A Shooting In DC
Shootings in DC are unfortunately, not than uncommon. They occur mostly in the sections beyond the center of the district away from the tourists. The shooting the day before yesterday at the Holocaust Museum was an exception.
Local news stations are still carrying this story as one of the lead stores. In this morning's news it was noted the museum wil reopen and the doors of the museum which had bullet holes in them were now replaced. Personally I believe these doors should have been left as they are, sealed against the elements of course but kept there as a reminder and a means to accentuate the message of the museum. The Holocaust Museum you see, is not a place one takes in to feel uplifted or to marvel, as other public places in DC are designed to.
And of the gunman, an 88 year old man who ought to have been enjoying what is left of his life, spoiling his grandchildren, grand nieces, nephews etc? What he did was beyond disgusting. In the same breath however, I would say he is a product of an increasing intolerant and polarized social-political environment, both right and left.
News programs all of them, are blatantly tailored to a selective audience and instead of letting in fresh air, simply reinforce and stoke preconceptions and intellectual rigidity. News and commentary, rather than thought provoking is more like modern day bear-baiting with ratings as the prize. Political blogs on both sides are even more self-serving and intellectually bereft.
I see this manifested on a personal level too. On my Facebook page, I have as a friend a woman I grew up with. An otherwise good person, but since the election of the current occupant of the WH, I see almost daily postings-rants about the President and the direction he is taking. I too did not vote for him, have grave reservations about the consequences of what has happened already and what is under consideration, and would like to see him 'one and done in 2012' but throwing intellectual tantrums is not constructive.
Think the zealots on both sides of the divide need a long 'time out' to take a deep intellectual breath and to 'get a life'. Otherwise one could find oneself like the gunman, a life devoid of everything else but ideology and hatred.
As the lyrics from a Beatle's song go, "Life goes on within you and without you."
Comments
The current WH occupant has not yet been in office for 6 months (that'll be next week) so I don't think he can be accused of not producing results. He's not done much as I see it to worsen the situation, but as I have just said, its not even been 6 months yet.
I will give him this. George Bush seems to be more intelligent that people have given him credit for (like Gary Trudeau of Doonesbury), but he does in comparison to the current WH occupant, fall very short in how the message is conveyed. Obama excludes confidence and almost seems to relish any opportunity to speak on his message, something I don't think I ever saw in Dubya.
And all may be relative. My stay in Japan started with Gerald Ford still in office and when I came back it was the Clintons. I missed the Reagan years and wonder if the tone, from the other side was a vociferous then as it is now.
Wonder if you've read Atlas Shrugged? The current WH occupant hasn't just waved the Executiive Wand and 'poof' we have what we have now. There has to be an environment, cultivated and nurtured for many years for this to happen. He is only one of many WH occupants who believe the those who they govern are incapable of thinking beyond their noses and implement program after program to socially engineer solutions. Change will not come until the people of this country understand that the government is the problem and the cause, not a remedy.