Like most people across the US today, I am numb and saddened as the result of the carnage that took place this morning in Tuscon, Arizona. I would like to say that the incident surprised and shocked me, but that wouldn't be true. With all the angry, violent and hate-filled rhetoric that has filled the airwaves and political discourse in the past few years, I have been resigned to the fact that a day like today would come.
While most of the news coverage has centered on Rep. Giffords and US Federal Judge John Roll, one of the deceased is a 9 year old girl. It is hard for me to fathom the level of grief her parents must be experiencing right now.
Like a lot of folks, I'm sure I will share some thoughts on this tragedy in the days to come. For now, however, my feelings and emotions are beyond words.
While most of the news coverage has centered on Rep. Giffords and US Federal Judge John Roll, one of the deceased is a 9 year old girl. It is hard for me to fathom the level of grief her parents must be experiencing right now.
Like a lot of folks, I'm sure I will share some thoughts on this tragedy in the days to come. For now, however, my feelings and emotions are beyond words.
It's terrible. The rhetoric has been so heated and vitreolic. Not that you can directly blame anyone but the shooter, but the whole situation is out of hand. I too have been waiting for something like this. I'd worried about someone attacking Bush, and then Obama because he's black. They've got us so divided that many people see the other side and the other side's leaders as literally "the enemy" who's ruining the whole country. It's scary. A friend of mine feels eventually there's going to be a second Civil War.
ReplyDeleteI hate, though, the way they're painting the shooter as a "pot smoker" and "someone who's down on religion." True as that may be for him, I doubt either are much of a factor in this incident. It's more reactionary rhetoric, actually.
"It's scary. A friend of mine feels eventually there's going to be a second Civil War. "
ReplyDeleteAnd I had a friend who said exactly the same thing in 1968.