Congressional Staff Gabe Zimmerman murdered in the assassination attempt on Gabrielle Giffords' life.

 

I got off the phone, a while ago, with a good friend of the Giffords family. I could hear his tears. He, mine.

"Gabe was such a wonderful guy," he said.

I felt sadder hearing this, but I wasn't surprised by my friend's kind words regarding Mr. Zimmerman. Gabby, herself, is a very kind, loving and lovable U.S. Congresswoman, who reaches across the aisle often, works hard for her constituents and is loved, or at least liked, by every one who ever met her. It hardly surprises me that Gabe Zimmerman, one of her congressional staffers, was as wonderful as her.

Tonight, I too, am proud to be a Pima County Democrat for the first time in ages, because a man who I've voted for, for decades, spoke a hard truth at a press conference, just an hour or so ago.

"Arizona has become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry," said Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik. "Many in talk radio," he said (and I'm paraphrasing to some degree here), "...and some in TV news speak such vitriolic rhetoric now. They incite the mentally unstable and this is what happens." When questioned about free speech in the media, Clarence replied "That may be free speech, but it doesn't come without consequences." Near the end of the press conference he stated, "We soon won't be able to find decent people to run for public office."

I was a civil servant for 11 years, in Criminal Justice. Gabby being shot and a very good judge being murdered hits me in about five different places, one of them being as a ex-civil servant.

Continued prayers, I ask, for all of us in Pima County. Political divides means nothing tonight. Rich, poor, middle class; right, left or center, we are all grieving Tucsonans this evening, and we will continue to grieve for many days and nights to come.

So send good thoughts to us, you StuBlog readers. We could really use the love.

I stand on my balcony, gazing at the twinkling lights of The Tucson Basin. I raise my hand to the sky. I can feel the sadness, the love too, and more sadness.

 

 

Comments

[Terri Windling]

The sheriff's honest, wise words over the couple of days have made me proud to have voted for him. I'm sure he'll get flak from hate-mongerers in the media, who seem to be feeling mighty defensive right now, but I hope that he knows Tucsonans (and ex-pat Tucsonans like me) stand firmly behind him.