Over the holiday break, I was back in Boston visiting family. Whilst there, a certain thought struck me about the new Speaker of the House, John Boehner. I was compelled to relate this thought to my sister, here in DC, via text. The following is the transcript of that conversation:

** Warning, this conversation is lacking in maturity and decency***

Me: From now on, I'm only going to refer to John Boehner as John Boner!

Sis: Actually, I prefer the Orange Crying Man.

Great minds sis, great minds...

And Mr. Boner the Orange Crying Man did not disappoint during the State of the Union. Cry, cry, cry. I used to find his weeping amusing and would have dared say that I admired that level of sensitivity and sentimentality coming from a male. However, I'd like to see what would happen to a female politician if she espoused the same qualities. She would be thought of as weak and criticized by the Cancer Society for her artificial tan.

Food for thought for a Friday.

I have been somewhat disgusted at those who have taken the opportunity to twist their diatribes to somehow pass as relevant commentary on the recent shooting tragedy in Tuscon.

I suppose I can now be counted as one of them.

I should first offer my heartfelt condolences for the family and friends of little Christina Green, Gabe Zimmerman, Phylis Schneck, Dorwan Stoddard,Dorothy Morris and John Roll. I also pray for the quick recovery of Rep. Gabby Giffords and the twelve other surviving victims. I should offer my sympathy to the parents of the shooter, Jared Loughner, as they are certainly suffering a tremendous, emotional blow as well.

I am deeply saddened by this event, yet not surprised.

I am saddened at the loss of life. However, this comes as no surprise in a country that allows automatic weapons to be legally purchased by individuals with mental illness. I do honor the Constitution, very much so, however do you think that our forefathers wanted to protect the rights' of individuals to purchase clips with thirty rounds of ammunition? Based on how Loughner was armed, it is truly a miracle that more were not slain. What purpose do these weapons and ammunition serve in our country? It's fruitless to debate the legality of guns, however what else is it going to take for our government to have an honest dialogue regarding the regulation of these weapons?

I am disgusted with Sarah Palin. However, I'm always disgusted with Sarah Palin. Do I think that she is responsible for this event? No. Do I think her violent commentary may have been suggestive to Loughner or others? Maybe. Would we even be having this discussion if these kinds of comments were never made? Would we have to worry about mentally ill individuals with violent tendencies purchasing automatic weapons for the purpose of mass killings if our government had stricter regulations on gun control?

In addition to poor regulations on gun control, this tragedy has highlighted our nation's inability and/or disregard to identify and treat individuals with mental illness. Mental illness is a significant issue in our country and it affects individuals and families for millions of Americans. However, I can't remember the last time I heard any pressing legislation protecting the rights and offering services to those individuals. In fact, the last legislation that I remember having anything to do with mental illness is when Reagan shut the doors to state mental health facilities nationwide. What happened to those people? Last I checked, they were homeless.

Despite my rage over gun control, mental health services deficiencies and Sarah Palin, I still can't imagine a situation in which I would turn to violence or violent rhetoric. However, I suppose that's what makes me different from Palin, O'Reiley , Beck and the others.

When I'm feeling frustrated over politics, I just log on to my computer. Although there's only a slight deviation in the actual physical movement; key strokes are relatively harmless compared to trigger pulls.