Excuses for Violence and Hatred

There's been another shooting in America.  Twelve people were wounded, and six people killed. It happened in a grocery store in Arizona. One of the seriously injured was a congresswoman who supports gay and lesbian rights.

From what I can see on the news, there is not YET indication that this was a political act.  It might have been.  We'll probably find out soon. 

It could have been a basic nutcase. Crazy and evil people sometimes go out and kill random people for no real reason.  From what I've heard, this is what happened in Port Arthur in 1996

It also could have been a nutcase with a strong political affiliation and/or motivation.  

Before reading the actual article, I saw comments on Facebook regarding the evils of the Tea Party.   From the comments alone, I guessed that the authorities already HAD their answers. 

When I looked at the actual news on CNN, I saw no indication that the answers were available.   

People are just so quick to judge.

That's why.....

I love this comment on CNN davelp1084.   He says, Whatever happened to " how horrible" or "so sad"? How about "I hope they recover" or "I wish there was something I could do to help"? You people, from both sides, but primarily bashing "tea baggers" and "radicals" make me sick, both sides, left and right. The lack of decency and morals and the rise of hatred from both sides of the political isle is sadly evident in the comments made here. Grow up. Making hateful comments like the ones here leads to hatred, which leads to this kind of horrible act. I really do fear for the future of my country.
I do hope that the wounded can recover and that no one else passes
.

If really don't like the radicals on either side, but if I had to choose between the two I'd much prefer the left-ring radicals. I don't agree with right-wing philosophies, and I'd have very low tolerance for a radical version of them. But that does NOT mean they're a bunch of psycho killers.  

What if this shooting of a congresswoman was an assassination attempt? It could be.

You know what that means?  There're bad apples in every bunch.

Ted Kaczynski was an environmentalist. I think most environmentalists are peaceful good people.   But yeah. You get some who take things WAY too far.

On some weird level, it reminds me of when America had the balloon boy incident.  My Australian friend said that some of her fellow countrymen were saying this shows what Americans are like.    One bizarre incident and suddenly it represents all of us.  Yeah, because we all often purposely put our children in danger to get media attention.  No. That's not true. I think most of us were as shocked as people outside America.

But for people who dislike Americans, it gave them an excuse to dislike us even more. They could feel righteous and validated in their hatred.  

If this shooting WAS politically motivated, and inspired by something Sarah Palin had said....I am sure (and hoping) that most tea-party people will be embarrassed and ashamed.  But that doesn't mean they all need to stop believing what they believe( Although I can't say I wouldn't be disappointed if they rethink some of their position).

There will of course be the disgusting people who cheer on the violence. As I said before....bad apples in every bunch. 

As for those of us on the left, I think we have to keep debating and keep fighting (nonviolently) for what we believe. But I don't think it's proper or rational to use an isolated tragic incident as leverage in our argument.  Well, the exception would be gun control.   That's a different story.