The Friday Files!

[PersonaNonGrata]

This past week saw violence and tragedy that defies words. There is simply no way to describe what happened. We try to simplify things to try and understand but there really is no understanding. Unfortunately I have some personal experience with this type of thing. Some of you might remember a couple of years ago that someone I had known for years and worked with, at times closely, killed his wife, mother, three kids, and then himself. It is approaching the 2nd anniversary of that and we still don't have any better understanding of why he did it. I think it's just beyond our ability to process. I still think about it and I can't believe that a guy I knew so well could shoot his entire family to death and then take his own life. I had just joked with him a couple of days before about how funny we thought the movie "Napoleon Dynamite" was and how his son would always imitate Napoleon. Then a couple of days later he methodically shot each person in the head as they slept. Why? How? I don't understand! It is this inability to make any sense of the actions of someone I knew well that confirms to me that there will be no way to deal with the mass murder at Virginia Tech and that as hard as we try, we just won't ever truly understand. We might be able to hang out hats on some reasons and say "oh, that's why" but when it comes down to it, it's still speculation. How does the rational and sane truly reconcile with the irrational and insane? It can't. Who can relate to carefully planning the mass murder of 32 people? We can't. We can only guess.

I'm not going to speculate about why the killer did it or where the fault lies. There is a lengthy thread about that already. I will however, proclaim my utter disgust with the aftermath of the mass murder. I am disgusted with America's obsession with playing the blame game. I thought baseball was America's game but it's not. The nation's preoccupation is with finding blame and pointing fingers. It never matters whether the blame is warranted, just that there be a target for the blame to be directed. It is usually the easy and most obvious targets that bear the brunt of it even though it is those very targets that are probably least at fault. We've heard the blame directed at guns, the university, security, and police and unfortunately much of it has been politicized and I'm sure it won't be the last of it.

Another thing that disgusts me is the vultures that have already begun to circle. Scientologists are swooping in already, using the tragedy to try and spread its so-called religion. The fact that the killer had a history of psychological problems and underwent some treatment is just fuel for their opportunistic fire. Scientology believes that psychology and psychiatry are evil. They will be blaming those disciplines for pushing the killer over the edge. They believe that any medication for psychiatry causes mass murders and other acts of extreme violence. It is despicable that these freaks would use the murders of 32 people to advance their twisted ideology.

Then there are the sick f*cks that decide to capitalize on the tragedy for their own perverse jollies. Copycat threats have already started. It's frightening that there are more people out there who would do this. It's even more frightening that some of them might just take the step to making the threats reality. It's sick to think of this but somewhere there is probably someone watching the news accounts of the VT murders and wanting to do something even more evil. I hate to say it but it's true. Is there any stopping it? I hope to God there is but the reality is that it is extremely difficult.

The media has to bear some responsibility for the copycats. The way the story has been covered has been typically sensationalized and presented more like it's entertainment than news. The way the shooting spree has been constantly characterized as "the worst in US history" and setting record for the number killed almost has a tone of achievement to it. It almost glorifies the fact that this killer surpassed all other before him. Do you think that some defective excuse for a human being is out there thinking that he can break the record? You bet. As we can all see in the headlines today that the media itself is fighting over the release or rebroadcast of the videos that the killer made. Some media outlets defend the decision to broadcast them, some defend the decision to not play them, and other criticize either decision. What is the right thing to do? I don't have the answer but I am glad that this has forced the media to take a look at its practices and consider the impact it has.

There are plenty more vultures out there; too many to list here. The politicians who will jump on whatever public sentiment is swelling, lawyers who will file the inevitable lawsuits, against whom I'm not sure but they'll find some deep pocket, racists who will focus on the fact that the killer was Korean and thus attribute the killings to immigration or some such crap, and some you might never have thought of. These bastards are absolute scum.

There will be more of this stuff in the coming weeks. I think the finger pointing and exploitation will continue for a while. I just hope that the human tragedy and loss is not forgotten in it all. Perhaps you might not have thought about this but I have wondered how the killer's family is dealing with this. We don't know anything about them but they must be suffering in a different kind of hell themselves. So many lives lost and so many more affected forever.

HERE is a list of those who were murdered. Read it and put some names and faces with the tragedy. May they all rest in peace.

[motordavid]

PNG/K,
Right up at the top of your best written FF Reviews, imo.
BR,mD

[UCrewX5]

Well done, Kevin. A true tragic event, and with a daughter in college this hits way too close to home for me. May the parents, family and friends of those that died or were shot find some way to manage through the tragedy.

A happy Friday to all and have a great weekend!

[Michelle]

I'm with MD, excellent FF, Kevin!

[Wagner]

[ncx]

Super review once again. You are right, we can't process or make sense of some things.

I think we could all use a break from the tube and all that negativity this weekend, and get outside with our friends and families and remember all the GOOD that's still here.

Best to all!

[Verbalkint]

Excellent take, Persona.

I remember the tragedy you referenced in the first paragraph.

Good weekend, folks.

[noncom23]

Good write up. Everyone have a safe and fun weekend!

[AutoXer]

Thanks Kevin for the write-up. I was pretty disgusted with what happened I just tuned it out because what he wanted was his moment of glory promoting his sick ideas, and I am personally just not going to give it to him.

Have a great weekend.

[nupe10123]

This was a GREAT write-up!!!