It Took A Tragedy

The news cycles will be filled with little other than the horrific tragedy that unfolded in a movie theater in Colorado where a mad man recked havoc and death.

There are already calls for more gun control which in the long run will fail.  It doesn't matter.  Those so determined will always be able to get them.

There will questions about terrorism.  Madness unleashed is terrorism but not the kind of which politicians will hope to make hay.

There will be attempts to explain a man's actions with psychological gobbledygook.  Even if the reasons why he snapped are defined, it will not prevent such an event from happening again.  Such is the nature of life.  There are those who cannot cope for whatever reason and snap for whatever reason and until those reasons are figured out, which they won't be, it will happen again.

There is a positive out of all of this.  Both Romney and Obama have pulled their negative ads, at least in Colorado, at least for the time being.  I'm sure it's out of respect for the dead and wounded.  It should be for a lot more.  It should be because actions have consequences, often beyond our control and there was a glimmer of recognition of that on both their parts.

Those political strategists who delight in wallowing in negativity have no idea how the propaganda they put out affects those on the fringe.  I wrote yesterday about the 'impeach Obama' signs I had seen in yard's and fields.  These are not placed by happy people.

How much does it take to make a person want to do something about his or her frustration?  Most of us vote and though we don't necessarily like the result, we live with it.  But there are those who have been pushed an issue too far.  Maybe foreclosure is the final blow.  Maybe thinking a candidate is a felon is beyond acceptable.  Maybe thinking the chief executive and his minions are taking the law into their own hands is intolerable.  Why do you think they are surrounded with secret service?

Part of the need is because there is always the lunatic fringe.  Part of the cause is often brought on by the candidates themselves and yes, even the President.  In the lust for office and power they willingly denigrate their opponents in the most abusive of terms then wonder why there is partisanship and beyond.

The Dark Knight Rises was being criticized for it's political messages before this tragedy took place.  How many may be looming over the negativity in political ads?

I wish the politicians who pulled them were looking at these possibilities but I doubt they are.  My guess it's a temporary move, a brief moment of decency in a world that has lost it.