Judge John Roll, a U.S. District Judge appointed by the first Pres. Bush in 1991, was shot and killed. Along with these five others. Gabe Zimmerman was Mrs. Giffords director of public outreach, with a Masters in Social Work, and was engaged to be married in 2012. Phyllis Schneck, 79, was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Not politically active, and typically doesn't shop at the Safeway where the shooting occurred, she was shot and killed leaving 3 children, 7 grandchildren, and 1 great grandchild. Dorwan Stoddard was killed when trying to protect his already injured wife by shielding her from the gunman. Dorothy "Dot" Morris was also shot and killed, although her husband tried to do the same as Stoddard, in shielding her from the gunfire. A 9 year old Christina Taylor Green, was the day's youngest victims. She was athletic, being the only girl on her little league baseball team, intelligent, and was apparently an aspiring politician. In a twist of tragic irony, she was born on a tragic day and died on a tragic day. Her birthday was September, 11, 2001.
Of course, the question of the day, who's to blame? The fingers are wagging, and some in the media and politics are salivating at pointing the blame on talk radio, Fox News, popular conservative politicians specifically Sarah Palin. This is just as outrageous as stating that Jared Lee who held the Discovery Channel headquarters hostage was influenced by Al Gore! The only person to blame was the one who pulled the trigger. How is it that more blame has been placed on the typical targets of Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin, than any questioning his parents or those closest to him? He was kicked out of college with suggestions of psychological testing, he was denied enlistment by the U.S. Military, those who were in contact with him said he was deeply disturbed. Has any questions been raised that this might have been an anti-Semitic attack, connecting his apparently favorite book "Mein Kempf" and Mrs. Giffords being Arizona's first Jewish Congresswoman? There are infinite possibilities, but one fact is certain, Jared is a mentally unstable extremist. To suggest that our unfettered political discourse, our first amendment right of free speech is to blame, is to resolutely state that we are like the rest of the world.
We are not the rest of the world. The United States political movements are not enacted by violent extremists. The United States has peaceful transitions to power at all levels, seen most recently in Congress. The United States political parties or private corporations do not fund violent upheavals, assassinations, or anarchy. We are not the Ivory Coast, where the incumbent refuses to cede the Presidency to the electoral victor. We are not Pakistan, where a governor and "Advocate of Tolerance" was assassinated by one of his own guards. We are not Tunisia who is suffering from violent protests due to high unemployment. We do not have state sponsored, politically advantageous assassinations in the United States. To suggest that any political party or talk show host or celebrity is to share blame in this inexplicable tragedy, only removes all personal responsibility which eventually destroys the credibility of our government which is established "by the People", relying primarily on self-governance. If we have to silence voices of opposition to "maintain peace", we have lowered ourselves to the anarchist-tyrannical cycle that is largely the rest of the world's political cycle. The United States is above that. We have the Constitution. We are a nation of the rule of law. We believe in justice. We believe in equality. We believe that those, like Jared Loughner, who's solely to blame for those who lost their lives, will be held accountable. If we turn away from the proven formula of the Constitution, rule of law, and our justice system, we will lose our freedoms all together. We would no longer deserve them. But I believe the majority of Americans don't buy into the political spin and blame game when hit with crisis. I believe that we are smarter and stronger and more independently minded than that. We are the United States.
4 comments:
Sorry, but saying something ain't so, doesn't make it so.
U.S. intelligence in fact has a history of assassinations and attempted assassinations. President Ford did not sign Executive Order 11905 in 1976 -- which reads: "No employee of the United States Government shall engage in, or conspire to engage in, political assassination."-- if this was a fantasy. Such practices came to light in hearings of the Senate Select Committee on Assassinations, aka the Church Committee, and the evidence for the CIA's participation in coups and assassinations is voluminous.
As for "private corporations", your uncritical approach to them is puzzling to me, since you claim to be "independently minded." If so, then I suggest you look into the practices of private corporations, including those that fund the Tea Party. What you don't seem to grasp is that private corporations -- and I'm talking of the multinationals that ship our jobs overseas and set up their headquarters in foreign countries -- don't owe any allegiance to the U.S. or the Constitution. Their only allegiance is to the almighty dollar/euro/yen etc., their shareholders, and the profit motive. They are amoral entities whose only function in life is to make a buck. Have they participated in coups and assassinations? You betcha. Quite often, they're not real, but shell corporations set up by the CIA to destabilize some country or another, fund electoral fraud, launder money to fund insurgents, funnel arms in violation of U.S. law -- what do you think Iran-Contra, the big Reagan era scandal was all about?
What about the 140,000 manufacturing COMPANIES that closed their doors during the GWB years and went to China, Mexico, India, Brazil? Where's their patriotism?
We're getting our clocks cleaned by these countries. We hardly manufacture anything in the U.S. any longer. Who do you think is responsible for that? I'll tell you: the Tea Party funders (U.S. Chamber of Commerce, all of the corporations shipping jobs overseas, the oil and gas industry), Reagan, Bush, and yes, Clinton with their free trade policies, and the GOP and Tea Party that block every effort to sanction corporations that ship jobs overseas and reward those that create jobs in the U.S.
Yes, we're the United States. But not the country you've concocted in some fairy tale about slave owning white guys who cobbled together the ideas of leading European philosophers to build a self-governing democracy. Here's a reality check: The U.S. ranks 37th in the developed world healthcare systems and their efficiency, quality of care, infant mortality, etc., behind virtually every EU country and Canada, even behind Costa Rica. AND the U.S. has the THIRD HIGHEST rate of poverty and inequality behind only Turkey and Mexico among OECD nations.
I believe in American exceptionalism -- the exceptional heroism of Daniel Hernandez; but not the "exceptionalism" of an AZ law that would profile Daniel for not "looking" like an American.
I know that facts and history don't matter to the Tea Party. A part of the study that Fox viewers are, going away, the most misinformed of all TV news consumers, notes that no amount of corrected fact or history will convince them the FACTS show what they believe is FACTUALLY incorrect -- it's wrong. The opposite occurs: They dig in their heels and believe even more strongly in untrue, fictional information.
So this is an exercise in futility. (Sigh)
Carlos,
As a person who tends toward a more liberal way of thinking and in theory should agree with you, I mostly just find you obnoxious. At least no one can can say that you are uninformed. You seem to have lots of little facts and statistics that have little to no relevance to Sarah's point.
You may have been attempting to make a point. Perhaps I missed it. But I'm willing to bet that I'm not alone in that.
You just sounded like a dude who thinks America sucks.
Annie, well put and welcome.
Carlos: Through your eyes, the world must be frustrating and sad . I do believe that these "slave owning white guys" were inspired to draft a Constitution that has withstood the test of time. Men are fallible, corruptible, imperfect, and that is all God has to make His work happen. Of course I believe that this is the greatest nation on earth because of that document, and thank God for the following Bill of Rights and amendments. Which abolished slavery, gave the right to vote to any citizen regardless of race or gender.
Of course the United States has made major mistakes, but I believe that we have more of a possibility to correct them. You can rattle off your handful of pre-prepared "America is evil" talking points, but I choose to live in a world (as delusional or uninformed as you may see it) where I don't villify people or concepts I don't agree with. I choose to believe that ALL people are innately good, until proven otherwise. I choose to believe that our country, although severely misguided or wrong at times, will eventually correct itself and survive. We endure. I believe what President Clinton said, "There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America." Or Adlai Stevenson, "America is much more than a geographical fact. It is a political and moral fact - the first community in which men set out in principle to institutionalize freedom, responsible government, and human equality."
Why is it that although I would differ with these men in policy, they also choose to see America as one of greatest nations, and yet you don't? Why is it that you make the case against such a belief repeatedly? Yes, it is an exercise in futility. And if this country is so awful, leave. Every single member of my family, and almost all of my close friends have spent extended time (years) in countries all over the world. Not only could they wait to be back hom in the US, but the people they worked with wanted to come back with them! You say you believe in American exceptionalism, but you all you comment is condemning the US.
In regards to your points:
1. Private corporations require a profit to stay in operation. (Gasp!) Unfortunately, the US is not the most business competitive country. If our large corporations weren't taxed at every level, and provided no incentive to stay in the US, the look elsewhere. I would love to hear your ideas on how to change that. I would much rather read "Made in USA" than "Made in China".
2. Out of the 74 "slave owning white" delegates at the Constitutional convention, only 12 owned slave-operated planations. Franklin freed his slaves and founded an anti-slavery society. Hamilton and John Jay opposed slavery and founded the first African free school in NYC. They sound like racist, bigoted men who cobbled together together ideas of leading European philosophers! Give me a break.
3. Why do you keep bringing up the Tea Party? Just because I'm a libertarian/conservative, doesn't mean I subscribe or follow every movement of the Tea Party. Who cares if they have corporate funders? The sad political fact is politics is fueled by lobbyists and money. DNC, RNC, every political movement has donors/fundraisers. A fact I completely hate. One reason politicians are so easily corruptible. The Tea Party is a moot point with me.
4. Arizona Law: The constitutionality of this law will now doubt be tried and tested. My guess is on the wording of "reasonable suspicion". Although "reasonable suspicion" is legally less stringent as probable cause - BUT MORE THAN A HUNCH. There must be "specific and articulable facts", which I interpret to mean more than "not looking American". The beautiful thing about our country, is if a police officer abuses the law not only would he be subject to legal but also civil court proceedings. This battle is far from over, as is the American legal process. Balance of powers.
5. US Poverty: In the same article that states the stats you provided, the next bullet point discusses redistribution of income by government. "Spending on social benefits is 9% of household incomes, while the OECD average is 22%." It did not include that the average income for the US is $46K. France's richest 10% average income is $54K, Japan's richest 10% avg is $60K. As displayed by the way the OECD laid out their facts, it is pretty obvious that they support distributing wealth THROUGH THE GOVT, which I don't.
Also in reading about the other countries, the number of households having more than one earner has increased. I enjoy staying at home, and am grateful that I am in one of the increasingly rare single earning household.
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