I originally wrote this after the Virginia Tech shootings and adapted it to current events. In light of the frenzy going on only hours after the shootings in Arizona, I feel it is no less relevant now.
What can we do?
…regarding the shootings yesterday in Arizona?…nothing.
You can’t make sense of something like this. You can’t ban guns. You can’t promote guns. Not today. Not ever.
You can’t make this about policy, religion or politics. Not today. Not ever.
We’ll hear all the angles, all the speculation, the second it’s politically acceptable – probably sooner. In the context of an isolated tragedy like this no one will be right.
You can’t lock down public places. You can’t arm everyone everywhere, even if they wanted to be, and a gun law won’t stop a person intent on harming another person.
You can’t prevent everything.
We want to try to make sense of it. We want to try to mitigate the pain by somehow surmising that there is an upside. Something to be learned. An opportunity to capitalize. A way to prevent someone intent on harming others. But there won’t be.
All we can do is support and pray for the families…and for the shooter’s family…and for the victims of similar past tragedies for whom this will be an excruciating reminder.
Hug your loved ones, your husbands, wives and kids.
That’s what we can do.
When I heard about his shooting I thought about the congresswoman’s husband and what he must be going through. I thought about what it would be like to lose a nine-year-old daughter in such a horrible way. I thought about how I would feed if the shooter were my son.
It didn’t occur to me to think about the political motivations of the killer or the culpability vis a vis a policy stance or voting record on the part of the congresswoman or her staff, let alone the bystanders who are no less or no more innocent in this context.
I think it’s sad that there are those that have already done that, even before all the facts are in; as if it would be appropriate even if they were.
There is only one person to blame. Whether he used a gun, a knife, a car or a baseball bat, it is of no import. Whether he was a Republican or a Democrat or of the Tea Party, it is of no import. Whether he was sane or not, it is of no import.
Senseless acts of violence can not be explained or rationalized.
No one in the interest of any affiliation should condone or attribute a senseless act of cruelty.
You are correct, but it poses a problem for liberals. You see, since society in general and conservatives in particular must be responsible for every tragedy, they are responsible for this one as well. Certainly individuals are not responsible for what they do, because that would admit to the presence of some Evil in the world. Therefore, liberals in search of a reason for the insanity lash out at those who disagree with them.
One item that hasn’t gotten enough attention is the behaviour of the Tucson sherrif, Clarence Dupnik. He is usually quoted as saying that the shooting was the result of the political climate in Arizona
When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government. The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous. And unfortunately, Arizona I think has become the capital. We have become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry.
Dupnik knows nothing about whether or not the shooting had to with the political climate in AZ. He is a democrat, and is almost never identified by the media as being a democrat.
Dupnik put out a call to find an unidentified partner of Loghner yesterday. That is dumb. Loughner is a crazy person. Remember, he shot Giffords first, and then began shooting random people. This is not the mark of an assassin, it is the mark of a psychotic. Violent psychotics don’t have accomplices. This was not a conspiracy.
Yup, to all that. Even though it now appears that Loughner is a violent nutcase with leftist leanings, you — and the decent folks on the right — are focusing on the violent nutcase part, not the leftist leanings part.
As is appropriate. There’s a lot of wrongdoing that can properly be laid at the door of say, Nancy Pelosi, but even if it turned out that this guy worked on her campaign (and I’m not saying that he did; I have no information to that effect, and doubt it), his murderous rampage is not her fault, anymore than it’s yours, or mine.
The only political point I’d want to make — because I think it’s a point that transcends politics — is that he apparently was stopped by two bystanders, not the police. That isn’t me being critical of the police (although I’m perfectly capable of it), but it’s just a fact that the cops simply aren’t at many places when violent crimes happen, and, as the saying goes, “when seconds count, the police are only minutes away.”
It’s not hard to conclude that the carnage would have been even greater if Loughner had been allowed to continue on until the nearest cops arrived.
Violent psychotics don’t have accomplices.
No, but sadly they have apologists willing to use their actions for political gain.
You feeling me, Dog Gone?
Terry, I did a look at Arizona newspapers…..read the comment sections (yes, I know this isn’t scientific….look at Star Tribune comments for wackiness), but posters there talked about his lefty partisonship. Example, Sherriff Dupnik said he will ignore the immigration law passed by Arizona legislature. The disputes he has with the officers on the ground in Tucson, etc.
Angryclown thought mass shootings didn’t take place in states with liberal carry laws. You know, the crazies wouldn’t dare shoot up someplace where the Second Amendment was adequately safeguarded – for fear of getting shot down. And if the dude was so nutty he didn’t fear getting shot down, some good citizen who happened to be carrying would take him out before he shot more than a handful.
So maybe it’s time for you teabagging gun crazies to shut the fuck up, as it’s clear you don’t have anything rational to say.
Actually, it is your side that seems batshit crazy, clown.
Before they even asked why this lunatic was able to possess a gun, they were blaming Palin, Limbaugh, Beck & Fox News.
Golden opportunity to push the gun control meme but instead they used to express their hatred of their fellow Americans.
It’s an obsession that will destroy them, sooner or later.
Really, Terry? Cause nobody knows what was going through this kook’s defective brain, but Mitch and Roosh have felt it necessary to write several ineffective exculpatory blog posts already. You kooks are ridiculous and contemptible.
Oh, STFU Mr. Clown or I’ll turn the bubbler down on your aquarium.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703667904576071191163461466.html
2007.
Long before the Tea Party, long before anyone had ever heard of Sarah Palin or Beck ever appeared on FNC. Loughner would have been 17.
Another epoch fail by the libs. Sounds like it might be a case of juvenile-onset schizophrenia. That’s much more common than enraged Tea Partiers attacking politicians.
Cause nobody knows what was going through this kook’s defective brain…
Oh, it’s only a matter of time before someone turns up written accounts of his infant skeet shooting fantasies (PULL! BLAM!)…or something.
Fuckwads of this ilk always do….right AssClown?
“And if the dude was so nutty he didn’t fear getting shot down, some good citizen who happened to be carrying would take him out before he shot more than a handful.”
Swing and a miss AC.
Sadly there’re defectives, lunatics, and EVIL people among us. Bystanders (at their own peril) were able to physically restrain Loughner. It’s fortunate that they had the strength and compulsion to do that before he could make his gun hot with another magazine and continue the carnage. From what I’ve heard about the rate of fire it would’ve been difficult to stop him prior to the mag change. Another gun may have been the only thing that could have stopped him if he had he been able to effectively change mags. That would leave it to either a cop (seems there weren’t any around), or a private citizen.
AC, quit throwing around all the multi-syllabic words. You sound like a condescending asshole enough as it is without them and having selectively missed the point of both my and Mitch’s posts you’ve left absolutely no doubt.