The mainstream media are reporting the shooting of the chairman of the Arkansas Democratic Party at state party headquarters several hours ago.
Shot by a lone gunman, Dem Chairman Bill Gwatney has been hospitalized in critical condition. The gunman was chased more than 20 miles by police before finally being caught. He died later of a gunshot wound, possibly self-inflicted.
It may just be a coincidence that this is the second time this year some nut job has gone into a Democratic campaign office with the intention of hurting someone, but it fuels my concern that there are a lot of nut jobs in this country who think shooting someone is a good solution to something.
I don’t believe what the pundits keep saying — that we are now in a “post-racial” era, whatever that means. Do they mean nominating a (half) black man for president shows we’ve become mature and worldly as a nation? That may make them feel all warm and fuzzy, but it doesn’t do squat for me. I’m cynical enough to believe there are still plenty of people in this country who think any black man audacious enough to run for president needs to be dealt with — the old-fashioned way.
I have feared for Obama’s safety since the day he announced he was running. And so has the Service Service, who put a detail on him shortly thereafter. If he is elected, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see several assassination attempts.
The media and their “post-racism” are giving the American public too much credit, too soon. And today’s shooting may have been evidence of that.
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I seriously hope that’s not the case, but I agree that we have a loooong way to go as a country before we can consider ourselves to be living in a “post-racial” era.
As for using violence the old-fashioned way, I have a refrigerator magnet that sums up my views on the situation with a little humor. It has a cartoon-drawn picture of a little girl sitting on her Daddy’s knee and asking, “Daddy, why do people kill people who kill people to show that killing people is bad?”
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Love that magnet. Why is it so hard for people to understand that?