Tuesday, January 11, 2011

[1575] ARIZONA SHOOTING, PART 2- I really didn’t want to do a ‘part 2’ on this- but after I wrote yesterdays post I caught the news and this thing is really heating up. The first day the shooting happened I did not watch the 24 hour news cycle that covered it nonstop. I also skipped it the following day. Whenever a major event occurs [the minors trapped underground] I think these news events are important, but to do a 48-72 nonstop coverage of the event is not good. There are many important world events that take place- and when you pick a single one to cover nonstop- for a few days, then it distracts from the other very important events. Okay- the major problem I see right now is you have both sides of the political aisle blaming the other side for either causing the event to happen because of their rhetoric- or the conservatives blaming the Democrats for using this as a political tool. Who’s right? First- lets all agree that we should stop using language like ‘target’ or ‘take the opponent out’ in political speech- lets also be honest that both sides have used this language- and I don’t know of a single case where a politician has used the language to incite violence. Now- some are saying whether they meant to incite violence or not- they did. Others are saying it’s too soon to link cause with language; that we don’t yet know what set off the disturbed man who did this. On his site he had his favorite books listed- Mein Kampf [Hitler wrote it] and the Communist Manifesto [Karl Marx]. While the Hitler book might define the man as a radical right winger- the Marx book would make you think he was a radical progressive- so we don’t know what set this man off. Number 2- Sarah Palin. First- personally I am not a fan of Sarah Palin- I don’t dislike her [or her family] but I think she just isn’t the type of person who is ready for high office. Second- the media [MSNBC] has done the woman wrong by opening the door to criticize her and her kids- some were minors at the time- and by involving her kids personal lives [Bristol] to become fodder for the comics and late night comedians who have actually made jokes about the girl getting ‘knocked up’ under the bleachers by A-Rod and stuff like that. I remember watching Keith Olberman one night [I like Keith by the way] and he often calls her an idiot- this night he had a reporter on the show- this reporter was in Alaska the week before and he was attempting to get a scoop on Palin- she refused to talk with him and wanted him to leave. The next day her kids came home- one was a minor at the time [9 or 10?] and they told their mom that this same reporter ‘ran into them’ in town and was asking them questions- trying to get info. Now, these were Sarah’s daughters, they were in town and approached by this strange man- how would you feel- after you already told the man to leave you and your kids alone? What if something like this happened with the president’s kids? So Palin reports the guy- wants him to leave them alone. Olberman reports the story that Palin is a psycho who is so paranoid that she is harassing this innocent reporter- the reporter- in his mocking of Palin- says ‘this woman is a nut Keith- I was just in town the next day because I figured I already flew to Alaska and might as well go sightseeing’ he then says that the kids spotted him- they recognized him as one of the media reporters who covered Palin in the past [probably a lie] and that they came up to him to say hi. Keith accepted this version and went on to mock her. What’s the problem? This man did indeed cross a line- as an adult male- approaching young girls outside their home- after being warned not to bother the family. These girls were not defended by the media- but mocked- that’s wrong- the media has lowered the level of responsibility in dealing with this family. When they [including a major news network] continually had the ex- boyfriend of Bristol on their shows, they allowed this kid to say whatever he wanted ‘did Sarah walk around and call her son a retard Levi?’ Are you kidding me? How many ex- boyfriends of Chelsea Clinton- Joe Biden’s daughter- or anyone else ever get this type of coverage? Yet they have dragged these kids into the spotlight in a way that is simply not done with anyone else. Now- why say all this? Many in the media are saying that Sarah Palin is responsible for the congresswoman’s shooting and the deaths of the people. Okay- now what do her kids do? Go to Skate Night with their friends? Are you kidding- the media is blaming her family for one of the worst mass murders we have seen in years. When the Democrat, Joe Manchin, recently did a TV ad- holding a rifle with a scope- pointed it at a target that was ‘Obama care’ and put a real bullet thru the target- was he blamed for violence? Do you think this ad was worse than Palin putting a target on the districts that they were ‘targeting’ politically? Should we drag Joe Manchin's daughters into the spotlight- finding out all their secrets- making jokes about them having sex with A-Rod? The problem with this whole mess is both sides need to reject the games- drop the language that may incite people who are unstable- don’t just blame one side for using the language- both sides have. And pray for the congresswoman and the families of the victims as well. When we demonize the other side- make them look like enemies of the state- these things can effect unstable people- but if Palin and others have done this- don’t make it sound like they themselves are responsible for the deaths, or that they meant for this to happen- because it puts her whole family in danger- including her kids.

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