I don't mean to be dismissive, here. I'm sure that the Zimmerman, Stoddard, Murray, Scheck, Roll, and Greene families are experiencing pain beyond anything I can begin to imagine. I am thankful for the miracle of Giffords's survival and continued recovery.
But I don't see what makes this mass murder any more tragic than any other. A quick check of Wikipedia gives me:
- 3 people killed in a workplace shooting in St. Louis in Jan 2010
- That same month, 8 people were killed in Appomattox, VA
- In August, in Manchester, CT, 8 people were killed in another workplace shooting
- Also in January, 3 people were killed in a workplace shooting in Kennesaw, GA
- And of course there was the shooting at U of Alabama in Huntsville in February, which also killed 3 people
So why is this the mass murder that gets all the attention? Why does President Obama work to console the survivors of this tragedy? Why did the folks in Tucson get the groovy souvenir t-shirts and not the folks in, say, Appomattox?
OK, I know why. Because Gabrielle Giffords is Representative Giffords, there is political hay to be made. There are fingers to be pointed (none of which are directing our attention to our broken mental health system, I am forced to note). Asses to be shown.
Doesn't make the hoopla any less disgusting.
3 comments:
We had this very discussion at lunch today. I wondered if Obama spoke at the funeral of the asst principal that was killed last week in Omaha by the son of a police detective or does he speak about all the soldiers still coming home in body bags from our war? There are so many deaths that go almost unnoticed by the press but BOY HOWDY...when they decide to make one a headline they sure don't know when to stop.
You are correct, Ma'am. The media and the politicians don't give a rat's ass about yet another(pfft!) mass murder. It does, however, make a handy-dandy platform to step on with their shit-covered boots.
I also have a question: What was the bastard's motive? In his mind, was he shooting up a political gathering or a random crowd? Not that it really matters, as the result is the same, but shouldn't all the ass-hats have asked that question before making judgments and accusations?
As I asked on another blog, how many folks died that same day from drunk driving accidents? I heard Charlie Jones on KRLD remark the other night that we lose a 9/11's worth (3K) of lives every month from highway accidents, so apparently that's acceptable for deaths, but a few folks getting shot in one incident is too many and we must DO SOMETHING!!! (Not!)
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