The return...

Well, it's been awhile since I've been here it seems.  *cough* There's quite a bit of cleaning to do apparently *wipes away the cobwebs around the blog, sending dust flying*  Although it hasn't been as long as I thought.  But apparently the holidays makes 2 months seem really really long.  The only thing that makes me remotely depressed is thinking about where to start with my commentary on life in the new year.  Things have been good and bad all at once it seems.  Well, we'll do what I do when someone says I have good news and bad news.  I always take the bad news first, that way the good news seems better/makes the bad news not seem so bad.  I think.

A couple of days ago a seriously disturbed young man opened fire with a handgun at a grocery store in Arizona, seriously injuring and killing some people.  Among those seriously injured was Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-Arizona) and others on her congressional staff.  Among those killed was 9 year old Christina Taylor Green.

Now a lot of things have been said regarding this whole issue, among them that the young man responsible (and I believe he is and should be held responsible.) is evil.  I think that is a poor choice of words.  I would stay disturbed more correctly illustrates why he did what he did.  And I think that also shines the light into an issue that we have been ignoring as the political rhetoric and debate gets slightly out of hand around here.

Whether we like it or not, there will always be people in power who are in the spotlight.  Whether these people are movie stars, rock stars, politicians, or what have you.  The fact of the matter is that these people hold enormous influence by virtue of their publicity and the reach of that publicity.  With the advent of twitter, skype, facebook, and 24 hour news, anything that is said, even if it is off the cuff or supposed to be private, is nearly instantaneously transmitted around the world for all to read.  This fact holds in itself immense power, whether those subjected to it want to see it that way or not.  Blessings and curses all around.

Now, whether anyone wants to admit fault for the whole extreme rhetoric thing is not my point.  Just as the young man should be held accountable for his actions in the shooting, so too should politicians and others in the spotlight be held accountable (and politicians even to a higher standard because they are representatives in public office) for what they say.  Because while words are powerful (again whether you want to admit that or not) a person in the public forum saying things or expressing their opinions have to realize that with the exposure given to those words and ideas it is possible that those ideas could find their way to the ears of those who might take them out of context and such things.  So while the criminals should be held accountable for the crimes that they commit, looking for the contributing factors as to why they committed such crimes could help us to keep such things from happening in the future.

Now, along with personal responsibility, I could mention something about the recent comments regarding a Blood Libel by a person who holds considerable sway in the conservative political arena here in the US.  Now, I think it shows enormous lack of forethought and horrible judgement to use such a phrase when talking about taking personal responsibility for the things that we say and do.  A blood liable is defined as (an actual definition not touched by these comments was not readily available, illustrating the instantaneous-ness of the transmission of information via the internet) an anti-Semitic lie regarding the killing of christian children for the purposes of using their blood for their religious rituals.  (It was the best "definition" I could find, if I'm incorrect please let me know and I'll correct it immediately.)   After looking up the actual definition of the term, I think that this particular person should exercise a great deal more forethought before she lets loose her comments, thoughts, and opinions into the public arena.

In other news, a massive fish kill and bird kill in Arkansas happened in recent weeks.  (I know I'm a little behind in the news, we'll get there in a minute).  But what you don't know is that come Christian leaders are claiming that the deaths of the wildlife are directly related to the repeal of the "Don't Ask Don't Tell".  Cindy Jacobs appears on a YouTube video claiming that the deaths are directly related to the repeal of "DADT" because the nation is going against scripture and going against God.  You can see the video here.  (I'm not posing that vitriol on my blog). And yes, I will take responsibly for referring to her video as vitriol.  =P

Now, despite her appeal about biblical principles, which I could.  But it would take a lot of time and such things.  Anyway, suffice it to say that need I remind people that this is not an exclusively Christian nation.  Our founding fathers created a nation with a freedom of religion.  Which means that our nation is home to thousands if not millions of different faiths, all of which, according to the Constitution, have a place here.  To claim anything else, at least politically, would be false and not at all what was supposed to be.  Ergo, I believe that just like we ask juries on criminal trials to set aside personal, religious, and other beliefs, so too should we ask our politicians to do the same and cast votes based on the majority opinion of their constituents.

Additionally, Arizona passed emergency legislation prohibiting the protesting of *that group*, at the funerals of those who died in the aforementioned shooting.  To which I say, about time.  I think it's interesting that nobody made a huge stink about *that group* when they were protesting at the funerals of AIDS victims or the funeral of dead soldiers.  The claim was that members of *that group* have the right of freedom of speech and freedom of religion.  But, again I ask, when do the rights of the grieving trump the right for religious or political posturing?  Apparently at the funeral of a murdered 9 year old.  I just think it is sad that it took the death of a child for people to realize the horror of what *that group* does, despite the fact that the gay community has been dealing with their awfulness for years.

So, on a lighter note, a friend of mine inspired me to set some New Years Resolutions (NYRs) and stick to them.  I have 4 total, which while not a lot are all things that needed to be dealt with.  1.  Personal (but completed), 2 - Stop actively looking for a boyfriend.  I figure this is less negative than it needs to be in that I think of it not as a stopping of looking but a redirection of my energies.  3 - Stop doing stupid stuff (and yes this is a euphemism, and anyone who knows me knows what it means) and I've been relatively successful regarding it, but it's only day 12 of 365.  Let's see how it unfolds.  4 - Blog more.  I figure I've got Wednesdays off, I can spend them doing something productive and creative, which is researching some news stories and indulging in a little journalistic foray. 

Needless to say, here's to a new year and may it be better than the last.  In all aspects.  As always, I welcome comments and such things provided they are in the spirit of ongoing discourse about issues.