I finished the year 2010 feeling a little better about things in general.
The mid-term elections were over and the economy, although still struggling, were showing some signs of picking up. I had done my part by shopping for Christmas presents on-line and at the stores and I had even picked up some ‘savings’ in the process. When the year end retail and on-line sales statistics came out, hope was again in the air that the country was seeing an uptick in consumer confidence and that would lead to increased corporate hiring and spending.
The Congress, in a lame-duck session, was surprisingly able to pass some new laws that led many to believe that the Republicans and Democrats were finally on a new course that would enable them to move the business of the nation forward.
Most encouragingly, the media had returned their focus mundane things such as the weather, a clear indication that nothing seriously bad was happening apart from the acts of nature that were disrupting travel and everyday life in various parts of the country.
Unfortunately, that period of bliss ended quite abruptly last Saturday. One week and one day into the New Year, a lone gunman in Tucson, Arizona, fired into a crowd gathered outside a supermarket, seriously injuring an elected member of the Congress, killing a Federal judge and a number of other innocent victims, including a nine year-old girl who, as fate would have it, was born on 9/11/2001.
It immediately brought to mind my blog last September titled “Dear World – a letter from America” and caused me to re-read it and ponder if there were salient points that I had missed or if I had been mistaken in my take on the vitriolic rhetoric by the various factions that had so troubled the people in the United States as well as in countries around the world as to the level of intolerance and hate that we were showing, in words and in actions that were repeatedly aired on Television, on radio talk-shows and in Blogs on the Internet.
Sadly, “reality TV” has become too real for the families of those victims in Arizona who were injured or killed in this incident. No amount of “could have”, “would have” or “should have” will ever mitigate their loss or bring back their loved ones.
Those who have been employing the language of hate, spurring their followers into a state of frenzy and those who are unstable enough in their minds into acts of violence, are now denying responsibility and quickly removing evidence of their hateful remarks from their web-pages, blogs and Twitter postings.
This latest manifestation of the destructiveness of spiteful words require an immediate re-imposition of civility in our discourse and a civilized approach to reconciling our differences. We must eschew (shun, avoid, turn away from, have nothing to do with) those who employ barbaric words designed to incite others into acting out their anger. We must deny them the reach and effect they desire from planting those words and seeds of hatred in the minds of their listeners.
The Media has a duty to reject and not give air-time or printed space to people who capitalize on their fame and say anything that comes to mind with total disregard of the safety and well being of other. Just as they would refuse to show graphic images of death and destruction, the Media must refuse to give voice to those whose spew hatred and whose words would clearly spur others into acts of violence. It would not be a denial of the right to free speech – instead it would be the Media’s exercising of its duty to prevent the exploitation of free speech by those who clearly intend to cause harm. What the Media carry as “news” must be worthy to be called as such and must pass the test of balanced reporting, and not be a verbatim report of unsubstantiated claims or wild accusations by some attention seeker. If they report on the declarations of a person in the news, they must have a duty to investigate decry the lies and fabrications at the same time.
Clearly, gun laws around the country need to be improved – over the objections of the gun lobbyists and the NRA. Those desiring to buy and carry a gun must be made to undergo psychiatric tests to ensure that they are not unstable in their heads and they are not and will not be a threat to community, both prior to being sold a gun and regularly afterwards. It is no different than drivers having to pass eye-exams to renew their driving licenses. Additionally, they should be required to purchase insurance coverage for victims of their actions, intended or otherwise, so that there is a recurring cost and reminder of the importance of safely handing the weapon they have in their hands. States that permit the carrying of concealed weapons must immediately revoke those laws so that law enforcement and security officers can more easily carry out their tasks with impunity.
Profits that come from the destruction of innocent lives is Blood Money – not much different from the thirteen pieces of silver that bought the betrayal of Jesus.
