Tucson tragedy

[joester]

as an Arizona resident, I somehow feel compelled to post something here, maybe to re-assure the world (and myself?) that the entire state here is not completely crazy. we offer our sincere condolences to the families of those killed Saturday morning, and we share the grief of the survivors. stop the hatred, and please stop the killing.

[Karen]

Sharing your sadness, joester. It's especially heart-wrenching to hear the pain in the voice of that little girl's father. I don't know what else to say.

[eric]

Thanks for posting this Joe. That story is a shock to everyones system. just a random act of psycho violence that has nothing to do with Arizona as a place to live or 99.99 percent of the people there. You guys will have to come together and rise above all this down there. Someone told me last night that the grandfather of the little girl that died is Dallas Greene who was the coach for the NY Mets at one time. i actually think i have met that guy once or twice. amazing how these things are all connected, its almost like sept 11th in that aspect. this is the price we pay for freedom unfortunately

[Tekawitha]

I feel for everyone: the couple who had married 55 years and the wife was killed; the good politician who did listen to her constituents; the young girl who was born on 9/11 and wanted to serve her country;those that witnessed this tragedy; the state of Arizona; the family of the young man who perpetrated this horror; etc. Unforunately, we still don't have a viable system to intercept those who have become fringe citizens - until they commit a crime we allow them the same freedoms as the saner citizenry.
When I used to give piano lessons, I would tell the students how we all, as musicians, focus on the wrong note [s] we hit, when in reality an entire piece might contain thousands of notes to play! Perhaps this analogy applies to Arizonans - this was a bad note...or, chord...but the bulk of the citizenry is quality, well-played folks!

[Snowbird]

Sharing your sadness, joester. It's especially heart-wrenching to hear the pain in the voice of that little girl's father. I don't know what else to say.

I have no words really. Karen said it best, and Tek's words of wisdom and upbeat hope shine through. Thinking of you and all of us too . . .

[wags]

I guess I hope if anything comes out of this madness, it will be that we need to take better care of each other. The shooter showed signs of strange behavior in school and yet was never taken aside to see if he needed help. I hope the mental health programs in states receive better funding. I hope the assault weapons ban gets voted back into law. I hope that we tax ammunition more for those trying to purchase arms. Basically I'm hopeful that we will one day realize that we don't need pain and hurt and death to make a point. Communication is key to stopping violence, my prayers and hopes are with everyone as we question why things of this nature continue to happen to innocent people.