The Loughner Panic.

• Author: Pilon, Roger
• Position: Letters - Letter to the editor

Among reason's otherwise excellent pieces criticizing those who blamed the recent Arizona shootings on America's violent political rhetoric ("The Loughner Panic," April), I noticed in some a certain "evenhandedness" that I don't believe was warranted. To be sure, there were a few conservatives and Republicans who fastened upon their own politically motivated explanations for the shootings. But in the main, the baseless finger pointing came from the left. Viewing almost everything through a political prism, many on the left saw the shootings as sanctioned if not motivated by the anti-government rhetoric coming from the Tea Party, Sarah Palin, and others on the right.

I appreciate the need to distinguish the libertarian and conservative brands, but on this matter it was, for lack of a better emblem, The New Fork Times that was leading the attack.

Roger Pilon

Vice President for Legal Affairs

Cato Institute

Washington, DC

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