The shooting in Orlando was murder, not a political rally.
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| Today's NY Times |
The Guest Post today reminds readers that the shootings early yesterday morning in Orlando was the shooting and deaths of over fifty people.
Yesterday I had noted that the candidates, interest groups, and news media were grasping at data as it emerged in breaking news hoping to frame the event to political advantage. A story in todays NY Times elaborates on that point. Click here for the story
Meanwhile, Donald Trump, live via telephone on Fox News this morning, condemned Obama for not calling the murders an act of Islam, criticized Hillary for contemplating additional Middle East refugees, and said the murder was proof of inadequate "strength" and internal surveillance. Trump called on Obama to resign the presidency in disgrace.
He tweeted: "Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I don't want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance. We must be smart!"In his Fox News telephone interview Trump said he was canceling the planned rally in New Hampshire today for reasons of propriety and the seriousness of the Orlando tragedy. It would be "too soon" to have a rally, he repeated several times.
"I said this was going to happen--and it is only going to get worse. . . . {W}e will have no way to screen them, pay for them, or prevent the second generation from radicalizing."
Hillary Clinton awoke yesterday and tweeted that information was coming in and she was shocked but would wait until more was known, and later called the murders an "act of terror" and an "act of hate." Then she issued a statement:
"For now, we can say for certain that we need to redouble our efforts to defend our country from threats at home and abroad. That means defeating international terror groups, working with allies and partners to go after them wherever they are, countering their attempts to recruit people here and everywhere, and hardening our defenses at home. To the LGBT community: please know that you have millions of allies across our country. I am one of them. We will keep fighting for your right to live freely, openly and without fear. Hate has absolutely no place in America."
The tone of the two candidates differ: Trump is triumphant: I told you Muslims are killers. We need action, change, strength. Hillary is resolute and firm but mindful of domestic and international audiences. Trump is blunt; Hillary is measured, thorough. Tweets suit Trump; Hillary issued a statement.
But as the candidates position themselves Guyer brings us back to the reality that the hospitals are scrambling to save the injured, there is a call for blood donors, and the morgues are busy.
Guest Post by Thad Guyer:
The toll of our lost brothers, and maybe even some sisters, will be heart wrenching and convulsing. I dread my responsibility to let the individual biographies wash over me. But that is our responsibility, first and foremost, to take stock of how we as people have been diminished. In 72 hours, “gay” will be the least of the descriptors that matter about our fallen.
As this blog noted yesterday, the first stage of public comment to this tragedy has fixated on blame allocation and political narrative. On night and day one, tweets and news updates will have been mere and often crass reactionary comment, but not discourse.
The media will scour for whatever information and data might approximate reportable fact. That will be the dignity of journalism, but it will quickly be coopted by political filters, as editors influenced by the pundits they employ must decide exactly what this will ultimately be about—allocation of political and cultural points. Some outlets will put the word “Islam” in bold font, other outlets will actively suppress that label.
Peter Sage could not have said it more starkly, been more unvarnished, looked at it more objectively. His blog is loyal to the concept of “up close”. He surveyed, intuitively sifted and categorized exactly what were our first impulses: How does this effect Hillary, Trump, gun control and other culture war agendas? It is, he says, when you look at first reactions up close, a point system. It is a tally of tweets and posts, an obsessive scouring of headlines and bylines for the latest morsels of facts that can be weighted into points. Out of the blood in Orlando, points will be allocated by voters proportionately, and every constituency will get or lose some with each new revelation. But no winner will take all.
Orlando, Sunday, June 12, 2016 will be yet another eulogy for American civility. All are punished.
Peter Sage’s blog post this morning on the politics of mass murder chronicles America’s accelerating departure from being a civil nation. First the politics, then the eulogy for our fallen. In coming days, we will learn from featured obituaries, presented in groups of five, seven or ten, telling us just whom we have lost. This tally will be staggering, and filled with the curriculum vitae of men for whom sexual preference will be as irrelevant as our own sexual preferences are. We will ultimately grieve community leaders, brave veterans, men who rose to confront bigotry to protect others, great fathers, men of accomplishment, artists and creative men of vision.