Adding to the fog doesn't help
My thoughts on the aftermath of the Giffords shooting are pretty chaotic. First of all, a nine-year-old girl died because she was precocious and intelligent enough to be interested in politics and so wanted to meet her Congresswoman. That's just hearrbreakingly sad and horrible. Another one is that people of all sides are yelling for people on other sides to "stop politicizing the tragedy." But what does that mean? It is political to say that someone showed extremely bad judgment in calling for "Second Amendment" remedies for recalcitrant Congresspeople? Is it political to say that they think the shooting wouldn't have happened if there were less idiots on the radio calling everyone names? Is it political to wonder if the crime might not have happened access to weapons was more carefully restricted?
Some idiots are even saying that the shooting wasn't "political." Folks, the killer targeted a Congresswoman because she was a Congresswoman. It don't get more political than that. What people are trying to say is that the killer may not have been a partisan associated with a major political subculture. This appears to be true; we may have to chalk this one up bad advice from to the little blue people who talk to Garey Busey. (Though it does make me wonder how an obvious lunatic could buy a gun no problem a week before the shooting.)
But that gets me to the one point I feel I need to make. As after the Murrah Building bombing in 1995, focus is again turning on the vitriol in out political discourse. People are saying that, for example, Sarah Palin's violent language (making "targets" of congresspeople on a fundraising letter; urging "freedom loving" Americans to "not retreat: RELOAD!") contributed to the murders. Other people are saying that's unfair since the shooting isn't associated with any group that Governor Palin supports, etc., etc., ad nauseam. The one thing I will say as someone who suffers from anxiety disorder is that free-floating negativity like hate language and hyperbolic predictions of doom can definitely have a negative effect on people struggling with mental illness.
And this isn't about apportioning blame, but about looking in the mirror and taking responsibility. The shooter has to live with the responsibility for pulling the trigger, his family/support systems have to bear responsibility of not getting (enough) help for him, and the people who pollute the national discourse with hate have to bear responsibility for making the world enough less livable that a troubled kid can feel compelled to off his Congresswman and as many other folks as he can take down. So what do you say? If we can each remove a little of our inner asshole, maybe we can lower the emotional pollution enough to maybe see the sun every now and then.
Some idiots are even saying that the shooting wasn't "political." Folks, the killer targeted a Congresswoman because she was a Congresswoman. It don't get more political than that. What people are trying to say is that the killer may not have been a partisan associated with a major political subculture. This appears to be true; we may have to chalk this one up bad advice from to the little blue people who talk to Garey Busey. (Though it does make me wonder how an obvious lunatic could buy a gun no problem a week before the shooting.)
But that gets me to the one point I feel I need to make. As after the Murrah Building bombing in 1995, focus is again turning on the vitriol in out political discourse. People are saying that, for example, Sarah Palin's violent language (making "targets" of congresspeople on a fundraising letter; urging "freedom loving" Americans to "not retreat: RELOAD!") contributed to the murders. Other people are saying that's unfair since the shooting isn't associated with any group that Governor Palin supports, etc., etc., ad nauseam. The one thing I will say as someone who suffers from anxiety disorder is that free-floating negativity like hate language and hyperbolic predictions of doom can definitely have a negative effect on people struggling with mental illness.
And this isn't about apportioning blame, but about looking in the mirror and taking responsibility. The shooter has to live with the responsibility for pulling the trigger, his family/support systems have to bear responsibility of not getting (enough) help for him, and the people who pollute the national discourse with hate have to bear responsibility for making the world enough less livable that a troubled kid can feel compelled to off his Congresswman and as many other folks as he can take down. So what do you say? If we can each remove a little of our inner asshole, maybe we can lower the emotional pollution enough to maybe see the sun every now and then.