George Will: The charlatans' response to the Tucson tragedy

It would be merciful if, when tragedies such as Tucson's occur, there were a moratorium on sociology. But respites from half-baked explanations, often serving political opportunism, are impossible because of a timeless human craving and a characteristic of many modern minds. 

The craving is for banishing randomness and the inexplicable from human experience. Time was, the gods were useful. What is thunder? The gods are angry. Polytheism was explanatory. People postulated causations.

And still do. Hence: The Tucson shooter was (pick your verb) provoked, triggered, unhinged by today's (pick your noun) rhetoric, vitriol, extremism, "climate of hate." 

Demystification of the world opened the way for real science, including the social sciences. And for a modern characteristic. And for charlatans. 

A characteristic of many contemporary minds is susceptibility to the superstition that all behavior can be traced to some diagnosable frame of mind that is a product of promptings from the social environment. From which flows a political doctrine: Given clever social engineering, society and people can be perfected. This supposedly is the path to progress. It actually is the crux of progressivism. And it is why there is a reflex to blame conservatives first. 

At times all the time, George uses an awful lot of words to describe stupidity, but since he began his writing career being paid by the word such goings on are understandable.

Having no core beliefs to sort out tragedy's such as the Arizona shootings, liberals blame every bad thing upon the people they simply don't agree with rather than focus on what truly happened. Once upon a time this was called 'shallow'. But seeing it is as deep as leftwingers can get, we've a duty to call a spade a spade and report to you that it is simply a case of assholes being assholes.