One of the most interesting phenomena to watch as a political observer in this country is the vacillating narratives that occur when any tragic and unforeseen event happens.
After the
initial shocking event, you have the main facts that come out, then the right
or the left attempts to define the event in terms that are most beneficial to
their causes. This happens with movies, (everyone was trying to explain 300 and
Avatar as statements about the war in Iraq), sporting events (New Orleans
Saints win Superbowl and thus the Gulf is now fine) and yes, tragedies like the
shooting of Congresswoman Giffords in Arizona last weekend.
As more
facts come out, sometimes the politics are put aside and the event is viewed as
an isolated occurrence. This should not be one of those times. Jared Loughner
is a murderer spurred on by right wing rhetoric over the last three years. Any
suggestions otherwise are simply paving the way for the next tragedy.
Last
Saturday Loughner, an emotionally disturbed 22-year-old opened fire on a
community event sponsored by Giffords in Tuscon, Arizona. He shot 19 people,
killed 6 and opened up a wound that has been festering in America since the
2008 election. Various web postings by Loughner showed that he thought the
government was evil, was engaging in mind control techniques and that he was
fiercely against illegal immigration.
While
there are questions about whether or not he was liberal or conservative, his
political leanings, nor his mental illness should not diminish the fact that
this was a clearly political act.
At first,
the left wing pundits went to town on this issue. Blaming the harsh rhetoric of
conservatives like Sarah Palin who promoted a poster on her website with
Giffords on crosshairs as a “targeted” Democrat for her votes on health care
and immigration. Predictably the right struck back, claiming that none of their
rhetoric should be held responsible for violence and playing the “we’re all
victims here” game.
Within 48
hours, public discourse seems to have settled on a narrative that Loughner was
a crazy guy, and that while civility is important we can’t place too much
weight on his politics. By the end of the week this will be a mental illness
story which is about the worst thing that could happen.
Loughner
is crazy but he was acting on his political beliefs in a way that has been
fostered by the political right of this country since Obama got elected in
2008. When the dust settles in a week they’ll be right back to calling for armed
revolution, “reloading” and “taking their country back” whenever it suits the
political needs of Republicans and their Tea Party surrogates and they’ll deny
any responsibility when the next tragedy happens.
A
colleague of mine put it perfectly: This is about the language of legitimacy.
It is one thing to say that Obama and Democrats are wrong on the issues, but
since 2008 top Republican leaders and candidates have told their supporters
that just about everything that Obama has done (including his election) is
illegitimate.
He’s not
a citizen, he wasn’t really elected president, his health care plan is
unconstitutional, he’s attempting to take over the country and the list goes on
and on. When a political leader is just wrong, you fight within the law to stop
them, but when a political leader is portrayed as illegitimate, then you are
within your rights to do anything in your power to topple them. Why not? They
aren’t there legally to begin with.
This
right wing narrative is not being pointed out and it is now and in the future
going to open the door to even more violence against the left and the
presidency of Barack Obama. There is no “both sides” to this argument,
you didn’t see liberals calling for armed revolution against George Bush, or death
threats against Republican congressmen who tried to privatize Social Security.
I, like
all Americans, am saddened by the tragedy of the Tucson shooting and hope that
Loughner is brought to justice. However if we don’t want to see this happen
again it is time to finally call out the Republican leadership for their tacit
promotion of this kind of violence.
Eric
Cantor, Sarah Palin, John Boehner and the rest will not stop using references
to revolution and illegitimacy as long as they think it will get them votes.
Nevertheless if the public starts to put blood on their hands maybe they’ll
think twice the next time they pick up a microphone and talk revolution.
Jason
Johnson is an associate professor of political science and communications at
Hiram College in Ohio, where he teaches courses in campaigns and elections, pop
culture and the politics of sports.
