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.
YoungNotions
Amen to that.
Indeed!
When I heard about this this morning, the first thing I thought was, If someone would of had a C&C, It may not of stopped it but this wouldn’t of went has far as it did. My thoughts are with all the families there.
You can’t know that William. More guns nor no guns probably wouldn’t have solved much. The mentally unstable are going to find ways to commit heinous acts regardless of so-called preparedness. This isn’t a call to arms. This is a call for outreach.
If I heard the story correctly, the gunman identifed himself with the character of The Joker in Batman. If that is true, he sounds like other assassins who suffer from a particular psychosis, where their own personality is weak & they obsess about & identify with a person or character with a stronger or clearer personality. (Ex. John Lennon’s killer.) I can’t remember the name of the disorder (the book title had something to do with masks), but in its benign manifestation, it makes for truly amazing actors. Unfortunately, these actors (Richard Dreyfuss, Gary Oldman as examples) suffer depression when the performance ends & often resort to chemicals to silence that other personality. They are self-medicating, & the damage is internal, for all that their fall is very public. But how do we find or help the others?
The repercussions of the shootings are so awful, we want a reason, but simply saying “mentally unstable” is a simplification. I’m sure that in his past, he did strange & disturbing things, but no one wanted to take action or interact with someone who was odd. While most people who are quiet & strange will not suddenly decide to kill & wound dozens of people, that person may need help & not be receiving it. Granted, funding for mental health issues is declining, but it IS out there (my mother works in this area), & even the poorest person can get it. But in order for that person to get it, they must know there is a problem, & we all need a little help with that.
I’m not saying he is not responsible for his actions, nor that anyone in particular made a mistake, but it has always seemed to me that it is too hard to find the dangerous ones, & too easy for them to get access to weapons. This is not just a fault in the U.S., as was seen in the Anders Behring Breivik massacre in Norway, but we DO have the most guns per capita & in many states it is childishly easy to get the means to commit mayhem. This is why I support waiting periods & holds on weapon purchases; after all, how did he get his hands on a tear gas grenade & automatic weapons? Something is very wrong here & we need to solve it, preferably before the next mass shooting.
I agree. This weekend I got into a little bit of a spat with a couple of friends when I posted on my FB wall, “I think it’s shit that people have the unbelievable insensitivity to speak in favour of the 2nd amendment right now. Give it, oh, I don’t know, a week, maybe?” Their answers were varied, in that they said the same things several times, only slightly differently than how they just said it. The Red Cross goes into a mess and tries to help. What does it say about people who, the minute tragedy strikes, they have to jump up on a soap box and get their ideas out there only to realise their soap box is somebody else’s coffin?
Large scale? Really? Only 12 people died and only 50 something were injured. This isn’t worth the amount of news coverage it has (then again, most of the shit on the news isn’t). Anyone who doesn’t realize that is an ass-licking cunt.
Hey sorry enough people didn’t die for you in this.
Well if you’re sorry then delete this stupid article. In fact, just delete the entire site.
Hey, I’d love to but there’s a lot of ass licking cunts who disagree with you and think 12 people getting murdered and 50 wounded is actually a bad thing. I kind of have an obligation to the ass licking cunts.
Don’t get me wrong. Your views are well thought out and your request totally reasonable, it’s just that my hands are tied on this.
I never said it wasn’t a bad thing, just that it didn’t deserve that much news coverage. Lying is a bad thing but it would very rarely call for news coverage (if it ever did). Murders happen very often, the Aurora shooting simply isn’t special in any way.