In the aftermath of the shootings in Tucson, Ariz., last week, Americans of all races, ideologies, and creeds came together to remember those who lost their lives and those who were still recovering. President Obama called for prayer and reflection in a moving speech shortly after the incident.
Not everyone shared the President's sentiments however.
Immediately after the shooting, some on the far-left began blaming Sarah Palin, the Tea Party and ""right-wing rhetoric,"" for the tragedies. Michael Daly of the New York Daily News claimed Sarah Palin now has ""the blood of more than some poor caribou on her hands.""
The comments weren't just from far-left instigators who are paid to make outlandish comments. Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, D-Ill., both claimed it was the rhetoric of Sarah Palin and the Tea Party that was to blame for the shootings.
While political rhetoric that incites acts of violence is deplorable, to blame the tragedy that occurred in Tucson on such rhetoric is more than inaccurate, it's ignorant.
All the facts we know about the shooter, 22-year-old Jared Loughner, indicate he was clearly an unstable person. Among his favorite books were ""Mein Kampf"" and ""The Communist Manifesto,"" hardly Tea Party reading material. He worshiped a replica skull in his backyard and was convinced the government was controlling people's grammar, things that I doubt were encouraged by the likes of Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh. He dropped out of college and had recently broken up with his girlfriend, obviously adding two stressors to an already troubled individual.
It seems as though any rational person would conclude that it was a combination of these influences that caused the shooter to act. Some, however, have made the ridiculous claim that Sarah Palin's website which showed ""targeted districts,"" in the 2010 election season influenced the shooter. Who are these people and where did they find that information? Others have stated that it was talk radio and Fox News that inspired this crazed man to kill. The facts state otherwise.
High school classmates of the shooter said he was a deeply troubled kid who needed help. An abuser of drugs and alcohol, he clearly lacked social skills. According to friends, he didn't listen to talk radio, never cared for news in general and was no fan of the Tea Party. He didn't vote in 2010 and was a registered Independent.
I would, like most Americans, according to a recent Quinnipiac poll, dismiss the attempts to politicize the events of last week. The problem, though, is that the comments by people like Daly and Hoyer are themselves inciting violence and hatred.
Well-known figures like Sarah Palin and U.S. Rep. Michelle Bachman, R-Minn., are receiving even more threats on their life than they already do. What's more disturbing is that local Tea Party leaders in Arizona are receiving these threats as well. To say in one breath we should stop ratcheting up political rhetoric, while in the very next encouraging it is repugnant.
While contention has long been a part of politics, the part it has played in this tragedy is outright wrong. A 9-year-old girl along with five other people lie dead, and a beloved congresswoman is fighting for her life. While a call for civility in public discourse is no doubt a good thing, doing so at the expense of the victims of this tragedy is appalling.
If the Tucson shooting can teach us anything, it is that we must come together as a nation no matter what adversity befalls us. Insidious and baseless attacks do not and will not heal the wounds of tragedy. We must mourn and remember the victims of the Tucson shootings, not use them to score cheap political points.
Matt Payne is a junior majoring in Chinese and economics. We welcome all feedback. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
