I wonder. . .

. . . how much Fox News this man listened to. John David Adkisson opened fire last Sunday at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, killing a couple of people and wounding others. He blamed liberals for all the ills in his life and Democrats for "ruin[ing] every institution in America with the aid of major media outlets." The four-page letter he had written describing these hatreds included a hatred of gays. Police seized

"three books from Adkisson's home, including "The O'Reilly Factor," by television commentator Bill O'Reilly; "Liberalism is a Mental Disorder," by radio personality Michael Savage; and "Let Freedom Ring," by political pundit Sean Hannity.

Now there are many people in this country who have those books on their shelves who aren't moved to murder people in their church pews on a quiet Sunday morning. However, political dialogue (or monologue) in this country is often so strident, so illogical, and hateful that it panders to the lowest common denominator. It's no wonder people on the edge such as Adkisson--and Eric Rudolph, Timothy McVeigh, Terry Nichols, Theodore Kaczynski, among others--respond with violence.

What's troubling to me is that high-profile commentators, people who have achieved respectability, are distributors of the most hateful kind of viewpoints. Yes, I'm referring to popular far-right commentators such as Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and their ilk.

Just what pushes a person over the edge like that? What final overwhelming personal disappointments coupled with inflamed prejudices turn a person to murder and to self-immolation? Adkisson was prepared to die for his hatreds and disappointments. He planned to continue blasting away at church members until local police stormed the church and killed him. That he didn't is due to the quick thinking of the church members who wrestled him to the floor.

According to the search warrant, Adkisson "said that

because he could not get to the leaders of the liberal movement he would then target those that had voted them in office.

How many such Adkissons are out there, listening to hate radio, purchasing guns, and noting people, organizations, and leaders in their areas with whom they have illogical or insane grievances? In Rwanda, hate radio led people to massacre hundreds of thousands of members of one tribe. We seem to think we're immune to such mass insanity, but sometimes I wonder.....