Thoughts on VA Tech

Hello,

I have two things I want to talk about....the Virginia Tech shooting and the Imus thing. I think I'll write about the Virginia Tech tragedy first since it weighs a bit more heavily now.

First off, my heart goes out to the victims and their families. When I think about all of the peoples lives who were effected, it's nauseating. When I think about the loss to society, it's just overwhelming. Actually, it's fucking sickening and it sucks. It's something that words can't convey. My writing about it is not meant to be insensitive or to promote an agenda. It's just meant to reflect on some points that I feel are important and that I feel have been lost in the confusion of it all.

In the first day of this, I kept saying, and I said to some of you, that I hope this didn't turn into a second amendment issue. In the respect of either being for or against the right to bear arms. That's not what this is about. Yes, there are gun law issues on both sides, but ultimately, this is not a case that really should be used as a good example for either side. It was a tragedy. Let's remember that, first off. We can sit around and say if guns weren't accessible then it wouldn't have happened, or if they were more accessible, then this the students could have protected themselves. Even though I'm completely FOR the right to bear arms, it is all moot. It happened, and it's shitty. Let's not use it to promote agendas. Sure we can use it to learn, but not to promote agendas, and as far as learning, it could have unfolded so many ways. I mean the screening process could have better to prevent this guy from getting a gun, but give me 100 bucks, a piece of duct tape, and a chewed piece of bubble gum, and I can get a gun for you before I finish this blog. If the student's in the building had guns, they could have killed the killer or they could have been shot the night before at a party when some idiot got drunk and went through their shit (and those of you who went through my shit in college fuck you. STEVE you know who you are)....let's not argue about it.

The second thing I want to say is that a professor from Northeastern University weighed in on a lot of this. He's a criminal justice prof. by the name of James Allen Fox. And he made a very good point.....The media kept a tally count. Showing that this was the biggest mass killing spree on a campus. Almost glorifying the situation; if not simply making it something to beat. That's fucked up. I mean, it was like with the increased tally, they got a bigger hard on. Now, I hate news anchors to begin with , and I'll get into that later, like I will about HR and Imus, but it's a good point. It definitely sensationalized this and made it more about the killer, and about the "records" than it was about the simply reporting of the story. How bad will it be next time? Will the killer try for 35?

Third, Mr. Fox also mentioned that when something like this happens and the killer kills himself, people are left with no none to be upset with. They have no where to direct their anger, and that's true.....instead, they are left blaming the police, the laws, and the sound system at VA tech. This is a valid point. Instead of focusing on the court date and putting this guy away, they focus on this. I have to say though it is difficult to point fingers, and I don't want to do that. I do think there's some blame to put out....1) the killer. this is all his fault. 2) and this is sooooo much lighter than the prior culpability just mentioned, but I mention it just because it seems like a point that everyone missed....After the initial shooting, everyone said that it seemed to be isolated and they shouldn't disrupt 26000 other people. I understand that, and it would make perfect sense if they knew who the fuck went into a dorm and killed two fucking students! All they had were bodies. No killer. When you have a killer on the loose and two students on a campus shot dead, there should be a lock down until things are safe. I mean it was on a campus, not just in a town where things would be in a more random pattern. If there were a shooting in a huge hi rise office building and they couldn't evacuate the thousands of people, I think they wouldn't just be like "go about your day, we don't want to disrupt your business". I think they would say, "stay put until we know why two people are dead". Now, that said, I don't think it was a cause for the additional shooting. It may have helped PREVENT the shootings, but they weren't at fault for it. The only person who is at fault for the death is the damn killer and that's it. If you haven't noticed, I haven't used his name. He doesn't deserve it. He took 32 lives; all of whom are more significant than he and until their names are spoken individually more than the killers, I won't say his name. But at this point, giving him a name and identity I feel is almost disrespectful to the 24 people whose names have not been spoken at this point.

The last point is that in the days after the tragedy, there were reports and "special news stories" about mass killings. These weren't to help with processing of this event. These were for ratings. They were reporting on things that happened, in some cases, about 100 years ago. They were put on the air to tag onto the the horror of the situation and get ratings. That's fucked. I don't care if they can disguise it by saying that now it meant something or it was to help people understand. The media was capitalizing on the people's new interest in how something so horrible could happen, and they took the opportunity to sensationalize it. If these stores from 100 years ago weren't news two weeks prior to the shooting at VA tech, they are not now. We don't need a recount of additional massacre now that there's fear in the situation. Did anyone notice that a lot of the evening news headlines (at least in the Boston area) were "massacre on campus" even days after the initial shootings? Do we think that was just to talk about what happened at VA tech, or was it to insight more fear in that it could have been a new story about any campus in the area after the initial tragedy? Personally, after hearing so much coverage about the situation, when they used the generic term "campus" I thought it happened again, and it made me look up. Do you think that was coincidental, or meant to excite attention? I think the latter rather the former. That's why I hate news broad casts. When anchors report on horrible things, (in some cases) they are almost more excited that something horrible has happened than they are if it hadn't. I have to say that in one account in Boston, the reporter started to break down at the end of a report when a mother found out that her child had died at VA Tech. That exhibition of feeling I found to be caring and respectful, but it was probably more visceral than was supposed to be. The writer of the story probably thought that wouldn't happen, but it just pushed the boundaries so much that this reporter broke down. As far as things go generally, most reports are disgusting. Think about all of the news you see an a daily basis that's not "news". It's just sensationalizing the worst day of someones life. If I'm wrong here, why does CT news break in during a television show because there was a "deadly crash" on a highway in CT. It's not to prevent traffic. It's to peak the attention of the viewers at home who are waiting for their fathers, mothers, wives and husbands to get home from work after being late. It's to get them to "tune in for more breaking news at 6:00". It's not fucking news! It's death and the worst times of people's lives that should be respected and private. NOT on the air for everyone to gawk at for fuck's sake .......sorry about that tangential rant to this situation. I wrote about it because it tied into the sensationalism I saw with the VA Tech massacre that was disrespectful.

All of that said, I hope this gives respect to the situation, and maybe some rationality to things that should be questioned as well. If not, I'm deeply sorry for writing. This post isn't for entertainment. It's for thought. Please post if you feel inclined.

I'm sorry for the lives that were cut short.

Peace.