The National: What it is and what it isn’t

Nearly one week has passed since the news broke of the Arizona shooting that left a number of people either killed or wounded. The aftermath and the reactions that followed were not as saddening, but disappointing nonetheless.

Among the casualties were U.S. District Judge John Roll, who died in the shooting, and Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who remains in critical condition from a head wound. The shooter, Jared Loughner, left more than spilled blood, more than a heinous memory—he left behind an event that would stir our unproductive political discourse.

It didn’t take very long before media spin-masters found ways to comment and weigh in on the appalling event—each with their own angle. Who could absorb or cast the most blame? The days since the shooting have become a complete mess of commentary, as some people who could be considered nothing short of hijackers have taken a tragedy and stretched it across their own agendas until it has been stretched so thin that it is difficult to hold the weight of any meaning.

On one side of the political spectrum, people called out figures such as Glenn Beck—who has made a career from inciting bitterness and hostility through various forms of media—as contributors to the situation. Sarah Palin was also singled out, specifically regarding a post on her website which displayed gun sights on certain political figures she wanted taken out of office—by means of elections, of course.

On the other side, defensive measures were taken. Tea Partiers, some known for a love of public firearm display, hit the web with rhetoric distancing themselves from the situation, diverting caustic statements toward the left, and sometimes almost mocking anyone who could associate the actions of a madman with their movement.

Instead of focusing on the matter at hand, the discourse across our media and its personalities had more to do with smearing, blaming and ultimately steering the issue away from reality and onto the toxic battlefield of my side vs. your side politics.

It is easy to target such figures as Beck, and other personalities who run in their pack of vitriol. After all, an event such as this could naturally appear to be in line with the spirit behind their words. There is certainly an argument that could be made regarding the consequences and ethics involved with their tactics. There is something to be said about the back-and-forth mudslinging and factual distortions between the left and right that poses as politics in our nation. But this shooting is not part of that argument.

This is not an easy event to decipher. This is not something that can be condensed down into a juvenile blame-game. And it is something that deserves far more respect and sensitivity than to be peddled as a means to present the dialogue and goals of any special interest.

Don’t let anyone tell you any different. Loughner was a troubled young man, possibly suffering from mental problems. His YouTube profile, “classitup10,” displays videos of a disturbing nature—videos of text across the screen that make little to no sense. It is clear that this man’s actions are not the consequences of political extremism, but of a deranged mind.

The people injured or killed, who now lay in a hospital affected by this shooting in more severe ways than it could affect any of us, deserve to be taken far more seriously and not to be used as puppets in a bad political play.

We can have the discussion about political personalities and their questionable tactics and ethical boundaries. There will be a time to argue about the variety of issues travelling through our political process. But this shooting is not the time or place to do that. What this shooting was is a tragedy. What it is not, is a platform for an agenda. ?