Garcia Media Life

Christina Green, the 9-year old, 3rd grader killed in the Arizona shootings

It is deeply distressing that as a Congresswoman continues to fight for her life and we prepare to formally mourn the murders of six people including a grandmother, a Federal judge and a 9-year-old girl, that the political vitriol seems to be increasing instead of calming.

From one end of the political spectrum, connections are made to the acts of an obviously unstable individual, for whom no political motivation has surfaced. From the other end, attempts have been made to tie the suspect ideologically to their political arch-enemies; where even a national moment of silence earlier this week was condemned as an opportunistic attempt to capitalize on a national tragedy.

The National Review states in an editorial that “all of us have an obligation to speak with truth and charity in making our political arguments not because hateful talk will drive the mentally ill to criminal acts but because civility is a good in its own right.”

That is a wise approach at a time like this. What we need is statesmanship, reason, calm and a sober analysis of why our society is so polarized that not even the tragic deaths of six people and the unimaginable suffering of the victims who have survived, can put a momentary stop to our divisive and bitter political discourse.

Let’s do this for Christina Green, the beautiful 9-year old girl with budding political ambitions that put her sadly in the wrong place at the wrong time. Our current state of politics is not the world she would have wished to inhabit.

We need a truce.