about the anti-government rantings and writings of Bedell, this madman attack looks an awful lot like a string of other “lone wolf” attacks, such as the recent kamikaze pilot who flew his plane into an IRS office in Austin.” In other words, American citizens can’t be anti-government without encouraging, indeed, advocating and practicing violence. IGW.

Read more