The Arizona Shooting and American Political Discourse

[fvgazi]

Oh come on! Don't you guys know that darts are the #1 used weapon in all crimes?

[Czernobog]

I am worried that this will send the message to our elected officials that they need to make the barriers between their constituents and themselves even higher.

This is exactly what I'm worried about as well. This was truly a tragedy and it's clear to me the man was very much deranged, but it seems more like him are coming out of the woodwork lately. Do you guys remember a couple weeks ago when a man walked into a school council meeting, threatened everyone with a gun, and started shooting? Luckily he didn't hit anyone, as he was shot and killed before he was able to hurt anyone, but it was all over the news around me and I'm sure it made a lot of people who saw the video lose some sleep.

The video is available here, but does show the man shooting and getting shot. It is graphic and can be very upsetting for a viewer so if you have reservations about seeing it, I advise you not to watch it but to read a news article instead:

[Breetai]

I'm going with Manchurian candidate here. At least it makes a more interesting story.

[Ack]

The sad thing is, I don't see American political discourse changing over this, at least not overnight, at least partly because at this point politics is concerned with more than the political realm in this country. Instead, it now means race, religion, economic status, and whatever other means one could use to separate from the faceless "them" of the opposition. Politics is also heavily fueled by ignorance in this country, which helps further fuel the bigotry and antagonism between both sides.

If there is one place where I think this could change, it would have to be with the politicians' rhetoric regarding each other, even within the same party. Not just with the crosshairs bit, but other things like last month's "fuck the president" debacle. I don't care if the guy saying it's a Democrat and he's saying it about a Democratic president, that's not the place for that.

And outside of the politicians themselves, this kind of shit needs to stop:





Seriously, this isn't helping anything, it just makes the people doing it look like douchebags.

[Breetai]

And outside of the politicians themselves, this kind of shit needs to stop...

It's part of free speech. That kind of character bashing in politics has been going on for centuries. Yeah, it's juvenile, but it's an effective way of putting an opinion out there.

[dsheinem]

And outside of the politicians themselves, this kind of shit needs to stop...

It's part of free speech. That kind of character bashing in politics has been going on for centuries. Yeah, it's juvenile, but it's an effective way of putting an opinion out there.

Agreed, and equating Hitler with Bush or Obama with the Anti-Christ isn't quite the same thing as using violent and combative rhetoric, although it comes close.

[saturnfan]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/01/09/ari ... tml?hpt=T1

I'm very interested to see what, if anything, happens to political discourse in this country over the next few weeks. I am pessimistic that anything will change, really, but maybe I will be proven wrong. At the very least, maybe people like Palin will stop putting fucking crosshairs up on their campaign sites.

I don't want to derail the topic this early, but you are still upset about the crosshair thing? Jesus Christ, it is like I have to bury my face in embarrassment for you. Targeting locations to ramp up political involvement, using crosshairs, is hardly an inducement to use or promote violence. All it represents is that these specific locations are important.

There are other ways of doing this. Use a dart in a bullseye. Use a pair or binoculars. Use a magnifying glass.

I certainly understand your point and I will rescind my snide comment. However, the difference between using a crosshair or a dartboard or a magnifying glass is hardly worthy of mention because the connotation is clear: these are the places we need to pay attention to.

It is possible that something as insignificant as a .gif on Sarah Palin's blog could insight somebody to violence, but if that person is so sensitive to imagery and that easily swayed to violence, they clearly have problems with their psychosis that have never been addressed.

We can't change our daily habits and react with unsubstantiated fear to situations because there is a threat of a mentally unstable person losing their grip on reality. These things happen, and as much as a tragedy as they are, we can prevent them all.

[Ack]

And outside of the politicians themselves, this kind of shit needs to stop...

It's part of free speech. That kind of character bashing in politics has been going on for centuries. Yeah, it's juvenile, but it's an effective way of putting an opinion out there.

Agreed, and equating Hitler with Bush or Obama with the Anti-Christ isn't quite the same thing as using violent and combative rhetoric, although it comes close.

Yes, that's just it, I worry that equating of one political figure with something we consider pure evil helps to fuel said violent and combative rhetoric because it helps to instill animosity and dehumanize the individual in question.

[CRTGAMER]

The bad precedence of this shooting. Whether you believe in Government Health Care or not, no political agenda should be post phoned by a shooter.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2011/0 ... oting.html

In his second written statement today, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., has announced that the House will delay its efforts to repeal the health care law next week as well as other legislative business "so that we can take whatever actions may be necessary in light of today’s tragedy."

[Flake]

The bad precedence of this shooting. Whether you believe in Government Health Care or not, no political agenda should be post phoned by a shooter.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2011/0 ... oting.html

In his second written statement today, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., has announced that the House will delay its efforts to repeal the health care law next week as well as other legislative business "so that we can take whatever actions may be necessary in light of today’s tragedy."

Such an important issue, it is better to postpone it briefly than to rush on through. Both sides of the argument deserve to have all of their appointed votes and voices.