"On Thursday, Gabby Giffords rose in the House of Representatives to read the First Amendment to the Constitution. On Saturday, she was gunned down by one of her constituents. Giffords held "Congress on Your Corner" outside a Tucson grocery, something she has regularly done to talk face to face with the public, not all of whom supported her. The interchange of views and information is precious to me, nothing is more symbolic of that than the First Amendment and Giffords' commitment to dialog with her community. Nothing is more offensive to me than efforts to cut that off, the ultimate means of silencing an adversary being assassination. The vituperation we've seen in politics is, in and of itself, a means of cutting off the conversations that are needed to move this society and this nation forward. That the vitriol that has become so common can inspire the weak-minded to physical harm and even murder is something we should be concerned with. Please, we are not Enemies!"
~G Armour Van Horn
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