It was not my intention to begin the Weekly Observer with such a grim topic. But the tragic incident this past Wednesday at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum brought a number of issues to the forefront.
There are people living among us who do not share fundamental American values — because they disagree with them, because they are unclear as to what those values are, or because they are of unsound mind. Ironically, disagreement, even lack of clarity, is something that we protect — the irony grows as we struggle to preserve rights, even for those who, given the power, would deny those same rights to those with whom they disagree — even to the extent of killing them.
Perhaps I make too much of this, after all the case can be made that the perpetrator in this instance was not of sound mind — an anomaly. But I think this raises another issue: All of us need to remain vigilant and confront hate, confront bullies, confront anything that harms life or liberty — whether the source of the threat is external or internal. And we need to call out those who promote hate — especially if they are popular “infotainers”. We all have to work to preserve our community — to prevent, to the extent we can, this sort of random act of hate and violence.
— mch 12 June 2009
After writing this, I found some interesting additional reading:
Gerson, The Washington Post
Eye Opener: Does Holocaust Shooting Validate Homeland Security Report?
Consequences of Bad Choices
The recent fatal collision on Metrorail near Fort Totten (Washington, DC) highlights an ongoing problem. Given a choice between improving deteriorating, overwhelmed infrastructure and indulging ourselves, we have been choosing the latter. We would rather build trophy stadiums for the toy teams of the wealthy than maintain safe transportation for the public. However, this malady is not limited to this specific situation. We see these same bad choices affecting us in every aspect of our lives – from the severe challenges faced by American industry to the collapse of investment banking; and at the individual level, the sacrifice of prosperity for fool’s gold. It is time, at least in government focus, to emphasize the long term over the short term, and to serve the greatest good instead of the special interest.
– mch