"Newtown families face unexpected pushback" [View all]

Newtown families face unexpected pushback

By Steve Benen at the Maddow Blog

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/04/15/17762066-newtown-families-face-unexpected-pushback?lite

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In 2006, about five years after the 9/11 attacks, some on the right did something unexpected: they began going after family members of 9/11 victims. In one especially memorable outburst, Ann Coulter, a notable provocateur of the day, said the widows of victims "demand that we listen to them out of pity," when they should just "take their money and shut up about it."

It was jarring because it was unexpected. In our public discourse, vitriol was and is common, but those who lost loved ones on 9/11 seemed like the last group of people who'd face political attacks from anyone. And yet, in 2006, it happened anyway.

Seven years later, I wonder if we might be witnessing a replay with the family members of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre.

Last week, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) characterized Newtown families as manipulated rubes, under the misguided impression that the debate over gun violence "has something to do with them when, in fact, it doesn't." A few days later, Rush Limbaugh made a similar argument, characterizing these family members as "human shields" for Democrats.


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