We Can Be Better

01/17/11

It couldn't have come at a better time. The last two weeks have been filled with bitter rhetoric from liberals and conservatives and President Obama used this opportunity to remind us that despite our divisions, we all want a better America. Memorializing Christina Green, the nine year old girl born on September 11, 2001, who was one of the victims of the shooting, the President said ''I want us to live up to her expectations. I want our democracy to be as good as she imagined it.''

Unfortunately, many of us struggle to live up to those expectations. Following the shootings, which do not appear to have been politically motivated, many on the left pointed fingers at Sarah Palin because of a map she used in the midterm campaigns with gun sights superimposed over targeted congressional districts. One of the districts was Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, the initial target of the gunman. During what was a very contentious election, Giffords' office was vandalized and threats were made against her, but it's unreasonable to hold Palin responsible for the acts of individuals based on a map, no matter how tasteless you might believe the imagery was.

The shootings in Tucson were done by a young man with anger management issues and an apparent obsession with Giffords. There is no evidence to suggest that they were in any way motivated by her political positions, and in fact one of the victims of the massacre was a conservative judge. This does not excuse Palin for her often incendiary rhetoric, which serves only to broaden the distrust between liberals and conservatives.

Nor does it excuse the reaction from the left, quick to politicize a tragedy in ways that are not appropriate. There are strong opinions on both ends of the political spectrum when it comes to issues surrounding guns, and it is inevitable that an incident like this will stir up fresh debate over the Second Amendment. Such debate, when separated from character attacks, is healthy in a democracy. High profile shootings are appropriate catalysts for political debate over gun control, even over the howls of protest such discussions invariably bring from the right. However, national tragedies are not appropriate starting points for renewed character attacks, from either side of the aisle.

It would be easy to characterize Palin's rhetoric as part of a larger problem, contributing to a culture of violence, and try to lay blame for last week's events on her doorstep that way, but she is no more responsible for the actions of a mentally unbalanced and angry young man than a sexually suggestive ad is responsible for Bristol Palin's pregnancy.

It's equally unfortunate that Palin's response has been defensive and in some cases inflammatory. She's referred to the suggestions that she is to blame as a ''blood libel''. Her most recent speech carries on with her theme of us versus them, a divided America with good guys and bad guys. In addition to doing nothing to further the national debate, the stark contrast between her remarks and those of the President may further marginalize her as a serious political figure.