CRS
Chandler, Arizona, United States

There's an old saying. If you don't want someone to join a crowd, you ask them, "If everyone were jumping off of a cliff, would you?" Well, I have. So my answer would be "Yes". True story.
Profile continued . . .

ARCHIVES!
A Word About Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford's Attempted Assassination

Sunday, January 09, 2011

this entry brought to you by kanye west, "runaway"


Let's talk about free speech for a moment.

So, hypothetically, let's say there's a comedian, and his big closer is this bit about clubbing some asshole and shoving the club up that guy's butt. Let's say for argument's sake that this is a really funny joke, and that it kills every time. Some people might say the joke is poor taste, but it's comedy. It's coming from a comedian. A comedian has no real place of power, he's just a guy on stage entertaining people, and society accepts it as entertainment, even if the joke, objectively, could be described as in poor taste. There are lots of really, really funny jokes that are in poor taste that still do no harm to anyone.

Now let's say you know a cop that tells that exact same joke about beating some asshole up with a club and then shoving said club up their ass. This is in considerably poorer taste, because it's not coming from a comedian, it's coming from a cop. Cops have a position of power, and are seen as an authority, and when a person with a position of authority talks about violence against somebody, it takes on a completely different connotation. But let's say for the sake of argument that the guy still delivers it really well and you think it's really funny the way he tells it. No real harm done, right?

Now let's say he tells this joke every single time you see him. Maybe it's not so funny anymore.

Now let's say he says it every single day on television. Is it still funny at all?

Now let's say every single cop you know says it. On TV.

Now let's say every single day on TV there are networks upon networks where cops are, every single day, saying it on TV, and that there is a channel where everybody on that channel, cops or otherwise, says it. Some of them are old men with respectable credentials. Some of them are pretty young ladies. And they all say the joke every day. And lets say that even the channels that don't necessarily promote the joke, still allow those same cops to say it on their channel without really saying "Uhm, that's kind of in poor taste." And let's say that there are channels where people do comment on whether the joke is in poor taste or not, but they are then immediately attacked for not being objective enough, or too left leaning.

Now let's say every single time there's any sort of public gathering of any sort, cops show up and, with a wry grin, start twirling their batons around menacingly, making thrusting gestures with them, and then say how, well, while they would never, ever actually use the baton to shove up your asshole after beating you down, if the world would come to it, they would do it in a heart beat to save their family, regardless of whether that's the argument being made against them or not.

Would anybody be surprised if lunatics started taking the law into their own hands and beating someone to a pulp and shoving a baton up their assholes? If we lived in a society where there was an echo chamber of this very threat, all from people in positions of power, even if it was always excused as being proverbial, would anybody be surprised if somebody took it as literal?

At every single point in this hypothetical scenario, there's never been a time where freedom of speech isn't being exercised. Hypothetically, this could happen. And while no one would want to take someone's freedom of speech away, it cannot be argued that a person in a position of power should just go around blithely foaming at the mouth about what a good idea violent acts are, even if they're supposed to be proverbial, or even if they're supposed to be metaphors, or jokes.

When people of power start to talk, even if a lot of us think they're full of shit, there are people that listen. Because they are figures of power. It's instilled in us from childhood. If a child was being picked on by someone at school and they came home and their dad said "Beat the shit out of that kid, son", and then every single adult male that child met said the exact same thing, that kid would end up in a fight. Even if every woman they met said "No, maybe you shouldn't do that, son," it could not be a surprise when it happens.

I'm not saying that any Republican that went on and on about "Second amendment remedies" is responsible for this insane person trying to kill Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords on Saturday and otherwise going on a shooting spree and killing half a dozen people. I'm not saying that Glenn Beck, or any fringe AM right-wing personality is responsible for constantly saying that the Demmycrats are supporting Obama's socialist agenda, and that they're coming for you, and that we all need to rise up. I'm not saying that Fox News, which gives some of these people jobs, is responsible. Jared Lee Loughner, the man arrested for this horrible, horrible crime, is an insane person, and if he acted alone, then he is solely responsible. If he acted with a partner, well, we'll see how deep it goes. But no one is responsible for the actions of this horrible person except this horrible person.

But when we live in a society where this has become the norm, where the fringe's insane thoughts have become the central talking point of American political culture, how do you expect this to not happen? If you pollute the water, how can you not expect someone to get sick? If a person of power is saying the same thing over and over and over again... How can someone not listen?

I suspect that these people will stop with their rhetoric of violent upheaval for now-- I mean, they can't be that awful, can they? To continue talking about "Second Amendment remedies" even after this? But why did it take thirteen wounded and six dead, including a Congresswoman, a Judge, and a nine year old girl, for them to realize that this climate of conversation can't go on forever, and should never have been allowed to get to this point in the first place?




If there is a God, then may He bless Mrs. Gabrielle Giffords, democratically elected Congresswoman from Arizona's 8th district, along with the other survivors who are in critical condition. I do not believe in a God, so I merely hope against all hope that we have the science, the technology, and the dedication to keep them alive, and that she gets better, because goddammit, she-- we-- cannot let them win.

And to whatever's left of Arizona's darkening soul, may Lord have mercy upon it. Some of us have to live here.
-----



with love from CRS @ 7:22 AM 

0 Comments:

Post a Comment