Okay, I think we all know what I'm talking about.
A man entered a Safeway yesterday and shot a congresswoman point-blank in the head, killed 6 people including a federal judge and a 9-year-old girl, and then injured about a dozen more. The shooter, a 22-year-old white male, was said to be have been inspired and influenced by the vitriol coming from the recent political climate. Sarah Palin's
reference on her website to the congresswoman as a "target" with crosshairs on her district has drawn ire in particular, as well as the Tea Party carrying guns to political rallies (
Congresswoman Giffords' in particular) during the last election. Personally I think it was just some crazy who, under the "approved" climate of violence and anger, was allowed to further his fantasy to the point of tragedy.
When are we going to stop making these metaphors and symbolic actions so these things do not happen in the future??
Besides the obvious senselessness of this, the tragedy of this, the horrific event this was...I agree with you.
It is one thing to be opinionated. It is one thing to shout and point fingers at one another and call each other names. Then its another to use metaphors that both sides have been use ranging from guns, ranging from the accusations that have been given to Obama.
We've had extremism in this country for how long? So extremism is nothing new. It is interesting though how since the 2008 election though, things keep increasing. Then again, I wonder if one could argue the same thing with the McVeigh and other events.
Sure people will say that the rhetoric is for people who have the ability to not react violently, but I do think people forget, on purpose, the fact that we are not mere individuals speaking our opinion. Our technology makes opinions more accessible, more reachable. We are a part of a country which means we affect people with our rhetoric. Which means while we lust in our liberty for free speech we can actually inadvertently lead an insane man or woman with violent rhetoric to commit horrible crimes. Violent rhetoric doesn't come from reasonable people in my opinion.
We're passed the days of rebelling from the Crown. We have no where to migrate to. At least back in our nation's beginnings, we had a place to migrate because if there wasn't with our rebellion. With no where to go to, with so much rebellion and violent rhetoric, we will self-destruct in a matter time(a long time of course, not like 20 plus years from now). Then again, its the American blood for violence(but violence is in our instinct as well)...the revolt that we consider holy and a president who even shot a man for treason on the White House Lawn.
So what's the solution? Who the heck knows. To control that is something that I can't even find in myself to support. Yet, if this is the sign of the future with our nation, I'm not optimistic. I'm not optimistic when I see the Tea Partiers speak like they do with violent metaphors. I'm not optimistic when leftist extremists and anarchists go on their violent protests and try intimidation tactics with pathetic cliched costumes as they revolt against corruption, greed and McDonalds. There is no solution to me. Nothing fixes, nothing has fixed. We've had religion/faith in this country since the beginning and it didn't take away the probability for this to happen. We've had scientific thinking, modern thinking, what some define as 'rational' thinking in this country for a long time as well and it didn't take the probability away. One time of this happening is too much and this isn't the first time it has happened either.
I repeat the cliched knee-jerk reaction...time to calm down the rhetoric. It does actually make one more self-aware of the manner they say what they say, or at least it should and we are a sad species because we have to have such a travesty thing to happen to make us go, 'hmm'.
I will not blame though the rhetoric for what happened. There's only one person to blame and that is the 22 year old that chose to do this horrific act. The rhetoric that has been going on for awhile now is a related topic in my opinion but nothing able to actually pin point the blame. And now the media with their pointing fingers is just continuing the problem that they complain about. If there is so much negativity, dissent it will have an affect nationwide on the conscious of a nation.
