In Arizona shooting, Europe sees an America gripped by doubt, pessimism
| Paris
European reaction to the Gabrielle Giffords Arizona shooting is seen strongly through the lens of the tea party rhetoric and as symptomatic of a superpower in decline and at the mercy of 鈥渞adical鈥� politics.
With significant play in London, Berlin, and Paris, the actions of alleged shooter Jared Lee Loughner are seen as typically American and not surprising in Arizona, where citizens can carry concealed handguns without a permit, something considered unthinkable here.
The Giffords story in Europe today mirrored questions in US media about the degree to which anger, conspiracy theories, and intemperate talk show rhetoric is to blame for the context of the shooting.
France's daily Le Monde asked if Ms. Giffords鈥� shooting 鈥渋s the tea party鈥檚 fault?鈥� and Le Figaro鈥檚 Washington correspondent opined that 鈥淭he political climate in the US is sick.鈥� The London-based Economist asked today 鈥淎re Words to Blame?鈥� Agence France-Presse described 鈥淗ate rhetoric is in target sights,鈥� in the US.
Much of the German editorial position on Giffords was strongly accusatory of the political climate in the US in recent years.
The conservative Die Welt stated today that: 鈥淭his murderous attack came from an atmosphere of discord and self-doubt, because America is experiencing the limits of its power on a daily basis, whether it be on distant fronts or with dissatisfaction at home. It has never been like this. There always was the motto: 鈥榊es, we can.鈥� Today, widespread pessimism prevails, because of the financial crisis, and because of Iraq and Afghanistan, lost battles ..."
Resonance in rise of anti-immigration, anti-Islamic rhetoric
If there is a 鈥渞esonance point鈥� with Europe in the Giffords shooting, it may be in the rise of anti-immigrant and anti-Islamic rhetoric and right-wing sentiment on the Continent and fears that have been steadily raised about them. However, much of the overall style and direction of those new European anti-immigration politics has been to 鈥渕ainstream鈥� them in ways considered reasonable for centrist and middle-class voters.
The Netherlands in 2002 and 2005 witnessed the killing of politicians Pim Fortuyn and Theo Van Gogh in the context of an often lurid anti-Islam rhetoric promoted by those individuals. Their mantle has been taken up by the recently successful Geert Wilders, who in Holland, rightly or wrongly, is often compared with the American Tea Party impulse, and who has compared the Koran to Adolph Hitler鈥檚 Mein Kampf.
鈥淧eople in Holland as in the US are concerned about the tone of our debate, the sharper rhetoric, and especially since for the first time TV news anchors are following the Fox [News] style of figures like Bill O鈥橰eilly,鈥� says Peter van Os, a former Washington correspondent for De Groene Amsterdammer who writes on Dutch politics from The Hague. 鈥淭he phrase 鈥榓ngry electorate鈥� is now used often here ... and we are having debates about what Bill Clinton recently called 鈥榝act free鈥� news.鈥�
British media on the weekend immediately seized the importance of the story, the first attempted assassination of a US politician in 30 years; the BBC and Sky News followed it live for most of Saturday evening and it was Page 1 on Sunday.
Europeans have paid attention to numerous stories on former Alaska governor Sarah Palin and her pro-tea party website that 鈥渢argets鈥� Giffords and includes the comment 鈥淒on鈥檛 retreat 鈥� reload鈥� 鈥� as a symptom of the tone in US politics.
A guest column in the German Der Spiegel today warned that vitriolic attacks against Mrs. Palin from the left were themselves a manifestation of intemperate anger, and warned they could backfire by making her a victim of political elites.
Many French bloggers on the right-leaning Figaro site objected to Mr. Loughner being characterized as conservative, on the basis of his reported fascination with such writings as Das Kapital as well as Mein Kampf.
Mr. van Os notes that, 鈥淲hen I heard about the Arizona shooting, I remembered American friends after the killing of Fortuyn and Van Gogh, who told me that political assassinations were 鈥榮o 60s.鈥欌��
IN PICTURES: Arizona shooting vigils
(This story was edited after posting to correct the spelling of the last name of the Arizona shooting suspect).
