|
Bringing people together, not driving
them apart |
|
October 27, 2017 |
By U.S. Congressman Raul Labrador
President Reagan used to say, “America is great
because America is good; and if she ever ceases
to be good, she will cease to be great.” In the
last month, we have seen both the goodness and
greatness of America in the face of tragedy –
the destruction wrought by Hurricane Maria, and
then the worst mass shooting in modern American
history.
Last week, I talked about how the American
people are coming together to aid Puerto Rico in
their time of need, overcoming the shameful and
divisive rhetoric of Democrat politicians,
liberal activists, and biased reporters.
This week, I want to focus on the Las Vegas
tragedy and how the response to what happened
there shows the best of America, the worst of
our politics, and how our political system
should be working to bring people together, not
driving them apart.
As many of you know, I lived in Las Vegas for
four years, from age 13 to 17, and the city will
always be close to my heart. In the aftermath of
the shooting, I heard from high school friends
who work as first responders there.
One of them is a police officer who was at the
scene of the shooting and was running towards
the fire and saving lives, while others were
running away. Another is a captain in the local
fire department who was called in to respond
immediately after the shooting. Another is a
police detective who investigated the scene of
the crime for hours immediately after the
shooting. And another is a mental health
specialist who spent her days after the shooting
at the Las Vegas Convention Center helping the
victims who were traumatized by what happened.
These men and women are true heroes. They have
dedicated their lives – and in many cases, put
their lives in danger – to help their fellow
Americans in times of crisis and suffering.
In Vegas, we also saw everyday people doing
their part, trying to help in any way that they
can. The most famous example: people in Vegas
waiting in line for hours to donate blood to
those who were wounded by the attacker. This is
inspiring, but also symbolic of the American
character – from Idaho to Las Vegas to Puerto
Rico, and all the places in between: When our
friends, neighbors, and even strangers are
suffering, our first instinct is to ask “How can
I help?” and then we do everything we can to
make things right.
As Reagan said, the American people are great
because they are good.
But, sadly, too many parts of our political
system are trapped in a false “us versus them”
mentality, using tragedies like Hurricane Maria
and the Las Vegas shooting to score political
points at a time when unity and compassion are
essential.
Less than nine hours after the shooting, Hillary
Clinton politicized the horror when she tweeted:
“Imagine the deaths if the shooter had a
silencer, which the NRA wants to make easier to
get.”
Around the same time, Chris Murphy, a Democrat
Senator from Connecticut, issued a profane call
for “Congress to get off its a-- and do
something.”
I’m sure politicizing the horror made Clinton,
Murphy and their supporters feel good. But what
does casting aspersions on the NRA and
Republicans in Congress actually accomplish?
On “Face the Nation,” Democratic Senator Dianne
Feinstein admitted that no law could have
stopped the shooter in Vegas, who passed
background checks multiple times.
That’s true.
In fact, after the San Bernardino shooting of
2015, the Washington Post’s fact checker
confirmed that proposed gun laws would not have
stopped any of the 12 mass shootings from
Newtown to San Bernardino. This is why some gun
control supporters who have bothered to study
the issue have had a change of heart.
This month, the Post ran an op-ed by
statistician Leah Libresco titled, “I used to
think gun control was the answer. My research
told me otherwise.”
It’s an important piece – taking a statistical
approach to the debate over gun control.
While most Americans think facts should be an
important part of our political process, many
Democrats in Washington have a different
perspective; they don’t want to be confused by
the facts. They just want to make their
opponents look bad.
This is awful by itself, but what makes it even
worse is when liberal activists regurgitate
their leaders’ divisive rhetoric and take it up
a notch.
The best example is Hayley Geftman-Gold, a
lawyer for CBS, who wrote on Facebook the
morning after the shooting: “If [the
Republicans] wouldn’t do anything when children
were murdered [in Newtown] I have no hope that
the Repugs will ever do the right thing. I’m
actually not even sympathetic [because] country
music fans often are Republican gun toters.”
What would inspire anyone to have this type of
reaction, I have no idea. It’s beyond the pale.
But it’s another example of how many liberals in
today’s America mentally process every event
(even one as tragic as Vegas) as a soapbox for
moral preening and to attack those who have
different political opinions as moral failures.
Even comedians can’t help themselves. While the
best comedians use comedy to place a mirror in
front of society and help us reflect, these days
we’re seeing comedians use their platforms to
lecture us on their moral superiority.
To take one example, less than 24 hours after
the shooting, alleged comedian Jimmy Kimmel
opened his talk show with a 10-minute rant about
gun control. Ignoring his instincts – “I want
this to be a comedy show” – Kimmel nevertheless
lectured his audience, saying Second Amendment
supporters “should be praying for God to forgive
them for letting the gun lobby run this
country.”
Perhaps Kimmel should ask his audience to
forgive him. Most Americans turn to late-night
comedy as a respite from the headlines and to
unwind before a good night’s sleep.
Whether we’re Republicans, Democrats or
Independents, we don’t want politics to intrude
into every single corner of our lives.
And yet from Capitol Hill to late-night comedy,
from college classrooms to the NFL, liberals
keep trying to inject politics – and just their
politics, no one else’s – into every aspect of
American life. It needs to stop.
In the face of national tragedy, there should be
no place for partisan rancor. Rather, we should
come together as Americans, ready to help one
another and to rebuild after great loss.
To me, these are the most important lessons of
Hurricane Maria and Las Vegas. The American
people are amazing, and they deserve a political
system as good as they are. |
|
Questions or comments about this
article?
Click here to e-mail! |
|
|
|
|
