Gabrielle Giffords/Wikipedia
By Emily Steinberg
On Saturday, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-AZ, was outside a supermarket, meeting with her constituents, when she was brutally gunned down. The shooter, a 22 year old armed with a Glock, shot 20 people before he was wrestled to the ground and disarmed. Among the dead are a nine year old girl and a Federal Judge. Rep. Giffords remains in critical condition. There are many complex issues and questions arising from this senseless tragedy. Why was an unhinged 22 year old carrying a Glock semiautomatic pistol? Was the shooter ever identified as a mental health risk? If so, because of the penurious way mental health is meted out by the insurance companies, was he able to get treatment?
But the main culprit, as I see it, is the pervasiveness of hate speech on the airwaves that has permeated our country since the 2008 election. Paul Krugman's editorial, Climate of Hate, in today's New York Times, addresses this issue spot on. The unrelenting geyser of hate and vitriol has been spewing forth unchecked for two years. Tea Party leaders, misusing and misunderstanding a Thomas Jefferson quote, urge their followers to water the tree of liberty with the blood of tyrants. In this case, the tyrants were a 40 year old congresswoman, a nine year old girl and four others. Is it any wonder that some of it seeped into the psyche of this mad gunman?
The Sheriff of Pima County, Clarence Dupnik, was right when he called on the media to cut it out. Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity, is it really necessary to ratchet up the fear and loathing that you peddle on a daily basis? And let's not forget Sarah Palin's infamous Tweet, "Commonsense Conservatives & lovers of America: 'Don't Retreat, Instead - RELOCK and RELOAD!", or her equally repulsive target map of congressional Democrats. This country needs some serious introspection right about now. It's way past time for us to grow up. A moment of silence for the dead and restoratoration for the wounded.