Arizona: The Problem Is in the Narrative

The U.S. Congress experienced a rare moment of unity today. The tragedy in Arizona has made it so that for once Republicans and Democrats have united in silence on the steps of the Capitol. It remains to be seen, however, whether both parties comply with society’s demand that they reduce the aggressiveness of their language.

In the blogosphere, no one even waited for the conclusion of the funerals of the six victims before making accusations. Accusations like “Palin is responsible with her controversial goals”. Like, “the Democrats in 2004 also ranked as ‘whites’ those congressional Republicans whom they tried to defeat.” Like, “Loughner was really a leftist for having cited Marx’s ‘Das Kapital’ among his works of reference. “

We’ll probably never know if the shooting would have happened in a calmer political climate or if the psychological problems of Loughner required a breeding ground to result in a massacre. Nevertheless, it is quite possible that more than one case of political language aggressiveness can eventually lead to violence. This is why everyone, including politicians and journalists, should make an effort to reduce the acrimony that pollutes the U.S. political debate.

Without a doubt, current members of both parties are prone to hyperbole. However, it is also true that in recent years, it has been the radical sector of the Republican Party that has resorted to more violent language.

More than the targets of Palin, the problem is the narrative constructed by the stubborn right that accuses Democrats, and especially Obama, of being a traitor or a friend of terrorists. The problem is that some members of Congress have granted legitimacy to the birthers, the group that says there is a cosmic conspiracy to hide the fact that Obama is a foreigner, or to Fox News, where Glenn Beck says that there is a secret agenda to indoctrinate young people to convert the country into a communist dictatorship.

Do not forget that in most countries of the world the crime of treason is punishable by death. Such allegations are therefore more prone to trigger violence than allegations of incompetence or corruption, which were expressed more often against Bush by the left.

By the way, it seems that now, more than ever, if gun ownership in the US is considered an individual right, then there should be some system in existence to prevent individuals with psychological problems — like Loughner or like the Virginia Tech shooter — from accessing firearms.