Monday, January 10, 2011

America to demArizona assassination: the wounded nation

The attack shocked the United States of Tucson. The people mourn, Democrats and Republicans debate the poisonous culture of debate in the country. Likely to change little: The boundaries of political passion and extremist violence dissolve. As a button, America's well-oiled coping and displacement machine in motion: President Barack Obama speaks of an "unspeakable tragedy," orders mourning flags and called on the nation, on Monday together in case of a moment of silence "in prayer or meditation".

He wants to sit on the lawn of the White House statement. The Congress tightened security measures and postponed the scheduled debate on the destruction of health reform. "Our tasks in the service of our fellow citizens are risky," whispered the Republican John Boehner, who only just sworn Speaker of the House.

The TV cable stations send their correspondents to the scene to Tucson, place on funeral music and glorify victims saints and saviors to heroes. At the same time they are looking into the past of the alleged shooters to oddities. Jared Lee Loughner was apparently driven by blind hatred of the government - as so many terrorists in America's history.

On Saturday Loughner was the U.S. Congressman Gabrielle Giffords at an event in Tucson, Arizona, shot through the head injured. Then the 22-year-old opened fire on the crowd and killed six people, including a child and a judge. Who is to blame for the shooting? The judiciary has already filed charges against him, file number 11-0035M.

Loughner had planned the act cold, said FBI Director Robert Mueller, who is personally rushed to Arizona. At the same time is a debate about who also take the blame for the shooting. Was it the radicalized political discourse? Or the tirades of the Tea Party? Or the lax gun laws? In other words, everything goes according to plan.

Always the same ritual is played out when the U.S. suffered through a national trauma. Only dominate shock, anger and grief. Then follow rallying and Sühneschwüre. We know from the massacre at Fort Hood (2009), the massacre at Columbine High School (1999), the Oklahoma City bombing (1995) - or the ultimate trauma of America's 11th September 2001.

Even now the United States are again at a crossroads. Is Tucson as columnist Matt Bai in The New York Times writes that the end of a political and societal tragedy. "Or rather, the beginning of a fearsome new one?" How does the president? This question arose for America back in the sixties, when the Vietnam and civil rights protests in the murders of the Kennedy brothers and Martin Luther King led.

She set three decades later, when the then internal conflicts ended in the attacks in Oklahoma City and Atlanta. And it is also now that new culture wars rage - to health care reform, taxes, immigration and the influence of the powerful in Washington. As in past crises, the eyes are on the U.S.

president. From him it depends on whether and how the country overcomes his injury. Bill Clinton took to Oklahoma City's role as father of the nation - simple, concise, modestly: "Let us not overcome of evil," he quoted the New Testament, "but we overcome evil with good." George W. Bush united the country in the days after 9 / 11, but it contributed to the continuous war against terror, struggling with the consequences of the U.S.

to date have. And Barack Obama? A visit scheduled for Monday in New York, he turned down already. His speech writers have made to work. They are calling for calm, appealing to the commonality of the nation and avoid harsh overtones. Whether the other players will follow his example, is questionable.

This can guess at least the initial reactions. Slow appeasement, support Michael Steele, the still-chairman of the U.S. Republican, was "shocked and appalled". He was the one who had asked in 2009 to bring Democrats and Nancy Pelosi in the line of fire "which was circulated by the media excited.

Tea Party icon Sarah Palin put out a quick map of the United States from its website, the cross-hairs was shown on the constituencies from 17 U.S. Democrats, including higher than that of Giffords. Nonetheless, Palin's spokeswoman Rebecca Mansour refused over the weekend to recognize the threat of such attacks: It was "nothing irresponsible in our image".

John McCain, the Arizona in the U.S. Senate, represents spread a wordy statement in which he denounced the shooting as an "atrocity", "the hearts broken many" have "Whoever did this, whatever his motive, he is a disgrace to Arizona. " It was McCain who had always defended Palin's harsh rhetoric offensive.

The Tea Party quickly combing their membership lists in Tucson and then announced relieved that the alleged perpetrator does not find it. Joint responsibility therefore categorically rejected their representatives. Appeasement slow, walls, - America's radicals take cover. The discussion about the consequences of massive verbal attacks on political opponents is still in full swing.

The rude manners of the past months while long maintained by both sides, Republicans and Democrats. Once again, the question arises: Where does political passion? Where dangerous extremism begin? The boundaries, it seems, is becoming increasingly blurred. Neither side seems willing, despite the deaths of Arizona to reach out to the enemy.

make conservatives Passion responsible for the assassination, is a "lie" to the left and not even "a legitimate topic of conversation," railed the right blogger Erick Erickson. This is contradicted by the National Jewish Democratic Council, the Association of Jewish Democrats, the Giffords heard: "Many have contributed to the poisoning of our political debate and the atmosphere in which this act occurred." "Weapons do not kill people," While this raging controversy, should the debate on the lax U.S.

gun laws hardly pick up momentum. Although called New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg the attack "a terrible reminder of the gun violence in America." Raul Grijalva, Democrat, a Congress colleague Giffords' from Arizona told to "check" the law. But that end the protests again. "Weapons do not kill people," repeated Tea Party Senator Rand Paul on Fox News, the mantra of all weapons enthusiasts.

"It is the individual who killed these people." It makes no, that the Glock pistol, with the Loughner, according to investigators detail shot around to those semi-automatic weapons is one that were prohibited - before the U.S. Congress in 2004 she under pressure from the lobby group National Rifle Association (NRA) again allowed.

Loughner she bought quite legally in the store, including a magazine with up to 32 cartridges. The NRA, which had celebrated the new, relaxed gun laws of Arizona in April 2010 as a "huge victory", assured the victims of Tucson "Our thoughts and prayers." In the same breath, they announced on Sunday, proudly, "that our popular handbook is now available free of charge" is: "Learn how you build in your club, your school or in your workplace shooting your own league." America's well-oiled machinery of coping and displacement is in full swing.

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