The past weekend’s shooting of a congressional member, a federal judge and a bright little girl interested in learning about her government, as well as several others who were also killed or injured, was far more than another tragic shooting by a more than slightly deranged young man. No, what happened in Tucson is another mark on a society that has grown an unconscionable tolerance of violence in America.
As Americans, we’ve read and continue to read about senseless killings and beheadings in places such as Mexico, Colombia, Guatamala, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Sudan and countless other places most of us have never heard of, let alone will ever visit or see. We all shake our heads and wonder what in the world is wrong with these people, while ignoring what’s going on in our very own backyards.
Then, once more, it happens within our world, and the first sound bites from talk radio and cable affiliates are blaming whichever political party they don’t support. And for the life of me, I do not follow the reasoning at all.
Not everything is political. There have been murders and attempted assassinations on famous people for what is beginning to seem like a very long time. Yet, in retrospect, I can’t remember anyone from the 1950s being killed by a deranged person with a political vengeance, nor someone even attempting to shoot anyone in the 1950s. Nor do I recall any big-named movie star or singer being targeted by an unknown person simply because, somehow, their brain got twisted one afternoon and the “voices” told them someone had to die and it was their mission to make sure it happened.
The ’60s, of course, brought on three of America’s saddest and most horrific murders with the assassinations of three of our greatest leaders: President John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert Kennedy. I have often wondered what all our lives and our country might have been like had any one of these amazing men lived to fulfill their goals.
Somewhere between the transitions and movements in our country, we have gone from bee-bopping with the Beach Boys at sock-hops and growing long hair while protesting Vietnam with the Beatles, all the way to mayhem among rap music singers who off each other. But during all those years, when a few wayward and lost minds destined themselves to make history — including Charles Manson and his rogue gang of manipulated, drug-intoxicated serfs — did these infamous marauders lay claim to a political ideal or manifesto or political “affiliation” such as being a Democrat or a Republican as reason for what they did.
Think back: John F. Kennedy’s accused assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, never laid claim to the murder of President Kennedy, let alone explained why. Martin Luther King’s assassin, James Earl Ray, was an ex-con who didn’t agree with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Robert F. Kenndy was murdered by Sirhan Sirhan, an Islamic who, it is believed but never proven, held a grudge about the Six-Day War between Palestine and Israel. John Lennon was killed by some goofball named Mark David Chapman, and from what I’ve read and recall today, it had nothing to do with politics. When President Ronald Regan was shot, his attempted assassin, John Hinckley Jr., was simply crazy.
Yet, as I write this, the Monday following another awful attempt on a United States political leader has every TV anchor and radio talk jock all jazzed up and blaming Sarah Palin and what’s-her-name from Nevada. WHY? And more importantly, shouldn’t we perhaps be a tad more concerned that this 22-year-old who was rejected from the military for mental-health issues and who is obviously psychotic was able to buy a gun legally from an everyday sports store without being checked out thoroughly and scrutinized as much as possible so as to attempt to ensure that he would not go and do exactly what he did? Arizona’s gun laws apparently have not changed much since the old days of Tombstone and the “bury me with my boots on” mentality of the 1800s. Hey, I am a proponent of the Second Amendment as much as any gun-toting cowboy out there, for no other reason than not allowing the government to dictate one more rule allowing them all the power while rendering me defenseless should the day come when I need to defend myself.
However, having said that, I also hope that Arizona, as well as the other 49 states, will indeed look far more closely at who they allow to have armed weapons and not simply give anyone “out there” a pass simply because they have reached a certain age criteria and as yet have a spotless criminal record. Now that is insanity.
AND FURTHERMORE…
As the mother of a cop, I would very much like to thank Moorhead’s Chief of Police Dave Ebinger for bringing forth the ordinance prohibiting the use of, brandishing in public or threatening with a FAKE GUN. I would also like to thank Council Representatives Otto, Altenburg, Lemke, Hunt and Wray-Williams for voting for the new ordinance.
The worst nightmare I have is my daughter being shot or hesitating to shoot in defense, thinking some imbecile might have decided to play the tough guy with a fake gun. That’s what gets cops killed. I’m sorry, but as far as I’m concerned, if you are stupid enough to employ a fake gun in order to take advantage of another person for any reason, unless you’re five years old, you deserve to be shot or, at the very least, serve a nice long “think about what a mental midget you are” sitting period in the local pokey. There should be no place for fake guns in a society teetering on the brink of injurious violence. And if you don’t think we’ve morphed into a society that feeds itself on a steady and continual diet of gratuitous violence, go watch any five of the top box office hits in the theatres today.
All responses can be emailed to sooasheim@aol.com or to the The FM Extra Editor at FMXPROD@aol.com.