The incivility of politics, and how the media covers it, hit new lows this week as pundits shamefully politicized the shooting of a Republican Congressman.
Rep. Steve Scalise, the Majority Whip in the House, narrowly escaped death last week when an overzealous supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders opened fire on a field of congressmen, who were practicing for a charity baseball game.
While most of the nation prayed for the recovery of Congressman Scalise – and that seems to be occurring – some news commentators chose to blame Scalise himself for the shooting. By some twisted logic, it wasn’t the bullets of a crazed gunman that took down Scalise, it was actually his views on health care and the politics of sex that put him in the hospital on the critical list (since upgraded to serious).
Check out CBS anchorman Scott Pelly, who gratefully has retired this week. He said, on air, that Scalise’s wounds were self-inflicted and could have been predicted. In other words, blame the victim!
“Too many leaders, and political commentators, who set an example for us to follow, have led us into an abyss of violent rhetoric which, it should be no surprise, has led to violence,” Pelley added.
Was he looking in the mirror when he uttered those words?
At least one congressman replied that Pelley should be ashamed of himself. And he should be. So much for the objective reporting of the evening news!
Then there were the far left voices of MSNBC. Host Joy Ann Reid wondered whether we must put aside the congressman’s political views just because he was shot and nearly killed.
Instead, she demanded that the congressman’s traditional views on marriage as between a man and a woman make him a homophobe, his financial concerns about ObamaCare make him a racist and his support for the Constitution’s Second Amendment make him a menace to the country.
These vicious attacks upon the stricken congressman are despicable. They fail to differentiate between the well-thought out convictions of so many and the emotional rantings of the politically correct crowd.
Let’s get real. Maintaining that marriage is between a man and a woman is a logical view based on thousands of years of rational Judeo-Christian thought. Thinking with the prophets and the saints does not mean you are hostile to gays.
Believing that people have a right to bear arms in order to protect themselves does not mean you support armed insurrection and mob rule. Just the opposite!
Opposing ObamaCare premiums that no one can afford does not mean one is a racist. You simply believe there must a better way to assure everyone gets covered by health insurance.
The political invectives of the current debate have got to end. The rhetoric must be tampered down. Those we have elected to govern should get back to governing and stop the finger pointing. Come up with solutions. Otherwise, I believe the voting public that sent a strong message to politicians last November will continue to make their voices heard at the polls. It wouldn’t be the first time our representatives failed to heed the will of the people.