Tragedy in Arizona

I debated on whether or not to post anything regarding the senseless tragedy that resulted in the death of six people including a nine year old girl, Federal Judge John Roll, and left Arizona Congresswoman Gabriella Giffords in critical condition.  After observing comments and posts on various websites, I feel compelled to do so.

I happened to be on Facebook when I first saw the news yesterday regarding the shooting of Congresswoman Giffords in my News Feed.  I do not recall the first person who posted something about it, though it may have been Congresswoman Michele Bachmann posting her shock at the news.  I visited several different sites over the next couple of hours trying to keep up with the news.

Now, I do not mean for this to be an indictment against all of those who are to the left on the political spectrum, but I was dismayed by the things that I saw.  Every conservative commentator that I saw asked for the prayers and well wishes for Congresswoman Giffords and the other victims.  Sadly, there were those on the left who immediately began placing the blame on the shootings on people like Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin and the TEA Party in general.

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident that I have observed.  When Rush Limbaugh was hospitalized with chest pains or whenever Dick Chaney went into the hospitalized with heart problems, the left was quick to demonize and wish ill upon their health.  The same when Glenn Beck announced he had macular dystrophy and could lose his sight.

I remember when the news broke that Harry Reid's wife and daughter were involved in a serious automobile accident.  While Reid is the source of a great deal of angst and anger for conservatives, all of the conservatives commentators and politicians were quick to offer their wishes for a speedy recovery for the Reid family.   We may loathe their actions and policies, but we do not wish ill will on those we disagree with.

Conservatives, in general, believe that the children of politicians should be off limits.  They respect the Obama's wishes to leave Malia and Sasha out of political commentary.  It is a shame that the left can not show the same respect to the kids of Sarah Palin, though since Bristol has put herself out there as a commentator on teen pregnancy and "Dancing with the Stars," that makes her fair game.

I do not own a handgun.  Quite frankly they bother me.  However, I fully support the right of law abiding citizens to own a handgun.  My feeling, and I am sure the feeling of the vast majority of responsible gun owners, is that a weapon should never be pointed towards somebody unless that person has put you in immediate jeopardy of harming you.

There is no way to condone the actions of the shooter in this case.  To say that he was motivated by the current political rhetoric is irresponsible to say the least.  Rhetoric has never led me nor any sane person to take up arms and murder those we disagree with.  This person was a tormented and demented soul who likely would have acted in some sort of irrational way regardless of political rhetoric.

It is easy to try to blame his actions on the right.  I will leave it to Michelle Malkin and others to point out all of the incidents where the left had posted their issues with Congresswoman Giffords.  It has been reported that the gunman had listed Mein Kampf and The Communist Manifesto as among his favorite books.  Hardly the type of literature that your typical conservative would be reading.

My point is this, the left typically tries to paint conservatives as mean spirited and uncaring.  This is hardly the case.  When an incident like this occurs, conservatives are quick to offer their support and well wishes to those involved, including those they disagree with.  We do not wish continued ill will.  Some on the left however are quick to cast accusations and continued ill wishes on those they disagree with.

Related articles

• Palin, Beck, Tea Party are not responsible for Giffords shooting... (gunnyg.wordpress.com)
• Giffords: A Centrist, A Fighter, A Public Servant - NPR (news.google.com)
• Boehner on Giffords: "Attack on All who Serve" (cbsnews.com)
• Factbox: Reaction to shooting of congresswoman Giffords (reuters.com)
• Arizona shootings: Will Barack Obama stand up to the Left's shameful exploitation of a national tragedy? (blogs.telegraph.co.uk)