On Saturday January 8th a deranged person in Tucson, Arizona decided to kill U.S Representative Gabriella Giffords and anyone who was there too.
I do not personally know Gabriella Giffords, although one of my
friends worked for her for many years and is heartbroken.
Gabriella Giffords is a interesting person, a moderate, usually
smiling and when you look at her she exude confidence.
I like her very much have voted for her and although I don't always
agree with every one of her votes in Congress,
I think she hears us and tries to follow up with our needs and concerns.
Now comes the war of words, the pointing of fingers.
I agree with much of what is being said about our words and how angry,
hurtful and deranged our voices have become.
I know the value of words from I love you to I hate you I wish you
were dead.
Words that so easily flow off our tongues and can devalue or incite a
person in a second.
You can never take your words back.
Even our President, if you go back and check his speeches, sometimes even his choice of words are not above reproach.
From Sarah Palin on one side with her easy crosshairs target reference,
to Arizona Representative Raul Grijalva
who pits the Mexico Nationals against the Arizona Citizens with words
of division, hate and words of misunderstanding.
What I see on TV is people trying to tie this deranged person to what
we as a nation have been listening to from talk radio,
political speak to even our news.
This person may have been affected by the words of hate but I think he
has been disturbed for many years.
The day before the shooting I was having lunch with a friend to
celebrate my Birthday, at a restaurant right across the street
from where the shooting took place.
That Saturday my son and I thought of going out for coffee at a
Bakery at the same shopping area. We decided to cancel
But if I had gone, I would have walked over to see Gabriella for her
sidewalk meet and talk.
I receive her newsletter and saw that she had posted about the morning
meeting.
I am not sure what to say about this and I am heartbroken over the
lost of life.
I am upset over the easy pointing of fingers of what is wrong, who is
wrong and why they are right.
Words, words, words,
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Words
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A war of words cannot undo the damage. This needs time, and thought and grieving without finger pointing. It's all so very sad.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile I pray Gabriella recovers completely.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a sad story. So much of the news we hear from the US seems to suggest a climate of fear has been created and that so many people just don't seem to trust each other. This is sharply contradicted, though, by my own experience of all you Americans I know in the blogosphere: kind, generous, trusting, every one of you. Language is a wonderful tool that can be used negatively as well as positively. Like a hammer that can be used to build things but also smash them. It appears that there is a sizeable, but very vocal, minority who use words not to build community but to smash it. They seem to want to split the world up into warring factions.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you cancelled that coffee.
I don't know what to say, just that this is heartbreaking. My thoughts are with the families of those injured or lost.
ReplyDeleteIt's a tragedy. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteIt's important to remember the power of the internet, and that in fact, such misuse of it isn't exclusively the domain of the U.S.
A very thoughtful post and this was such a sad and pointless event. My thoughts are with all of the victims and their families. This act seems to be a touch point for political finger pointing. These times are so polarized now and everyone is looking to blame another group. Still I have to say that the crosshairs image makes my skin crawl. There will always be mentally unstable people around, although maybe more help could have been available to the young man. Very tragic.
ReplyDeleteWe're all affected by violence like this even when we're not in the same city. But a am very glad you weren't at that mall, Parsnip.
I agree. I am just praying for all the victims and their families, including the parents of the shooter, that's a hard road to walk I imagine, hard indeed.
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ReplyDeletefor a nice way to hold Gabriella in our thoughts.
Sorry for the double post. I had trouble in html.
ReplyDeleteThank You all for the comments...
ReplyDeleteHeartbreaking. So glad you were not there. Mental illness is a strange animal that most of us don't understand so it seems right to place blame becasue it makes us think we can understand the un-understandable. No good.
ReplyDeleteYour post was thoughtful and good.