my congresswoman was shot today

[OakLeaf]

More good news on her progress.

http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-...,1099108.story

[lunacycles]

Thanks for your words, azfiddle. I am amazed and impressed TE moderators have allowed 5+ pages of this to continue, and that is probably due to the restraint most have shown, even if it has gotten "political" here and there.

No one deserves to be the recipient of violence, regardless of their beliefs. I do believe the politically-tainted, violence-promoting rhetoric washing over this country the last few years especially--regardless of whether those promoting it "mean it"-- has had the potential to affect those who are lonely, confused, and vulnerable to it, and this can have catastrophic effects, and I personally believe that is what occurred this last weekend in Tucson.

Personally, I am so tired of finger-pointing or needing to have some stance, but I do wish for a more compassionate society (perhaps naive!) as a result of this, and I thank Gabby Giffords (about whom I knew little til 3 days ago) for her good work before this event, and I honestly have been holding in my heart a wish for her complete recovery (or something close to it) so that she can have the opportunity engage in conversation with those who mindlessly "targeted" her, and therefore allow the deeper healing to happen.

[snapdragen]

thanks for your words, azfiddle. I am amazed and impressed te moderators have allowed 5+ pages of this to continue, and that is probably due to the restraint most have shown, even if it has gotten "political" here and there.

...

[Trek420]

...

Thanks! Thanks Jeff, thanks Susan. This is the best place in cyberspace.

It's been quite the new year. Those in the Bay Area may have heard of the young man who was shot while putting his sister in her car seat. His mother threw herself on him to protect him. It was too late.

The young man is the godson of my coworker/podmate There are too d@mn many people dying especially getting shot.

As cyclists we all may experience the escalation of tempers as a car revs behind us or races to cut us off. I just think people everywhere need to calm down and take care of each other because we are all in this tiny blue boat together.

[Bike Writer]

I refrain from jumping into the political fray out of respect for the dead and wounded in this tragedy, speaking only for myself I would feel like I was cheapening what they suffered. Their senseless deaths and injury deserve acknowledgment that evil exists - always has and always will - but what we must do is ensure that the person who committed this, when found guilty, is never given the opportunity to harm anyone else.

An observation of the discourse that has occurred here is that we are holding politicians on either side of the aisle to a higher standard that we are holding ourselves to. A breakdown in our "mini society" of this forum occurred quicker than a NY minute, tongues lashing, fangs barred, jabs were traded at lightening pace and yet we accuse the politicians, the news media (both the old guard and the new guard), society, talk TV, talk radio, movies, books, music or what have you of creating some kind of societal morass.

Reality shows that it's human nature to do these things. This world is a broken place and it didn’t start last month or 200 years ago, it happened near the beginning. Lest anyone thing that these comments are somehow self-righteous, know this – I am first among sinners.

Now watch the thread get shut down.

[badgercat]

Tonight, a bike vigil started on the U of A campus and processed to the medical center where Giffords and other victims remain hospitalized, to visit the candlelight memorial. An estimated 150 cyclists attended. I was unfortunately unable to go since I had to work, but my boyfriend was there, and said it was pretty amazing. A local cycling blogger we follow has already put out a video from tonight's event:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRxO2nKPlgE

[PamNY]

An observation of the discourse that has occurred here is that we are holding politicians on either side of the aisle to a higher standard that we are holding ourselves to. A breakdown in our "mini society" of this forum occurred quicker than a NY minute, tongues lashing, fangs barred, jabs were traded at lightening pace and yet we accuse the politicians, the news media (both the old guard and the new guard), society, talk TV, talk radio, movies, books, music or what have you of creating some kind of societal morass.

I thought this was a very civilized discussion. Were some posts removed?

[snapdragen]

I thought this was a very civilized discussion. Were some posts removed?

Nope, none that I'm aware of.

[KnottedYet]

A breakdown in our "mini society" of this forum occurred quicker than a NY minute, tongues lashing, fangs barred, jabs were traded at lightening pace

????

I also think this has been a very civilized discussion.

People have policed themselves.

People have apologized for things said in the heat of the moment.

People have taken each others points into consideration, and written further on each other's points.

An observation of the discourse that has occurred here is that we are holding politicians on either side of the aisle to a higher standard that we are holding ourselves to.

You bet yer sweet bippy we hold them to a higher standard! If they want to be leaders, then they must LEAD. They MUST set a higher standard. That's the point to being a leader!

(First I was in despair because it appears no-one studies theology anymore. How about ethics? Philosophy? Political science? Are our finest minds just marinating in set-plot romance novels these days? {not that I'm disparaging folks who write or read romance novels, I know several fine authors who've had to write romance novels during lean times, and one can be surprisingly creative and subversive within the strict plot outlines the publishers give you! There has been food on my table because of those cheap little books.})

[Crankin]

I most certainly have policed myself in this discussion. Mostly, because I don't want to be seen as bashing someone with a different point of view. Still, I am looking wistfully back at the sixties and seventies, when I felt like I had the power of a lot of people behind my own beliefs and actions.
You have heard me mention my relatives who are super right wing conservatives. I actually highly respect my cousin, who is probably the most right wing of them, because he is intelligent, articulate, and lives his beliefs. I just can't go along with having guns in the house with 2 teenagers and a child, or him thinking he can take away my right to choose. I cannot, however, respect my aunt, who just parrots the views she hears on talk radio and the half understood ideas she gets from her children.
In the last month I happened to look at the comments below a couple of news articles on Yahoo. I could not believe the vehemence spewed in the comments (all from the right wing view point). I won't look at that stuff anymore, but it made me glad to be in my bluest of blue state bubble. Frankly, we saw the writing on the wall in 1990, with regard to politics in AZ, and it played a significant role in our decision to move. I gave up a very nice life that took me years to recover, so I could bring my kids up in the same atmosphere I grew up in.

[maillotpois]

This is, I think, one of the best discussions of the event: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mo...n?xrs=share_fb

Did the toxic political environment cause this...? I have no f-ing idea. We live in a complex ecosystem of influences and motivations and I wouldn't blame our political rhetoric any more than I would blame heavy metal music for Columbine. And, by the way, that is coming from someone that truly hates our political environment. It is toxic. It is unproductive. But to say that is what has caused this, or that the people in that are responsible for this I just don't think you can do.

Boy would it be nice to be able to draw a straight line of causation from this horror to something tangible because then we can convince ourselves that if we just stop this the horrors will end. To have the feeling, however fleeting, that this type of event can be prevented forever. But it's hard not to feel like it can't.

You cannot outsmart crazy. You don't know what a troubled mind will get caught on.

He goes on to encourage growth and more positive discourse, and the overall message was quite moving.