Stop The Bickering

It is human nature to assign a rational framework to irrational acts. We are bewildered when the scope of someone’s violent  actions far exceeds our ability to comprehend their behavior. Senseless violence cannot remain senseless, we must create a rational framework to explain the act. Thus, the intense examination of the person and motives behind the Tucson shooter  is well underway and will continue for as long as it takes for a consensus to develop in the body politic.

It has been two days since the horrible event in Tucson. We know next to nothing about the shooter or his motives but the news organizations are frantically gathering bits and pieces of his background in order to start the process of making sense out of this senseless act. The authorities, as authorities always do in these situations, are playing it close to the vest. We are left with reporting that ranges from the factual to wild conjecture. And as always, again a human trait, the event has become politicized, particularly since the prime victim was a political figure. So the finger- pointing begins, left versus right, and that very usual reaction to this tragedy becomes a story in itself. Lest it become the story, I think it is important to understand that each person will attempt to understand this irrational act through the prism of one’s beliefs.

 As a conservative, I find the statements of the Sheriff of Pima County, Paul Krugman, and Jane Fonda irrational in that they ascribe blame to right wing media and conservative groups like the Tea Party. However, they are only acting in accordance with their beliefs and should be ignored rather than vilified. The right wing media, in turn, doth protest too much, but again, it is the nature of their belief system to do so.

I say stop the bickering over this side issue and concentrate on arriving at a true understanding of the tragedy in Tucson. Time and patient investigation will eventually replace conjecture with facts, and with that, understanding.

JP