There Is No Such Thing as "Politicizing" a Tragedy

[babylonsister]

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2012/07/20/there_is_no_such_thing_as_politicizing_a_tragedy.html


There Is No Such Thing as "Politicizing" a Tragedy


Max Read: "There is no such thing as 'politicizing' tragedy. James Holmes did not materialize in a movie theater in Aurora this morning, free of any relationship to law and authority and the structures of power in this country; nor did he exit those relationships and structures by murdering 12 people and injuring several dozen more. Before he entered the theater, he purchased guns, whether legally or illegally, under a framework of laws and regulations governed and negotiated by politics; in the parking lot outside, he was arrested by a police force whose salaries, equipment, tactics and rights were shaped and determined by politics. Holmes' ability to seek, or to not seek, mental health care; the government's ability, or inability, to lock up persons deemed unstable -- these are things decided and directed by politics. You cannot 'politicize' a tragedy because the tragedy is already political. When you talk about the tragedy you're already talking about politics."

[malaise]

1. Well said

Rec

[uppityperson]

2. I came ready to be snarky and am k&ring instead. thank you. It is.

[OverseaVisitor]

3. There is always a reason

To expect all that spewing of hatred has no consequences is mentally illogical

[Kalidurga]

4. It is already political...

well said. Many people were expressing this idea from the start, while not stating it out right. They questioned the lack of mental health care and the fact that mental illness is stigmatized. There are conversations about the 2nd amendment and what it really means. On a side note, I think the second amendment means the state should be training people to be in a militia that is state regulated. So, I think many people here already understand that politics underlines this tragedy even if they don't state it outright.

[elehhhhna]

5. he says it better than i did

[OverseaVisitor]

6. The words in this song haunt me