Revolution #223, January 23, 2011
On the Arizona Shootings:
On Saturday, January 8, a gunman opened fire at a “meet your congresswoman” event at a Tucson, Arizona supermarket. Six people were killed and the congresswoman, Representative Gabrielle Giffords, was seriously injured.
At this time, it is impossible to say much definitively about the motivation of the shooter and about the meaning of the incident. Whether or how this fits into a whole atmosphere of violent intimidation that has been deliberately stoked by the fascist movement in American politics and which has found particular expression in Arizona—though it is far from limited to there—is something that has to be further investigated.
One thing that is clear is that different forces within the ruling class are putting forward different interpretations of this incident and generally utilizing it to advance their own agendas, and the struggle over the meaning of this event will be part of setting terms for the period ahead. This has real importance, and we will continue to speak to this as more becomes clear.
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