The University, by the way, isn’t claiming that our un-civil discourse caused the shooting.
(T)he shootings created a space for people to focus on civility, and the Institute is building on that positive outcome of a tragic event.
Showing posts with label Tucson shootings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tucson shootings. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
Civility instead of bullets
The University of Arizona has responded to the Tucson shooting by launching a high-profile National Institute for Civil Discourse, with former presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush as honorary chairs. At first the idea of responding to bullets with an institute sounds a tad crazy, but I suspect that this kind of response is the only way to create lasting change.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
JFK, Tucson & fear
In the wake of the Tucson shootings and liberal concerns about political rhetoric, our honorable opposition on the right has taken to yelling, “FOUL!” Right-wing commentators claim that progressives’ concerns about rhetoric aren’t real concerns; they’re politics. This scream has been so powerful it has sucked the air out of the post-Tucson debate.
The problem is that conservatives are missing the point. Their protest is based on a false premise, at least it’s false if I’m the liberal under discussion. My alarm about the words, images and narratives of Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Tea Party leaders is not a ploy to win elections or to triumph in policy debates. My concern comes from my own raw fear.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Days 184 - 222: The Log
I haven’t fallen off the edge of the Earth, although it might look like it. I’ve been contemplating and working since I posted that I was Taking Time To Think about Tucson. Thus, my time has been made up of one part making money on unrelated assignments and one part mediating on the shooting and its aftermath.
I admit to being rather flummoxed by Tucson, especially by the resulting debate about the responsibility pundits and politicians and their rhetoric may or may not bear for the violence. I’ve already written one complete post, which still doesn’t seem quite right, and thus, hasn’t been published. Everything I produce feels decidedly, well, not good, and I don’t mean the quality of the writing. The impact of saying what I want to say would probably be most decidedly un-good, so I’m staying silent, at least for the moment.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Taking time to think
My immediate reaction to the Tucson shootings was to post the instant I heard, except that the only thing I wanted to do was to howl with fury and point fingers. I was spitting fire, and I could think of no way to write even a single sentence without stepping far, far off the goodness path. So, I posted nothing. And waited for wisdom.
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