Jan 302011
The shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was indeed tragic but the response, by the media and the government, has been tragically irresponsible. At the risk of sounding insensitive (I’m not) or NOT politically correct (I am) let me just say that I have, at turns, been bored and disgusted by the media circus, and disappointed, but not surprised, by the government response.
There was continuous coverage of “events” as they unfolded, and reporters earnestly interviewed anyone and everyone who knew one of the victims. One morning I heard a school administrator tell a reporter how they would have grief counseling for the students that lost their nine year-old classmate–of course they are, this is not news, it’s fodder for tragedy seekers. Teary children and their parents were interviewed and asked how they were doing–it made me want to look away, to give them some privacy for their grief, and, out of embarrassment for the obsequiousness of the reporter. This is way too much attention: in effect, it glamorizes the horrible doings of a mentally disturbed person and does nothing to help the victims or prevent this kind of tragedy from happening again.
Pundits and politicians on the left blamed the right suggesting that harsh rhetoric from Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh was somehow responsible for the shooting. It’s shocking that these “blamers” don’t see the irony of their words; that maybe civility could start with them. While the left played the blame game, the right refused to concede that tougher gun laws, especially on large capacity magazines, may have prevented as many people from getting shot.
The medical experts that I’ve heard interviewed have all agreed that the Arizona shooting was the doing of a man that is clinically mentally disturbed. Most mentally disturbed people are not violent, and as a society we have decided that we will risk the occasional tragedy over locking mentally ill people away and I doubt that this will change. Maybe the media could do something useful and interview experts on how parents can talk to their kids about mental illness and signs on when you need to get out of a classroom or restaurant if someone seems threatening.
President Obama did a good job at the service that was more pep rally than memorial. His speech was not the words of a politician trying to make political hay, but those of a leader. Unfortunately, other Washington elites did what they generally do best: show up for the photo opportunity. I was amazed at the turnout from Washington at the memorial–both Obamas, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Attorney General Eric Holder, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to name a few. I was also surprised that Congress declined to vote on anything for the week out of “respect” for Congresswomen Giffords.
I’m just wondering: do any of these Washington elites know how many troops died in Afghanistan and Iraq in the past two weeks? Do any of them care?
The real tragedy of a tragedy is when humans are self-serving instead of humanity being served.
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