Comments on: Tiller is dead, but what happened?

By: GreenDreams

GreenDreams — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:43:04 +0000

From TPM:
"Roeder, the suspect in Tiller's murder, had apparently twice tried to vandalize another clinic in the last two weeks -- and in a way that suggested it might be setting the stage for a more serious break in. An employee at the clinic managed to get Roeder's license plate number and reported it to federal authorities, only to be told that nothing could be done before a grand jury had been impaneled.

It seems difficult to imagine that similar suspicious behavior, let alone actual vandalism, would have generated such a passive response if the clinic had been a synagogue or a federal building and the suspect had an Arab name. "

Roeder attended Tiller's trial and called the acquittal "a sham."

By: EEllis

EEllis — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:09:18 +0000

Maybe it's that I see both sides of a conflict. I'm personally against abortion, but think it shouldn't be against the law. I have volunteered as an escort for a women's clinic and hate some of the despicable acts and hateful things said to clients, but I total understand why people feel compelled to try and do something. I'm a conservative not a republican but they are much closer to may values than the democrats so most of my votes go there. As I get older it gets worse. I hadn't noticed the correlation to who was in the white house, at least not consciously, but I think you're on to something on the bigger picture. I mean there were people going nuts when GW did something but gave Clinton and now Obama almost a total pass when doing the same thing. I wonder if it's just that the party in power having such a different ideology that they feel the situation is so bad they must go extreme? Or could it be that they don't think they could affect an administration with lesser “demonstrations”? Personally I think with Tillers killer it's probably a disturbed individual that had a stressor event and wanted to go out with a bang. No he is not dead but the rest of his life is pretty much set. Not so much living as just waiting. Plus to a certain crowd he would be a bit of a hero and attention like many who attempt suicide desire.

By: Rudi

Rudi — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:06:23 +0000

Terry is a nutcase, not a spokesman for conservatives or the Republican Party.

~~Terry~~ Rush Limpbaugh is a nutcase, not a spokesman for conservatives or the Republican Party.

By: DaGoat

DaGoat — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:52:44 +0000

I read your column here and at PJM Jazz, and while I agree that overheated rhetoric is not desirable, I question whether that is the difference in violence between the right and the left. Reading blogs over the past decade I don't see any less hatred and vitriol on the left than I do on the right.

What was different in Tiller's case was opportunity – he was unguarded and a fairly easy target. The other possible difference that comes to mind would be the availability of guns and willingness to use them may be higher on the right.

It seems to be a feature of society today that whenever something bad happens blame must be assigned not only to the perpetrator, but to a group.

By: jwest

jwest — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:21:28 +0000

Randall Terry self-identified as a republican, but after running for minor office twice he was soundly rejected by the conservative voters.

Terry is a nutcase, not a spokesman for conservatives or the Republican Party.

If the point of this article is to imply Terry is representative of the right, let’s start the list on both sides and see who comes out more embarrassed.

By: GeorgeSorwell

GeorgeSorwell — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:46:40 +0000

I think this is a little premature.