Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is fighting for her life at this very moment. A Federal judge, and a young child are among the dead, scores of other innocent people were wounded—and the blame game is underway.
Democrats are charging that the climate was set, blaming Republican and conservative verbal attacks over the last several years.
Republicans are in turn pointing at Democrats, charging it’s Democrats that are politicizing this horrible personal tragedy.
Naturally, Tea Party members say it’s not their fault. Of course, they feel they had nothing to do with it.
And Sarah Palin. Well, her aides say she did not play a role in any of this even though Giffords Congressional district was one of those targeted by Palin with gun crosshairs on a map.
And while each political party or individual points the finger at each other, there’s also the apparent psychological problems of the suspect Jared L. Loughner to consider.
But that is exactly what the problem is, finger pointing, and this is not a game. The political discord has become so ugly, who can honestly say that the climate was not set leading to horrible consequences like what happened in Arizona.
Sadly, to a degree, Congresswoman Giffords saw this coming when she warned to Palin, and Tea Party folks there would be “consequences” to political appeals that use symbolism like gun sights.
Former Representative Chris Carney of Pennsylvania, whose district, like Ms. Giffords’s, was on list of Congressional districts that Ms. Palin’s political operation marked with crosshairs, was quoted in The Times Tribune of Scranton as saying: “It would be very useful if Palin came out and, if not apologize, say that she was wrong in putting that sort of logo on people’s districts.”
We’ll see in the days ahead if Palin will apologize, but in the meantime President Obama has canceled his economic trip to upstate New York for Tuesday.
This is just the beginning of dealing with a topic that has long been out of control for a long time. The first Amendment argument, but how far does it go?
Can our political leaders and activists respect each other without demonizing the other side.
Can political rallies be held without saying the worst possible thing about another human being simply because they don’t agree with your ideology? Because they are a republican, and you are a democrat. Cause you are a democrat and they are a tea party person. Because you are an independent, and they are a member of the republican party.
We find ourselves in a very difficult situation. Already a handful of Congressional members are saying they will carry firearms to protect themselves.
I state again, the Political climate in America is deeply poisoned with partisan politics. All of us have an obligation to fix it
All of our prayers should continue to be with Congresswoman Giffords, the family of Federal Judge John M. Roll, third grader Christina Taylor Green, and all the other victims.