January 9, 2011 12:47 AM EST
By declaring Arizona a “mecca for racism and bigotry” and blaming heated rhetoric on the right for the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik gave voice to those looking for a cause of Saturday’s violence.
With Democratic party leaders for the most part showing restraint in their comments following the shootings, Dupnik expressed at a news conference Saturday night in Tucson what many liberals were thinking, but hadn’t yet said.
“Let me say one thing, because people tend to pooh-pooh this business about all the vitriol that we hear inflaming the American public by people who make a living off of doing that,” the sheriff said during a press conference. “That may be free speech, but it’s not without consequences.”
During an interview earlier in the day that aired on MSNBC via local NBC affiliate KPNX, Dupnik declared that “it’s time that this country take a little introspective look at the crap that comes out on radio and TV.”
The seven-term sheriff and Bisbee native is well known in Arizona for speaking his mind and has established himself as one of the leading liberal voices in a state that boasts only a handful.
Dupnik, 73, supported Giffords during her campaigns for congress and attracted headlines last spring as one of the most prominent opponents of the state’s controversial immigration law, S.B. 1070, which was signed by GOP Gov. Jan Brewer. Though the policy has been blocked from implementation by a federal court order, Dupnik vowed that he wouldn’t enforce the “racist” law.
On any other day, a warning from a county sheriff — even one known to the national media — to cool overheated talk show chatter wouldn’t have moved the needle much. But with the political class at a total loss over the tragedy and the left aching from the attack on one of their own, Dupnik’s comments have carried outsized weight in driving Saturday’s dialogue.
MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann called Dupnik’s word “extraordinary” in a special Saturday night edition of “Countdown,” and highlighted the sheriff’s media criticism on Twitter.
In a special comment later in the program, Olbermann linked the incident to Giffords being identified last year as one of former Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin’s 20 “targets” for the November election, identified by a website showing crosshairs around 20 Democratic districts.
“This morning in Arizona, this age in which this country would accept “targeting” of political opponents and putting bullseyes over their faces and of the dangerous blurring between political rallies and gun shows, ended,” the liberal host said.
Dupnik’s comments were also spotlighted in a series of posts at the top of the liberal Daily Kos.
“Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik isn’t afraid to point the finger at who is culpable,” wrote one Daily Kos blogger.
Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) echoed Dupnik’s sentiments in an interview with the Huffington Post.
“The climate has gotten so toxic in our political discourse, setting up for this kind of reaction for too long. It’s unfortunate to say that. I hate to say that,” Grijalva said. “Anybody who contributed to feeding this monster had better step back and realize they’re threatening our form of government.”
Dupnik’s recognition in local political circles as an outspoken Democrat may end up backfiring for those on the left spotlighting his comments in attempts to pin conservatives with inciting violence.
Several on the right have accused Dupnik and those spotlighting his remarks of exploiting the tragedy for political gain. And local conservatives are quickly spinning his comments as those of a partisan.
“For out of state folks perplexed by Pima County Sherriff comments: Pima County is to AZ as Austin is to TX. Dense Dem area comparatively,” tweeted Pamela Gorman, a conservative activist in Phoenix who ran in a primary campaign against Rep. Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.).
And a blogger for the Tucson Citizen identified the “Democrat County Sheriff” in a post attacking Dupnik’s “outrageous” use of the incident for “political reasons.”
The blame of overheated rhetoric on the right incensed leading conservatives, many of which offered statements of support for the congresswoman currently recovering from surgery in an Arizona hospital.
“The left is using this tragedy to score political points. Rep. Giffords was on Gov. Palin’s target list for defeat this past November. The left claims Gov. Palin has blood on her hands. So does the tea party movement,” wrote RedState founder Erick Erickson on his blog. “Let’s not let the left, yet again, spin this against the tea party movement, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, or Sarah Palin inciting violence. That’s both a profound lie and just another, though lesser, bit of evil.”
“Politicizing this is repulsive,” added Rebecca Mansour, a spokeswoman for Palin, in a tweet.
http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=DC832363-9500-4F9F-9504-36F5A55FB8CE
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