Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Presented her Letter of Resignation Today

Although I do hope that this resignation represents just a break in her service to her country, I can't help but think back to the early reports from the day of that attack and the erroneous report that she had been killed--it is amazing that she is still with us, and a testament to the medical care that she has received and her own efforts to recover.

That said, I also reflect on the political climate that was in part attributed as a cause in the brutal events of that day. It is true that the person who enacted that day of terror, Jared Lee Loughner, is by no means a healthy person. But I also suspect that there's something about our political culture that is not healthy either, and it asserts itself in ways that are threatening:

JEFFERSON CITY — Orange stickers with an image of rifle cross hairs were found yesterday on the office nameplates of several Democratic state senators, prompting an investigation by Missouri Capitol Police, Senate Administrator Jim Howerton said.



“We are taking all the precautions we can,” Howerton said.


One similar sticker was found on the nameplate outside the door of state Rep. Scott Dieckhaus, R-Washington. He was the only Republican and the only House member who found one of the stickers.

The stickers were near the doors of all four Democratic women in the Senate — Jolie Justus and Kiki Curls, both of Kansas City, and Maria Chapelle-Nadal and Robin Wright-Jones, both of St. Louis. A sticker also was found near the door of Sen. Victor Callahan, D-Kansas City and the Democrats’ floor leader.

and even vicious:

CBS News) An Arkansas political campaign manager was shocked to discover his family pet with one side of its head bashed in -- and the word "liberal" scribbled across the corpse in paint.


Jacob Burris has served as Ken Aden's campaign manager since October 2011. Aden, a Democrat, is currently running for Arkansas' 3rd Congressional District.

"To kill a child's pet is just unconscionable," Aden said in an official statement. "As a former combat soldier, I've seen the best of humanity and the worst of humanity. Whoever did this is definitely part of the worst of humanity."

I am proud of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords for her struggle to get well, her return to the House last year to cast a vote regarding the debt ceiling, her hard, but correct decision now to concentrate on her own self-care so that she can be a better public servant another day, but I also worry about others who might someday face a similar tragedy because all too often, the language that gets used regarding politics turns to the apocalyptic and martial. It's too easy at times to substitute the idea of "enemy" for "opponent". And yet, as we saw in that clip--the touching, human, bittersweet sadness of seeing a colleague whose career has been interrupted so violently, is shared across the aisles. It's not a war in there or any political assembly--it's just human beings of differing opinions, mostly trying to figure out the ways to do what's best for their constituents. I don't think that should be forgotten, and I wouldn't mind it if more leadership was shown in the area of speaking to reason--not raw emotion, anger, and fear. Our dialog has to be about meaning, not mayhem, or democracy can't work as it should. We would just have power vs power, trick vs dirty trick--and the reasons, the personal issues, or as Debbie Wasserman-Schultz alluded--"family and friends are everything"--well, that gets lost. And we get bad legislation and we live with it because the good politicians are scared.

I'd rather we fought as brothers and sisters and talked like reasonable people. And those who would try and introduce terror to our democracy--can go and do some very complex and obscene thing with themselves. But they really should leave our democracy alone.