I have been on this site for a long time, but have never submitted a diary before. After today, I feel like I have to write something, even if noone reads it. Four people have died in four months due to right-wing extremism. Enough is enough. And the shooters themselves are not the only ones responsible.
I am Jewish. I am not very religious, nor am I really a believer in God, but culturally I identify very strongly with my Judaism. I spent many years growing up Jewish in the South, which often times was very difficult. I got into fights, I was ridiculed, I often suffered through the holiday season, and, as the son of a Rabbi, we often got late night calls claiming we 'killed Jesus' or 'were going to hell'. In high school, I often found myself as a lone defendant against an onslaught of self-righteous, self-important Christian zealots who fought tooth and nail for things like prayer in schools and religious teachings as part of the mainstream curriculum. My physics teacher had a Bible in her desk - how crazy is that? A teacher who specialized in a field the primary purpose of which is to explain once-unexplainable natural phenomena keeping a Bible in her desk?
Today, when I heard the news of the shooting (I will not lend any validity to that man's fruitless existence by writing his name) at the Holocaust Museum (close to where I am writing this from) I became enraged. With the Tiller shooting, the Pennsylvania shooting, the constant threats, it has all become too much to bear. Right-wing extremists are so upset at not having their filthy hands on the wheels of power that they will resort to violence in the most callous, cowardly fashion. When Republicans were in power, we felt powerless, we felt betrayed, we felt all the same things, but we never resorted to violence. Never! We knew that the political process would eventually mete out a serviceable outcome.
But these right-wing extremists don't think that way. They are inconsolable, as if their entire world is crumbling around them, and they are lashing out like caged animals. And much like animals, their actions have no forethought, no logic, no apparent understanding of or concern for consequences. Much like a terrorist. After all, can any of us identify with the inner thoughts of a person who could fly a plane into a skyscraper? Or blow up a government building? Or shoot a doctor in a hospital? Or kill a security guard at a museum?
And yet, they get away with it. Aside from everyday criminal charges, they are identified merely as standalone crazies acting on their own. And any attempts to classify this as nothing other than what it is - domestic terrorism - are met with shouts of rage and disbelief. The worst part of all is they have highly-rated, well-funded, mainstream news (I know) organizations and pundits spouting crazy notions that match up with these extremists' worst fears. The talking heads at Fox News, etc. amp up these terrorists with talk of secession, fascism, 'surrounding them', 'baby killer' etc.
And still, we have no recourse. No talk of culpability. No sincere discussion, no decisive action. And because of that, I feel just like I did when I was a kid. Unable to change that which I believe can and should be changed. Feeling helpless against an onslaught of self-righteous, self-important zealots. Talking to a brick wall. Nobody listening.
Except they should be. School prayer is one thing, murder is something entirely different. I don't, nor should anyone, separate words from actions if they have the same intent. I believe legal precedent would show that verbal incitement can be just as harmful as physical action. It's time for the placating and humoring and mollycoddling to stop. I lay these deaths - Stephen Tyrone Jones; Dr. George Tiller; PA State Troopers Eric Kelly, Stephen Mayhle, and Paul Sciullo III - squarely at the feet of the right-wing punditry. Four counts. I think action should be taken. I think we all play a part in that action.
A man died today. Three others have died as well. All because someone was upset with 6 1/2-month old election results. That is not America. And it certainly isn't responsible journalism.