"The search for a scapegoat is the easiest of all hunting expeditions"

Those words in the titled were uttered by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and have hit home in the last few days since the tragedy in Tucson. Having been less than 5 miles away when the shooting happened and pulling to the side of the road when sheriff deputies were speeding to the scene, I was shocked when I heard what happened. For a city of significant size, Tucson is a rather quiet city. I was in town visiting my girlfriend for the weekend and we were shopping and about to go to lunch at the shopping center where the shooting happened. We were planning to go to the tasty Beyond Bread for lunch which is located in the Safeway shopping center where the shooting took place. Obviously we never made it.

As is common in events like this, people have been searching for blame. Some like the sheriff of Pinal County blames the rhetoric and dialogue that has been taking place in the country over the last few years. Others blame Sarah Palin and her "cross hairs" web page during the campaign which placed a target on Rep. Giffords district. The blame lies in one place and that is with the deranged perpetrator of this crime Jared Lee Loughner.

However, I do have to agree with the sentiments of the sheriff. The 24 hour news media cycle which dominates our tv and computers screens and the ease with which people believe thirty second sound bytes has led to a lot of nasty rhetoric and angry people. Some of it legitimate and some of it misplaced. This person acted alone and is to be blamed alone but the media and political leaders in this country need to look within themselves and feel a sense of culpability. Whether it is a drive for viewership (which translates to money) or political power (which means more money), this country is headed in the wrong direction. To me two things need to happen to get this country back towards right direction but I have my doubts as to if either is ever possible. First people need to become informed and actually give a dam. Get up to date on current events. Stop getting all your facts from only one source and actually read/watch multiple sources and do your own research. Don't believe the hype or the 30 second sound bytes. Look beyond the candidates and figure out who makes those campaign commercials and actually read the sites of both candidates to get accurate information on where they stand on issues. Second is to have serious campaign finance reform. Way too much money is involved in politics from lobbysists and PACS to individual and corporate donors who buy influence. The ever growing partisan supreme court didn't help matters on this early last year. I personally feel that politicians should not be allowed to take any money from donors or lobbyists. The government should come up with some plan to pay for elections. Washington is constantly up for sale and has been for years and with the recent ruling by the supreme court will only make it worse. Stopping the flow of money is truly the only way to have serious and positive change. I truly believe this. Why haven't we had serious health care reform, gun control reform, and environmental reform? Easy answer is money. What else could it be...