There are no words. There are no words today regarding the completely random deaths of 32 people (I refuse to count the shooter). Mrs. Pinetar and I ask that, no matter your denomination, everyone take quiet moment and say a prayer for the families and people left behind dealing with the loss and trying to make sense of the senseless. Prayer works. Prayer is powerful. Get busy. Believe. NOTHING in this world happens for NO reason. EVERYTHING EVERYONE DOES, SAYS or THINKS, affects EVERYONE else in the world (but that’s a post for another day).
My hope for this now runs to how the media handles it and the inevitable political ramifications. I was very annoyed in 1999 when Time Magazine (a horrendously biased, left wing publication that I wouldn’t paper my birdcage with) put the two Columbine shooters on the COVER and named them (of course). In this case, I hope that the country adopts a policy of NOT naming the shooters or giving them any (in)fame or notoriety in ANY WAY. Let’s let the unbalanced copycat-wannabe’s know clearly and totally, that they will gain no measure of immortality whatsoever.
I’m tired of watching these romanticized sendups on the History Channel on Jesse James and the Dalton Gang etc. These people were murdering scumbags who destroyed lives. WHY do we worship these people? The Godfather? Same thing. The Sopranos? Same thing. So let’s let this little **** shooter be an anonymous, faceless, failed mole. Let’s discuss (in order to learn from) the CONCEPTS of what happened without giving any reinforcement to the bad guys.
And people, this the internet age. If you read stuff that you don’t like, EMAIL the perps. Email them and tell them you don’t want to see it/hear it/read about it and you don’t want your kids to, either. An email takes a minute.
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Politically, I suppose some with try to place blame. Heck, they tried to (and mostly succeeded) blame BUSH for KATRINA, so I could, and will, believe just about any horsepoop blame-chain. The Gun-Lobby? That’s too easy. The real prize is how can Bush-Cheney-Rove be blamed in SOME way, shape or form. Time will tell.
That stuff is generic background noise, however, and it will go on endlessly (and unfortunately, the less sophisticated and more ideologically entrenched type, will buy-in 100%) . My beef will be with the millions and millions of dollars of tax money that will now be spent, going forward, in the name of preventing these things and/or “protecting the children”. Lockdown drills, communication and awareness for professionals like my wife (who teaches) are fine, but I’m afraid of sweeping, monolithic government bureaucracy “fixes”, that institute expensive regulations and the like, in order that a politician can announce to moms everywhere: “we’re on it”.
Oh, it will happen. But they’re not “on” anything. Mostly, in our wonderfully free society, NOTHING can stop a determined and suicidal guy from bringing a couple of clips and pistols into a crowded venue and having an unfettered 10 minutes to do his thing. It could be a mall, a ballgame, a bowling alley and parade—just about anywhere.
I’m not saying we don’t try to get better at prevention and dealing with these things, I’m just hoping that the response is REASONABLE (I love that word) and not hysterical and most of all, NOT political pandering, which is how most wasteful government buracracy gets launched in the first place.
Last thought: I heard a bunch of psychologists on the talk shows babbling on endlessly in psych-gobbledygook about “socialization” and “norms” and ” how kids relate to authority” and you know what? That’s a crock of dump.
What is the reason that the first modern, rampage shooter started shooting, the week I was born, on a Texas campus in 1966, and the reason that they are increasing? It’s the lifelong barrage of violence that people see on TV, the movies and in video games combined with the deterioration of Family Values and In-Tact Families. The correlation is uncanny and entire books have been written on the subject but you won’t hear about it on CNN or in the New York Times in the next few days because it is not part of their “political agenda”. These concepts are too “Rightwing” for them to be lent any credence. These and other liberal media outlets are heavily activist and if some evidence contradicts their agenda, you will not hear or read about it. Look harder. –fog
