The Caring Community and the Dialectic of Violence

The United States has had so many catastrophes in so very short a time that we have begun to think constantly in catastrophic terms. Most recent disaster is the shooting of an unarmed US Congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords (D. AZ) a Federal Judge, and a little girl and other bystanders at a public appearance in Tucson AZ yesterday.

Ms. Giffords’s father Spencer, 75, wept when asked by the New York Post if his daughter had any enemies. ‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘The whole Tea Party’ – the Right wing of the Republican Party."

Palin put rifle cross hairs over Gifford's district together with words encouraging supporters to "reload" and "take aim" at Democrats. That's incendiary language that should be condemned. McCain has used very similar incendiary language but did not reference it to specific Democrats (to my knowledge) as did Palin. Come out and condemn her for it and do it loudly. She deserves that and more. - Reddit user jray7

The local sheriff had some words of potent wisdom that the wise would do well to heed in no uncertain terms:

Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, speaking about Arizona:"When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government. The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous. And, unfortunately, Arizona I think has become sort of the capital. We have become the Mecca for prejudice and bigotry. It's not unusual for all public officials to get threats constantly, myself included. And that's the sad thing of what's going on in America. Pretty soon, we're not going to be able to find reasonable, decent people who are willing to subject themselves to serve in public office." He later added: "Let me just say one thing, because people tend to poo-poo this business about all the vitriol that we hear inflaming the American public by people who make a living off of doing that. That may be free speech. But it's not without consequences."

Yes, we have the right to free speech. But the right to free speech has never included the right to shout fire in a crowded theater, and yet many of these so-called constitutionalists claim it has.

Here's a tweet from filmmaker Michael Moore from yesterday that asks a succinct question:

If a Detroit Muslim put a map on the web w/crosshairs on 20 pols, then 1 of them got shot, where would he b sitting right now? Just asking.

What does a caring community do when a psychotic responds to the verbally violent urgings of a powerful leader? Does it do anything beyond the obvious isolation and imprisonment of the violent psychotic? Or does it seek to remake and retool the larger community into a place where

public meetings can take place unmolested, where vigorous debate never means malice of harm intended and where verbal threats of violence are taken seriously and those who speak them reined in? Or does the community cease to care and let itself be overwhelmed by those whose dark intent is to suggest mayhem until an unhinged and unstable follower commits it?

What are Some Examples of Actionable Abusive or Insulting Language?

1. Verbal threats; 2. Humiliating statements; 3. Racial or sexual slurs; and 4. Scandalous statements. We have seen all of these in public political life in the recent past.

It is high time our politicians cooled the rhetoric to a civil and polite level.

Deborah J. Yost

9 January 2011

Lincoln, NE