There are two ways of meeting difficulties: you alter the difficulties, or you alter yourself to meet them.
Phyllis Bottome
Remembering the Murder Victims of the Tuscon Massacre
Christina Taylor Green, beautiful gift from God, RIP
Speaker Boehner's Speech Last Week After the Tuscon Tragedy
A Brief Critique of President Obama's Speech at the Tuscon Memorial
I have just watched the memorial service and am not referencing any prepared text, but I did want to give my own take, without referencing other sources. First, what came across as very jarring was the fact that the crowd cheered former Arizona Governor/current DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano and, on several occasions, President Obama. There should have been more decorum during the entire service, and no one seemed to address the incongruence of such behavior. Second, Barack Obama did not come across as emotionally vested; this has been a consistent problem, because he comes across as too abstract and long-winded, without passion. He could have used some of Speaker John Boehner's emotional response (see above).
Just to give an example: when speaking of Christina Taylor Green, born on 9/11, he could have noted the ironic nature of the tragedy and then reflected on how he had young daughters that age; I'm not saying he should cry on cue like a method actor (which could probably come across as contrived and manipulative)--but I think he would have been more effective with a pregnant pause, some modulation of tone or emphasis to let the audience know he gets it on a personal level.
Before proceeding, let me say that I don't think President Obama has shown good leadership in the aftermath of the massacre. To be more specific, remember how the Congress stood together, defiantly and unified, after 9/11 on the steps of the Capitol? I think Obama could and should have intervened early after the massacre to head off the partisan sniping and finger-pointing; Bush proactively and preemptively advised Americans against targeting innocent Muslim Americans after the 9/11 atrocities. Once again, Obama failed to put into action his campaign rhetoric of post-partisan politics.
I kept waiting for Obama to say what I think is obvious (but then no one on the Fox News panel picked up on it): we are not going to let the actions of a mentally unstable mass murderer change whom we are as a people--and that includes full, vigorous debate. I don't like the tone of the back and forth, but that's politics and it comes with free speech. What is un-American is when one side of the debate (i.e., the progressives) seeks to exploit a tragedy for political purposes, to seek authority to silence its opponents. I know the record shows that politics have always been contentious. The idea that conservative political discourse "causes" criminal acts is nonsense; we conservatives always believe that an individual must take responsibility for his or her own actions.
Quite frankly, I think Obama is simply being judgmental in a different, more measured manner. I actually thought during the speech--when he started talking about an America needing to measure up to this concept of a "better America", this was basically a warmed-over version of 2009's international apology tour. The America where a Congressional intern all but stopped the bleeding of Congresswoman Giffords and others brought down the mass murderer before he could reload his weapon in order to kill other people is the real America. If you go back through my posts, you'll never see me apologize on behalf of America; instead, I will say America deserves better than, say, the behavior of a certain politician. Does that mean the American government doesn't made policy errors? Of course not. But I'm personally convinced that the dialectic of politically divergent views serves as a check and balance against groupthink as a nation and hence political error, such as last year's disastrous health and financial reforms.
Sarah Palin: "Blood Libel"? Thumbs DOWN!
Any faithful reader of this blog knows that I do not support Sarah Palin. She will never be President; you can take it to the bank: not because I said so, but because people have largely made up their mind about her already. She has considerable charisma, spunk, and personal appeal. One of the things that I was initially impressed with was she seemed unflappable under some of the worst personal attacks I've ever seen after McCain announced her selection. But then I started seeing some troubling signs: how Troopergate involved a thinly veiled attempt to go after the job of her despised former brother-in-law, a state trooper. There were the putdowns she gave other gubernatorial candidates in 2006, the pushback against McCain campaign staffers, the refusal to accommodate the VP Debate moderator, going after David Letterman following a bad taste joke, the alleged conspiracy over the dozens of ethics violations filed against her, etc.
The occasional pushback is to be expected and perhaps even admired. But the bottom line is that if you hope to be President, you have to be President of all the people, including the 45%-plus whom voted against you. It's very easy to be against something; the harder step is being constructive. We don't need a high-maintenance President; we don't need the second coming of Nixon with an enemies list.
So when leftists tried to go after Palin's strategy of targeting certain 2010 races using a shooting target metaphor in the aftermath of the Tuscon massacre, I didn't think she would actually try to dignify the outrageous smear. If she decided to respond, it wasn't necessary to go beyond the fact that the shooting target metaphor has been used by both political parties (e.g., Joe Manchin (D-WV)), and the shooter, and the shooter alone, is responsible for his own actions. But Palin decided to go with an 8-minute polarizing message the day of a memorial service:
Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own, especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence that they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible."Blood libel" is used in the context, say, of the ancient Romans whom claimed that the Christian rite of communion was a form of cannibalism or the canard that Jews made matzos using human blood. The use of the term is offensive--Jews, who have repeatedly been subjected to persecution over the centuries, understandably do not appreciate terms like "Holocaust" and "blood libel" being used in a superficial, incomparable manner.
I would point out a few things to Ms. Palin. First, I'm not aware of any journalists whom alleged any link between Ms. Palin and/or the Tea Party movement and Jared Loughner. I know the Pima County Sheriff made some provocative, unprofessional, unsolicited comments, pointed at media conservatives. There may have been some speculations by the progressive netroots or commentators, but all I heard was a bunch of weak accusations based on little, if any facts, and we knew within 24 hours that Loughner had no ties whatsoever to any conservative group. The press was able to do its due diligence and quickly contradicted any speculations out there. There was no need for conservative pundits or speculators to make a case; the very press Palin condemns actually made her case for her. You can't let the progressives pull your chain.
And An Abomination: the Westboro Baptist Church
The Westboro Baptist Church, led by pastor Fred Phelps, has been mentioned on several of my posts. WBC believes that the nation's "sin" of tolerating homosexuality is being punished by God through the acts of terrorists and mass murderers against American military men or other civilians. Albert Snyder sued WBC for picketing his military son's funeral. The case has gone through appeals, and the case was heard last October in the Supreme Court. There are certain recognized exceptions to the First Amendment (being argued by Phelps): for example, if you are a defendant, you don't have the right to interrupt a judge or show him contempt; you don't have a right to incite a riot, e.g., falsely allege there's a fire in a crowded theater and cause a public panic; you don't have the right to smear or libel the reputation of another person.
It's fairly clear to me you don't have to go through Justice Elena Kagan's worries about a slippery slope against the First Amendment. I think at special events (e.g., inaugurations, graduations, weddings, religious milestones or funerals), you have a right of decorum. Moreover, it's unjust to harass an individual whom is not in a policy-making role. Phelps has several mechanisms to promote his views without infringing on another person's right to be left alone.
Whatever political differences I've had with the late Mrs. Edwards, WBC's picketing of her funeral and praising her death last month through cancer are not only uncivil but constitute a morally perverse conceptualization of Christianity.
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| Westboro Baptists at Last Month's Funeral of Elizabeth Edwards Photo Courtesy of Keane/Reuters |
The Westboro Baptist Church threatened to picket the public funeral of 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green, one of accused shooter Jared Loughner's murder victims (see above): Fred Phelps, the head pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church, has announced that God "appointed" the Tucson shooter to "avenge himself on this evil nation." (PS. Why are they targeting Christina Green in particular? She is Roman Catholic. I mentioned in an earlier post the church's virulent anti-Catholicism.)
THANK GOD FOR THE SHOOTER -- 6 DEAD!Last Tuesday the Arizona legislature passed emergency legislation to set a buffer zone on picketing at funerals:
God appointed this rod for your sins! God sent the shooter! This hateful nation unleashed violent veterans on the servants of God at WBC--hoping to silence our kind warning to obey God and flee the wrath to come.
God sent the shooter to shoot you! And He's sitting in Heaven laughing at you!"
WBC prays for your destruction--more shooters, more dead carcasses piling up, young, old, leader and commoner--all.
Latest word: WBC has decided to barter their picketing rights at tomorrow's Christina Green funeral and Friday's (Catholic) Federal District Judge John Roll funeral in exchange for interview time in Arizona and Canada. Nothing like good old extortion from members of a pseudo-Christian church...
Political Humor
Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger starts a speaking tour later this month. Tickets are selling for between $270 and $427. Imagine how much they would charge is he could actually speak. - Jimmy Kimmel
[That's only when they bill him out as the movie star of 'The Terminator'. When they bill him out as the Governator, they found they have to pay audience members $8/hour.]
A thousand doves dropped dead out of the sky in Venice. That leaves only about 50 million more. - David Letterman
[It seems as though the Pope's latest peace initiative for the Middle East just got shot down.]
Musical Interlude: One-Hit Wonders/Instrumentals
Wild Cherry, "Play That Funky Music"
