Violence is NEVER the Answer

Originally Posted: 1/8/11      

       To say that I'm disappointed by this recent act of senseless violence would be the understatement of the century. Representative Gabrielle Giffords was shot on Saturday while holding her first Congress on the Corner event of the new Congressional term. Democratic Rep. Giffords is the House Representative of the 8th district of Arizona and part of the Democratic Blue Dog Coalition. A man ran up to her and the group she was with and began to shoot indiscriminately at a pointblank range. Several people were injured including at least one child. There were initially rumors that Rep. Giffords had died as reported by CNN and NPR, but she was in surgery and no more information has been filtered out as of right now. Giffords recently took part in the rough 2010 elections where she and other democrats were targeted by Sarah Palin for supporting the Healthcare Reform and placed on a map on her web page. To say the least this calls the motivation of the act into question and definitely calls Palin's actions into question.

      What I find the most upsetting is that such an atrocity can occur and there are Americans out there singing the praises of the shooter. I lose more and more respect and faith in my country, the country I was born and raised in, every time an act like this one and many others occurs. I worry that these people who praise this person's "patriotic" act do not actually understand the depth of what has happened. It seems that the American people have become more desensitized to violence and killing than I have ever considered and I'm sure some psychologists and psychiatrists have considered. I am no fan of the 2nd Amendment or domestic terrorism. Yes, I'm calling this domestic terrorism. It was an act to incite fear in the populace with some political agenda behind it. I hope the person responsible rots in prison for the rest of his life quiet frankly. Violence is NEVER the answer in any case. It does not matter if a person feels that their opinion has been devalued and means nothing anymore, there are other ways of gaining more power and having your opinion heard. As for those idiots commenting on Palin's facebook and webpage about how great this is, I hope the FBI kicks in their doors and takes them into custody. Under no circumstances should people revel in the harm or death of one of their own. To say the least, this event has only brought me closer to wanting to live abroad.