Tuscon Arizona Shooting

Earlier this morning, it was reported that a 22 year-old gunman by the name of Jared Loughner opened fire on a shopping center in Tuscon, Arizona. Among his eighteen victims; six of which were killed, included Federal Judge John McCarthy Roll and Democratic State Representative Gabrielle Giffords. Roll was killed, while Giffords survived an "in-out" gunshot wound to the head. At the time of this writing, she's been sent to the ICU.

One of the more interesting things I've been hearing across the web is Sarah Palin's "involvement" in this unspeakable tragedy. Apparently, her PAC had made the following campaign ad, prior to the 2010 midterm elections. The ad placed a target over Tuscon, representing Palin's wishes for Republicans to defeat the incumbent Giffords because of her support and ultimately pledged protection for President Obama's healthcare reform. More can be read about "Sarah PAC"'s campaign goals here.

Now, don't get me wrong, I dislike Sarah Palin as much as the next person with an ample amount of brain cells. Her credibility as a politician and a helmswoman for the Republican party are, in my opinion, embarrassing for conservative Americans (and Americans in general). She's a hyper-charismatic cheerleader for the GOP with too much money and too little social cognizance or cultural sensitivity. This kind of political campaigning; putting targets on a map, is an example of her lack of insight towards considering the type of implications that ads like these can make.

However, in her defense, I think a lot of what these bloggers are insinuating by saying malarky such as "Palin ordered a hit on Giffords!" or "Palin provoked the gunman with her campaign!" is a tad far-fetched. I think the global lesson here is where one person makes a mistake, the other side makes themselves no better by turning a horrible tragedy into an excuse to sling mud at the other side of Giffords' political party. How come none of these crazy bloggers are calling this a hate crime, either? Didn't anyone fail to point out that Giffords is Jewish? No one is going to win by pointing fingers at each other, but hopefully this event will serve as a call to review the kind of language and themes politicians use when they make these campaigns.

I don't think we're going to know for a while what Jared Loughner's exact motives were to attack that Tuscon shopping center, whether they were politically motivated, or if he's just crazy. What I did find was this interesting video from his (now deactivated) MySpace page:

Misunderstood visionary? Or misguided, unrestrained radical? I know typically not to judge a book by it's cover, but senslessly killing six people inclines me to lean towards the latter.

My thoughts and prayers to the families of the victims,
- Jon