The shocking shooting rampage outside a grocery store in Tucson, Arizona last Saturday was tragic. Six people were killed, including a federal judge, a 9-year-old girl, and a congressional staffer. Thirteen others were wounded, including Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, a staunch ally to the LGBT community.
Giffords most recently attended the signing ceremony of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal bill. She also is a member of the LGBT Congressional Caucus. As a representative of a swing district in southern Arizona, however, Giffords had seen her share of political mudslinging. She received threats and her offices were vandalized last year after she voted for health care reform.
The alleged gunman, Jared L. Loughner, is just 22 years old. It's sad that for whatever reason – and it appears more and more that he suffers from mental issues – he went to Giffords's "Congress on Your Corner" constituent event and started shooting people. But it's the aftermath of trying to find an explanation for Loughner's alleged actions that, as usual, misses the mark. People from Sarah Palin (who used symbols that looked remarkably like gun sights on a political map last year targeting various Democratic politicians, including Giffords) to Democratic Senator Joe Manchin (who ran a TV ad showing himself firing a rifle during his recent campaign) are now scrambling to distance themselves from the toxic political environment that they helped foster. Palin, as usual, went off the deep end in a video statement released Wednesday, accusing her critics of "blood libel."
As the Washington Post reported, Palin called efforts to attribute blame for the shooting "reprehensible," saying that "especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn."
The phrase "blood libel" refers to a centuries-old anti-Semitic slander: that Jews use the blood of Christian children for religious rituals. Given that Giffords herself is Jewish, Palin's statement is even more disingenuous and cynical. Every time Palin is called on to respond she takes the posture of a victim.
Now that the Tucson shootings have sparked a dialogue about political rhetoric, let's keep in mind that both sides excel at the verbose, over-the-top sound bites and talking points. Independent Senator Bernie Sanders (Vermont) quickly sent out a fundraising letter asking for support against what he called "right wing reactionaries" that led to the Arizona shootings. Couldn't he wait until the bodies were buried?
There were many stories of bravery in the aftermath of last Saturday's murders. And the one that we'd like to highlight is that of Daniel Hernandez Jr., a 20-year-old intern who just started working for Giffords January 3. His presence of mind and quick thinking likely helped save Giffords's life. Hernandez, who is Latino and openly gay, is a member of the Tucson Commission for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues. On that Saturday morning, just a few days on the job, he exemplified humanity at its best during a crisis.
The unassuming Hernandez has done several media interviews in which he has stressed that he just wanted to help the injured. He saw Giffords had been shot and rushed over to help.
It's heroism like Hernandez's that are far more significant than Palin's latest tweet or Facebook posting. He put his own life on the line that day, which is more than we can say for most of the pundits who have been filling the airwaves with nonsense.
A Supreme opportunity
Governor Jerry Brown hadn't even been in office a week when he was presented with an opportunity to make an appointment to the California Supreme Court. Last week, Associate Justice Carlos Moreno announced that he is stepping down, effective at the end of February. Moreno, who gave up a lifetime appointment on the federal bench when he was tapped by former Governor Gray Davis, is the court's only Democrat. He leaves behind a distinguished legacy that includes being the only justice to dissent in the court's 2009 decision that upheld Proposition 8, the state's same-sex marriage ban.
It's crucial that Brown fill the seat with a Democrat. And, as we wrote last summer when Chief Justice Ronald George announced his retirement and presented then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger with his second appointment, it is also time for an openly LGBT justice.
Equality California has also urged Brown to fill the vacancy with an out LGBT judge. At the superior court level there are out LGBT judges in several counties, including San Francisco, Alameda, and Contra Costa.
There will be a lot of pressure on Brown to nominate a Latino. Moreno was the first Latino to be named to the state's high court, and Latinos make up 37 percent of the state's population, according to the 2010 census. The San Francisco Daily Journal, a legal newspaper, noted this week that Brown likely would need to look beyond the traditional recruiting ground of the state appellate courts for a Latino appointee. The same can also be said for an LGBT nominee. In a state that has been dominated in recent years by Republican governors, the fact is that the bench is full of Republican appointees many of whom do not reflect the diversity of the state's citizens.
Brown can add to the diversity of the bench in several ways with this opportunity; we urge him to consider LGBT candidates.