Yelling "Fire" in a Burning Building

WARNING: This post has nothing to do with writing, reading, genre, or any of the fun, fluffy stuff that I usually address here.  Furthermore, nithska.blogspot.com is not a democracy.  If you don't like what you find here, go start your own blog.  It's free.

#1: We are each, as adults, responsible for our behavior.  No one else can be said to be responsible for Jared Loughner's actions.

#2: We are each, as adults, responsible for our behavior.  Using graphics like this for political gain:

...using graphics like this is, you got it, like yelling "Fire" in a burning building.  Political rhetoric that vilifies the opposition to the extent that they are placed in cross-hairs as above needs to come to an end.  The Right has already come out, calling foul on the 'unseemly rush to blame Palin, The Tea party, and Republicans for murder in Arizona.'  If this is unseemly, what do you call the above graphic?

We can disagree with each other and recognize that we are each still human beings.  The above, and all the gun-toting, 'second amendment remedies' vitriol is a huge failure of the current political/media talking-space, it is irresponsible, and hopefully, we will see the ideologue own up to the vast folly that the above represents.

Loughner is the only person responsible for his actions.  And I suspect, though I don't have any way of knowing this, that he will turn out to be more 'crazed lunatic' than political ideologue.  From many corners, commentators have cried foul the tenor of implied violence in today's political stage.  If we are talking about going to war, maybe there's a place for it.  But when we are talking about fellow citizens, there never is.  If Obama had a map with cross-hairs, one over Palin, and she'd just been shot: what do you think Beck, Limbaugh, O'Reilly and the rest would be saying about his future as a leader of the free world?

Yeah, exactly what I am saying right now about the future of Palin's political career.  It should end now: she should go back to Alaska.  Maybe do the reality television gig (oh, wait, she already is.)  The world is too complex for such simple-minded ideologies to merit so much of the public stage.  And someone like Palin, reality TV star, and presenter of maps with cross-hairs over someone who was just, in fact, shot... someone like Palin doesn't have the responsibility to play a part in the politics of the day.

My message, summarized, is not: Right/Conservative/Republican = Bad.  My message is: insofar as you, political voices, ignore your responsibilities in terms of the rhetoric used, is the extent to which you will lose political relevance.

Because, though there are, as we have unfortunately witnessed in this incident, violent people out there willing and able to lash out, and careless people concerned only with political expediency, and damn the consequences (eyes on you, Palin: that target map would still be up on your site if you didn't know it was wrong wrong wrong)... most people are reasonable, and respect their fellow citizens on 'both sides of the aisle.'  We get that liberal and conservative are not dirty words, but necessary aspects of a successful American government and culture.

Reject, reject, reject, any attempt to vilify a group of people based on generalizations.  And reject this smoke and mirrors game that some would play to keep from assessing, with a clear eye, the rhetoric of violence and hate that led to the above graphic.

This opinion post by Paul Krugman does such a better job than I do in commenting on what he calls the climate of hate.

Take care,

BB