Stepping Back from Political Fanaticism

I live in Tucson, Arizona, just a few miles from where Congresswoman Gabrielle "Gabby" Giffords was shot in the head at a public meet and greet on January 8. Six people were killed, including a nine-year-old girl, and 12 (including Giffords) were wounded. Giffords is one of the sweetest people imaginable, someone who somehow remained untainted by the vicious tone of American politics. A democrat, she always worked with the republican party to get things done. This is the way politics should operate in achieving something for the common good.

The gunman was obviously nuts - would a sane person praise both "Mein Kampf" and "The Communist Manifesto" and then shoot 20 people? Our county sheriff, Clarence Dupnik, summed things up accurately when he stated that Arizona had become a "mecca for prejudice and bigotry." This was the latest event that put Arizona's nuttiness on the national stage. Too many people here in Arizona and around the country now feel it's socially acceptable to be totally unhinged and scream and shove, call elected representatives names, and, in this case, shoot away. Arizona suffers from a serious case of hardening of the attitudes, and Sheriff Dupnik is a sane voice in an insane state.

My own politics are left of center on most issues. (If you disagree, simply respect my views.) I am, however, a gun owner - but I'm not a hothead or wacko or paranoid. (My guns are strictly for self-defense, something suggested decades about by the two most liberal people I knew back then.) However, I am critical of many gun owners and the gun-owner community, where paranoia runs deep. Arizona has always been on the fringe and has had more than it's share of wacky politicians.

Thanks to a right-wing dominated legislature, and a right-wing governor, it is now legal for anyone over 18 to carry guns openly or concealed in Arizona; no training is required. This means it's more difficult to get a driver's license or a bottle of beer than to buy a gun and carry it under your shirt. (I've opted to go through gun training twice.) Now, the republican state government wants to allow teachers and students to be able to carry guns on college campuses. It's totally insane. Welcome to the modern day Tombstone and the OK Corral.

In response, some local talk radio hosts ranted about how inappropriate Sheriff Dupnik's comments about hatred and bigotry were, and call-ins spouted their own vitriol about the Sheriff. Sadly, they were too dumb to realize they were proving Dupnik's point about hatred and intolerance.

The local paper related comments that were posted on latimes.com, and washingtonpost.com: "So, Congresswoman Giffords, how's that Obamacare working out for you?" and "Too bad it wasn't Howard Dean or Al Gore." Sarah Palin, who targeted democrats on her website, including gunscope crosshairs on Giffords' district, now claims those weren't gun crosshairs but those of a surveyor's scope. And Glenn Beck posted a statement on his website that he's against violence, next to a photo of him holding a gun. These people are out of touch and delusional.

If there will be any good that comes out of this tragedy, it will be that people and politicians will learn to turn down the level of vitriol and viciousness and political jingoism. After all, it could just as easily have been a republican who was shot. It's time to turn down the volume and look at the things we have in common, even when our political views differ. It's about respecting our differences the way you would want other people to respect your differences.

Turn down the volume folks. Listen with respect. Seek to understand rather than to persuade.