Will The Tucson Tragedy Teach Us To Just Kind Of Get Along?

Will The Tucson Tragedy Teach Us To Just Kind Of Get Along?

The below story is a heart wrenching tale of the times we live in.

Ariz. shooting victim arrested, taken to hospital
Will there ever be an end to the sadness of January 8th 2011 when a madman bought a gun and went on a shooting rampage in Tucson Arizona? Probably, time heals all, so they say. But not for the victims; whether you believe right-wing hacks are responsible or the left-wing’s inability to put an end to the hateful rhetoric that is BOUGHT AND PAID FOR by Big Corporate- hood of the USA, the sorrow and pain lingers on.

The article tells it all. From the poor man who became a victim just because he wanted to be part of the American political fabric, so he attended a constituent meeting on that Saturday morning. To the little girl who’s innocent, young mind was filled with the enthusiasm of living in a representative democracy in which our leaders act in our interests, so that is why she was there. (She so deserved to live, starting out so young, possessing critical thinking skills that are lacking in too many of our Nation’s adults.)

Everyone sees this tragedy in different ways, some, like myself, are drawn into the complete senselessness of it and struggle to find answers as to why such a horrible event could occur.

Others want to blame something or someone which really isn’t possible. If we could point a finger and claim “THAT’S WHY IT HAPPENED!” it would be so simple. We could then eradicate the cause and it would never happen again.

But like the Wild Kingdom, there are dangers in being alive. There are predators amongst us and someone will eventually come face to face with one of them and fall victim to their psychopathic mindset.

Perhaps, changing some of our gun laws would help or maybe toning down the rhetoric of hate that fills our airwaves. I wish there were easy answers but one thing we should all note is that we as a species are sliding backward into our evolutionary past of reactionary FIGHT OR FLIGHT...

(FIGHT OR FLIGHT –noun Physiology, Psychology -. the response of the sympathetic nervous system to a stressful event, preparing the body to fight or flee, associated with the adrenal secretion of epinephrine and characterized by increased heart rate, increased blood flow *reference.com*)

due to the lack of critical thinking skills.

(Critical thinking consists of mental processes of discernment, analysis and evaluation. It includes possible processes of reflecting upon a tangible or intangible item in order to form a solid judgment that reconciles scientific evidence with common sense. In contemporary usage "critical" has a certain negative connotation that does not apply in the present case. Though the term " analysis thinking" may seem to convey the idea more accurately, critical thinking clearly involves synthesis, evaluate, and reconstruction of thinking, in addition to analysis.Critical thinkers gather information from all senses, verbal and/or written expressions, reflection, observation, experience and reasoning. Critical thinking has its basis in intellectual criteria that go beyond subject-matter divisions and which include: clarity, credibility, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, logic, significance and fairness. *reference.com*)

Maybe there is a solution, maybe if our schools would teach students to think instead of just memorize, we would then start to develop the minds of our young and stop them from emulating the adults in an endless and mindless bickering match.

Just imagine a world where, mental processes of discernment, analysis and evaluation ruled instead of mob mentality. From genius to idiot, critical thinking is possible, if taught and then maybe we could all just kind of get along. thinkingblue

Ariz. shooting victim arrested, taken to hospital

The self-described liberal and military veteran became distraught Saturday, authorities said, when he began ranting at the end of a televised town hall meeting about the tragedy. He took a picture of a local tea party leader and yelled "you're dead" before calling others in the church a bunch of "whores," authorities said.

Deputies arrested him and called a doctor. They decided he should be taken to a hospital for a mental evaluation, said Pima County sheriff's spokesman Jason Ogan said.

No one answered the door Sunday at Fuller's home.

Fuller was one of 19 people shot at a Safeway store Jan. 8. Six people died and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was critically injured with a bullet wound to the head.

In media interviews and on the Internet, Fuller, a former limousine driver and Census worker, has said he worked hard to get Giffords re-elected in her conservative-leaning district. He was going over questions he had prepared for the congresswoman, wondering whether they were worthy, when the shooting began, he said in an interview with the television show "Democracy Now."

He was shot in the knee and back and drove himself to the hospital, where he spent two days.

"I didn't know how to calm myself down," he said on the TV show, "so I wrote down the Declaration of Independence, which I memorized some time ago. And that did help to organize my thoughts."

He also lashed out at conservative Republicans for "Second Amendment activism," arguing it set the stage for the shooting.

Fuller returned to the Safeway supermarket Friday, telling KPHO-TV he had always considered trauma a figment of imagination until the events of Jan. 8.

"Today I'm back on my feet, more or less, and I'm in a combative mood," Fuller said as he limped across the store parking lot. "It's helping me. I've never had any trauma like this in my life."

Later, he showed up at the home of accused gunman Jared Loughner, who lived within a half-mile of Fuller.

"He said he was going to forgive him for shooting him," Richard Elder, 86, a retired medical mechanic who lives next door to Fuller, told The Associated Press Sunday. "If anyone shot me, I don't think I'd say, 'Hey feller, that's alright.'"

Fuller posted about eight campaign signs in front of his house during the last election, including one for Giffords. And although Fuller was friendly, he acted odd sometimes, Elder said. Once, Fuller asked him if he was going to vote.

"I told him there are two things I don't talk about: politics or religion. I told him that, and he walked off without another word."

He said Fuller had shown him his bullet wounds and seemed to be dealing with the shooting well.

The man Fuller is accused of threatening, Tucson Tea Party co-founder Trent Humphries, said he was worried about the threat, and the dozens of other angry e-mails he has received.

"I had nothing to do with the murders that happened or the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords," Humphries said. "And I wonder, if he (Fuller) is crazy or is he the canary in a coal mine? Is he saying what a lot of other people are holding in their hearts? If so, that's a problem."

Humphries believes the heated political rhetoric that ignited shortly after the shooting should be toned down, and was trying to express that at the event when Fuller began booing.

"I said I don't know if now is the time to start being political about this, that we still need to bury the dead," said Humphries, who was on his way Sunday to attend services for his friend Dorwin Stoddard, 76. He was killed in the rampage after he dove to the ground to cover and protect his wife.

At the Safeway, the makeshift memorial of flowers, teddy bears, candles and cards was growing, more than a week after the tragedy.

Becky Chowning, of Louisville, Ky., laid a rose and stepped back. She put her hand over her heart and began to sob.

"It's just so moving. I wanted to pay my respects," Chowning said, barely able to get the words out. "Seeing these people here today, and all the flowers, it's just amazing. I hope it helps the families to heal."

Eduardo Ibarola sat quietly off to the side with a colorful beaded rosary in his hand. He had been praying all week but drove from Phoenix with his 5-year-old grandson to set his heart right.

"We came just so I could say my rosary. All I want is for those upstairs to hear my prayers," Ibarola said, adding that he had been thinking all week about the youngest victim, 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green.

The girl's father told The Boston Globe some of her organs were donated to a young girl in the area there, but he didn't have any other details.

He said they were once again proud of their daughter, "who has done another amazing thing."