Indiana

Ballots, Not Bullets

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz

While working out Saturday afternoon I nearly fell off the cross-trainer when I saw the story about the shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.  Giffords was seriously injured, a federal judge was killed along with five other people and 13 were also injured.  It’s unclear at this time what the motives of the alleged shooter, Jared Loughner, 22, were.

Incidents like this really hit home for me for a couple of reasons.  First, as someone who covers politics and attends a lot of these types of  gatherings, having to worry about your personal safety because some lunatic may have a gun and start shooting is never a good thing.

Secondly, there is no excuse for using violence to effect change.   If you have a problem with an elected official, you take your rear end to the voting booth, not the gun store.

Although ultimately the shooter, and anyone who assisted him is responsible for their actions, I frankly think a lot of people on the broadcast side of the business I engage in daily really need to do a self-check over some of the stuff we put out over the airwaves.  It’s one thing to be passionate about an issue and advocate change, but some of my fellow broadcasters can go way off the deep end.  Whether they are on the left, accusing individuals of racism where none exists, or on the right engaging in wild-eyed conspiracies about gold and the Federal Reserve.

I thought it was interesting that Kyle Walker and Ed Treacy both put out a joint statement Saturday condemning the shooting.  That goes to show that violence is not a partisan issue, nor does it discriminate who its victims are when it goes on a rampage.

Full post as published by Indiana Barrister on January 09, 2011 (boomark / email).