wallpaper "Even More Tragic"

wallpaper In my previous post on the Arizona shootings, I quoted a comment I had received, but didn't really discuss how thoroughly it shocked and horrified me, leaving readers to find my problem for themselves. After considering this over the last day, I think that it is central to the issue of how mainstream the hateful, eliminationist rhetoric has become, and I want to revisit it. So here's the comment:

"It is a very tragic event. Even more tragic is to blame Sarah Palin and the Tea Party. I do not believe for one second that they endorse democrats being murdered. How stupid to think so. I do not like democratic ideas but I do not want one single democrat to ever be murdered!!!!"

Now think about that. Six people are dead. A congressional representative faces an uncertain future- the damage to her brain was much worse than I imagined a person might survive. The bullet traveled from the back to the front of her left lobe; this was not just a skull-grazing injury. One of the dead was a nine-year-old girl, pictured above, Christina Taylor Green, whose birthday was September 11, 2001. She had been featured in a book named "Faces of Hope," which contained portraits of 50 children, one from each state, born on that fateful day. She was interested in politics as a solution to human and social problems, and was taken to meet Giffords by a neighbor who thought she would enjoy the experience. Ironically, the levels of paranoia and fear whipped up by a certain side of the US political spectrum in the aftermath of her birth date have, without any real doubt, played some role- potentially small, possibly large, we simply don't know yet- in ending this child's life. And that of five others.

So, responding to my comment linking this paranoia, hateful rhetoric, Sarah Palin, the teabaggers, and my own anger and despair at yesterday's events, the commenter acknowledges that it was indeed a tragedy. Then proceeds to say, "Even more tragic is to blame Sarah Palin and the Tea Party." "Even MORE tragic?" Seriously?

MORE tragic that an absolute nobody blogger/facebooker/twitterer makes the exactly same connections as thousands of others who write and go public on the web? MORE tragic that Palin and the teabaggers are asked to take SOME degree of responsibility for an atmosphere of terror, blind rage and bloodlust? MORE tragic that within minutes of the news, Palin and others were pulling down images and comments that people have been warning for the last couple of years would lead to exactly this kind of massacre? Are you fucking serious?

These things are "even MORE tragic" than the simple fact of Christina Taylor Green's cold, dead body? Not to mention the 18 other injuries and deaths? MORE fucking tragic?

And this is exactly the point. I'm sure the commenter didn't even think about what she was saying. She was on autopilot. She has been conditioned by Palin, O'Reilly, Hannity, Beck, Boehner, Brewer, and on, and on and on, to believe that merely impugning the wonderfulness of "people like them" is more tragic, a greater crime, a worse humanitarian crisis, than hundreds of thousands of people dying annually from lack of health care, than millions of children who are mal- or undernourished every day, than tens of thousands of homeless veterans for whom it's well worth shelling out for showy car magnets, but not worth a nickel to actually get them shelter. I'm sure she is quite right that neither she nor her party's leaders "endorse" democrats or other undesirables being murdered outright. However, she has been well trained to understand that when, God forbid, such a thing happens, the appropriate response is to defend the righteous, stay calm, put it out of your mind, and walk cheerfully forward into the the world that is being re-shaped for the right people. The ones like them. The ones who believe the right things, in the right God. The ones who understand that democracy is all about being the ones ballsy and macho enough to kill and take power from anyone with the temerity to stand in the way of the blessed. The ones who understand that civility is for the weak. The ultra-rich and those who are happy to service them and their whims. The ones who understand that "thinking for oneself" is a trick of Satan. Because to react in any other way would even more tragic still.

wallpaper Step One:

Dehumanize your opponents, but deny you are doing so. Make it look as if you're merely "reflecting" "grass roots" sentiments, rather than sowing them.

Step Two: Accuse your opponents of doing what you're doing (even though they're not) because a) it provides an excuse for what you're doing- you DO have to defend yourself, right?- and b) if they're doing it too, it must be okay. WaPo:

When asked about the Palin target map, Beck said: "I don't know. It's really easy in the context of what happened this morning to look back and say, 'I don't know if this was such a bright idea.' At the same time, there are other politicians from the other side of the political spectrum who have said similar military-style sayings. Do I really believe they are intending harm on people? No."

Step Three: Portray your opponents as existential threat to yourself and people like you. "They will come for us and put us into concentration camps." (Image from Balloon Juice) wallpaper Step Four: Use continuous and escalating language calling for violence. Symbols and metaphors of guns, death, and targets associated with your opponents will plant and nourish the seeds you want growing. (Images from FDL)
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wallpaper Step Five: When a deranged loon inevitably takes your rhetoric literally, and kills and/or wounds your opponent(s), and possibly other bystanders, express shock at events no one could have foreseen, and outrage that some might want to hold you accountable for your actions and rhetoric.

Step Six: Lather, rinse, repeat.

Step Seven: Profit. Krugman:

You know that Republicans will yell about the evils of partisanship whenever anyone tries to make a connection between the rhetoric of Beck, Limbaugh, etc. and the violence I fear we’re going to see in the months and years ahead. But violent acts are what happen when you create a climate of hate. And it’s long past time for the GOP’s leaders to take a stand against the hate-mongers.

But of course they won't, nor will commercial media, particularly TeeVee news. Because in the end, it's all about Step Seven. Cosmic Variance:

I met Gabby at a reception a year ago. She seemed, on our very brief acquaintance, to be a really wonderful person — energetic, smart, full of optimism about doing good things as a member of Congress. Her husband, Mark Kelly, is an astronaut. If I may step away from the ideal of journalistic objectivity for a moment, this is a stupid fucking tragedy.

Yeah, what Sean said. Unfortunately, I have spent too much of today seething with anger at the stupidity of where we have willfully gone in this country, for the sake of financial and political profit, to fully allow myself to empathize with the loved ones of those who have been killed and wounded in this morning's shooting spree. Giffords is, as of the latest reports, expected to survive, though I've heard nothing about what permanent losses of ability she may suffer. I doubt there is any basis for guessing about that yet. But at least six others are dead, including a Federal Judge and a nine-year-old girl. Four others (again, as of the most recent reports I've read) are still in critical condition, and the number wounded seems to be unsettled- the numbers I've seen range from 12 to 18.

My first facebook status this morning ended with "Thanks, Palin and Tea party: you make us proud." To which a high school classmate responded, " It is a very tragic event. Even more tragic is to blame Sarah Palin and the Tea Party. I do not believe for one second that they endorse democrats being murdered. How stupid to think so. I do not like democratic ideas but I do not want one single democrat to ever be murdered!!!!" I'm certain that very few truly want their opponents literally murdered, though metaphorically, I'm not so confident. But when your rhetoric says "Second amendment solutions" it shouldn't come as a surprise when one or more of your followers takes it literally.

And in the end, I think what infuriates me most is that I suspect I know how this will all play out. Media will attempt to be "Fair" and "Balanced," that is, Palin et al will have the opportunity to defend themselves, and play the innocent victims. Media will point out that tempers are high, as if that excuses everything. The American Public will return to their fevre dream and collective amnesia. This event, and the lessons that could be taken from it, will be forgotten. The dead and wounded, and their families, will be shuffled into the waste heap of history. What angers me is the complacency, the banality, and above all, the predictability of this.

How many remember George Tiller? How long ago was it that he was killed?

My condolences and most hopeful wishes for the friends, families and colleagues of today's victims, and to the wounded. I hope our country has enough vestige of decency to give you the support, respect, and above all, the recollection that is your due.