Arizona shooting should be seen as a tragedy, not a political tool
In the wake of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ attempted assassination, it has been insinuated that America’s harsh political climate was part of shooter Jared Lee Loughner’s motivation for the shooting. This is not a debate that should be had.
When Loughner opened fire 31 times into a crowd at Giffords' town hall-style meeting, he killed six people, seriously wounded a U.S. Congresswoman and injured 13 others.
This tragedy should not be politicized by the media on either side of the aisle.
What Loughner did was inexcusable and was most likely the result of his own thinking, not the ramblings of pundits on the left or right.
A lot has been made of Sarah Palin’s target map, which had cross-hairs over the districts of 20 members of Congress who voted for the Affordable Health Care Act. Among those in Palin’s sights was Giffords, and while distasteful, it was just an attempt to get a rise out of her base. Nothing more.
The trend of using hyperbolic violence (“Don’t Retreat — Instead Reload”) in politics is on the rise, but it is of paramount importance to realize it is always meant to act as an attention-getter. To accuse Palin of actually wanting American citizens to bear arms and fire on U.S. Representatives is as absurd as blaming the FBI for President John F. Kennedy’s assassination.
Also, there is no evidence that Loughner ever saw Palin’s map. In fact, based on his Facebook and MySpace profiles, he was more in line with the writings of Karl Marx and Adolf Hitler.
CBS conducted a poll Sunday through Monday asking 673 adults whether the “recent harsh political tone had anything to do with the Arizona shooting” and 57 percent said it did not and 32 percent said they do.
It is crucial that people take heed of these results. Instead of throwing grenades from one side of the aisle to another, the focus should be on how to better prevent actions like this in the future and how to better protect our elected national officials.
Giffords has been hailed by members of Congress on both the left and the right as a hardworking politician who is willing to work across party lines. While people like Loughner may be influenced by America’s intense political climate, it is both unfair and unscrupulous to solely attribute his actions to that climate.
Members of Congress and the media should be coming together in support of Giffords, the other victims and their families. It is shameful for one side or the other to take an act such as this and transform it into a political spear.
The political swords drawn in the aftermath of Giffords’ shooting should be sheathed. There are plenty of arenas for political fighting, but this is not one.
It has been reported that Giffords is now breathing on her own and slowly starting to recover from her bullet wound; this is what is important, not gaining ground in the political battlefield.
