My latest op-ed, title above, appeared in Wednesday’s Virginian-Pilot.
How many of these kinds of events have we political junkies attended? There but for the grace of God go I. That was one of the many thoughts I had in my head as I watched the coverage of the massacre in Tuscon. And I’ll bet I’m not alone.
But it was the tweet I referenced in my post Saturday that made brought it home for me. We have to continue to go to these events and interact with our representatives. We cannot be afraid; otherwise, the terrorist wins.
Without referencing the terrorism angle, I find it interesting that Sen. Mark Warner, in an interview Monday for a local TV station, came to a similar conclusion, saying, “The last thing we need is to put an even larger barrier between our elected representatives officials and the people who hire us.”
No doubt security was tight at the service held Wednesday night in Tuscon. But by their presence there, the people demonstrated that they were not giving in to violence. I think that is a good thing.
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Speaking of the service, I don’t know what the deal was. The media was calling it a memorial service but it wasn’t like any I’ve ever attended. There were scripture readings but it was more of a celebration than a memorial. In any event, I think President Obama gave the best speech I’ve ever heard him give. It was the right speech for the right time, even if the attendees were boisterous.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Good opine!
Guess you are a week ahead, now. So we will see this weeks proposed next week?
Don’t know. I’ve got several in the hopper. I’ll figure it out by deadline 😉
Along with not surrendering to violence, I sincerely hope we don’t surrender to political correctness or a scaling back of political debate. If anything, these country needs vigorous, heated debate more than ever before. The difference is that it needs to be focused on policy and policy alone, not the personality or motives of the person on the other side.
If this crisis leads to a reluctance to have heated arguments, it might as well be America’s death knell.
Chris Christie said it best, “Arguing is what we were sent here to do.”
A slight increase in interest rates or a increase in the monetary velocity and this government will default on its debt via hyperinflation or flat out bankruptcy. Sadly, I see everyone worrying more about restricting free speech and targets on map than actually solving problems.
I’ve come to the conclusion that political debate focused on policy is not going to happen – and not because of the events last Saturday. Perhaps it is because few take the time to learn not only what the policy should be but what they actually believe.
It’s far too easy to engage in the shorthand of attacks – blame the left, blame the right, blame the Democrats, blame the Republicans.
Those who are elected to represent us should lead in this department. But they don’t, and so the bulk of us are left with repeating the talking points.
I find it quite interesting that the single comment on my article at PilotOnline references the Bell Curve, which I did in an earlier article.
Vivian, based on the reaction to this tragedy that we’ve seen in the Virginia political blogosphere, I’m afraid that you’re right. People, on both sides, couldn’t wait for the bodies to be put in the ground before they begain playing the blame game.
Max: There’s a difference between arguing and what we see our political conversation descending to. I can disagree with you politically and not think you’re a bad person. In the “Win At Any Cost” political culture we live in now, the opposition has to not only be wrong, they have to be evil. Their motives have to be questioned, they have to actively TRYING to hurt the country.
Which is nonsense.
It’s why so many people are becoming alienated from both parties.
Sorry, but some people’s motives have to be questioned and some people have to be turned into the bad guy to be held accountable.
You can’t seriously look at what has been done to America and tell me it all happened with pure motives.
I can’t speak to other people’s motives; all I can say definitively is that I’m tired of people who exhibit by their words and behaviors that the greatest threat to America is other Americans. They’re misguided and also wrong, and that way of thinking has taken up way too much bandwidth in the public discourse as of late.
The greatest threat to America is other Americans. How can you seriously think otherwise?
Less than half of registered voters come out to vote leaving us with representatives that know less about public policy than the people they employ to tell them how to think.
We’ve got military and political leaders who fail to understand why the militia groups we funded throughout the cold war now want to kill us and can’t comprehend why drone attacks in Yemen and Pakistan create 100 new insurgents for every 1 that gets killed.
We’ve got school systems and school board so stupid and incompetent that they buy textbooks that don’t even mention Vietnam and the Great Depression and don’t realize it until someone else points it out.
We’re falling further and further behind the rest of the world everyday. If we’re not our own worst enemy, then who is?
Reportedly the U of A advertised the “memorial” as a “Unity Rally”.
Yes, Max, the greatest threat to Americans IS other Americans. Your relative or neighbor is the most likely to kill you in a stupid argument, and your neighbors kid is the one most likely to put a rock through your window or break into your house. It is also your neighbor and your relative who is most likely to help you clear your sidewalk of snow and help you fix your car.
It is proximity that makes other Americans the greatest threat, AND the greatest benefactor.
So now they’ve arrested one of the shooting victims for an outburst at a town hall meeting.
When are they going to come for the Congressman who stood up and shouted “You lie!” in the middle of the State of the Union address, before the entire House of Representatives, Senate, and members of the Supreme Court?
Many of the people criticizing shocked and hurt Tucson residents for applauding at a rally are the same people who made a hero out of Joe Wilson.
How about we ditch the double standard and expect civilized behavior from both sides?
Shouting, “You lie!” (which was true, BTW) is not the same as shouting, “You’re dead!”
One is the truth, the other is a threat.
One is a federal offense, and the other is something that could have been overlooked given the circumstances.
I get worse threats than that just driving around Virginia Beach with an Obama sticker on my car.
May I assume that you have that backward? You are not claiming that Rep. Wilson’s shouting, “You lie!” was a federal offense, were you? Or that shouting, “You’re dead!” to a congressman should be overlooked?
He mumbled it, to a Tea Party organizer. The sheriffs could have removed him from the room without arresting him. That’s just overkill, particularly since he had been shot less than a week before.