This discussion about the Tuscon shootings, as necessary and intelligent as it has been, is also exhausting to me. The only thing I really have to say at this point is that, at times like this and after events like this one, this song is nearly always going through my mind. Best wishes.
Rufus F.
Rufus is a likeable curmudgeon. He has a PhD in History, sang for a decade in a punk band, and recently moved to NYC after nearly two decades in Canada. He wrote the book "The Paris Bureau" from Dio Press (2021).
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on Open Mic for the week of 4/15/2024You know, I was going to have some wine tomorrow but maybe I'll have it tonight: Iranian Foreign Min… on Open Mic for the week of 4/15/2024You've already admitted to being a Reagan voter, Chip.
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Yeah. Nutbar hurts people; other people shoot off at the mouth (keyboard) and then comment threads across the internets swarm with invective and endless broad-brush painting, unsupportable assertions and pointless debate over unknowable motivations. The sooner the whole screeching mess passes on the happier I’ll be.Report
Don’t get me wrong- I think the disucssion here has been pretty good so far. I’m just finding that much of the blogosphere is quickly approaching something out of the Onion. I think the headline would be, ‘American Political Left and Right Debate Heatedly Whether the True Victims of Tragic and Senseless Shooting Are Democrats Who Are Spoken About Badly or Republicans Who Are Spoken About Badly.’Report
After 9/11, one of the things I noticed was how very many people knew that something like this was going to happen and this could have been avoided if only we had all followed their advice.
Liberals argued that if only we had been more Liberal, this would not have happened.
Conservatives argued that if only we had been more Conservative, this would not have happened.
Libertarians argued that if only we had been more Libertarian, this would not have happened.
Christians argued that if only we had been more Christian, this would not have happened.
Atheists argued that if only we had been more Atheist, this would not have happened.
I’m sure that personal trainers secretly believed that if only more folks exercised, this would not have happened.
Having heard that, it’s hard not to hear a similar tune being played in the aftermath of pretty much any tragedy.Report
I think it’s totally normal to try to understand things like this when they happen in hopes of preventing them from happening again. But it’s also worthwhile to recognize that preventing them from ever happening again is not possible.Report
My guess: People (like me) that immediately and continually thought about the rhetoric of today’s politics (blaming it or not) were growing more uncomfortable with that rhetoric prior to the shootings.Report
Coulter argued that if we had invaded their countries, killed their leaders and converted them to Christianity, this would not have happened. But, of course, she’s a comedian. Hahahahaha.Report
She made a followup statement a year and a couple of months later.
“If we had invaded their countries, killed their leaders and converted them to Christianity, we’d be able to tell them ‘Merry Christmas.'”
I admit to having laughed.Report
No liberals there forcing her to say “Happy Holidays”?
(See, I’m a comedian too.)Report
invaded their countries, killed their leaders and converted them to Christianity (emphasis added)Report
For the record, I really wasn’t trying to open another thread in order to continue the discussions from the other threads that I’m finding wearying and unhelpful.
All I was trying to do was say, hey, if you want to talk about the inevitability of death and how tragic it is when death comes to someone in a violent and unexpected way, here’s a thread for that. I’m not sure I have much else to say other than that events like this remind me of those things. Maybe I’m morbid.Report
Sorry, Rufus.Report
It’s okay.Report
Liberals would force people to say “Happy Holidays” in the Vatican.Report
I came across this the other day. It’s a repost of something Cory Doctorow wrote on 9/12/01.
http://www.boingboing.net/2011/01/09/why-the-shootings-me-1.html
As the existence of the repost should make obvious, it is just as applicable today.Report
The early takeaway is the public rejecting the sliming of the right by the left and their assorted allies in the news media.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20028105-503544.html?tag=cbsnewsMainColumnArea
Not that that will discourage them from keeping on trying.Report
My early takeaway was that six people went to a public event to meet their local representative and take part in the political discussion and because of some maniac, they won’t celebrate their next birthday. That, to me, is what happened, and the rest is secondary.
I understand that, for some liberals, what this is is a teaching example of how terrible conservatives are because of the climate of violence created by their rhetoric- vote Democrat! And, for some conservatives, what this is is a teaching example of how terrible liberals are in trying to politicize a tragedy- vote Republican! And, if you guys want to hash out that discussion, there are already four or five other threads to debate that.
But, my point was just that, you know, the first takeaway should be that six people got murdered the other day without rhyme or reason.Report
And as a corollary, the polls agree. The people aren’t buying this “eliminationist rhetoric” BS. My point exactly, Rufus.
😉Report
Susan SmithReport
You always have to have the last word!Report