“We never entered [politics] believing that we were taking our lives in our hands…we’re feeding anger, hatred, and division for quite a while. Maybe it is time for elected officials and leaders in this country that have been feeding that disease to realize that there are consequences to it. I hope people stop and think that we can be opponents, but we don’t have to be deadly enemies…to demonize another person because of a disagreement and to make them expendable is not a democracy, it’s not the America I know.”
Highlanders,
You may have noticed that the “day count since declaration of war on the Highlands” subhead that had previously appeared at the top of the Highlands News table of contents was gone yesterday, is gone today, and is gone forever. Here’s why.
“War” references are easy and seemingly harmless rhetoric in our daily conversations on politics and environmental issues here in New Jersey. How many “battles in the trenches” do the “foot soldiers of the night” face each week? “Attacks” on the environment being led by developers or lawmakers, and “counter-attacks” by those whose reputations as “grenade throwers” often makes them “targets” to be “blasted” in the media.
The phrase “…Governor Christie officially declared war on the Highlands. Rise up and fight back, Highlanders!” was never meant to advocate for violence, but to simply be a rallying call to awaken what often seems to be a sleepy environmental community. While the sentiment remains true, there are certainly better ways for me to make that point, especially in light of the events that took place this past Saturday.
There are a number of past or current elected officials on this list. Folks who, like me, have had the honor and privilege of serving the public in some manner at a local or regional level. And like me, you probably also felt as if you had a part of your soul crushed by the tragedy in Tucson on Saturday. In late 2007, I cringed at the assassination of populist candidate Benazir Bhutto as she campaigned for Prime Minister. But that was in Pakistan, a “third world” nation, far away. On Saturday, I cried as news broke on the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords …THIS should not be happening in MY country. This starts to hit too close to home.
It takes a special kind of person to put themselves out in front of the public – possibly more so today than at any time in recent years, as vitriolic and abusive rhetoric of an angry and sometimes ill-informed public – and occasionally fellow elected officials – becomes more and more common.
“It’s not unusual for all public officials to get threats constantly, myself included,” Clarence W. Dupnik, the Pima County sheriff said. “That’s the sad thing about what’s going on in America: pretty soon we’re not going to be able to find reasonable, decent people willing to subject themselves to serve in public office.”
In March of last year, Rep. Giffords was interviewed on MSNBC when her office in Tuscon was vandalized the night after she voted for health care reform. Her words in that interview are eerily prophetic:
“…you’ve gotta think about it… our democracy is really a beacon around the world because we effect change at the ballot box, and not because of these outbursts – of violence, in certain cases and the yelling… Change is an important part of our process, but it’s really important that we focus on the fact that we have a democratic process.
…I think it’s important for all leaders, not just leaders of the Republican Party or Democrat Party. There are certainly a lot of Independents out there that that may resonate towards… community leaders, figures in our communities to say look, we cant stand for this. This is a situation that people need to realize that the rhetoric, and the firing people up and …when people do that, they’ve gotta realize that there are consequences to that action.
…the reality is we’ve got to focus on policy, focus on the process. Leaders, community leaders, not just political leaders need to stand back when things get too fired up and say whoa, let’s take a step back here.”
I have had discussions with some of you, as well as other elected officials in our region over the last few months, on the topic of the “New American Anger.” We’ve talked of how frustration with current national economic conditions, taxes, unemployment, under-employment, bankruptcy and foreclosure has pressurized the atmosphere and created the need for a place for people grappling with these issues to vent. We’ve seen the venting in places where it is easiest to communicate with elected or appointed officials: at local council or planning board meetings, at regional stakeholder meetings or town halls (often, sadly, from the elected speakers holding these events). And we saw it produce the worst kind of result at a folding table in front of a supermarket in Tucson on Saturday morning.
Unfortunately, it’s the local level that this anger and frustration is taking place, so in my mind, it’s the local level where we must do our best to begin to fix the problem. As local community leaders, it’s time for all of us to say “whoa, let’s take a step back here.” We can continue to advocate strongly for our positions, but in doing so, we MUST work to effect change through deeds and actions that educate and inform the public, not incite them into frenzied anger. To educate and inform – that has been and will continue to be the reason I became involved in activism and politics, and it will continue to be the goal of this electronic communication.
We can and will continue to call out those who look to weaken our protections – economic, environmental or personal – for their own profits or special interest. In doing so, we can and will on occasion have heated and spirited debate. But we cannot and will not participate in rhetoric that calls for harm to those with whom we disagree, and we must not tolerate those who do so.
Rep. Grijalva stated this past weekend: “Anybody who contributed to feeding this monster had better step back and realize they’re threatening our form of government.” I hope I have not done so. If that simple phrase at the top of past month’s News posts, or anything else I have said in these posts has been construed in that manner, I apologize. And I pledge to do all I can to never make that mistake again.
Onward and upward, friends. We’ve got some educating to do!
Scott
ps – below are some well written Opinion and Editorial pieces on this tragedy that may be of interest to some of you:
- ‘An Attack on All Who Serve’ (Christina Bellantoni in Roll Call)
- The shooting of Gabrielle Giffords highlights the ‘man-up’ culture in US politics (Jessica Valenti in The Guardian)
- Watering the tree of liberty (by Alex Pareene in Salon)
- Our Moment of Silence Needs to Be Followed by More Than Just Lowered Voices (Arianna
Huffington in Huffington Post)
- Violent rhetoric and the attempted assassination of Gabrielle Giffords (Barbara Morrill in Daily Kos)
- Bloodshed and Invective in Arizona (New York Times)