Really America? I thought you were a bit better than this.

Because it is one am and I apparently lack the ability to sleep like any normal human being, here I am, updating my blog, and working on proofreading some interviews for my research project that I'm working on with Kristina and Dovey.  

I went to a meeting on Saturday with Lisa about the economic rights for Mainers, in this time where people are forced to choose between putting food on the table, and paying rent.  Or in the case of my town, paying their mortgages. 

But when I got home, I was shocked to hear about the assassination attempt on Gabby Giffords and then to see the photo on Sarah Palin's facebook page where people who agreed with Obama's healthcare bill were "targeted" in crosshares of some form of a weapon.  This disgusted me.  Have we honestly stooped so low as a country that we are willing to simply shoot someone who we disagree with? And to have political figures, such as Sarah Palin be supporting a graphic such as the one below...

makes me even more concerned than I already am for the future of our country.  I honestly do not know even where to start on this subject, of Sarah Palin, the dangerously violent political climate, which can clearly be attributed to militarism, and how our elected officials turn to violence often when other countries disagree with us, which we then hear about in the media, which is a major tool of socialization, and people often think that violence is a legitimate form of problem solving, when in reality, this man's actions did not solve anything, it simply ended with six people dead, including a judge, and a nine year old girl, and many other people wounded in critical condition. 

Although this event is incredibly tragic, perhaps it will spark something in the people of the United States, and they will realize that we are becoming incredibly polarized as a nation,and will work to become united, because I know people can work together while still disagreeing on many topics.  Due to the polarization, people are turning to violence and hatred to get their ideas across, and this is something that we know does not work.   

If this young man (whose name I cannot even recall) had turned his thoughts into a constructive letter to Mrs. Giffords, or even spoke to her at her congress on your corner event she was having, he would have been closer to achieving some form of social change.