There is a disgusting amount of rehashing of the Tucson Tragedy on cable. The voyeurism and feeding frenzy gets to me.
Then I read a post that pried the lid off the whole thing for me and what we are up against in our country by someone struggling to be sane in a sea of insanity– here’s the link.
I have not always been forebearing and loving in my comments about political issues–humanity’s issues– on this blog. I have advocated, however, for the right to feel certain ways about certain things and to express one’s opinions.
America the Beautiful has been morphing into a culture of hate and fear for some time. We have to keep putting beauty and clarity of thought and compassion– for the woman from Guimas walking across the desert with a baby in her arms, for the rancher gunned down by the drug cartel, for those on all sides of every debate–out there, and make our convictions audible and visible– and we need to prosecute murderers and string them up wherever and whoever they are.
Loquaciously Yours 
I can envision this trial taking years. I wonder what would happen if it took weeks instead, or even days. There is no denying his guilt, and swift justice would send a message to others who may have thoughts of getting away with doing similar things.
What the lawyer for this case is going to attempt to do is avoid the death penalty, not deny guilt, especially in light of the most recent news report that video cameras captured the shootings and that at least 150 people witnessed them. We still do have a functioning justice system (though we may all argue with aspects of it), and it continues to represent one of this country’s values, which is that everyone, regardless of crime, is entitled to a fair trial. I, for one, thank God every day for that and am still willing to let it proceed as it may.
The culture of hate has no place in a courtroom or our living rooms or our schools and most especially our hearts. The way we disrupt it and bring it to an end is to begin examining and correcting our own behaviors and holding ourselves accountable for what we say and what we do. As one who took a self-oath to allow as little negativism into my life as possible, I can tell you what a difference it makes to walk away from ugliness rather than engage in it.
I want to make sure I’m not misreading your comments, Maureen (it wouldn’t be the first time if I was!). Are you making a connection between a desire for swift justice and a “culture of hate”?
Jenne, the link does not appear to be working.
Maureen, if you click on the link and look in the URL bar you’ll see an extra set of “http://”. Just erase those and it will open.
Voyeurism and frenzy is EXACTLY right. I’m disgusted by the rhetoric.