Ugly Online Debate Over Giffords

The shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is, of course, both heartbreaking and depressing. It’s been years since our country has been through the trauma of a political assassination attempt, and it’s no wonder that even the suggestion of one puts us on edge and stokes our fears. Nevertheless, the sane and rational approach to such an event is to stop, take a deep breath, listen to the facts—and above all, to condemn violence in the harshest possible terms. That, however, was not the immediate reaction of many Americans, as anyone who was surfing the news Saturday morning is aware.