Tragedy in America

Another tragedy born out of the Tragic shooting of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords as she fights for her life and of the 6 others killed and others wounded is the fractured souls in the media putting blame for this on the Tea Party and Sarah Palin. Some going so far as to say Palin and the Tea Party are militant because in speeches they have used the words “Targeted” and “Reload”. I think many of the media need to look more at themselves for helping to create this discord in America. We all need to face the fact that U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords fights for her life after a mad gunman shot her on Saturday.

Even some in the Democrat party have joined the media to try to pin the blame for her attack on the tea party movement and conservatives like Sarah Palin, despite the fact that the we have learned that the shooter was both deranged and fascinated by left-wing politics. Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva, told Mother Jones magazine within hours after the rampage that the “political tone and tenor” created by Palin and the tea party movement had set the stage for the shooting. He went so far saying, Palin's “apparatus” had put Giffords' and his own life at risk. “Both Gabby and I were targeted in the apparatus in that cycle [saying] these people are ‘enemies.” I say these people and the media better take a better look at themselves. They are hyping this type of behavior and trying to split and tear America apart.

The NY Times was not far behind in jumping on this band wagon, insinuating that the conservative criticism of President Barack Obama and his policies may have been at the root of this weekend's violence, noting that " it was hard to separate what had happened from the heated nature of the debate that has swirled around Mr. Obama and Democratic policies of the past two years." They went so far as to suggest that tea party criticisms of Obama's healthcare plan, the debate over Arizona's new rules on police handling of illegal immigrants, and even the fact Giffords were Jewish could have played a role. They joined in the tale that Palin's political action committee had targeted Giffords for defeat may have played a role.

Judson Phillips, the founder of Tea Party Nation, noted on his website that Giffords is “a liberal,” but added, “that does not matter now. No one should be a victim of violence because of their political beliefs.” He is absolutely correct in this. This is a free country where we are free to express our beliefs and no one should be faulted for those beliefs and no harm should come to you because of your beliefs.

The profile that has been obtained of the accused shooter, 22-year-old Jared Loughner, is that of a deranged young man whose mind was deeply disturbed, but who also tinkered with both anarchist ideas and left-wing politics. He had identified among his favorite books "The Communist Manifesto" by Karl Marx, Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf," and the fiction classic "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest" — hardly the reading list of a conservative supporter.

He is "described by friends and former classmates as a loner, prone to dressing in black regalia of boots, trench coat and baggy pants even on the hottest days. He was removed from Pima Community College "for causing disruptions in classrooms and the library, college officials said. His dispute with college officials prompted him to post a bizarre YouTube video declaring the college illegal under the U.S. Constitution and culminated in his suspension from campus." His rants against the government that have surfaced on the Internet don't suggest he had a conservative perspective on big government. Instead Loughner 's MySpace featured a photo "showing a close-up picture of an automatic handgun sitting atop a book or paper titled 'United States History.'" Another video shows a masked man burning the American flag. "I can't trust the current government because of fabrications," Loughner wrote in a YouTube slideshow. "The government is implying mind control and brainwash on the people by controlling grammar."
I blame many in the Media for blowing tragedies out of proportion. The media needs to tone this down, don’t they realize that they are the ones are causing a tear in our society. I have watched the media trying to cause many uproars over the past several years. Why can’t they accept the fact that there are some crazy people out in society? Those out their blaming the Tea Party and many in the conservative movement are actually guilty of doing what they are blaming on others. Is it acceptable to condemn vitriol in politics while contributing to it in the same breath? Can this be what passes for restoring civility to our nation's discourse?

The Tea Party, Sarah Palin and Conservatives are no more responsible for Mr. Loughner's attempted assassination of Congresswoman Giffords than the liberals were for John Hinckley Jr.'s attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan. America, let’s get a grip on ourselves. We need to come together in times of tragedy and not allow our media to try and incite more violence and split us apart as a nation. We have enough enemies around the world – speak out against the media and it’s rhetoric, don’t let them create a voice for you. This was a tragic event orchestrated by a deranged soul – let’s face that fact, pull together as a nation and make our society better.