The Cranky Voter

Responsible for Your Own Killing

I was watching the news about the attack on the congresswomen from Arizona and I couldn’t believe the way the story was being reporting. Not only were the reporters almost celebrating the life of this crazed killer, but they were also taking responsibility for his actions away from him and placing it on the words of others. I couldn’t help but think of that old Rhyme I was told when I was a kid. You remember it, sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never harm me. It was a lesson I learned early in life. It doesn’t matter what people say to get you angry or upset, words are words. There is no excuse, no matter what you believe, no matter what you have heard, no matter what you think about what someone or what they stand for, there is no excuse to harm another human being. The right of free speech, as guaranteed in our Constitution, is not only a right but a privilege as well. However, there is another side to that right, it is the responsibility to support the privilege of others to have that same right regardless of what they believe, whether or not you agree with them. Not only do you have the right to free speech but so does the people that you might not agree with. in addition, there are no words that should cause another to act out in violence against the innocent. The choice to harm the innocent is a choice that the individual makes regardless of the rhetoric and vitriol.

What happened in Arizona was a horrible tragedy. A congresswoman was shot in the head. A judge and a little 9 year old girl was killed. Others died and were injured. It is a unfortunate situation and there is no justification for what the shooter did. He is an evil person that must live with the hideous crime that he committed for the rest of his life. He was responsible for his deplorable actions. He chose to take that weapon and kill and wound innocent people. He made the decision to take the actions that he did. It is so disingenuous and provocative to claim that this troubled youth was motivated to do what he did because of things that he has heard and words that have been said in Congress, on TV or on the radio. Especially when the facts of his motivation are still largely unknown, it takes the responsibility of the actions away from the shooter and places the blame on others who don’t deserve it. The choice was his and the actions were his.

Nothing that anyone has said, provocative or not, should cause a rational individual to take these actions. There are many reasons to make provocative statements and there are even reasons why certain statements might seem inappropriate, but we should never get to the point where we think that we should prohibit speech of any kind. It is quite inappropriate to blame people like Sarah Palin because she published an image that showed targets on certain cities. Besides the fact that the intent of the map was not to suggest any violence or motivate anyone to become a killer, rational people do not act on malicious instructions. To suggest that these where somehow instructions is so wrong, but to remove the responsibility from the shooter and place it on Sarah Palin is so partisan and quite deplorable. Pictures and words can not force anyone to do anything. We as human beings are free to choose. We all must take responsibility for our own actions and we can not make excuses for evil actions of the individual by citing any language or images.

So just to further the argument, let’s say that you wanted to ban certain speech and imagery? Who should be the judge of what language is inappropriate and what language is inspirational? Who wants to be the censor of free speech? Who do you want to nominate to take away your free speech for any arbitrary reason? Why would we want to give away the rights granted to us by the constitution because there is the fear that some wacko will take those words to heart and do something that no one could imagine and no one wants. As some famous philosopher once said, I might not agree with what he says, but I will fight to the death for his right to say it. Those in the press have said that the rhetoric is to harsh and that this is to blame for the actions in Arizona. I say that is crap! It is very irresponsible to say that debating issues in good faith should be stopped. Even if the debate is not in good faith, it is the right of every American, especially our elected representatives to continue the debate and fight for what they believe is good for the country. And if you don’t like what they are saying, don’t listen. If you don’t agree then tell them they are wrong and argue back. If you want to hide and ignore what they say, that is your right as well, but you can not silence the speaker. You should also not take action and give up responsibility for your actions by claiming that the debate was the cause. You can not make an excuse for the exercise of your free will. The words made you do it? No. You can not surrender your responsibility and your guilt. You did it. You choose. No one else. You.

As we find out more about the shooter, we find that he had written letters talking about performing this action for over three years. Long before the maps with the so called targets. Long before the Tea Party and the highly partisan speech on both sides of the aisle. Long before the calls of class warfare and the proclamations of a racist western state because of their desire to defend the border with Mexico. When we delve into the personality of the shooter we see a disturbed kid that had been crying out for help but received no answer. We see a troubled loner that made people feel uncomfortable and was kicked out of school and told to seek help. Not an idealistic politically motivated youth motivated to action as a result of a map with targets or the call to action of a governor trying to protect the border or the debate or a highly partisan congress fighting for what they think is right or the voices of the radio talk show hosts shouting provocative statements to try to get ratings or the accusations of Class Warfare by those fighting to expand government and social medicine. No instead we find a selfish, self centered loner whose desperate calls for attention went unanswered and chose to kill to find his 15 minutes of fame and get the attention that he was seeking.

I will not use his name. I will not give him what he most desires. The attention he craves, the fame and notoriety that he yearns for will not be satisfied by me. I am sick to see his smug face on the television. I am sad that so much time has been dedicated to his life and his thoughts. I am frustrated that he has become such a subject of curiosity and discussion. Do we need to give his name and talk about his life? Do we need to ask his neighbors about him and hunt down people that he went to school with? Not only do we give him the attention that he was seeking but we encourage the next maniac who is craving attention to take action on his evil thoughts. We proclaim by our actions that the way to notoriety, the way to get attention is to perform such a horrible act that people are compelled to give you the attention you desire.  To plan some horrible act to get the attention that the last guy got. You too could be as famous as the last guy that killed a bunch of people.

His action served no political cause. His actions did not define the debate or provide any answers to resolve the debate. His actions didn’t prove any point or help change policy. He did not carry out the hidden instructions of some imagery or any call to action by a radio talk show host. As his own words stated very clearly, he carefully planned this attack over multiple years. His actions were that of a coward who was having trouble coping with life. A loner that was failing in life and dropping out of society. A loser that lost touch with reality and desperately wanted attention and was willing to do the unspeakable to accomplish his twisted goal. Not only were words and imagery not able to convince this child to perform this evil deed, but it seems there was nothing that was going to deter him from his stated goal of death and destruction. So let’s stop the blaming of words and rhetoric. Let us stop the excuses for bad behavior. Let us blame the individual who chose to become a killer and let us not celebrate him or mention his name. Let the loner remain alone in his cell for the rest of his life and contemplate his evil actions and suffer in the waste that is his life. Let’s not provide an example or road map for the next disturbed child willing to do the unthinkable to get his fifteen minutes of fame. And let’s not prohibit speech for the evil actions of a disturbed and isolated child desperately calling for attention.

Now maybe that sounds a little cranky, and maybe it is. That is because I am the Cranky Voter!