Is freedom next victim?

After watching hours of nonstop coverage of the attack on Arizona Rep. Giffords’ gathering, I’m dismayed by the direction pundits are taking the discussion. It seems the discourse ranges from finding ways to temper or prevent the tone of public political discussion to identifying and pre-emptively sequestering the mentally unstable to the inevitable debate on access to guns.

It is an unfortunate fact that attacks on public servants have occurred in the past and even more so that they will happen in the future. This reality is but one of many unintended consequences of a free society. However, restricting even the tone of speech, the right to defend oneself or, more chilling, granting the state the right to incarcerate those they deem to be unstable before they clearly demonstrate an inability to function in public or commit a crime will do nothing but exacerbate the angst of those obsessed to the point of insanity over perceived and real government intrusions. Making us less free is never the answer.

Eric Morris

Spokane