Are We, The People, Less Important?

Are the people who work in this building more important than the people who put them there?  Of course not, but in the aftermath of Congresswoman Giffords shooting, I'm beginning to think they think so.

I don't mean to diminish in any way the horrible act that took six lives.  The Congresswoman, at least up until now, was not one of them.

I'm having trouble with the closing down of business in the House for a week because of it.  No company I've ever worked for would have ceased doing it's business if it's CEO or another high level executive met with an untimely death.  They definitely would not have had it not resulted in death.

I understand the moment of silence and flags at half staff for the victims.  I agree with it.  I joined in.  Okay.  Now, let's get back to work on the people's business and let things in Arizona get sorted out.

 She is a Congresswoman, no more and no less.  Until this happened, unless you live in Arizona, you probably didn't even know of her.  Just as it is with the victims of countless other violent crimes that happened this weekend. Somewhere in all this it's getting lost that this is a nation of laws, not people.  From the President on down. Mrs. Giffords chose her career path freely, knowing the risks involved for any public figure.

Yet talk radio today is  exacerbating the blame game with a fury.  This is not Sarah Palin's fault. It is not your fault nor my fault. It was the fault of a deranged young man.

It has been an opportune time to point out the character assassination game that has been going on for years without a clue if the rhetoric had anything to do with it at all.  If it does, a whole lot of politicians had best be looking over their shoulders.  Is it guilt because they know they've been over the line of decency and maturity?

I'll give them their week to figure out among themselves their complictness in this.  The media should be doing the same but they are not.  It's time to let Mary Jo Buttafuoco go back to Las Vegas rather than discussing with Megan Kelly what it's like to get shot in the head.

It's time for Laura Ingraham and Rush Limbaugh to get over their paranoia about the Left blaming the Right.

The crime, as before stated, was horrible but the shooter is in custody.  The Congresswoman is doing as well as can certainly be expected. It's time for the law to handle the shooter, the doctors to care for their patient and the families of the deceased victims to mourn.

It's time for Congress to get back to work.  It's time for the media to get back to work.  Did you listen to China's equivalent of our Secretary of Defense tell Mr. Gates China will not tolerate our supplying Taiwan with arms with Gates standing beside him?  This adds to the already palpable tension between our two countries. Is it being reported?

Knowing none of this is going to happen, I've one more suggestion.  Let's take a moment of silence for all the other innocents who met similar fates over the weekend.  They, in their individual ways, were important too.  And do not use this as an excuse to take away more of our rights in your usual over-reactive way.