One of the most disturbing things about the American public\u2019s reaction to the recent theater shooting in Aurora was the speed at which the tragedy was politicized, snapped up by partisan pundits and reduced to a debate about gun control. I know this is a presidential election year, but have we no sensitivity to the families and communities immediately impacted by this tragedy? Have we no grief that this is only the most recent in a abysmally long series of shootings that have rocked our nation over the last two decades?<\/p>\n
To lament a situation like Aurora means to be engaged with and attentive to not only those people deeply pained by the event, but also to that which has caused the pain. Aurora, of course, is not the first time that our national politics has acted without really engaging the real issues that are inflicting pain on our populace. As the Occupy movement has been emphasizing in recent years, there\u2019s a lot of talk in Washington, but very little actually gets done to address the most pressing concerns of the middle and lower classes that daily cause significant pain and grief. Indeed, the current dissatisfaction that many people feel with both parties is rooted in the parties\u2019 lack of careful attention to the real sorts of issues that are causing pain and grief among large sectors of the American populace.<\/p>\n