Why What Happened to Gabrielle Gifford is the Worst Possible Thing for America

Over 24 hours later, I'm still having trouble fully expressing my frustration and anger over what happened in Arizona yesterday.

Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford (AZ - Human) was shot in the head by a crazy kid who also shot and killed six others, wounding twelve.  She is currently in intensive care, and able to respond to simple stimuli, which is a good sign.

I'm Jewish!

The loss of any human life is a tragedy, but the effects of this attack echo down the chambers of Congress.  Political assassination goes beyond Democrat or Republican ideologies; it attacks the system at its foundation.  Anyone not a radical anarchist had his/her house tremble a few centimeters yesterday morning. 

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik put it best: "But it's not unusual for all public officials to get threats constantly, myself included. And 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 who are willing to subject themselves to serve in public office."

I'm gonna go preacher on you because I'm so frustrated, look out!

Because of this attack... town hall meetings across the country will have a different, more wary feel to them.

Because of this attack... young college students considering a future political career will have the faint outlines of a dark cloud hovering over them, as the specter of an assassination looms.

Because of this attack... the American model of democracy literally took a bullet to the face, as the idea of rational dialogue governing political decisions was rejected in favor of violence.

One of the victims in the attack was a nine-year-old girl born on 9/11.  Her lifespan is bookmarked by the two most significant attacks on the US in the 21st century.

But the difference here is that while 9/11 was an external attack by a radical jihadist group, this was an internal attack.  I can accept the fact that people from other countries want to kill us.  But I cannot come to terms with the fact that some people in this country would rather win their arguments with bullets than reason.

Let this be a call for us to reject the forces of hate pulling us toward violence, and instead take a step towards rationality and discussion.  And hopefully Gabrielle Gifford will recover, and be able to coast through her reelection based on ironic advertisements about how she's taken a bullet for the working class.