"House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner ordered flags at the U.S. Capitol in Washington lowered to half staff in memory of the victims. He said the incident was a reminder that public service comes with a risk.
"This inhuman act should not and will not deter us from our calling to represent our constituents and fulfill our oaths of office. No act, no matter how heinous, must be allowed to stop us from our duty," Boehner said."
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If Boehner means that, then why is the Congress going to suspend business for a week? Flags fly at half staff over the capitol? People die every day. How many people died in the United States yesterday? Do flags fly at half staff for the grunts who die every day in the Afghan War? Are these victims in Arizona somehow better and more important because they are not soldiers? Ah, yes, civilians act like this because they think that they are protected from violence by rough men who guard them while they sleep.
The shooter was evidently mad. Was he also in some sense political? Perhaps he was. He is reported to have been associated with a group that called itself "American Renaissance." The group is said to be anti-immigrant, anti-Semitic and anti-government. Is that true? We will learn more of that as investigations continue.
The United States needs to pull itself together and act as a community of adults. The appropriate reaction to murder is trial and punishment. Hysterical grief is inappropriate. pl
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110109/us_nm/us_usa_shooting_congresswoman
