So much for these words from Barack Obama last night at Tucson’s memorial service for those who died and were wounded in the shootings by Jared Lee Loughner. This poster is plastered along a San Francisco street, apparently appearing last night (maybe more by now). The following is a snippet from Barack Obama’s speech at the Tucson memorial, where he suggested that we should make certain our speech is healing – not wounding in this time of polarization.
But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized – at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do – it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds…
For the truth is that none of us can know exactly what triggered this vicious attack. None of us can know with any certainty what might have stopped those shots from being fired, or what thoughts lurked in the inner recesses of a violent man’s mind…
But what we can’t do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on one another. As we discuss these issues, let each of us do so with a good dose of humility. Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let us use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together. ~ Barack Obama
Who in San Francisco would object to an all-America success story: a mother of five, grandmother of 1, wife to a real dude who stands by her in an upright position as the crap comes flying her way, who hunts elk and moose with a deadly aim with her father, rides a motorcycle and a snow mobile, small government, wants to drill for oil in our country to pave the way for energy independence, stands firm for the sanctity of life and refused to give up her unborn son after a Downs Syndrome diagnosis. Who served as the mayor of her Alaska hometown, Wasilla and served as Governor of that beautiful state. Who would want to hurt a woman like that, and why in San Francisco?