It was in the close of the primary season, when it was becoming clear that Barack Obama was going to be the nominee unless ... well, unless something terrible happened.
Michelle Obama was at a campaign event in Phoenix, Arizona in late May 2008, and discussion turned to the Obama's family and the safety of the family, given all the comparisons of Obama to JFK and MLK. Those who were around in the 1960s remembered all too well how the loss of Bobby and Martin and Malcolm created such turmoil and such a vacuum.
She called on another supporter, whose voice quivered and broke with barely contained emotion as she explained how important it is to her, personally, that our country change course. She explained that she had just returned from Oregon where she campaigned for Obama and attended the 75,000-person rally by the river. She had noticed, she said, that the Secret Service had increased security dramatically for Barack Obama's rallies since the Phoenix rally in January.
For many in this country, what happened to Gabrielle Giffords and Gabe Zimmerman and others this weekend confirms fears that we have had for years.
It would be tempting to consider Jared Lee Loughner's attack on innocent unarmed civilians as an isolated incident. Joe Brewer at Cognitive Policy Works talked about four media memes to watch for in the wake of this tragedy:
The “Lone Shooter” Frame
Emphasis will be on individual actions, ignoring cultural patterns that influenced the event like the militant imagery of Tea Party leaders and Fox News personalities.
The “Crazy Gunman” Frame
Effort will be made to reduce this complex event to the explanation that the shooter was insane, disregarding the anti-government sentiments that fueled him to action.
The “Both Sides Equal” Frame
Media coverage will presume violent rhetoric is equal on the left and right, ignoring how leftist individuals target single people (e.g. Bush hater) while right-wing individuals target groups (e.g. liberals, Jews). Also the scale of violent imagery is disproportionately on the right side.
The “We’re All Sorry” Frame
Spokespeople on the right who have fueled violent rhetoric (e.g Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh) will publicly condemn violent actions while continuing to promote negative views of entire classes of people. This behavior will not be present among liberals.
These frames will try very hard to create the illusion that "we never could have seen this coming" or "the anger and outrage exists on both sides" or that kind of thing.
But those who have been in it - who have been paying attention and know what's happening day-to-day - realize that a group of almost-exclusively Republican lawmakers have been aligning with the gun lobby, homophobes, xenophobes, racists, and bigots to create a toxic and explosive mix that gave rise to the events yesterday.
So, how do we respond?
This is how Michelle Obama responded in May 2008:
"You know, we talked about this as a family.... We talked about this as a family.... I've talked about this before. Barack is probably safer now than he was before. Kids are dying in the street in our community. They get shot walking to class, sitting in school, taking the bus home. They are dying in the street.... Send us good vibes. Pray for us. Think positive thoughts. But most of all, be vigilant. Be vigilant about stopping this kind of talk.
It's not funny. You don't have to like Barack to dislike that kind of talk. Be vigilant about stopping that kind of talk.
What kind of talk? The kind Mike Huckabee gave at the NRA Convention just over a week before:
Appearing in front of about 6,000 gun rights activists, Huckabee's speech was interrupted by a loud noise. The former Arkansas governor said, "That was Barack Obama. He just tripped off a chair. He's getting ready to speak and somebody aimed a gun at him and he -- he dove for the floor."
Hilarious, Mr. Huckabee. You should have your own Fox News show. Oh, that's right, you do.
What it seems that Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee and other chickenhawk Talibangelicals don't realize is that words have consequences. As Michelle Obama said, having grown up on the South Side, "Kids are dying in the street in our community."
And Barack Obama was right when he said that economic frustration creates a bitterness that can give rise to extremism and create a dangerous, toxic political culture.
I consider myself a common-sense, compassionate conservative. I believe in local, community-based solutions to social ills. I believe that charitable giving is preferable to taxation, because a free society ought to celebrate opportunities to create economic opportunities for others. In 2008, I gave some initial consideration to Mike Huckabee because I thought he was a decent human being who had been a fairly-effective governor of Arkansas. But when Huckabee made those remarks about Obama, he lost me forever. I don't find his "joke" funny.
Because while I believe that community, not government, is the solution, I also believe that a democratically-elected government is the best way to structure and organize community-based action, and to help communities to do what they cannot do for themselves. I believe in the basic principle of subsidiarity, which is that local entities should take responsibility as much as possible, deferring to national or federal solutions only when they can't do it better locally. I think that we promote freedom when we take care of our responsibilities to one another as neighbors and fellow citizens. And that is why the, "I've got mine, screw you," brand of cutthroat conservatism we see today is so profoundly troubling to me.
But as Michelle Obama said, the proper response to this is not to cower in fear or to laugh nervously. The proper response is to keep working:
Fear is the reason this country is where it is today. Fear is a useless emotion. Don't ever make decisions based on fear. Make decisions based on hope and possibility. Make decisions based on what should happen, not what shouldn't. Don't ever make decisions based on fear.
I want to close by thanking DawnT for her diary that brought Michelle Obama's wise words to us in 2008. I call for my fellow Kossacks to join me in responding to our First Lady's call to serve by going to Serve.gov, MLKDay.gov, or OFA to find a volunteer opportunity in your area.