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Giffords Shooting Tragic, but also A Reminder of What Makes America Great

Giffords Shooting Tragic, but also A Reminder of What Makes America Great

January 9, 2011 1:22 pmComments are Disabled

You’ll never hear anyone happy about yesterday’s shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), who was the victim of a targeted attack that has claimed the lives of 6 people so far, including a federal judge.  But the response to the tragedy has been overwhelming, and a reminder to Americans that our bitter partisanship, no matter how divisive, has its limits.

Compare the way our political foes aligned immediately behind the violence against the institution of government–and with one voice denounced it–to the response to a similar incident in Pakistan this week, where the Punjab state governor was gunned down by a police chief and his assassin was showered with rose pedals.  Despite the vitriol in our electoral politics, Americans of all political persuasions, for the most part, share a respect for the institution of government and the importance of stability.

In an odd way, tragedies such as this are a sober reminder that for all our opinions diverge, Americans still have a common interest in safe and productive politics that transcend party lines.  After all, our freedom from fear matters more than any one debate over the constitution and its meaning.

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