Dear Editor:
After addressing one response to my letters of Jan. 14 and 16, I hope to reply to Joy Keisling who also differed with my opinions.
Ms. Keisling's objections comprise easier categories because some mimic the assertions of Beck, Hannity, Limbaugh and Palin. Her assertion that my logic requires censorship of video games, horror movies and rap music is premised upon equating "entertainment" with political discourse encouraging the use of a gun as a political tool as Sarah Palin, Sharron Angle, Joyce Kaufman and Glen Beck have.
There's no parity. Additionally, parents have responsibilities and prerogatives here, should they choose to exercise them.
Obama's statement to bring a gun if the opposition brings a knife has been the oft-repeated defense of "you did it too." To be clear, I don't care who uses language endorsing violence against the political opposition. The choice is injudicious at best or verges on criminal irresponsibility. The same applies to the allegation that Democrats years back used target images of some kind on Republican Districts.
As for unsubstantiated allegation that someone on our "side" shot at a presumably conservative target, I would urge Ms. Keisling to check her facts. The Republican opponent of Congresswoman Giffords, Jesse Kelly, held fundraisers urging supporters to help him remove Giffords by joining him in shooting a fully loaded M16 at a Giffords' target. That is fact.
Ms. Keisling's statement that neither Palin nor Democrats with their "targets" intended harm misses the point. The issue is not intent - at least I hope so - but rather recognition that, in a population of 300,000,000, thousands of psychologically damaged individuals such as Loughner are just waiting for the spark justifying murder as political statement. Do we deny any obligation before we urge that guns are the solution?
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Ms. Keisling appeals to the sacrifices of our military and the freedoms preserved for Sarah, Glenn, Rush and myself. I hope we can find a nobler justification for those sacrifices than the need to promote death and violence as legitimate political tools.
Unmentioned is Loughner's reading material allegedly indicating "lefty" loyalties. Simply, the fact that he read Karl Marx and Mein Kampf indicates how confused this individual was.
History amply demonstrates that fascists and communists hate each other. Read "The Devil's Disciples" and "Stalin, The Court of the Red Tsar." Actually, Loughner's favorite was science-fiction author Philip Dick whose writings characterize big government and big business as ultimate villains.