I drive into the night, teeming with rage against the rage
Sunday, January 9, 2011 at 1:53PM 
"I am ready for real revolution and, if need be, I am ready to invoke the Second Amendment! And I know I'm not the only one..." - Josh Fryfogle, "Editor and Writer" of Make-A-Scene: The people's Paper, published monthly right here in this valley.
"Well, it's time to defend ourselves. And you know, I'm hoping that we're not getting to Second Amendment Remedies. I hope the vote will be the cure for the Harry Reid problems." Sharron Angle, whose campaign for US Senator in Nevada failed to "cure... the Harry Reid problem".
"I was willing to fight, kill or die for this country and for the ideals that it represents and that has not changed. I took an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States, it had no expiration on it. I remember taking that oath as a young soldier and it said that I would swear to defend the Constitution from all enemies, both foreign and domestic and I didn’t understand that domestic thing. Never in a million years did I realize that the domestic enemies would be our greatest threat and they would come from the highest levels of government in this country, from the highest positions. Today, for me, I have no eligible President in office, I have no qualified Commander-in Chief; that’s my personal opinion." - Rick, speaking at Wasilla Tea Party Rally.
"Don't retreat. Reload!" - Sarah Palin, after placing Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in the crosshairs along with 19 other members of Congress she wanted to see voted out of office.
This list could go on and on... couple it also in your mind with images that I will not bother to link to of self-righteous, angry, people showing up at political rallies packing pistols and brandishing assault rifles.
Last night, I found myself driving through the darkness, the inside of my chest burning with rage - rage against the killings and woundings that had taken place in Arizona, rage against all the rage that has sunk America's political discourse to the lowest of levels these past few years, rage against the mentality that justifies the use of language such as I have quoted above and makes it seem not only acceptable to many but laudable, even patriotic, for them to make statements that in any way seem to legitimize violence against Americans who have disagreed with them at the ballot box.
Before I continue, I must stress that I am not among those who place the blame for yesterday's shooting upon Sarah Palin. The blame is on the shooter, and anyone else who may have been involved with him. I do not know the motives or politics of the shooter. For all I know, he could be out there on the left-wing fringe as easily as on the right. Yet, when the kind of mentality voiced above sinks deep enough into the public psyche, shots will be fired and they can come from any direction: left, right, straight ahead or from behind.
What I do know is that the shooter acted in the spirit of the above quotes.
Jerard Laughner readied himself for real revolution and took the kind of action implied by the statements, "I am ready to invoke the second amendment" and "Second Amendment remedies."
He killed and stood ready to be killed in an attempt to remove from office a politician that he did not see as legitimate despite the fact that other Americans had voted her in. Among those who he killed was a nine year old girl. By his action, in one moment, he erased all of her hopes, dreams and future; he took away all that she had ever been or ever would be.
A nine-year old girl.
He did not retreat. He reloaded.
Now, does this mean that I believe that any of the people that I have quoted above actually wanted what happened yesterday to happen? That I believe they approve of it?
No.
Does it mean that I feel that all those other many Americans of prominence and politics who have made similar statements or who have simply failed to take a stand against these kind of statements out of cowardly fear of alienating a base of one sort or another, actually wanted what happened yesterday to happen? That they approve of it?
No. I don't. In fact, I am quite certain that they did not. I believe those who now say that they are horrified and appalled by what happened yesterday mean it. I trust that their condolences to the bereaved are sincere.
Yet, what they did do, for their own cynical and self-serving reasons, was to foment and stir up the kind of feelings that ultimately make such actions almost inevitable. They wrapped themselves in the American Flag - MY FLAG - even as they undermined and demeaned the highest values of that flag. They sought to gain an immediate political or financial goal at the cost of the future of our nation.
I had more that I was going to write, but the anger in me still boils. I cannot trust my own words. I do not wish to add to the rage, yet perhaps that is what I am doing.
Tavra.
This is all I have to say.
"The way that she has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district, when people do that, they have got to realize there are consequences to that." - Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords
Reader Comments (29)
Bill, thanks very much for posting your, as usual, very thoughtful and insightful comments about this incident and the surrounding cultural context.
TY Bill! Well put! CE
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.I feel so sad today.
These people have to know they are playing with fire
Bill,
Many of us, like you, are full of rage about what happened yesterday. The majority of us, however, could not have put our feelings into words as succinctly or eloquently as you have. I will be passing this on.
I believe in the Christian ideal: Love thy neighbor.
I mourn the loss of that ideal.
I'm with you. I don't care whether a person is left or right on the political spectrum, there is no place for the use of ranting tirades intimating violence against those of a different political persuasion. Their words are like the foaming mouth of a rabid skunk sick with rabies.
my heart breaks for the victims and their families and specially the family of this beautiful Girl
Good job, Bill. Good job. Very proud of you.
Been waiting to see if Bill had a take on this. You did, and as usual, grabbed the situation in a sane way.
Thanks.
The worst is that when questioned on the imagery, instead of pulling it then, it went on, and only came down once the bullets flew...
The hate wrapped in patriotism scares me, and I pray this wakes up the sane amongst us to tone down the rhetoric...
The calls to violence wrapped in patriotic sounding wording is so dangerous. The ones who use it can excuse it as just rhetoric, but when you use words like "target", "aim", "second amendment", you mean "gun" and "shoot" not "discuss". Those of us who despise this stuff must speak up. Suggesting it's coming from the righ and the left is nonsense. It is coming from the right and its leaders need to step up and own this and shut it down. Speaker Boehner, Eric Cantor, Mike Pence, I'm talking to you. Thank you for your eloquent comments.
Public people who use incendiary language are just as culpable as the deranged person who pulls the trigger. The vitriol inflames the lunatic fringe; we all know this. It is unnecessary. Otherwise, I'm with you, brother.
Thank you once again, Bill. You put into words what I have not been able to. Most of the United States is heartsick over this. Sending all who mourn with the families and all of Tucson, prayers and cyberhugs.
I am saddened more than anything, for that little girl who will never get to live her life because some idiot did this. It easily could have been my child. It just breaks my heart for her parents.
As for Palin, I think that map was not a good idea. She is not at fault for the shooting, but the map was in poor taste, and I can't believe it never occurred to her that some crazy might consider it a list. The backpedaling that those are "surveyors marks" makes it that much worse. Most of us aren't dumb enough to buy that.
I'm just filled with sadness that our freedom is gone, because of ourselves. This is no longer the home of the free. I don't feel free to shop in Safeway anymore (I was there just an hour ago) without thinking "I should be carrying with the safety off". I should not feel like that in my own country and be afraid of my fellow Americans.
At this point I'm ready to secede from society.
Good post, thought provoking.
Thanks Bill
appreciate every word, every thought here... from you and commenters.
mikey- hang in there!
haven't gotten mad yet myself, nor even scared yet...
just feel like I got whumped when the other shoe dropped
and haven't been able to get my wits about me...
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/us/politics/09bai.html?ref=politics
this made a lot of sense to me...
I hope it does to you
Thank you Bill. I awoke last night and was so sad imagining the night the parents of the nine year old girl (I am the parent of two daughters), the parents of Gabrielle Giffords, the parents of all the wounded and killed people who attended an event to speak with their representative (and now we know at their own peril) and the journalists who covered the event. I am just sick to my core as to how political discourse has turned so sour. Please let's think before we speak! So much is dependent on our words!
I completely agree, Bill. I don't think it was too much. It's straight to the point.
Exactly. You've said eloquently what so many of us are thinking. Thank you.
It has been long said that actions have consequences. Maybe this horrible tragedy will show that words have consequences too, but I doubt it. The politicos and pundits who continually whip their followers into a frenzy are backpedaling like crazy now. I agree that most did not think that what they were saying would end like this - and that is the problem. THEY DID NOT THINK .
Another eloquent and thoughtful post. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm up with insomnia filled with anger and sadness. And your post articulates many of my feelings. I just can't help thinking though, that this event will not change a thing, and the violent language will continue. I'm so sad writing this, but I think it's too late. If elected leaders had all stood up together against this language a few years ago, I'd be more optimistic. But many jumped on the bandwagon and started using inflammatory language and other tactics to win votes. It's sick. Our society is really sick and I'm very concerned about the future of our country. Maybe I will be surprised but on twitter and elsewhere, I don't see any self-reflection. I see more anger and nastiness. I am not sure what will change this tone and I'm frightened.
Mr. Hess,
You have once again, like usual, hit the nail directly on the head.
It is a sad sad state of affairs that we are currently in.
Mourning for all of these families.
In the wake of Saturday's massacre, I would like to remind people that Sarah Palin published the address of a sitting judge in an effort to encourage harassment and intimidation of him. I believe the judge was presiding over Bristol's custody hearing.
I've been struggling for words to describe my feelings on this whole thing. Your words are exactly how I feel. Thank you for this post.
This is a very well written and worded piece, thank you. It's incredibly frustrating to watch this happen over and over again. When the shootings occurred at Virginia Tech, killing 32 people and wounding dozens of others, making it the deadliest peacetime shooting incident by a single gunman in United States history, I thought, maybe now we will do something about the gun issues in this country. But alas, the only thing that happened was an increased endeavor to change the laws so that more people could carry guns, particularly on college campus'. When will we realize that we are only harming ourselves by allowing the masses, anyone at all, to own, carry, and operate weapons in public? I know it goes against the grain of most Americans, but it might be helpful to take a look at other countries that have restrictions on firearms and how it has worked out for them. When our forefathers wrote the constitution, we were fresh from a revolution to become independent from a cruel, corrupt, and unjust government. That's why we have the 2nd amendment. They could not have foreseen how out of control our society would become, the indiscriminate killing, the mass murders. We have many laws in place today that are not a part of the original constitution. We were blessed with brains to be able to ascertain our current culture and make the changes necessary to cope with complications that arise. Let's use them and make the necessary changes that will keep the public safe.
As ever, beautifully stated. Christina Taylor Green's beautiful face is etched on my brain. My heart breaks for those killed and wounded.
As Alaskans, we need to understand that the freedoms we enjoy each and every day are a gift to us. They carry blood on them. Blood of the valiant military who fought so we can be free to enjoy.
This means all the amendments including the freedom of speech, and the right to own and carry arms.
Blaming anyone, except the shooter is inexcusable. He is mentally unstable. He started down the path toward the area of the shootings many years before his first shot was fired.
He is to be presumed innocent until he is tried by a jury of his peers.
The attempts by everyone, right or left, to blame anyone other than the presumed shooter is not who we should be...not what we should be doing. Many died, many more were injured. Our focus must be on prayers for those folks and their families.
It is time to stand up and say, "Enough!" Enough of the smug blame game! Enough of the reckless labeling of someone we don't like. Enough of the innuendo and outright lies presented as 'truth' against someone we don't like!
It is time to go back to obeying the Ten Commandments, including: Thou shalt not bear false witness.
Thank you for the wonderful commentary. Right now, I am sitting here crying. I live in Salt Lake City, Utah and the climate of fear and hate is much the same. We also see this in Arizona and Nevada. The Tea Party has taken over. I wept. Convicted gun felons can now legally purchase firearms in Utah and they will soon be able to carry concealed weapons without a permit.
I weep because I am a fifth generation Mormon, Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, once a peace-loving, humble faith. Utah was to be our "Zion", a safe place, "where none would have to hurt and make afraid", but it will soon be the concealed carry capitol of the world. We live in fear. The Tea Party is here and here to stay, and with them comes the guns and the violent rhetoric. We must raise our children here. The Mountains are still beautiful, but they are stained with blood and the snow melts from our tears.
I seriously doubt this message with be approved since it doesn't bash Sarah Palin or anyone else who believes in self responsibilty and freedom. HOWEVER, I will type it anyway to state political rhetoric had NOTHING to do with the horrible attack on Gabby Giffords. Nothing. Zero. Zip. I know that this fact will royally piss of left-wingers, but Gabby was shot by a nutjob who had an obsession with her (and his favorite book was the Communist Manifesto, so he was far from being a tea partier). Tough to swallow......I am sure.....
You missed the whole point, Kari.
At the beginning, I stated that I blamed only the shooter. What I tried to do was to point out the literal meaning of the rhetoric that we have been hearing - because what happened to Gifford and the six people who died is exactly the kind of action that rhetoric describes.
If people are going to use words of violence, they need to understand what they are talking about and to realize that the words really do mean what they mean, and that they can push fringe people over the edge and into violent action.
Using such language in no way constitutes belief in "self-responsibility and freedom." It is irresponsible and and can be interpreted as justification to attack the freedom of others just because they disagree with you.