[Calgary Herald, Canada]

 

 

News, Switzerland

The Day Hope Was Shot, in America and Europe

 

"When in the end such dramatic events serve only to provide ammunition for political battles rather than bringing about political dialogue and an understanding that it’s not about being right but finding the right way - together, then we must really assume that any hope of healing the American political system is shot."

 

By Patrick Etschmayer

                                        

 

Translated By Stephanie Martin

 

January 10, 2011

 

Switzerland - News - Original Article (German)

For many who knew her, Christina Greene was a little vessel of hope. The girl, a little over 9 years old, was already interested in politics, was a good, dedicated student and a volunteer charity worker. An exceptional child, in other words. Her birthday, September 11, 2001, made her even more precious. 

 

She was one of those children who were born on the day the World Trade Center fell, and appeared in a book entitled Faces of Hope, along with 49 other children born around the world on that day, as faces that would give us hope for the future. She seemed to want to fulfill those hopes until one of the bullets from Jared Lee Loughners pistol hit her in the chest, killing her along with five other people. She died because, as a child, she wanted to experience democracy at a small political event.

 

It’s possible that Gabrielle Giffords, the Democratic Congresswoman who was the target of the attack, may survive despite being shot in the head, even if one might wonder to what extent the politician will regain her capacities. 

Posted by WORLDMEETS.US

 

In the meantime, speculation circulates about the attacker. The 22-year-old Loughner was an outsider and loner, who already attracted attention during his school years because of his unusual views and who was described in a variety of ways: descriptions range from left-wing extremist and liberal (which also means “leftist” in the US) to anarchist. He was kicked out of college for frequent disruptive behavior.

 

Favorite books he himself listed online cover a spectrum that is just as contradictory as the words used to describe him: starting with the Communist Manifesto to Mein Kampf, all the way to Plato's Republic and back to Animal Farm by Orwell, and The Wizard of Oz to Peter Pan.

 

It would be presumptuous to create a psychological profile from such details, but together with the ideas postulated by Loughner on his YouTube page, the image of a confused individual, convinced of his own crystal-clear insights, emerges. And the less other people shared his views, the clearer it seemed to Loughner that he was justified in his hatred of the government and politicians.

 

 

SEE ALSO ON THIS:

Rheinische Post, Germany: America's 'Intellectual Instigators' of Hatred

Berliner Morgenpost: Mutual Respect: What U.S. Owes Itself, World

Polityka, Poland: America in Anger's Clutches

Salzburger Nachrichten, Austria: Massacre in Tucson: 'A Sad Day for U.S.

Guardian, U.K.: Arizona Shootings: Left, Right at Odds Over Effects of Toxic Politics

TLZ, Germany: America's Hate-Filled Rhetoric 'Unworthy of a Democratic Nation'

Telegraph, U.K.: Will Obama Stand Up to Left's Exploitation of National Tragedy?

Guardian, U.K.: Shooting of Giffords Highlights 'Man-Up' Culture in U.S. Politics

 

 

Nowhere, however, is there any mention of ties to the Tea Party and Sarah Palin, an assumption that was made all too quickly. Yes, Palin did have a distasteful image with congressional districts in the cross hairs on her Facebook page, which in some respects was just as paranoid as Loughner’s insane scribbling. Loughner, it seems, felt that he belonged nowhere. But this doesn't mean that he acted in a vacuum.    

Posted by WORLDMEETS.US

 

Political assassins have existed as long as politics, but it’s most likely that the readiness of potential perpetrators to commit violence is influenced by the daily rhetoric of political discourse. Paranoid thoughts are one thing. But when radio programs and so-called news channels disseminate similar thoughts and indirectly incite violence almost daily, then one or the other unstable person might feel confirmed in their thinking. Who needs psychotic voices in your head when they can be delivered right to your home by the mass media?

 

No, Loughner needed no inspiration for his ideas, but in a hate-filled political atmosphere, the step from verbal violence, which is uttered everywhere, to a concrete act, is considerably shorter. This should give pause to us all, but unfortunately that happens much too infrequently, and blame is distributed according to the political interests of commentators.

 

When in the end such dramatic events serve only to provide ammunition for political battles rather than bringing about political dialogue and an understanding that it’s not about being right but finding the right way - together, then we must really assume that any hope of healing the American political system has been shot. And anyone who observes how low the level of discourse in Europe - and Switzerland - sinks more and more frequently (and then remains there), can now also give up on the political culture here, at home, and send all those little vessels of hope on their way, with the message that even if they give their lives for democracy, those who poison the politics on the right and left wouldn't care one whit.     

 

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