Conservatives will blaming anything and everything for the Massacre except for modern-day conservatism, which preaches that the LGBT community, Muslims, liberals and democrats are all enemies of America and a bona fide threat to the nation’s very existence.

And it is that same fallacious conservative belief that the LGBT community, Muslims, liberals and democrats are out to destroy America that is setting the “tone” of our current political discourse.

As long as this remains the case, as long as modern American conservatism puts forth the precept that liberals and democrats are the enemies of America and a bona fide threat to the nation’s very existence, the bodies will continue to pile up.

Only the most naive of political observers could ever fail to see the obvious consequences of proclaiming that any group of Americans was a “threat” to their existence or the existence of the nation and not realize that different people would deal with that “threat” in different ways.

Furthermore, even discussing the ”tone” of today’s political discourse merely leads into the false moral equivalency argument about how “both sides do it.”

Both sides do NOT, emphatically, “do it.”

Pretending that the LGBT community, Muslims, liberals and democrats are busy shooting conservatives (when they are not) directly plays into the false conservative mind-set that the LGBT community, Muslims, liberals and democrats are all a threat to conservatives, which is precisely why conservatives are, in fact, killing liberals, in the first place!

Therefore, we must reach the conclusion that even discussing the ”tone” of current plitical discourse reinforces, in today’s conservative psyche, that liberals are out to get them.

It is the conservative belief that liberals are a threat that HAS to be dispelled, and that will not happen by RE-INFORCING conservative fallacies.

When conservative leaders finally stand up and tell their more fanatical followers that liberals will not destroy America, that democrats are not out to “get” republicans, the murders of innocent liberal democrats will come to an end.

But not until then.

At least six people were killed Sunday whena gunman opened fire at a Sikh temple near Milwaukee, and the suspected shooter later died in an exchange of gunfire with police, authorities said.

 

Police were called to the Sikh Temple ofWisconsin in the suburb of Oak Creek, where witnesses said several dozen people were gathering for a service. Authorities found four people dead inside the temple and two outside, Greenfield Police Chief Bradley Wentlandt said.

 

Sunny Singh, 21, of Milwaukee, said a friend pulled into the temple’s parking lot, heard shots and saw two people fall down. The friend then saw the shooter reload his weapons and head to the temple’s entrance, Singh said.

 

The first police officer to arrive at the temple engaged in gunfire outside the building with a man police believe was the shooter, Wentlandt said. The suspect was killed, he said.

 

Tactical units went through the temple, and authorities do not believe a second shooter was involved, Wentlandt said.

 

It’s unclear how many others were wounded. Wentlandt said he had been told the officer who exchanged gunfire with the suspect and another person had been taken to hospitals. He said the officer was shot multiple times and is in surgery and is expected to survive.

 

The spokeswoman for the area trauma center said three victims were being treated there, including one who was in surgery.

 

Jatin Der Mangat, 38, of Racine, the nephew of the temple’s president, Satwant Singh Kaleka, said his uncle was one of those shot, but he didn’t know how serious his injuries were. He was among those waiting for news when police announced the deaths.

 

“It was like the heart just sat down,” he said. “This shouldn’t happen anywhere.”

 

Sukhwindar Nagr, also of Racine, said he called his brother-in-law’s phone and a priest at the temple answered and told him that his brother-in-law had been shot, along with three priests. The priest also said women and children were hiding in closets in the temple, Nagr said.

 

Wentlandt did not identify the suspect or say what might have motivated the shootings.

 

Sikhism is a monotheistic faith that was founded in South Asia more than 500 years ago. It has roughly 27 million followers worldwide. Observant Sikhs do not cut their hair; male followers often cover their heads with turbans — which are considered sacred — and refrain from shaving their beards. There are roughly 500,000 Sikhs in the U.S., according to estimates. The majority worldwide live in India.

 

Sikh rights groups have reported a rise in bias attacks since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The Washington-based Sikh Coalition has reported more than 700 incidents in the U.S. since 9/11, which advocates blame on anti-Islamic sentiment. Sikhs don’t practice the same religion as Muslims, but their long beards and turbans often cause them to be mistaken for Muslims, advocates say.

 

Associated Press writers Gretchen Ehlke in Milwaukee, Pat Condon inMinneapolis and Sophia Tareen in Chicago contributed to this report.

 

 

Aug. 5, 2012

Seven people were shot and killed today at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., in what officials are treating as a domestic terrorism incident.

 

Three other people — two civilians and a police officer — were injured and were being treated at a local hospital.

 

Individuals attending Sunday services at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, just south of Milwaukee, fled in all directions this morning when a gunman entered and began firing. Many hid in bathrooms or other rooms within the temple while the shooter attacked, according to police.

 

Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards said 911 calls began pouring into the police department around 10:25 a.m.

 

The first police officer to respond to the scene, a 20-year veteran on the police force, exchanged gunfire with the suspect and sustained multiple gunshot wounds. He is undergoing surgery at Froedtert Hospital, the main trauma center in the Milwaukee region, along with two other injured victims.

 

The gunman was shot and killed by the police officer outside the temple. Four other people were found dead inside the temple, while two other people were found dead outside the building.

 

“The officer stopped a tragic event that could’ve been a lot worse,” Edwards said.

 

Edwards said authorities were treating the event as a domestic terrorism incident and the FBI would be conducting a full investigation.

 

The police have not given any details on the identity or motive of the shooter or released the identities of the deceased.

 

Edwards said that by 5:30 p.m. EST today the temple had finally been cleared of all remaining people and checked for additional threats. Police tactical teams spent more than four hours securing the temple after the initial reports of the shooting this morning included reports of additional gunmen.

 

Police asked media outlets to stop broadcasting aerial footage from helicopters on television because of tactical operations at the scene.

 

Police said that they now believe the reports all described the same gunman. The FBI will be investigating the “scope” of the attack, Edwards said.

 

Members of the Sikh community in Milwaukee expressed outrage at the shooting.

 

“They went to church, not knowing that they might die today,” said Simran Kaleka, whose family was in the temple, according to ABC News Radio. “I don’t know how sick you have to be to do that, and I don’t know if it was directed toward the Sikh culture and them having turbans and having beards, but ignorance is not going to get us anywhere.”

 

Among those shot was the president of the temple, Satwant Singh Kaleka, who recently hosted state Rep. Josh Zepnick and the county district attorney to discuss a recent rise in violence against area Sikhs at their stores and businesses, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

 

“It’s gut wrenching,” Zepnick said today in response to the shooting. “It certainly makes you wonder about how just how far this epidemic of gun violence goes, where innocent people’s lives are put at risk in ordinary day-to-day situations. it makes me sick to my stomach.”

 

On Sundays, Sikh temples, called gurudwaras, serve a community meal at which anyone is welcome as part of their community service. The meal, known as a langar, follows the morning services.

 

The Sikh religion originated in the Punjab region of India.

 

“Every single member of my family was inside that church,” Simran Kaleka said. “No matter who is shot and killed in there, it’s going to affect all of us out here because a lot of people are related here. And it’s just, for me, my life flashed before my eyes because it’s my whole family.”

 

According to information broadcast over police radio, a witness to the shooting told law enforcement the shooter was a white male, bald, with a heavy build. He was wearing a sleeveless T-shirt, according to Oak Creek Patch. He was last seen with two handguns.