This Isn't Intended To Be A Political Post... But I'm Sure It Is

I was just getting ready to write a post about the insane flu that I had yesterday and my lovely trip to the hospital to get an IV, but as I sat down I saw the news of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in my Twitter stream, so I checked the NPR web page and turned on CNN. And, yup. Wow.

I'm not an FBI agent, but from my point of view this was obviously a politically-motivated attack or she would not have been shot point blank in the head by an idiot 22 year old during an outreach event with her constituents at a grocery store (which was publicized). It's horrific to think that we're basically witnessing an attempted assassination of a political figure, but that seems to be the case. The last confirmation I heard said that 18 were shot: 6 were killed, many gravely wounded (including Rep. Giffords). A child is included in these victims.

Is this what our country has come to? It's been brewing... the hate, violence, conservative vs. liberal rhetoric pot stirring. Bottom line: It's scary. I want to say I'm surprised by this. I wish I could say I was shocked, but I can't.

Sarah Palin created a hit list of people she wanted voted out of office, so her little Tea Party Cronies had something to do when they weren't busy making grammatically incorrect signs and spouting off ignorant hate. She just happened to use cross hairs to show her targets. No, I don't think that Sarah Palin planned this attack. But, I do think that her hateful discourse and the outstanding ability she has to take advantage of the least educated among us have only encouraged radicals looking for someone to blame their problems on.

Violent, hateful rhetoric is never ok from politicians. Especially when we're dealing with a country full of under-educated, desperate people. (It's true: Year after year we hear about how far behind our education system is and how high the rate of unemployment and poverty is in our country.) Politicians should be our leaders. Leaders are supposed to set an example. I'm just glad W isn't old enough that I need to worry about explaining all of this to him. Where would you begin? I hope that morality is at a low point in our country and it gets better from here.

This isn't intended to be a political post. I'm just trying to work it out in my head. And I'm hoping that we can all raise a next generation to be better, more thoughtful of others, with a better moral compass guiding them through life. It's only possible if we teach them how and give them an example.