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January 12, 2011
Greetings...
Whenever there is a tragedy such as the one that happened on Saturday
in Tucson, Arizona, as humans, we all play the "blame game" and this
incident has sparked more than its share. Emotions usually trigger
the initial responses and after a while, calmer heads prevail, (or
should)...
The rush to judgement can be deep seated feelings based in negativity
against certain people, groups, etc. Deep down we "want" the offender
or offenders to belong to a group we disagree with or downright hate...
President Obama will be arriving in Tucson tomorrow to pay his respects
to the victims and their families of this tragedy. I know there will
be those who will try to turn this into a political thing and I don't
believe he is coming for personal gain anymore than George Bush did
when he met with the families of the 9-11 tragedies. Both men are/were
our President and human beings that felt the same way as we did. Give
them both a break...
When the perpetrator of this horrible crime in Tucson couldn't be pinned
to any minority group, "plan B" had to go into effect and that plan was/
is the political blame game. No matter how hard some of us tried, it was
a little hard to separate the speculation from the facts because all the
facts weren't in and let's face it, it's much easier to develop our own
opinions on it to try to make some sense of it, any kind of sense. I
don't blame "us" because there is a bigger entity to blame...
The media...
The media, which used to be semi-responsible and gather facts before
reporting have become a "victim" if you will of a much bigger, more
important mission...
Ratings and the almighty dollar. Truth be damned, it's all about shocking
people enough to generate interest, shading the truth to keep the viewer
or listener on the hook, riling up the public to create enough discourse
that when and if a violent act occurs, they fall back as cowards and
claim they are just entertainers. BOTH the right and the left are guilty
of this and I won't argue which side is "worse" because you all have
your own opinions about this and I can't and won't try to change your
minds. I'll believe what I personally see and hear and you are free to
believe what you see and hear. What I will NOT do is listen to third
party accounts of he said/she said when there is a clear agenda that
is enhanced by the media...
One media outlet falsely reported Congresswoman Giffords had died on
Saturday as a result of her injury. Where is the responsible media?
Where are the reporters and anchormen of old that did their best to
have the facts before reporting a story? They have all been replaced
by the bottom line. So, in this case, I play the blame game and say,
shame on the media...
I also play the blame game to those people who were afraid of Jared Loughner
to the point of getting him removed from school and requesting a signed
statement from a psychiatrist proving mental stability. I blame the first
Wal-Mart that refused to sell him ammunition because he seemed odd and
troubled for not notifying authorities "just in case"...
I play the blame game to those people who felt that Seung Hui Cho was
mentally unbalanced and, in fact had been accused of stalking two
female students. After an investigation, a Virginia special justice
declared Cho mentally ill and ordered him to attend treatment. Nothing
was done and he went on to shoot 32 people and wound countless others
at Virgina Tech before turning the gun on himself. I blame authorites
in Virgina for not being vigilant in keeping an eye on someone who was
an obvious threat...
And one issue that sickens me is the reported appearance by Phelps
and his wackos Westworld Baptist goofballs at nine-year-old Christina
Taylor Green's memorial service. This group is known for taking advantage
of our first amendment rights to protest at the funerals of our fallen
servicemen and women. They spew their vile diatribes and claim religious
freedom as well as first amendment rights for their right to be there.
Tucson citizens are ready for them and will be blocking them from the
service. An emergency law went into effect today making protests be a
mandatory 300 feet away. There may be hope, both the left and right
voted for this unanimously...
I could list plenty of disturbed individuals that went on rampages and
took many lives. We knew they were disturbed because everyone that knew
them got their 15 minutes of fame afterwards letting us know how crazy
these terrorists were...
After 9-11, we were all told to be mindful of things around us and not
to be afraid to report things that may seem suspicious, no matter how
small it may be. Were we supposed to just keep an eye on Middle Eastern
people? Someone needs to define the rules on reporting home grown terrorists...
So, if we must play the blame game, we need to place the blame where it
belongs. There's enough to go around for all of us to lament on...