Assassanation attempt in Tucson, AZ - 1/9/2011

Yesterday, the new House Speaker John Boehner expressed his displeasure with the events in Tucson Arizona yesterday by saying, "An attack on one who serves is an attack on all who serve". That's a two edged sword and he seems to be ignoring it. There is a definitive message in the whole event that points toward a real alienation of the American people towards the Federal Government. He could have easily said, "an attack on one who DOES NOT serve is an attack on all who DO NOT serve."

Ever since the Obama administration took over the White House I have watched as American's rights have been flushed down the toilet. These people "who serve" have not been serving their constituents. They have insisted on serving their own interests and greed and as a consequence, they have enraged a majority of the American people. A very pertinent example is their insistence on passing a health care bill that the majority of their constituents do not want. In spite of the overwhelming fact that the majority did NOT want this health bill passed, they passed it anyway. That was a move that can hardly be called serving the interests of the American people.

The accusations by former House Speaker Pelosi that members of the tea parties were a disgruntled minority inflamed people already angry about the trampling of their rights. Quite frankly, I am very surprised that there has been no real attempt to assassinate the President and a bunch of members of Congress. The entire Congress cannot be said to have been acting in the best interests of their country or their constituents. Their personal ideas and greed have been the idols they have been serving, not the American people.

When the Congress decides to deprive me of my legitimate cost of living increase for TWO years, my only source of income other than a small pension from the American Federation of Musicians, you cannot expect that I will be happy about it. When they turn around and earmark the money for their own health care you have to expect that a lot of seniors just like me will be extremely disgruntled. Are there any unstable ones in that bunch? I would not like to take a chance on saying "no" because right away some eighty-five year old WWII veteran would develop a brain tumor and go out and kill somebody in politics. The politicians are NOT serving their constituents. They are serving their interests and personal greed.

On December 15, 2008 I wrote the article "The solution to drunk driving". It was centered on my brother-in-law who was killed by a drunk driver 12 years ago. The solution was simple but after writing to every member of the Louisiana State legislature asking for assistance in getting this suggested law passed, I heard from just one legislator who dismissed the request as "not economically feasible". To me that is NOT serving the interests of your constituents. Later on, I wrote the same letter to North Carolina Congressman Heath Shuler and got a letter back from him explaining why fuel prices were so high. He didn't even read the letter. To me that is definitely NOT serving the interests of your constituents. Do you think I voted for Shuler? Not likely.

The elections in November of 2010 showed that a vast number of American citizens were very angry about the direction their representatives in Congress were taking and showed their displeasure by getting rid of a large number of them though the electoral process. You can expect similar results in 2012. Unfortunately the message did not seem to sink in with a lot of them, including Representative Giffords. Don't you think she should bear some of the responsibility for going out into a public place with a very agitated public without some sort of protection? Rep. John Boehner says such acts of violence have no place in our society. Saying that does NOT eliminate the risk of it happening. Ask any of our troops who are defending our country overseas if it's a good idea to go into a dangerous location unarmed! Would you go into the downtown area of a big city at 2:00 a.m. by yourself? Of course not - that's stupidity.

After the fact, everyone else in Congress started worrying about THEIR danger. They should have been worrying about it months ago and taken steps to make sure everyone had adequate protection. Exposing yourself unnecessarily in an area that has already generated a lot of hate mail and phone calls strikes me as acting in a fairly stupid manner if you don't have some sort of guard around you.

This is not a new story. Whackos have been assassinating public figures for centuries. President Reagan likely would have died from the assassination attempt on his life except for protection and a little bit of luck like the bullet following his rib instead of striking a vital part. In Roman times, someone would go off their rocker in a village and dash into the local trading mart and start slashing people with a sword. Eventually a Roman Centurion would be called to the scene, stick the madman with a spear and the whole thing would be over. Of course, the locals got killed and wounded. However, politicians and celebrities hardly ever got hurt by thugs or crazy people. They didn't go anywhere without a huge entourage of guards dedicated to preventing just this type of action from affecting their employer. What makes you think today is any different? How many guards do some of today's celebrities haul around with them? If our representatives are as important as they say they are, why aren't they being guarded in a similar manner?

Rep. John Boehner also said that public service is a high honor. Really? The average politician in Washington, D.C. treats public office like a pig struggling to get to the feeding trough and get his before anyone else can. When you treat your constituents with such impunity, the risk becomes grave. Not from your rational, stable, well-meaning citizens who will argue for many hours until the matter is settled and then mumble and grumble their way into the voting booth. All the politician risks there is his or her job. No, the real risk comes from the undiscovered nut cases that no one seems to notice until they smash about the national scene with one horrible tragedy after another. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who were injured in yesterday's affair and to all the families of those who are dead and injured. It's possible that someone may learn something from this event but it's not likely.

©2011 by fritz owens