I've never been a fan of the term. In the past 10 years it's been overused almost to the point of meaninglessness. But sometimes, it can be the most suitable word for an especially heinous act. The word definitely sprang to my mind when my phone buzzed this morning, informing me of the attack upon and later death of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and several others at a community political event.

While the motivation for this crime has yet to be determined, the purposeful location (Congress on the Corner event) and method of injury (multiple shootings from near point blank range) lead me to believe it was politically motivated. Giffords has been identified as a target of Tea Party anti-campaigning.

So why is this so important? The problem is the level of discourse in this country has fallen to the point where people will go so far as to physically attack our elected representatives. All the while thinking they're striking a blow for liberty, the founding fathers, the constitution, or whatever. This is insanity, and cynical as I am, I had assumed America was past that. Hopefully I'm proved wrong, and this has nothing to do with politics. Because if I'm not, this is more than a personal attack, it's a shot aimed at our form of democracy as a whole.