On January 8, 2011, a man enjoying a Saturday and a child were gunned down by a criminal, intent on making a name for himself. Was this the act of a susceptible individual who had been tortured and driven to commit such a heinous crime by the “hate-filled” political rhetoric manufactured by the news media, radio, cable or the internet?
Ask someone from Lakeland, Florida. That is where this tragedy played out.
Juan Castillo, age 19 was shot and killed and his 11-year old little brother, Jake, was critically wounded in a drive-by shooting at their home. A known gang member, Alejandro Baez Garcia has been arrested, confessed and charged with first-degree murder. According to a release from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Baez-Garcia and four other gang members targeted a bicyclist wearing rival gang colors riding in front of the Castillo house just as Baez-Garcia commenced firing a small-caliber handgun.
This is crime in America. It is no different than crime in Arizona despite the fact that the President, the Governor, Congressmen from other States or an Indian Shaman didn’t appear in Lakeland to console the victim’s parents. Ask yourself these questions:
Are Juan’s parents any less distraught or grieved than the relatives or friends of the victims in Arizona?
Do you think the shooter, Baez-Garcia, can even spell rhetoric?
Do you believe that any kind of gun control would have prevented Baez-Garcia from obtaining a weapon or limited his clip capacity?
Do you want your government to decide what rhetoric is acceptable and what rhetoric holds some subliminal imagery that is politically incorrect?
Rhetoric based on fact is not the problem. The problem is that your television, newspaper, radio or internet connection doesn’t come with a lie-detector option.
The media, once again, is creating a “National” event of a local incident. This incident was caused, not by any political discourse, but by an individual who only had a desire to see his name and face in the media. The fact that all media, including Fox, felt that every nuance of the event had to be scrutinized, and that all government took the week off, demonstrated that few are really seeing what is important in America. This is a tragedy, but no more of one than any individual getting gunned down by any brainless idiot that can get their hands on a weapon. This does not call for ‘Gun Control’ other than what it would take to immediately stand Jerod Loughner against a wall and rid society of a cancer by taking him, or the Florida perps, or anyone else that feels that an individual needs to die in order to make a name for himself, get initiated into a gang, etc. This would come under the heading of “swift and just conviction”