In Aurora, Colorado, at the midnight showing of the latest Batman movie, a sociopath in bulletproof gear snuck in through an emergency side door, chucked a tear gas grenade into the middle seats, and then opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle into a theater packed with people of all ages. Police later arrested him, found out where he lived, and discovered that his apartment was booby-trapped with multiple explosive devices.

Our prayers go out to the victims and their families.

Within hours of this horror, liberals predictably tried to tie the killer to the Tea Party (Brian Ross, ABC) and called for stricter gun controls (Piers Morgan, CNN, among countless others). The fact that Colorado has the third strictest gun control laws in the country is little commented upon.

To show how narrowly ideological these reactions were, here are other politicizations that could have taken place:  Continue reading →