Posted on 01/10/2011 5:45:01 AM PST by shortstop
They died in the service of our country.
The judge, the little girl, the congressional staffer. The three people in their 70s.
They all died in the name of American liberty. Just as assuredly as if they were casualties on a foreign battlefield.
They were killed by the evil which is the sworn enemy of our freedom and this Republic. In the guise of the terrorists on September 11th, or the Japanese at Pearl Harbor, or a monster with a gun at a Tucson supermarket, it is all the same. Different faces of the same beast. All attacks on us and what we hold dear.
The Speaker almost had it right.
An attack on one who serves is not just an attack on all who serve – it is an attack on all who are served.
A member of Congress is called a representative, and on Saturday morning Gabrielle Giffords was not just a representative of the 8th District of Arizona, she was a representative of us all and of our nation. She was engaged in her duties as an officer of our Constitution, she was there representing the United States of America.
And that is what was attacked.
In those duties, on that errand, fulfilling those responsibilities, violence born of evil or insanity was rained down upon her. It was not about her, it was about us, all of us, and the Republic which for more than two centuries our ancestors have jealously defended.
America was attacked, and in the wounding of Gabrielle Giffords, its defender was felled. Just as assuredly as if she had been in our uniform, in our military, on our bidding. Because she, like those in our military, swore an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States.
And that is what she was doing Saturday morning at the Safeway.
She was making certain that the people of Arizona had face-to-face access to their federal government. She was keeping open the doors of communication by opening them herself. She was not a politician, she was an officeholder, and she was there in her official capacity.
And she stood shoulder to shoulder with 300 million other Americans as she did so.
She was literally wounded in our service. Just like Abraham Lincoln and William McKinley and James A. Garfield. Lincoln was shot by a man who resented his successes as commander in chief, McKinley was shot by an anarchist who hated all government, and Garfield was shot by a man who supported his political opponents. These were political shootings, and so was the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords.
We may not know, or ever know, the specifics or the circumstances, or the clarity of the assailants mind, but she was shot because she was a congresswoman, that much is certain.
It was a political attack, and there may be political reactions. The sheriff blamed talk radio, her father blamed the tea party, some have blamed guns and gun laws, many point to political discourse.
It is uncertain what is true, or what is gained at this stage by arguing over it. It feels unseemly to fall back on entrenched political positions in this hour of tragedy. Perhaps these days should be days of sorrow and prayer, and the fights over politics should be delayed until funerals are held and bodies are healed.
At this point, we are united, not divided.
At this point, we need to make a statement about our Republic and our people, not about our partisanship and positions.
There is no Democrat response to this, nor a Republican response to this, there is only an American response. And that response is defined by common grief and common resolve. We are of one mind and one intent – to denounce this and to stand up to it, and to keep faith with the fallen and slain.
Today, we are all supporters of Gabrielle Giffords. Today, we are all her constituents. And today, we are reminded anew of the sacred privilege which is ours to elect our representatives and govern our government.
Remembering that is the best monument we can build to those who were killed or wounded.
And we can begin next Saturday.
The loudest repudiation of this assault would be for members of the House of Representatives from across the country to be in their districts next Saturday, in front of their own supermarkets, holding their own Congress on the Corner.
Evil must be faced and rejected, and duty must be discharged, and the best thing we can do for this wounded congresswoman is carry on her work, support the cause of representative government, and not cower in the face of evil.
I want my congressman on the corner, and I want to stand with him, as a reminder of those who fell, and of all those who for two centuries have similarly fallen to protect our liberties.
One thing I agree with from this frothing writer on high horse is get the pols out on the corners at events where the people can have a conversation with them one on one.
It's just impossible to have a rational discussion with people who jump all the way to that conclusion as their first impulse.
Which reminds me, "Just Say NO to Drugs."
Sarah gets criticized for surveyor symbols but commies dont get criticized for BULLSEYES..
http://bigjournalism.com/dloesch/2011/01/09/the-difference-between-purveyor-symbols-and-crosshairs/
There wasn’t this hue and outcry when the Muslim Army Captain did his massacre at Ft. Hood. Judge Roll allowed a lawsuit to proceed that gave illegals the right to sue a rancher who apprehended them on his property.
Let’s see. The shooter was mentally deranged, to be sure. And we have no idea what was going through his head, if anything, except random hateful thoughts.
But as our country continues its march toward the Soviet Union in the early 20th century (dictatorship, massive government control,corruption by the politically-connected uber wealthy, etc) there WILL be more anger generated.
The missing thesis from the left is that they know that people are getting angry with the reckless and ruthless Democrats destroying this once great country. I read their hateful remarks as “you are a traitor if you defy us!”
Stalinism. Its scary and extremely dangerous.
Bill Ayers is probably laughing somewhere in Chicago. And Van Jones is probably giddy with excitement.
Enough with the surveyor symbol nonsense. Unless you want to argue that they were being targeted for property line assessments, saying that they're surveyor symbols is as ridiculous as some of the things the liberals are saying.
They're crosshairs...not gunsights...crosshairs and it's a legitimate tool used everyday, by any number of people for any number of things, including political analysis. Anyone who equates that with a call for assassination is an idiot and likewise anyone who wants to redefine the obvious is a political hack and stone cold ideologue.
When basic values and common sense are ignored, we have anarchy.
Look for more of this kind of activity. Understand, it IS NOT an American phenomena. We read news about this kind of thing from all over the world.
There is more than a slight wheel wobble to human society when we produce lunatics like this one AND when we live in a culture where all the red flags and markers for his dysfunction are PC’d away and rationalized up the ying-yang for years until he KILLS innocent people.
How funny—their convenient memory, that is...
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