“Are you afraid? Are you fearful today?”
“You know, I’m not. We’ve had hundreds and hundreds of protesters over the course of the last several months. Our office corner has really become an area where the Tea Party movement congregates. And the rhetoric is incredibly heated. Not just the calls, but the emails, the slurs. So things have really gotten spun up. But you gotta think about it. Our democracy is a light, a beacon really around the world, because we effect change at the ballot box, and not because of these outbursts — of violence in certain cases, and the yelling, and it’s just … you know, change is important, it’s a part of our process, but it’s really important that we focus on the fact that we have a democratic process.”
“I think it’s important for all leaders, not just leaders of the Republican Party or the Democratic Party … community leaders, figures in our community to say, ‘Look, we can’t stand for this.’ I mean, this is a situation where people really need to realize that the rhetoric, and firing people up, and even things … For example, we’re on Sarah Palin’s targeted list, but the thing is, the way she has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gunsight over our district. And when people do that, they’ve gotta realize there’s consequences to that action.”
“In the years that some of my colleagues have served, twenty, thirty years, they’ve never seen it like this. We have to work out our problems by negotiating, working together, hopefully Democrats and Republicans.”
–Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, March 25, 2010.
The shooting of Rep. Giffords and the murder of at least 5 others today is a tragedy. And it is my opinion that it is a tragedy that got it's start in the way we speak. I don't seriously think that Sarah Palin or any other politician who used violent imagery and metaphors seriously intends or desires anyone to actually act violently. The vast, vast majority of people from any political persuasion get understandably angry over things that matter to them, but not to the point of violence. That's normal. Not everyone is normal. And when we talk in ways that make other people seem like an enemy that needs to be targeted and destroyed, not a person whose ideas you disagree with, and that dehumanization is coupled with metaphors of war, violence and murder, I think that creates an environment that incites and in some ways even supports violent acts by the small minority of people who are not normal or rational. I think how we talk to and about one another can make a difference in how we treat each other. It's usually in small ways, but today it was a very big way. Words matter.
I 100 percent agree. I don't believe that Palin intended to have a literal hit list, but at the time she has to know that there are a lot of people in her base that have access to guns and not to be rude, but also uneducated. You almost have to assume the worst when you are speaking to the general public.
ReplyDeleteThe gun law in AZ is absurd. Just about anyone can get a gun in Arizona. I firmly believe in the constitution, but I also believe that it is a living, breathing document that adapts with our modern society.
The whole situation breaks my heart. The Atlantic Journal was reporting it was an attack against her because she is Jewish and I think the Israeli news is reporting the same. I doubt that to be true, I am sure that he probably suffers from some type of mental disease.
Let's hope we learn from this and bring our rhetoric to a level of reasonableness.
I stole this from a friend's facebook:
ReplyDeleteRemember how conservative political activists and news media alarmists used to blame rap music for contributing to the violence in our country? Now, in spite of all this incendiary Palin-esque Tea Party rhetoric, those same people are trying to make yesterdays shootings into an isolated incident. Words matter, people.
(Referring to this article: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/01/tucson-tea-party-leader-we-wont-change-our-rhetoric-after-gifford-shooting.php?ref=fpb)
I agree, I doubt that Palin meant for anyone to go shoot those 17 members of Congress, but we all should be aware that when you're constantly using hyperbolic rhetoric to deliberately infuriate your listeners, some of those listeners will take things too far.
I totally agree. This tragedy in AZ is heartbreaking...to say the least. I hope we can all learn and grow from this.
ReplyDeleteI think essie makes the best point. If we would hold children or other [non politician] adults accountable why not a politican. Palin can whine all day long about they were just points on a map - but no, no they weren't. I am old enough to have read maps most of my life and have never seen a target like that on any map of the US I have seen. Even Mapquest uses a blue balloon like image.
ReplyDeleteThey were crosshairs of a gun and people will act on a suggestion as Ru's friend said.