I'm Sad

I had some other plans for a blog post today but my mind has been turned in a different direction after this shooting in Arizona. I don't really know what to say. I'm going to avoid rushing to judgment about the motive behind the shooting. It's easy to say that it was political because it happened at a political event and the main targets appeared to be public servants. We do not know for certain yet if in fact differing political opinions are the cause.

We're hearing a lot about the congresswoman and judge who were shot during the incident. It appears that they were the main targets of the shooter. I'd like to point out that there was also a 9 year old girl who was killed in the horrific event. If the shooting was political, why was she shot? 9 year old's can't vote. They have no say in politics.

Regardless of whether it is politically motivated or not, I wonder if this event will change how conservative political pundits speak their minds. I can't help but remember a certain internet post (I believe it was on Facebook) where Sarah Palin used images of crosshairs to represent "targets" for the Republican party in the most recent election. There are a lot of very unintelligent people in this country. I repeat, a lot. I'm not singling out any single political party here either. It goes both ways. I understand the point she was trying to make, but using crosshairs to make a point is not a good idea when the vast majority of Palin's constituents are very interested in weapons. Especially since conservatives tend to have lower education rates than democrats.

I don't know anything about the shooter besides that he is white and born in 1988. That is all that has been released at this time. Assuming that this shooting was politically motivated, I'm curious how the pundits will spin their descriptions of him. Will they call him a terrorist? If he were brown they most certainly would but will they considering he is white? I doubt it. For some reason white people never seem to be terrorists when they commit heinous acts. I am glad that the suspect was caught though. I don't like shooters that take their own lives because they are cowards. What's that old phrase? If you can't do the time, don't do the crime? I think that's it.