Unfortunately, this incredibly tragic story threatens to have a local angle for other communities given the over-the-top tone of many community blogs.
On a national and local level, I am sickened by attention-starved persons whose paycheck and/or self worth is derived from creating a spectacle via over-the-top rhetoric and name-calling. They may claim, "Hey, this is just like professional wrestling; it's entertainment and I'm just playing a character!" -- but they -- we -- need to be aware that our words and images are available to diseased minds who are waiting for reinforcement.
Left or right; conservative or liberal -- there are consequences to the tone of rhetoric we deploy. Being a cartoon character may get you mic or camera time and sell some books, but you're also pouring gasoline on a fire.
"When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government. The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous. And unfortunately, Arizona, I think, has become the capital. We have become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry.
"It's not unusual for all public officials to get threats constantly, myself included. That's the sad thing about what's going on in America. Pretty soon we're not going to be able to find reasonable decent people willing to subject themselves to serve in public office.
"People tend to poo-poo this business about all the vitriol that we hear inflaming the American people by people who make a living off doing that. That may be free speech, but it's not without consequences."
-- Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, speaking Saturday on the shooting in Arizona that claimed at least six lives and left Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in critical condition
The planner's dream gone wrong: The New Provincials
Coming off of a bit of a work-enforced break from blogging, I stumbled upon a new resource out of Chicago. It's hard to argue with the title of Jason Tinkey's blog -- The Planner's Dream Gone Wrong -- and, given the epic Packers-Bears struggle scheduled for this coming Sunday, it's as good a time as any to engage a flatlander in a friendly manner before kickoff.
Jason discusses American provincialism in this particular blog entry, quoting Barcelona Deputy Mayor Jordi William Carnes making the observation that "America is important to the rest of world, but spends too much time looking inward."
This is true all the way down to the neighborhood level -- or even single household level, frankly -- but Jason chooses to concentrate of the narrow field of view espoused by new Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker as he reinvents Wisconsin as The Weak Link:
Read the rest at: the planner's dream gone wrong: The New Provincials
Posted at 10:12 AM in Bad news, Bad Planning, Commentary, Current Affairs, Problems, Recommended site, Traffic/Transportation, Transit | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
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