Yesterday’s senseless killings of six people – including a 9-year-old girl and a respected federal judge – shattered an otherwise normal weekend for me.
I learned about the shootings while I was stocking up on groceries. Nothing could be more routine. And I kept imagining the horrifying scenario in Tuscon unfolding right in front of me.
I started to get angry, then sad.
I’m not blind to the violence and misfortune happening around me on a regular basis. But this felt different. Whether an isolated act of a deranged individual or prompted by increasingly hostile rhetoric pouring from my cable channels and the Web, the shooting felt like a direct attack on our democracy.
That’s where the anger comes from.
The sadness comes from the stories of the victims, the survivors and their families and friends. My heart goes out to them. And my prayers are with those, including the believed target of the attack, well-liked Gabby Giffords (D-AZ), who are struggling to recover.
Besides justice, my hope is that this horror show at a local grocery in Tuscon will be the final straw, the event that shakes us loose from the status quo that’s allowed our society to tolerate rhetoric that skirts or outright crosses the line into bigotry, hate and uncontrolled rage.
I can dream, right?
Virtual Farmgirl 