On Saturday Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head and others were injured or were killed. The hospital says Congresswoman Giffords is doing as well as expected.
This is a nonpartisan issue though I expect in the next few days people are going to begin framing it as a political issue. It is going to be framed as a gun control vs. gun advocate issue, a left vs. right issue. That is very convenient. As soon as you assign the blame to another individual or group, you have just terminated any responsibility you have for the event that occurred.
Yes, the lion’s share of the violent rhetoric and fear mongering tend to come from the right; from Sarah Palin using gun sights to “target” Democratic congressional districts to Sharron Angle and her second amendment remedies. Those politicians and pundits that use that violent phraseology need to take responsibility for those actions and words. Words do have an effect on others and people that are advocating violence, even passively, need to understand that and take steps to dial it back somewhat.
The media also has a huge role in helping to curb the violence in the political arena today. There is a large amount of people in the world that would love to be famous. How easier to get instantly famous than to kill some people? It used to be that the news didn’t cover things like this so as not to give another unstable individual any ideas. Not any more. Now they see it as a way to improve their ratings. If the media is going to cover this kind of violence, they need to not use the person’s name. Do not grant the person the fame and the platform they may be seeking.
When a politician or pundit is fear mongering or lying, the media needs to call them out on that every time. The media these days, if they call them out on it at all, only do it the first few times and then they go about covering the story as if it is real. The whole discussion about whether or not there are “death panels” in the new health care reform bill comes to mind as a perfect example of that. At first those on the left called these people on it, and then after a few days began interviewing people as if there were death panels in the bill.
Here is where the responsibility of the American people comes into it. We must demand truthfulness and responsibility from our elected officials and from the media in this country. I am not talking about how things are spun to support one side or the other. I am talking about when someone makes something up out of thin air. Again, the death panel comes to mind.
So until the citizens of this country stand up and demand better from our politicians and pundits, what happened in Arizona is going to continue to happen, becoming worse over time.
This is a teachable moment in time. Let’s hope the pundits and politicians take this lesson to heart.
My blog: http://www.outofstepper.com