I was all set to do a post this morning about Michele Bachmann accusing Huma Abedin being in the Muslim Brotherhood but I woke up and read about the Aurora theater shooting and I wanted to take a moment about that (also The Daily Show beat me to the whole Bachmann thing anyway).



It’s awful. It’s so goddamn horrible that this happened. People die all the time and murders occur in America every day but something like this grabs the public’s attention because it’s on such a large scale, so senseless and so preventable.



There’s already been a ton of politicizing of this thing on both sides. Obama and Romney have both offered statements saying they’re going to set aside campaigning today out of respect but the internet is exploding on both the left and right trying to place blame on the other side (I’m not even going to bother posting links. It’s just gross).



Frankly, this isn’t the time for that. As much as I love politicizing stuff that’s not what this is about. This is about a guy who is mentally ill who didn’t get the help he needed and now dozens of people are paying the price.



I get why the politicizing is happening. People hear about something like this and it pisses them off. Nobody likes hearing about tragedies like these and it makes them feel powerless. They want to blame something big because one nutjob just isn’t a big enough target for all the rage and frustration. When you want to blame something big the political party you hate is always an easy choice. I get that but it doesn’t help.



If you’re really pissed off, check out the Red Cross. They had mental health workers on the scene as well as support for the first responders. They’re always doing stuff like that and they’re always looking for donations, blood and volunteers. It ain’t much but if this really pisses you off and you want to make a difference, every little bit helps.



So yeah. Whatever. Fart jokes and Bachmann bashing resume Monday but for now I hate that this happened and as far as this issue goes, unless it’s an outreach of support for the victims I really don’t want to hear about it right now.