Last year’s shenanigans surrounding Pastor Terry Jones’ wish to burn the Koran on the day marking 11 September have all but been forgotten. The action of this solitary man and his eccentric congregation reminded many that fundamentalism, religious or not, is still alive and kicking in the corridors of the American psyche.

The 8 January shooting in Tucson, Arizona is a stark reminder of these ongoing tensions that still divide Americans, be they modern or traditional, Democratic or Republican, Conservative or Liberal, red or blue. Nineteen people were shot, six of them fatally, one of them a nine-year-old girl, during an open meeting US Representative Gabrielle Giffords was holding with members of her constituency in a Casas Adobes supermarket parking lot. She was shot through the head at point-blank range and her medical condition remains to this day critical. The lone gunman, 22-year-old Tucson man Jared Lee Loughner, was arrested at the scene. Loughner has been described as strange and his motives remain unclear and steeped in mystery.

Clearly, Congresswoman Gifford was the target of the attack. Americans were clearly distressed by the terrible events. The President did not mince his words. Barack Obama called the shooting an “unspeakable tragedy”, adding that “such a senseless and terrible act of violence has no place in a free society”. Yet beyond the apparent immediate and unfortunate implications of the event are a number of profound issues that are plaguing America at this time.

The shooting took place in an acrimonious political climate. Pundits quickly point out that these tensions are nowhere like those of the 1860s (American Civil War), or for that matter the 1960s racial uprisings. But it has become blatantly clear that the divide between Republicans and Democrats is at a very low point, becoming increasingly bitter as parties engage in endless media wars and caustic language and imagery. Many have sought to blame the Tucson tragedy on these ongoing tensions.

America’s mid-term elections were a blow to Obama’s continued aspirations. Middle America is feeling the chill of a protracted recession during which millions have lost their jobs and many have lost their homes. This year alone an estimated one million homeowners will lose their homes, victims of the recession that is slowly, but very slowly abating. The mid-term elections were the high point for Republican ex-Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Palin was the front for the Tea Party, a movement created within the Republican ranks. The outcome of these elections was a success for the Tea Party candidates and created out of many established Democrat incumbents.

All this has come at a price. The electioneering was intense and virulent. Tough imagery such as the use of rifle cross hairs were used to ‘target’ people like Giffords. She was not only in pictures but cited as a clear ‘target’ of the movement. Giffords had prophetically stated that this violent imagery could lead to horrible consequences. As expected, the opposition was quick to blame Palin for the massacre.

Obviously this is patently unfair. To blame Sarah Palin for the actions of this evidently mentally disturbed gunman reduces the argument to an absurd conclusion. On the other hand, the violent imagery of ‘targets’ and ‘reloading’ uncover a form of political unpreparedness by the same Palin. Unfortunately, Palin refuses to comment on her actions and deems regret as unnecessary. This continues to stoke the fires of discord. Palin is also insisting that she is being victimised by an unyielding Left that is capitalising on the events.

To put it mildly, President Barack is caught between a rock and a hard place. Evidently taking sides would make matters worse. Probably his speech at nine-year-old victim Christina Green’s funeral reveals some of Obama Barack’s apprehensions and dilemmas. Obama stands in the middle of a struggle that sees America struggle between reform and the status quo. Between the old and the new, between fundamentalist and modernist. It is no mean feat for this first African-American President to bridge these divides without risking events getting out of hand in an ugly way.

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