Tucson: Let It Be a Catalyst, Not More Fodder for Blame

Living in Arizona for the winter, only 100+ miles from Tucson, brings home to me the devastation of the senseless murders and wounding done by one sick individual. His time will come to be dealt with fairly and justly. The time for something else may have already come.

The noise from this tragedy has included the "blame game," both from the left and the right. Some would lay this man's rampage on the steps of the political scene over the past few years, which has been undeniably vitriolic. Yet to keep up this blaming is really fruitless, and actually may be non-productive. Instead of working to tamp down the rhetoric, the sides instead ramp it up by saying it was not their fault.

Let's take the Tucson Tragedy out of the mix and just admit that the political atmosphere has been poisonous of late, and not state as fact who may have been poisoned, so to speak. If this massacre is the catalyst for productive discourse in the political arena, then let it be one where we can move positively toward increased civility.

No one expects the left and the right to now come together holding hands around the campfire. There are deep policy differences and there still should be rigorous and occasionaly loud debate on the issues. Let's urge our politicos to just tone down the personal attacks and rank sarcasm that has become de rigueur over the past few campaigns.

Unless you really believe your colleague is a traitor to the USA, thus possibly deserving the death penalty, then don't toss out those bombs hoping to get something positive from the attacks. Unless you truly believe your colleague does not love America or does not want to do what is best for Americans, then tone it down a bit and make your best case for your side using cold, hard facts.

Eschew the hyperbole, the sarcastic vitriol, and baseless personal attacks. Most intelligent Americans see through that babble anyway, so it does little to promote the cause.

I finally have some hope that maybe the vituperative remarks may lessen, perhaps helped by the shocking attack in Tucson. Whatever the impetus, let's contact our Senators and Representatives and tell them to work hard for us in a civil way. And when they do that, as evidenced in the news or press releases, let's write them to just say, "Good work!" They like to get the good comments too. Maybe there is still hope for America.

A (Healthy) Cry in the Wilderness

It was beginning to be one-sided with all the screaming about health care reform (or lately, health insurance reform). Sometimes the most influential voices in any debate are either the loudest, or the ones who speak last. For sure, there have been some loud, and at times rude and obnoxious, screeches at the so-called Town Hall meetings. Most of those were opposed to what they thought was being proposed as ObamaCare (ironically, Obama has not written one word of the current bills in play).

Now, there is finally a sleeping giant aroused in the name of a non- (or multi-) denominational religious group called Sojourners and Jim Wallis. He writes a calm statement about the misinformation and fear mongering going on now. So much of what is said and written is pure hyperbole - a widely irresponsible and inflated view of the bills as written so far.

Proposed end-of-life counseling, which could put many older folk at ease about how their lives might end, has been twisted into "death panels" by Sarah Palin and others. Now with so much mis-information, even the good parts of such legislation have been removed to take away some of the fuel from the fire. The sad thing is that, as it was written, the voluntary (not mandatory) counseling was to be paid for by whatever health plan that was crafted. Folks near the end of life could have felt comfortable talking with their own doctors and others about advanced directives, the same things we are counseled on each time we are in the hospital.

Dialogue is a good thing and it helps to clear the air and quash rumors and reveal falsehoods. The problem has been that the public discourse has often been monologues - the views of one side screamed over the voices of others. That is not productive, not fair, and certainly not democratic.

Stupid is the New Word

Today Bill Maher, in an interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN, noted in a comment about Sarah Palin's supporters, that "America is stupid". Wolf, on receiving a blitz of emails objecting to Maher's characterization, asked Maher to clarify his "stupid" comment. He said, "What more can I say?" indicating he stood by his comment that America (which I guess means Americans) are stupid.

Of course, I consider the source and realize that Maher's only fame comes from flaming others, so like El Rushbo, he is not to be taken too seriously. They are both entertainers taking shots and making controversial (and often truth-shaded) statements to keep their obscene paychecks rolling in.

Yet I still wonder about someone who, even after a chance to clarify, paints all Americans with that broad brush as "stupid". Maybe if Palin got elected to national office, that group of electors might be stupid, but the whole country?

It is becoming more common these days to try to be sensational to get a tick above the next guy's ratings. I can mostly filter that rubbish, but there are actually people out there who believe everything Maher and Limbaugh say. Whoa, maybe there are more stupid Americans than I thought. Never mind.

Is It Trouble for Palin, or a Blessed Event?

Pregnancy happens. That is the natural part of life. Of course, in our society and many others it is good to be married before the little ones are conceived. But pregnancy happens and despite some best efforts to avoid an unwanted pregnancy, nature has its way to increase the population.

Governor Palin's daughter, 17 year old Bristol (named after the NASCAR track?), has been said to have the misfortune of expecting a baby with her fiance. They say they plan to marry and raise this child as anyone would. I only hope that their plan was to marry before the indicator turned blue, and not just to legitimize the birth.

But, you know what? Is this really our business; this intimate detail of the daughter of a VP candidate? Generally, it should be business of the family and no one else. Except....

Governor Palin is a staunch pro-life advocate and the recent revelation that her last son Trig, a Down Syndrome child, was not to be aborted despite knowing the outcome far in advance comports with that belief. Now it appears that she (and her daughter) pass the consistency test as well. Bristol could have aborted long ago, but it is enough to say she didn't. Now, as Senator Obama says, this business is off-limits in his campaign. We can't attack Palin's consistent views (the one area open to discussion) so they should all be left alone to prepare for the Blessed Event.

The media likes to call it "trouble for the McCain campaign" or "a dirty little secret of Governor Palin's life", but once the dust has settled and the decisions made, it is and should be just what it is - a Blessed Event, where two loving parents bring a child into the world with the full support of its grandparents. Many other children are not lucky enough to start out that way.

Finally, to be fair, those on the right who are accepting of this situation must also look inside themselves to see if they would have the same reaction if Joe Biden's daughter got pregnant before marriage.

Now with this story, and the alleged trooper firing influence, I don't know if Sarah will be able to survive the rigors of this nasty campaign. If her kids get any more flak, she may find this to be a good excuse to bow out.

Stop That Heartbeat, or Just the Talk About It

I was as shocked at everyone else at the naming of Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska to be the VP running mate for Senator McCain. I am willing to hear more about her, as well as hearing her define her own role in this campaign. My first impression is good, however, I can see that she is a set-up for a Tina Fey parody on Saturday Night Live. The beehive hair, the glasses -- I can't wait to see what SNL does with her. All in good fun, of course.

I too am worried about her foreign policy experience but unless the unthinkable happens (well,, not THAT unthinkable), then she won't have to make the big decisions for someone at her pay grade (around $167,500). I just get tired of hearing the the very tired cliche of "just a heartbeat away from the Presidency". It is overused in normal times, but it has been repeated ad nauseam by every news person, talk show host, Democratic political hack, and others. Enough.

I don't mean that the concern is not legitimate, but let's couch it in more creative terms. Like when "McCain's last plane goes down", or when "President McCain buys the farm (the eighth home)", or when "President McCain gets to meet his namesakes". I could think of many more and challenge any of you to come up with a couple better than "a heartbeat away..."