Tragedy in AZ

There are no words to truly express the tragedy that occurred in Tucson earlier today/yesterday. I just wanted to say that my thoughts are with the victims and their families. It's still shocking, even after all the poisonous words in our public discourse the past few years, that something like that would happen. It strikes at the core of our values as a democratic nation, that something as earnest and routine as meeting with your representative can end so horrifically. That a Federal Judge can be stopping by after church to say hello and a nine year old girl, recently elected to her student council body and invited by her neighbor for a learning experience in democracy can suddenly not be with us anymore. One of the most important aspects of a republic like ours is trust, and I feel like that is rapidly dissolving.

We can disagree without being disagreeable.

Please let someone good come out of this tragedy. Please let us learn that we cannot replace civil political debate with violent rhetoric. Please let us learn.