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It should go without saying that 99 percent of Americans (probably more) find the shooting incident in Arizona to be a disgusting act of violence and a tragedy of epic proportions (among the victims, a 9-year-old girl gunned down in cold blood).
Unfortunately there appears to be a desire on the part of some on the left to politicize this dreadful tragedy. From the sheriff's statement essentially affirming one party as being good and the other obstructionist, to the mainstream press's willingness to label conservatives or tea party people as culpable for this act, to discussion on abridging the right to free speech with the imposition of the "fairness doctrine," the left is doing exactly what they shouldn't: further dividing the country.
When President Gerald Ford was shot at in the mid 1970s or when President Ronald Reagan was seriously wounded by a mentally unstable shooter, it would have been wrong to blame Democrats or left-leaning people for those acts of violence, which almost all people would condemn.
While it appears the shooter was neither a conservative or a tea party member, a delegitimization campaign is beginning and it would be morally and politically prudent for the administration to make it clear that all good Americans irrespective of political leanings are sickened by this incident. President Barack Obama's initial statement set the proper tone in addressing this tragedy.
Let us all take this moment to pray for the speedy recovery of Rep. Giffords and the other victims sitting in the hospital, and for peace and sympathy for the families of the victims whose lives were cut short by the act of a sick and deranged young man.
Et Gentin
Gainesville