The Soul of A Nation

Boker Tov;
I woke up in tears this morning.
I gave into the room as Mark finish his morning prayers.
He saw the fear on my face and held me.
I woke afraid. Afraid for the soul of this nation.
During my life time I have seen leaders and well known people killed ebcause someone didn't agree with their political, religious or cultural point of view. Abortion doctors, Civil Rights leaders, Presidents, Soldiers on post, Radio announcers.
We have nothing to fear from Terrorist: we are destroying ourselves.
I find it interesting that when the shooting at Fort Hood took place, the public and media was asked not to jump to conclusions about who did this and why. Even when we found out who gun down soldier and civil workers, we the public were asked to remain calm and not assign blame.
But within minutes of the shooting Saturday,  before we learned the who and the why, blame was laid at the feet of Sarah Palin, Glenn Beack and others for their "hate speech." It was laid at the feet of those in Tea Party, and all those who are on the "Conservative Right."
What happen to waiting until we learned the who and the why?
Since Mark and I are conservative, I guess that would include us.
Democrats' and liberals’ acuss the Tea Party movement and Republican politicians to contributing to a climate that might have encouraged Saturday's shootings of  Gabrielle Giffords, John Roll, and a nine year old girl.
Contributing.
That would suggest that Demorats and liberals have a few dogs in this fight as well.
For you see, heated' dialogue is an american tradition, it is woven into this nation's fabric. For example, supporter of Andrew JackesonJackson often referred to the 1824 election as the "Stolen Election". Why?  Because while Mr. Jackson swept the popular vote hands down, he did not have enough electoral votes to automatically win the presidency. Therefore the election had to be decided by the House of Representatives.
 John Quincy Adams was horrified at the thought of Jackson becoming president. The patrician New Englander thought Mr. Jackson a  badly educated bumpkin with little preparation for high office.
 And then there was the charge of adultery.
 During the 1828 campaign the Adams camp charged Jackson and his wife with adultery. The claims grew out of naivete on the Jacksons' part. Rachel Donelson had a first, unhappy marriage with Lewis Robards. In 1790 the Kentucky legislature passed a resolution granting Robards permission to sue for divorce, though he did not do so at the time.

Andrew and Rachel confused the permission to sue with an actual declaration of divorce. They married in 1791, not realizing Rachel was still legally married. Robards finally sued for divorce in 1793 citing Rachel's "adultery" with Jackson. The Jacksons remarried in 1794, but the embarrassing and often malicious gossip persisted. Rachel Jackson was known as 'that whore." She died a few weeks before her husband's inauguration and Mr.Jackson blamed her early death on stress caused by the public discussion of their supposed immorality during the campaign.

Sound familiar?
On Good Friday, April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre in Washington by John Wilkes Booth, an actor, who somehow thought he was helping the South by killing Mr. Lincoln.
But it was Booth's bullet that took Mr. Lincoln and his alone.
 There is not a shred of evidence that Jared Loughner, was influenced in any way by Sarah Palin, by the Tea Party, by opposition to health care. Jared as a sick, troubled young man who has left behind grieving parents trying to figure out where they went wrong, not realizing how trouble their son was.
No politcial party is behind the actions of Jared Loughner: you can't always explain evil, nor can you alway assign bla
What we as amercian can do, is refuse to enter into another Civil War. We as americans can do is stop laying blame and start praying together, for each other. Refuse to enter into the words of war and put out in oral and written speack words that heal.
As Mark said to me as he kissed my forehead: "We have to be above the fray and be the voice of reason."
HaMessiah, if we have ever needed you, it is now.