Wednesday, April 18, 2007

The Wheels on the Bus

I wasn't going to write about the tragedy at Virginia Tech. I was trying to avoid the news coverage as best I could. I purposely waited until the following evening to read about it, knowing the first reports would be highly inaccurate and full of speculation.

What a waste. I read the lists of the victims, as they are the important part of the story. Who they were, what they hoped to become. The promise of the future for the students. The bravery of a Holocaust survivor, giving his life for his students.

But I can't take the coverage. I can't take watching reporters scavenging through the emotional ruins, looking for a survivor, preferably one who saw someone die or knew someone who died, so they can parade the person's grief and shock on television. For ratings. For a clip for their resume so they can move on up on the job.

I can't take the rush to judgment. I can't take the political platforms that are being constructed on campus. More gun control! More guns!

My only opinion is this: I am not surprised with what we are learning about the killer. I've said it before. We do not care about the mentally ill in this country until they kill someone. One of this man's teachers went to the POLICE with her concerns, but was dismissed because the threats weren't specific. Everyone who knew him says the same thing: quiet, loner, disturbing. But he was left alone for his mental state to fester and deteriorate.


Thor sez: I'm sad.

3 comments:

jaz said...

I remember standing with one of the nurses at the clinic watching a news program on the television after 9/11.

The reporter kept thrusting a mic in the face of a young girl who was clearly distraught. "Tell us about your mother," he kept saying.

"My mother... I love her..." the girl said, over and over, crying.

"What kind of person was she?" the reporter asked.

The nurse standing beside me said, "Somebody needs to slap him."

Anonymous said...

I just got an email from someone on the VT campus, who said that you can't walk around without a reporter coming up to you.

I'm with Thor. I'm sad.

Uncle Zoloft said...

I'm with Thor too.