I Guess This Is a Sign I'm Getting Older
If you haven't yet heard, a few hours ago, Gabrielle Giffords, the Democrat who represents the Tuscon district in Arizona, was appearing at a local grocery store to meet with constituents.
While Giffords and her staff were at the event, a gunman opened fire.
Contrary to the initial reports (and this has been confirmed by a surgeon from the hospital), Congresswoman Giffords is out of surgery and in ICU. Giffords is in critical condition, but the surgeon reported that the gunshot was a through and through, and that since she was responding to commands before the surgery, he is as optimistic as it is possible to be in an injury like this that she will recover.
That's news that you can read anywhere.
You can also, if you look, find out that Sarah Palin has taken down a graphic from her PAC website that showed the crosshairs of scopes from guns over the districts of people who were "diagnosed" as "part of the problem." The website also suggested that SarahPAC followers could be part of the solution.
I should also add that Congresswoman Giffords's office was vandalized in the spring, and she has received death threats as a result of her political positions.
The current total of fatalities being reported is 6. However, since early reports had Congresswoman Giffords listed as one of them, I think it's safe to say that this is a developing story, and the full extent of this tragedy isn't yet clear.
There are several aspects of today's shooting (And how wrong is that phrase--today's shooting. Because there's so sadly often not just one to talk about) that disturb me.
First, while it's not being widely discussed in the press, Congresswoman Giffords is Jewish. The level of threats and violence that the congresswoman has been subjected to is disturbing in and of itself. But when I see vandalism of a storefront and and I see a website that talks about a solution, the basic knowledge of history that we all ought to have imbues that violence with an even more sinister tone. I mention this because the rhetoric of the entirely irrational right--you know the folks who think Obama wasn't born in the US and who reliably trot out virulently anti-semitic conspiracy theories--is, when the analysis of this is all done in the end--going to have played a part in today's tragedy.
Secondly, I am tired of linking to this article (which is very nearly 10 years old now) and feeling like 90% of the people in my country have failed to heed its wisdom almost a decade later.
I am not suggesting that Sarah Palin's website caused the inexcusable violence against Congresswoman Giffords and her staff and the everyday people who'd come out to the event.
I am saying that contributing to a public arena in which anyone thinks that putting crosshairs on the districts of their enemies is an appropriate rhetorical strategy is proof that what passes for public discourse has gone off the rails.
I am a staunch advocate of free speech. (I have not posted here about the many, many reasons that taking the n-word out of Huck Finn is a very bad idea that not only won't solve the complex problems of teaching a book with both racist and anti-racist content but will likely make them worse because I'm still too pissed off about it to write a coherent response yet, for example.)
But with every right comes responsibility. None of us can be responsible for the things that happen when people who are deeply wounded, deeply broken, or otherwise flawed do immoral, irrational things.
But we do have a responsibility to use words in ways that are as respectful of their power as we can be, and the more public we are--the wider our platform--the more significant that responsibility.
Putting targets on the locations of your political enemies--when you have a national platform--is not only irresponsible, it's immoral and reprehensible.
Violence of this kind is not inevitable, but it is absolutely a foreseeable outcome, and I am tired of feeling like rational calls for ratcheting down the level of vitriolic, inciting rhetoric are being unheard.
I guess I'm getting older because instead of being incensed, I'm just tired and sad that too many people seem not to be listening to voices of reason--voices from almost ten years ago that are being ignored.
And now I'm stepping away from the television because hearing Jan Brewer--perpetrator of some of the most racist state laws in the United States--mourn the loss of her "friend" Giffords and talk about how in our worst nightmares we couldn't imagine that this could have taken place--when she has supported anti-immigrant legislation that is unbelievably racist and the dismantling of ethnic studies programs in schools is the most offensive act of hypocrisy I've seen in a while, and that's too much for me.
Edited to Add: Apparently, they're saying that she is/was following commands after surgery, which is an even better sign in terms of her possible recovery.
While Giffords and her staff were at the event, a gunman opened fire.
Contrary to the initial reports (and this has been confirmed by a surgeon from the hospital), Congresswoman Giffords is out of surgery and in ICU. Giffords is in critical condition, but the surgeon reported that the gunshot was a through and through, and that since she was responding to commands before the surgery, he is as optimistic as it is possible to be in an injury like this that she will recover.
That's news that you can read anywhere.
You can also, if you look, find out that Sarah Palin has taken down a graphic from her PAC website that showed the crosshairs of scopes from guns over the districts of people who were "diagnosed" as "part of the problem." The website also suggested that SarahPAC followers could be part of the solution.
I should also add that Congresswoman Giffords's office was vandalized in the spring, and she has received death threats as a result of her political positions.
The current total of fatalities being reported is 6. However, since early reports had Congresswoman Giffords listed as one of them, I think it's safe to say that this is a developing story, and the full extent of this tragedy isn't yet clear.
There are several aspects of today's shooting (And how wrong is that phrase--today's shooting. Because there's so sadly often not just one to talk about) that disturb me.
First, while it's not being widely discussed in the press, Congresswoman Giffords is Jewish. The level of threats and violence that the congresswoman has been subjected to is disturbing in and of itself. But when I see vandalism of a storefront and and I see a website that talks about a solution, the basic knowledge of history that we all ought to have imbues that violence with an even more sinister tone. I mention this because the rhetoric of the entirely irrational right--you know the folks who think Obama wasn't born in the US and who reliably trot out virulently anti-semitic conspiracy theories--is, when the analysis of this is all done in the end--going to have played a part in today's tragedy.
Secondly, I am tired of linking to this article (which is very nearly 10 years old now) and feeling like 90% of the people in my country have failed to heed its wisdom almost a decade later.
I am not suggesting that Sarah Palin's website caused the inexcusable violence against Congresswoman Giffords and her staff and the everyday people who'd come out to the event.
I am saying that contributing to a public arena in which anyone thinks that putting crosshairs on the districts of their enemies is an appropriate rhetorical strategy is proof that what passes for public discourse has gone off the rails.
I am a staunch advocate of free speech. (I have not posted here about the many, many reasons that taking the n-word out of Huck Finn is a very bad idea that not only won't solve the complex problems of teaching a book with both racist and anti-racist content but will likely make them worse because I'm still too pissed off about it to write a coherent response yet, for example.)
But with every right comes responsibility. None of us can be responsible for the things that happen when people who are deeply wounded, deeply broken, or otherwise flawed do immoral, irrational things.
But we do have a responsibility to use words in ways that are as respectful of their power as we can be, and the more public we are--the wider our platform--the more significant that responsibility.
Putting targets on the locations of your political enemies--when you have a national platform--is not only irresponsible, it's immoral and reprehensible.
Violence of this kind is not inevitable, but it is absolutely a foreseeable outcome, and I am tired of feeling like rational calls for ratcheting down the level of vitriolic, inciting rhetoric are being unheard.
I guess I'm getting older because instead of being incensed, I'm just tired and sad that too many people seem not to be listening to voices of reason--voices from almost ten years ago that are being ignored.
And now I'm stepping away from the television because hearing Jan Brewer--perpetrator of some of the most racist state laws in the United States--mourn the loss of her "friend" Giffords and talk about how in our worst nightmares we couldn't imagine that this could have taken place--when she has supported anti-immigrant legislation that is unbelievably racist and the dismantling of ethnic studies programs in schools is the most offensive act of hypocrisy I've seen in a while, and that's too much for me.
Edited to Add: Apparently, they're saying that she is/was following commands after surgery, which is an even better sign in terms of her possible recovery.