Letters from Tucson

Tom,

Thank you for sharing this. I worked a little for the Gifford's Campaign this past election and I am still in a state of shock and profound sadness. Gabrielle is a golden soul that works to serve to the best of her ability; always with the intention of doing the best for the whole. Also for those that were with her today, I sent out my prayers and thoughts as well.

The political tension in our country is like the California earthquake zone; just waiting for the big one. I feel this extreme action today against a public servant is a warning sign that people need to pull back in their extremist ideas of hate and intolerance towards those who are not in agreement. I feel this action of hate that happened today, is symptomatic of an underlying move toward anarchy.

People like Jesse Kelly and Sarah Palin seem to feed that drive toward disaster with their ignorant ramblings to those that just seem to feed on their words without question. A friend of mine works for the city of Tucson and some of those who he works with listen to radio programs that perpetuate this type of thinking. They often voice their negative and hateful thoughts in agreement to what they hear on the radio, again without question. Then there is media such as Fox that brings it on as well. The news media, I believe is suppose to report the news unbiased, but it is always a spin job with most networks; Fox tops the list.

As for Jesse Kelly; I watched his political ads and they did frighten me. I am not sure what has happened to our "civilization" that is creating this following of bully politics, but the ideas are getting out of balance and I fear for the future and those who want to control it. To me; Sarah Palin is the anti-christ. She is the wormwood that has oozed itself into the limelight and into the minds of those who are hungry for blood.

Christine

Well done Tom,

As you know, I'm a veteran of Arizona, had my share of death threats and a near deadly police beating there back in the 70's.

Would that Arizona were the only such ticking time bomb set by the extreme right. When the New Hampshire legislature convened earlier this month, their first decision was to mandate that people could carry guns into the State Capitol.

My deepest fears grow out of my experiences in Lebanon as the civil war was beginning there in 1975. I arrived in Beirut something like 15 minutes before it was fully on. In the years leading up to the civil war, people obtained guns at a frightening pace. As I recall, people then said that, on average, people owned two guns. They were everywhere and begging to be used in the incendiary environment. (The rhetoric of the Phalange and the Maronite leadership wasn't much more hateful or racist than what we're experiencing here.)

We may not have arrived at a civil war, but it's difficult not to draw links between the murders in Tucson and that assassination of Salman Taseer in Pakistan earlier this week.

With deep concern,

Joseph

Tom,

I really appreciate your providing this forum for discussion and collective emotional repair.

I'm a psychotherapist and I'm concerned about the gun imagery that is prominent in the language of Palin/Beck/Bachman/Engle, and other political reactionaries. To my way of thinking, this belies unconscious feelings of powerlessness being defended against by a conscious attempt to appear powerful.

Calls to "reload," to be "armed and dangerous," to use "2nd amendment remedies," etc. is a symptom of narcissistic fury based on unconscious fears of annihilation. I've noticed the buildup of this imagery since President Obama was elected. The literal displays of guns at rallies, the increase in the purchase of weapons and the use of language that alludes to physical violence by spokespeople on the political right should not be ignored.

A segment of largely white society seems frightened about their own survival and like cornered animals, they are banding together in a defensive but aggressive stance. What are they afraid of losing? Status; privilege; political supremacy? I'm only guessing. Their fears of being rendered powerless are concretized in their love of weaponry; guns protect them...guns are their defenders.

But their hidden fears are causing them to urge others towards violence. This is horrifying and all my inner alarm bells are going off. Jared Loughner is not the only man aching to demonstrate his "heroism" or "patriotism" through an act of gun violence. So maybe he's created a momentary antidote to his deep-seated feelings of interpersonal powerlessness, but he's terrorized the rest of us. He's gotten our attention in the most horrifying way. We need to respond ten-fold and assert our demand for safe and civil discourse.

First, people with microphones who use gun metaphors and open calls for violence should be resoundingly ostracized. We should clamor for their dismissal from whatever position gives them access to that microphone, whether it's radio, television, public speaking, newspapers, etc.

Second, we need to collectively protect and encourage those in government and the media who speak out for the democratic values of inclusion, generosity, and civility. They need our support and we need their perspective to generate a safer climate for the expression of sometimes aggravating differences of opinion. As SanityMan Jon Stewart said last night, let's not conflate "opponents" with "enemies."

And third, gun imagery is everywhere; in movies, television, billboards, etc. Gun lobbies hold too much sway in Congress and boys have few models of influencial yet non-violent men. Maybe we adults can give them more role-models of interpersonal effectiveness. We can listen to the feelings and needs of children with the respect of Atticus Finch, the father/lawyer in "To Kill a Mockingbird." We can refrain from shaming and blaming them, which causes them to develop a sense of self-loathing and unconscious fury which can boil over into violence later on in life; which finds a target in public figures, often eminently kind ones like Gaby Giffords or John Lennon.

Maybe we can prevent the next Jared Loughner by paying more collective attention to the mental health needs of five year old bullies in kindergarten or 10 year old loners in 4th grade. I don't know what signals Jared gave those around him when he was younger but maybe we can offer support to parents of troubled kids before those kids become trouble for all of us. Distressed families produce distressed kids who stress the rest of us later in life.

My deepest feelings are with the families of the fallen and with Gaby Giffords who is holding onto life at this moment.

~Madeline

Comments

[Kim]

I was born and raised in Arizona. I live in Tucson. Except for short periods of time spent in East Texas, California, and Kentucky, I have spent all of my 39 years in this state. While Tucson is the most left-leaning part of the state, even our liberal sanctuary of Pima County has been invaded by right-wing pushers of hatred and bigotry. Sheriff Dupnik may be taking heat for some of his comments this weekend, but he is 100% right.

I don't know Gabrielle Giffords. I voted her solely as a lesser-of when compared to her opponent in this last election. I'm much, much further to the left than she ever will be. This is the thing I find the most ridiculous; she and the Democratic Party are being called "socialist" by people who get play in the mainstream press. I have no doubt that this attack was politically motivated. The "lone gunman" nature does not mean it was not political. Nor does it mean it wasn't based on the rantings of the right. As has been stated, the mentally unstable are the most likely to be moved to this kind of violence by the violent rhetoric of the right.

A few years back, we had a series of home invasions here in Southern Arizona. Mexican-American families found their doors kicked in and three people burst in with guns. These people--families--were shot in their own homes. It turned out that the two men and one woman involved in these killings were linked to the "Minutemen" group. In fact, leaders of that group allowed the killers into their homes after the murders. The killers just "dropped by" to use the phone after slaughtering people in their own homes. So, we have a history of this in Southern Arizona. And I fear, we have a future of more of it to look forward to. We will also see more right-wing apologists crawling out of the woodwork to defend and dismiss it.

Kim
Tucson, AZ