Speech: Rights are Responsibilities to Each Other

From the 1:28 mark to the 2:21 mark, Sheriff  Dupnik of Tuscon notes that the "mentally unbalanced" are easily influenced by our public discourses. This happens to be a psychological fact. If the rants and YouTube video are the shooter’s, I'd be will to tag him as schizophrenic. Schizophrenics are like radios and kaleidoscopes combined, their minds take in the world and reshuffle it. They almost all suffer delusions of "mind control" because they sense their minds are not in their control. Their maps of reality share points with ours, and then diverge radically. Their particular way of being broken is always a reflection of what is really going on.


So, for the love of all that’s holy, I beg our public servants, our political pundits, our bloggers and radio show call-in listeners to put the CIVIL back in civil discourse.

There are too many undiagnosed schizophrenics, and too many people feeling a serious lack of faith in life in the US at present. Acts like this can and have become the inevitable and necessary “thing to do” for such people. They will again. From the broken mind that shoots a president or a congresswoman, to the racist who commits suicide by cop at historical memorial to the victims of vitriol and rancor in another civil society only a few decades ago.

The real rancor and hate and the metaphorical violence of our public discourse finally killed people yesterday, destroyed and damaged the lives of many more, and bruised the free and civil exercise of our democracy. And this after many threats, much indirect violence in attacks on campaign headquarters, and so on. The most telling thing about this present horror and grief is that none of us are surprised by it. Somewhere in us, we all knew this was coming.

Our manner of speech is part of our civic responsibility. Civility is much more than a formal arrangement of society. It’s how we exist together. How we talk, what we say, our tone and intention, the images and metaphors we choose, all these have consequences. Consequences can be good, and they can be this tragedy.

That’s our choice. Everyday. On every stage. In every publication. On every talk show. In every church. In every home. At the tables of every coffee shop and diner and private club.

We are called by these deaths, by the destruction and disruption of of these remaining lives, by the grief of these families to take to heart the requirements of our civil lives together. The least we can do to honor these people is speak to each other as fellow citizens, not as smack-talking enemies on a battle field. A nine year old girl is dead. A congresswoman will never, ever be the same person again. In all the lives ended and damaged by this boiling over of our public sentiment, what glorious and irreplaceable potential for good and betterment has been forever lost?

The least the pundits and talking heads and political celebrities can do is Stop Stirring the Pot. It's been boiling for a good while now. Time to turn the gas down. Souls are on the line.