Before the blood of the victims of the tragic mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona had dried on the pavement of a Safeway parking lot, there were already strong echoes throughout the media world as to what sparked such an act of violence that left six people dead and 14 others wounded, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the target of the attack, fighting for her life.
It didn't take long for the media to get the answer to their questions. And the person who answered was not a journalist, pundit or activist. The person who answered the cries of understanding and stepped into the spotlight without hesitancy to place blame on the events was none other than Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik. The out-spoken sheriff didn't even have to ponder what was to blame for the tragic events as he spoke at a news conference Saturday evening, for the evidence had been right in front of him for the past two years. And with one word he was able to sum up the one thing that was on many people's minds as they watched the tragedy unfold - "vitriol".
"I'd just like to say that when you look at unbalanced people, how they are - how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths, about tearing down the government, the anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous," Dupnik said in a nationally televised news conference.
Vitriol, defined as "cruel and bitter criticism", has been, as many believe, the fuel that has inflamed a public that is already unstable with the struggles of the economy and high-unemployment rates. The vile rhetoric that spews from the mouths of not only our elected officials, but our news pundits on a daily basis, help to reaffirm the anger and fears felt by people and groups on both sides of the political aisle over who is to blame for the death of the American dream. Sheriff Dupnik, however, on that day, right or wrong, summed up the thoughts of many Americans who are disgusted by the rhetoric coming from our news outlets and elected officials today with one word. And with it, he has sparked a heated debate over hateful rhetoric that no one else in American media or politics has been able to successfully raise in decades - probably the one positive thing to come from this tragedy.
While it appears this was the act of a mad man with unidentifiable political ideology at this time, there is no hiding the fact that the tone in language and discourse in this country has taken a horrifying turn toward anti-government and pro-gun rhetoric, and anyone who ignores this fact is blinded to the reality of what this type of language has on the American psyche and most importantly certain segments of our society. How can people be expected to create a civil dialogue and debate over the major issues facing our nation when there are media figures and elected officials who intentionally misinform the public and use violent rhetoric to threaten those who don't share their views.
Now, it would be wrong to place blame solely on Republicans in this tragic incident, and while Sheriff Dupnik was short of laying blame at anyone group or person, it was evident to all of us, liberals and conservatives alike, who had been the culprit of much of the vitriol in recent years - conservative pundits and politicians. While liberal pundits and officials have been known to use some reprehensible language, it is the violent rhetoric of conservative media celebrities like Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin, Tea Party activists and a number of right-wing elected officials who have used fear and hate speech to persuade Americans that the Obama administration is destroying the American way of life in recent years. Who can forget Glen Beck accusing President Barack Obama of being a racist or Rep. Joe Wilson shouting "you lie!" at the president or the congressional map featuring crosshairs over districts Sarah Palin targeted for Republican victories or the calls from Senate candidate Sharon Angle to use "2nd ammendment remedies" or Rep. Michelle Bachman calling upon Minnesotans to be "armed and dangerous". And we have seen the effects of such candor. During a political rally for Rand Paul a Democratic supporter was thrown to the ground and had her head stomped on by an angry group of supporters and campaign staff, racial slurs met African American members of Congress as they approached the Capital Building to cast their vote on the historic health care bill, 10 Democratic congressional office windows, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, were smashed following the health care vote, gun touting men showed up to protest outside presidential events during the health care debate, not to mention two separate violent attacks and one attempted attack by people who have admitted to being influenced by Beck and Palin's words. It is a volatile political environment in which we live today, and while this act might not have been directly correlated with the hateful language conveyed throughout our political and news networks, there have been acts of violence and many instances of people using violent language and actions to threaten those who don't share their political ideology. For we all have the right to express our differences in our democracy, we all have a right to debate passionately and say what we feel, but these rights provided by the 1st Amendment to the Constitution don't come without responsibility. And if we can place the blame of violence on things like music and video games, why can't we at least question what effects violent and hateful rhetoric that plays on the fears of the weak minded can have on our society as well. Nobody is saying our elected officials can't take part in passionate debate, but to threaten violence or characterize people and elected officials as evil if they don't vote in a way that is inline with conservative "values", is a threat to not only our elected officials and the people who support such values, but our democracy and freedoms.
As law enforcement officials try to piece together what led Jared Lee Loughner to go on a killing spree last Saturday morning, we must for now be careful to place blame and instead spend more time memorializing those who lost their lives, caring for those who are still alive, and better understanding what we can do as a nation to curb the hostile environment for which we all had a hand in creating. We must not miss this opportunity to admit that we have all said some things, myself included, that we regret. And instead of trying to deflect the blame we should use this as a time to reflect on how we can better express our differences without villainizing our detractors. If not for our democracy, for 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green, Gabe Zimmerman, Dorwin Stoddard, Dorthy Morris and Phyllis Schneck, who all lost their lives taking part in the most basic American right - freedom of peaceful assembly. For we are all Americans, we all love this country, and the sooner we start acknowledging that we are all on the same side, that we are all one big "American family", the sooner we can start to settle our differences and heal as a nation.
It's time to tone down the rhetoric. It's time to stop the hate.
