Coburn: 'Disgusted by all the media'

From www.politico.com ~ Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) on Sunday accused the media of creating a "false premise" in raising the issue of whether incendiary political rhetoric is at fault for the Jan. 8 shooting in Arizona, calling the question a "false premise."

"I've pretty well been disgusted by all the media, right and left, after this episode," Coburn said during an interview on NBC's Meet the Press.

"Because what it does is raises and says there's a connection" between harsh political discourse and the Arizona shooting, a claim now rejected by lawmakers in both parties, he said.

"The president rightly said there was no connection to this, to political discourse and this event," Coburn added. "The problem I have with the premise ... is that we're disconnecting what the real problems are in this country. And we're spending all our time talking about political discourse rather than talking about the real risk to our country. We need to quit paying attention to all the media says."

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), normally one of the most aggressive commentators among discourse, added: "We as elected officials have an obligation to try and tone that down. And if we tone it down, then maybe the media will be less vociferous."

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