A Way To Help: An open Letter from U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren

It’s a calm, quiet day in Boston today. It’s difficult to believe that such horror filled our streets only a week ago.

Two times, bombs rocked the streets of Copley Square. Three lives were taken that day, and a law enforcement officer was killed just three days later. More than 260 people were wounded, many of whom remain hospitalized with amputations and other scars of tragedy.

I’ve heard from folks across the country, asking what they can do to help. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino have formed a fund to help the people most affected by these tragic events.

If you’re looking for a way to help, please consider making a donation to The One Fund Boston today.

During the Boston Marathon, everyone in our city cheers for each other. We help each other across the finish line. When terror struck, we acted as a family. Throughout the chaos, courageous people ran toward danger to help strangers in need.

Now we cry together. We pray together. We help each other.

No one can replace what we’ve lost here in Boston. But today, and in the weeks and months ahead, we’ll get through it together — through sorrow and anger, rehabilitation and recovery. That’s what families do.

The OFA family knows how to work together to accomplish amazing things. Let’s make a difference for the Boston Marathon victims.

Your donation will directly help the families who need it most.

Please make a donation now to The One Fund Boston:

http://my.barackobama.com/The-One-Fund

From West, Texas to Watertown, Massachusetts, we remember and honor the men, women, and children we lost last week. We help those whose lives will never be the same. And we thank our first responders, medical professionals, law enforcement officers, and National Guard for their heroic work.

I’m very proud of the people of Massachusetts for their strength, resolve, and courage. Bostonians are tough.

We are fighters — and we cannot be broken.

No matter where you live, thank you for being with us in our time of crisis and our time of healing. We run together.

Elizabeth

Elizabeth Warren
U.S. Senator, Massachusetts

Editors Note:
I an reposting this letter I received in my email for anyone that would like to help the survivors and their families of the Boston Marathon Bombings or the West, Texas Explosion. Please keep them all in in our thoughts and pays. Thank you.

Gun zealots: Shooting victims should stay out of debate

Editors Note:
This article by Alex Seilz-Wald was copied from Salon.com and shows just how far gun rights advocates and the NRA will go to try and stop any kind of proposed gun law change. As always please feel free to comment on this or any article appearing on this blog.

Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 09:00 AM EDT

Clipped from: http://www.salon.com/2013/04/23/gun_zealots_shooting_victims_should_stay_out_of_debate/ Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 09:00 AM EDT

Former Rep. Gabby Giffords and Newtown families are props and bullies, gun rights absolutists explain

By Alex Seitz-Wald

Topics: Gabrielle Giffords, Guns, Gun Control, James Taranto, Wall Street Journal, Rand Paul, Newtown school shooting, News, Politics News

EnlargeFormer congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (Credit: Reuters/Samantha Sais)

James Taranto, who not only writes a column for the Wall Street Journal but also edits its opinion website, rightfully became the most hated man on Twitter yesterday afternoon for questioning whether former congresswoman Gabby Giffords could have possibly written the New York Times op-ed she published last week shortly after a gun control bill died in the Senate, considering how injured she remains after getting shot in the head two years ago.

Here’s Taranto parsing the forensics of her column-writing abilities on an NRA radio show Friday, caught by Media Matters’ Timothy Johnson yesterday:

TARANTO: One fascinating thing about this is this piece was published no later than 9:03 PM on Wednesday evening, because that’s when it first appears on the New York Times’ Twitter feed. The last Senate vote on amendments to the gun bill was a bit after 6 [PM]. Giffords appeared at the White House at 5:35 [PM] when we saw that enraged rant by the president. The Manchin-Toomey [background check] provision was the first vote. That was at 4:04 PM. So if you read this piece it’s presented as a cry from the heart, as Giffords’ personal reaction as somebody who’s been wounded by gun violence to the betrayal of these Senators. So we are supposed to believe that somehow in less than five hours a woman who has severe impairments of her motor and speech functions was able to produce 900 publishable words and put in an appearance in the White House in the course of it. So I think that’s a little bit odd.

Ironically, in a column Thursday, Taranto wagged his finger at Giffords for practicing “incivility and unreason.”

But it’s not just Taranto. From Sen. Rand Paul to small-time radio hosts, gun rights absolutists seem eager to dismiss gun violence victims and condemn them for daring the speak out.

The National Review’s Kevin Williamson criticized Giffords in a particularly ugly way saying, “it should be noted that being shot in the head by a lunatic does not give one any special grace to pronounce upon public-policy questions.” A Washington Times editorial that said Obama was “exploit[ing] the grief” of the Newtown families by “using them at every opportunity as props to make a political argument.” Breitbart’s Ben Shapiro likewise decried Obama for “exploitation of victims of violence using guns.” Another conservative blogger accused Giffords of “emotional bullying.”

Of course, Republican Paul called gun violence victims “props,” but even conservative Democrats were not above rejecting the right of victims to participate in the debate. “It’s dangerous to do any type of policy in an emotional moment,” said Alaska Democratic Sen. Mark Begich told the New York Times. “Because human emotions then drive the decision. Everyone’s all worked up. That’s not enough.”

A radio host in Minnesota even told gun violence victims to “go to hell.” “I’m sorry that you suffered a tragedy, but you know what? Deal with it, and don’t force me to lose my liberty, which is a greater tragedy than your loss,” said Bob Davis on AM 1130.

This camp seems to reject not only the arguments made by gun violence victims, but their right even have their voices heard. Or itassumes they’re feeble and easily manipulated by nefarious gun-grabbers — can they have no genuine opinions of their own? Imagine if these were the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks or the Boston Marathon bombing — would conservatives call them “props” too?

Meanwhile, gun owners are held up as the real victims of gun polices, whose voices must be heard and whose rights can never be infringed upon, even if they happen to be suspected terrorists. So if you want to be taken seriously by conservatives when discussing gun violence, make sure you don’t become directly affected by it.

Alex Seitz-Wald is Salon’s political reporter. Email him at aseitz-wald, and follow him on Twitter @aseitzwald.