In The Aftermath of Newtown
After publishing this on my Facebook page, I received messages encouraging me to share these views with the Examiner community. – Adam Stone, Publisher
I know there are sharply divergent opinions on the actions that need to be taken in reaction to the slaughter in Newtown. But it struck me tonight that all reasonable people can agree that our elected leaders, of all ideological stripes, are morally obligated to unambiguously state — state clearly and loudly — what action they are going to take to help make this country a safer place for our kids and then follow up those words with action. Let’s do our part in monitoring that our well-meaning public servants make commitments to this cause, and then let’s monitor that their actions match their rhetoric. If they’re for tighter gun laws, and you’re for tighter gun laws, make sure they lead on the issue, not just distribute a press release. If they’re for addressing our violent popular culture, and you’re for addressing our violent popular culture, make sure they lead on the issue, and not just provide a few token soundbites. Same goes for mental health issues or whatever associated issue you might feel most passionately about. Keep serious tabs in the critical days, weeks and months ahead. And, to be sure, the days, weeks and months ahead are the most critical time on this.
I also think one absolutely vital thing for us all to remember, if you get dispirited by our inability to fix the entire problem, is how, as the saying goes, the perfect need not be the enemy of the good. There’s no panacea so let’s all work towards taking the steps we’re able to take, and take pride in even a baby step you want to advocate that’ll help advance even modest progress. As for a constructive role Examiner Media can play here in the immediate future, we are contacting all of our elected state officials (among many other stakeholders) this week. We’ll be publishing their comments ASAP. Martin Wilbur, Pat Casey, Faith Ann Butcher and Rick Pezzullo are working the story. I’ll post it here to Facebook when it’s ready to go and we’ll print it in all four newspapers next week. Please join us — civilly always, please — in demanding action. We’re not an advocacy media organization. But this is no time to stand on ceremony. We will play our part, however small, and I ask you all to as well. I’ve never before written anything remotely like this here on social media but I think, as far as this issue goes, we all have to play a part. The political leaders have a moral obligation but so do we.
I’ll just also end by saying that I know social media, for whatever reason, sometimes invites otherwise good-natured people to make nasty comments behind the safety of a computer screen; digs and verbal cut downs many of them wouldn’t make face-to-face. Because I personally think that type of dialogue poisons the process, just take that elsewhere if that’s your inclination as this conversations continues. I’ll also say that although we can sometimes be cynical about our political leaders (sometimes rightfully so) this is a time to know a great many of them are, at the end of the day, in it to do good. They can be some of our most effective agents of desperately needed change and will unquestionably be well served to have you hold them to account. We all won’t be able to agree on the policies. And that can be frustrating. But I think it’s safe to say most people of good will can agree that total inaction is unacceptable and we can, despite some unbridgeable differences, join together in searching for solutions, and then play our unique part–small, medium or large–in helping to see those solutions through.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.
