It's starting to feel like the aftermath of Katrina all over again, with the conservatives and the media running around denouncing the "Blame Game" (and too many others taking the bait and feeding the fire).UPDATE: On cue, here's George Will.
UPDATE # 2: To be clear, what I am talking about is the inability for introspection and reflectiveness and humility. Instead, we get finger-pointing and complaining about others placing blame. The whining about the so-called "Blame Game" is a diversion. Commentators provide little dialogue, no frank discussion, just point-scoring, defensiveness and petty whining about strawman offenders. The actual shooting rampage and attempted assassination seems, to the punditry, simply a side note, to put into context the bitter war between right and left.
I'm not sure why we need to know exactly what influenced Jared Lee Loughner. But if this act cannot start an open discussion of decency in political life, I'm not sure that anything can. We needn't wait until we can directly and specifically trace a straight line to political assassination from dangerous rhetoric. (And I'm not sure that could ever be possible; we cannot know or pinpoint everything that influenced someone's behavior, and just because it may appear apolitical does not mean that the behavior-as opposed to the philosophy-was not somehow influenced by the rhetoric.)
I don't accuse Sarah Palin or Glenn Beck or the myriad other right-wing flame throwers for causing this incident. Sometimes crazy is crazy. But if we are to concede the point that nasty speech is not the cause of the Tuscon massacre, we should also acknowledge that the same type of speech is unseemly, a reflection of the dangerous atmosphere, of the basest instincts of content-free political demagoguery.
Each of these pundits is accountable for their own rhetoric, whether or not the cause of darker acts. And they do not only inspire some form of reaction to it, they want a reaction - or else they would not do what they do, say what they say, and provoke the reactions that they provoke. Whether or not the calls to arms are figurative or literal, can anyone guarantee that those words are perceived as "intended" (which intent I will take at their word)? Pundits and radical ideologues (of all stripes - I have not been shy about my critique of those who have stolen the "Progressive" label, either) encourage reacting in bitterness and anger over any perceived slight, whether the slight was intentional or not. It's only reasonable to expect them to be at the forefront of addressing the practical effects of those offending words. If they're incapable of taking responsibility or toning down the hostility, that's worth noting. Accountability and responsibility for your own actions do not mean culpability for the crime, but that distinction may be too complex for our knee-jerk punditry to grasp.
When bad things happen, it is natural for most people to think about how they have behaved, and whether that behavior set the standard for how you would like to be remembered. We've all heard it many times - admonishments to never leave home angry with your spouse or kids, for example, because you never know what can happen, because that could be the final words you speak to that person. We all screw that up, sometimes more often than we care to admit, and we hopefully don't end up regretting it later. Because nobody who really cares wants to have to spend their lives remembering that the last words they ever spoke to someone they cared about were in anger, or were unseemly. You don't have to have caused the incident that took someone away from you. A moral person still regrets the words that offended or caused pain. That's simply a matter of self-awareness and conscience and maturity - to take responsibility and, to the best of your ability, to make things (if not right then) better.
Sarah Palin has demanded apologies and accountability from David Letterman for making insensitive jokes about her daughter's out-of-wedlock pregnancy, and from Rahm Emanuel for using the word "retarded." Conservatives routinely criticize violent music and violent video games like Grand Theft Auto. It's a mainstay of Republican ideology that words and symbolism have consequences.
But we see what happens when those who demand accountability from others are faced with having to account for their own words. Unfortunately, there is no attempt at consistency, only politics. There is no leadership, no attempt to say that we're going to use this tragedy to change the way we do things, to make good on our promises of civility and democracy, to ensure that tragedies like this remain rare, to change the tone rather than serve as an example of what is wrong, to be a leader rather than a troublemaker. And there is no attempt at genuine sympathy, except as passing words on the way to decrying the "politicization," the nefarious motives of critics, the blame game. Instead of sucking the oxygen from the fire, we instead get the stoking of the flames. Instead of joining in "liberal" calls to cool the flames, we get more inflammatory rhetoric. Instead of saying we're sorry for the way we treated you, the way we were dishonest about your motives, the way we incited people against you, instead of any of that, we get petty insults of the "liberal" media and the "Democrat" party, we get the invocation of the "Blame Game". (As a side note, it seems that John Boehner has taken the higher ground on this. I wouldn't have thought he would be the leader of a movement toward GOP decency, but I'm glad to see it.)
On the day of the tragic shootings, Andrew Sullivan posted an email from a reader who recounted overhearing two people speaking in a Tuscon Costco as he learned of the incident:
UPDATE #3: Bill O'Reilly, not to be left out.
UPDATE #4: Contrast all of that with President Obama's speech at the Tuscon memorial service. The cheering and applause aside - which I struggled to get my head around, finally realizing, I think, that the crowd was trying to celebrate the lives of those who were taken, and to thank those who heroically risked their own lives to end the bloodshed - our President once again demonstrated how to rise above and lead.
When bad things happen, it is natural for most people to think about how they have behaved, and whether that behavior set the standard for how you would like to be remembered. We've all heard it many times - admonishments to never leave home angry with your spouse or kids, for example, because you never know what can happen, because that could be the final words you speak to that person. We all screw that up, sometimes more often than we care to admit, and we hopefully don't end up regretting it later. Because nobody who really cares wants to have to spend their lives remembering that the last words they ever spoke to someone they cared about were in anger, or were unseemly. You don't have to have caused the incident that took someone away from you. A moral person still regrets the words that offended or caused pain. That's simply a matter of self-awareness and conscience and maturity - to take responsibility and, to the best of your ability, to make things (if not right then) better.
Sarah Palin has demanded apologies and accountability from David Letterman for making insensitive jokes about her daughter's out-of-wedlock pregnancy, and from Rahm Emanuel for using the word "retarded." Conservatives routinely criticize violent music and violent video games like Grand Theft Auto. It's a mainstay of Republican ideology that words and symbolism have consequences.
But we see what happens when those who demand accountability from others are faced with having to account for their own words. Unfortunately, there is no attempt at consistency, only politics. There is no leadership, no attempt to say that we're going to use this tragedy to change the way we do things, to make good on our promises of civility and democracy, to ensure that tragedies like this remain rare, to change the tone rather than serve as an example of what is wrong, to be a leader rather than a troublemaker. And there is no attempt at genuine sympathy, except as passing words on the way to decrying the "politicization," the nefarious motives of critics, the blame game. Instead of sucking the oxygen from the fire, we instead get the stoking of the flames. Instead of joining in "liberal" calls to cool the flames, we get more inflammatory rhetoric. Instead of saying we're sorry for the way we treated you, the way we were dishonest about your motives, the way we incited people against you, instead of any of that, we get petty insults of the "liberal" media and the "Democrat" party, we get the invocation of the "Blame Game". (As a side note, it seems that John Boehner has taken the higher ground on this. I wouldn't have thought he would be the leader of a movement toward GOP decency, but I'm glad to see it.)
On the day of the tragic shootings, Andrew Sullivan posted an email from a reader who recounted overhearing two people speaking in a Tuscon Costco as he learned of the incident:
I am standing in the aisle at Costco when I found out my Congresswomen, Gabrielle Giffords, has been shot dead up on the north side.We should all reflect on that.
While I’m scrambling with my phone, two couples in front of me are talking about it and suddenly I hear one of the women say, “Well, that’s to be expected when you’re so liberal.”
And the other woman says, “Ohh, so we get to appoint a Republican?”
I did not trust myself to speak. I’m a Soldier. Please remind me what country I am fighting for? At least seven people are dead. She happens to be the only member of Congress married to an active duty military — he’s a Navy officer serving as an astronaut.
UPDATE #3: Bill O'Reilly, not to be left out.
UPDATE #4: Contrast all of that with President Obama's speech at the Tuscon memorial service. The cheering and applause aside - which I struggled to get my head around, finally realizing, I think, that the crowd was trying to celebrate the lives of those who were taken, and to thank those who heroically risked their own lives to end the bloodshed - our President once again demonstrated how to rise above and lead.
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