Crisis,Opportunity,Finger Pointing and the death of Christina Taylor Green

I expected the rants, the rhetoric, the finger pointing, that's what we have become...

The horrible tragedy we, as a nation, witnessed yesterday in the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and 19 others at a community event at a Safeway in Tuscon Az. has become a lighting rod for those who turn sometimes unexplainable tragedies into a political springboard.

I refuse to read FB rants, and have deleted certain, "news sources" from my bookmarks because of their flagrant and self-serving agenda attachments to this tragic and sorrowful moment.

If we are to examine the root of this evil act, we need to take a look at the history of the assailant Jared Loughner's mental illness.

He was troubled enough to be rejected by the military, kicked out of Pima County Community College for irrational outbursts (not to return without a mental health clearance), and plastered his insane rants on You Tube and My Space...he exhibits similar behavior to Seung-Hui Cho who shot and killed 32 innocent people at Virginia Tech, or Theodore John "Ted" Kaczynski, the Unabomber who killed 3 people with bombs.

They publicly ranted, their families were aware of their illness, and they were signs of disturbed minds...however, because these men were over the age of 18, there was no responsibility (legally) on their parents and certainly little the law could do until they acted out.

Here is a link to a disturbing record of his actions at PCCC, by a fellow student...it was clear he was about to do something violent, and he slipped through the cracks...

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2011/01/jared-loughners-behavior-recor.html

These kind of sick individuals have no problem attaining, guns, or knives, swords, or the means to build bombs, and no amount of legislation will stop it.

This is not a clarion call for gun control (how do we stop mentally ill folks from owning guns if we refuse to legally acknowledge their condition)...you will not stop a Jared Loughner or a gang banger for that matter from getting a gun... you will however, stop me from being able to get one to protect myself from the aforementioned.

What we need to do is carefully examine the issues of mental illness...in the mid 80's we witnessed the closing of mental institutions all over the US, somewhat a fall out of the Mental Health Systems Act...we needed to review how we treated the mentally ill, and at the same time in a most unintended way, allowed a runaway train effect to happen.

One cannot tell exactly whose rights are protected, those who live a sane and just life, or those who clearly exhibit severe anti-reality/social behavior and have no mechanism with which to cope.

They need little or nothing to incite them to violence, whichever way the wind blows is a good enough excuse...ie: Charles Manson was incited to murder listening the to the Beatles song, Helter Skelter.

This is a scary slippery slope and one of great controversy, for it is clear that Jared Loughner was having an extremely difficult time coping with life in general. Is it more merciful to him or us to separate him from society before he acts out...and how do we determine if and when he will act out and who is to say he (or any one like him) ever will?

This is all food for thought and I’m cautiously hopeful we stay focused and calm and stop turning this into red versus blue as usual crap….

Rep. Giffords was a perfect example of working across the aisle...a supporter of both Conservative and Liberal issues, a self described Blue Dog Democrat.

Jared Loughner , in his twisted mind, felt a need to snuff out her light....and those near her.

He had no real focused political agenda, he was fascinated by Communism, he was a self described Atheist, and an Anti-Semite, he was a 911 Truther who hated George Bush, his leanings were akin to Neo Nazi, but basically it was all irrational and insane...why he targeted Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is beyond any of us....perhaps her being Jewish and a beautiful woman, stirred something in him, who knows and so far he isn’t talking while in custody.

Why 9 year old Christina Taylor Green , who among others at the event, had to die too makes no sense. Her courageous mother, in an interview this morning was clear to point out, we need to make a change in how we deal with the mentally insane.

Please don't rush to me with comments about depression, and anxiety...this isn't what I am talking about. I'm talking about full-blown mental illness, when a person cannot differentiate reality from fantasy.

While there is no doubt that Jared Loughner premeditated this massacre, his motives behind it were insane and irrational.

There was no reason for this and no explanation for it...and turning it into a political gain as in "an opportunity" ala the famous Rahm Emmanuel quote is self serving and diminishes the greater aspect of it all.

Finger pointing is better left aimed at your own mirror right now...

and maybe, if you are so inclined, press those hands together and say a prayer for all the victims of this sorrowful moment.

Politics has no place here, it is unwanted and unseemly.