Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Looking For Answers In Tuscon

A new CNN poll on America's reaction to the Tuscon shooting contains some interesting numbers:

  • 52% of Americans think gun control laws deserve a great deal or moderate amount of the blame for the tragedy, 48% feel the same way about political rhetoric, only 35% think Sarah Palin had much of anything to do with it, but 70% thought the resources available to deal with the mentally ill played a significant role in the shooting.
  • 54% of Americans think violent rhetoric will either very likely or somewhat likely cause another incident like this in the future.
    70% of Americans think politicians will behave for a few weeks or months but go back on the attack soon.
  • 53% think if found guilty, Jared Loughner deserves the death penalty, 43% would rather see him serve life without parole.
  • 66% of Americans polled think another incident like this will happen no matter what is doen by government or society to try to prevent it from happening again.

That last one I think is the most depressing.  We're a pretty cynical people when it comes to shootings and gun violence, it turns out...and rightly so.

The good news out of all this is that Gabby Giffords' doctors are actively talking about her release from the hospital and into a rehabilitation facility, possibly in a matter of "days to weeks".  That would be just the beginning of a brutal journey to get back to being able to move and speak on her own again, but just being able to make that journey is a miracle in and of itself.

Glad to have something to balance the cynicism.

1 comment:

bughunter said...

At least CNN links directly to the full report that includes the questions asked. I dug around for 15 minutes last week and didn't find such a link for the CBS poll.

But, just like after the Adkisson shooting, I still suspect that the poll results are more a reflection of the effectiveness of the media coverage than anything else.

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