Switzerblog: with video (01:36).
In the wake of yesterday’s assassination attempt on the life of Congresswoman Giffords, Twitter was filled with retweets of Sarah Palin’s infamous “Don’t retreat – reload!” exhortation, her bullseye map, Sharron Angle quotes (“Second Amendment remedies"), and news that Palin had pulled the bullseye map off her website. By late afternoon, we began to see calls for civility, which have increased by this morning. Predictably, of course, right-wingers want to insist that the only responsible party is the shooter, but those of a “moderate” bent (not that I doubt they’re moderate, btw…the quotes are just to indicate I’m using the word as a blanket qualifier) seemed to hit on a common chorus: Can’t we just grieve without making this about politics?
In a word, no. We cannot. We can’t because it is political. This wasn’t just a crazed shooter at the mall. He attempted to assassinate a Congresswoman because of her political stands, and successfully killed a Federal Judge, aide, three supporters, and a 9-year old girl in the process. Truly grieving this loss requires examining what brought it on, and being honest with ourselves about the context in which the crime took place. Doing less insures it will be repeated, and does an injustice to those who’ve lost their lives or had them greatly altered by injury. MORE...
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