Virgina Tech Coverage Went WAY Overboard
Who knew how many US soldiers died last week? Who knew the Attorney General was a terrible liar that was perhaps guilty of participating in attempting to politicize the justice system? Who knew that an Iraq war veteran, suffering from PTSD took hostages and demanded treatment for his condition?
The mainstream media went way overboard in it's handling of the Virgina Tech massacre. Granted this was the worst shooting in American history, but the media didn't even allow students time to recuperate and heal before heading back to classes this morning.
Before the gunman's body was hauled off campus pundits in America were already getting their digs in and turning a nonpolitical event into a political and media circus. Maybe I should take that back, everything is politcal in America.
Some "kind hearted" pundits in the Right Wing blamed the victims for being victimized, others claimed the answer to gun violence was more guns.
The Mainstream Media went to outlandish and may I say stooping levels in trying to gain interviews with students, such as infiltrating the realm of Facebook and trying to recruit interviews by posting messages and sending repeated emails to students, some of which got fed up who then posted themselves that the MSM should stop trying to contact them.
If the 24/7 news reel of misery and exploitation last week did not prove the MSM has gone too far, then maybe the fact that Virginia Techs student government has asked that all journalists leave campus by 5 a.m. this morning should.
Let's give these students some time to recover and gather their thoughts, they have a life to go on with and it is doubtful they want their tragedy to be exploited so the mainstream media can get ratings.
Developing Politics Of Virgina Tech Shooting
The Republicans are desperate to discuss anything other than Iraq and Bush, and that is part of the reason why they are so eager to discuss something on grounds they are more comfortable with and have substantial support on, like lack of gun control.
If Republicans are able to keep the American people's attention focused on things like Virginia Tech and gun control then they are successful at keeping the American people's attention diverted away from the Iraq War and the embattled President Bush.
We cannot let the incident at Virgina Tech outweigh or outshine the ongoing events in Iraq and the Bush Administration. Nor can we allow the Republicans to use this incident as a red herring to distract us from issues that are forgivably more essential for the long term prosperity of America.
Showing posts with label Virginia Tech. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Virginia Tech. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Blaming Victims For Their Victimhood Is Disgraceful And Tasteless
I don't know if a John Derbyshire is the name of tractor equipment or the name of a blogger ... I guess I am not as familiar with the garden variety right wing scumbags that make their natural habitat on the Planet Earth as I should be.
The guy with the tractor name, John Derbyshire wrote the following of the young men and woman who experienced the recent massacre at Virginia Tech :
"As NRO's designated chickenhawk, let me be the one to ask: Where was the spirit of self-defense here? Setting aside the ludicrous campus ban on licensed conceals, why didn't anyone rush the guy? It's not like this was Rambo, hosing the place down with automatic weapons. He had two handguns for goodness' sake—one of them reportedly a .22."
Is this self admitted chickenhawk actually suggested these students (students, not trained Marines) were supposed to "rush the guy" who was shooting at them?
Is he f#cking kidding me? Human beings instinctively run away from and not strait towards the maniac who's shooting a gun.
Ahh, but tractor boys insane hyperbole is easily dissected with the single statement "Setting aside the ludicrous campus ban on licensed conceals"
Oh, I get it. Wet-pants is afraid that gun laws might change in wake of this tragedy and he thinks students should be allowed to carry concealed weapons on campus. The man is clearly a genius if your comparing his intelligence to that of an earthworm.
"At the very least, count the shots and jump him reloading or changing hands." Dipshitshire writes.
Oh yeah, because we all know how many bullets are in a clip because were all just rootin' tootin' cowboys.
"I shoot mine all the time at the range, and I still can't hit squat." - Derbyshire
That's probably because he's shortsighted.
"I doubt this guy was any better than I am." - Derbyshire
He was "good enough" to kill over 30 people.
"And even if hit, a .22 needs to find something important to do real damage—your chances aren't bad." -Derbyshire
Yeah, because ... you know, bullets don't hurt, that's a Liberal lie!
PS: Dear Derbyshire, before calling yourself a chickenhawk you may want to know there are is more than one definition for the word chickenhawk, neither is good. One definition is one who "advocates military force to carry out a foreign policy but has never served in the military" and the other is "a man who seeks out boys or young men as his sexual partners." Take your pick, Rambo.
The young men and woman who were victims in the Virginia Tech shootings, their friends and their family deserve nothing less than our thoughts and prayers in this time of grief.
UPDATE:
Any number of right wingers are coming out and insulting the young adults who survived this tragedy. I don't care what kind of justification they use, it is tasteless and tactless to attack victims.
Some of the same far right wingers are claiming that if there was not a weapons ban on campus that other students would have had guns and would have been able to "fight back". In other words there could have been a "wild west shootout" instead.
Does anyone seriously think that allowing students to carry weapons on campus is a good idea? That has got to be one of the most insane things I have ever heard in my life.
What was once a fist fight or verbal confrontation would quickly turn deadly if students were allowed to carry guns at school.
Can you imagine the danger and climate of intimidation?
But here the right wing extremist are, advocating that students should be allowed to carry guns in schools, right after a mass school shooting. Crazy.
I don't know if a John Derbyshire is the name of tractor equipment or the name of a blogger ... I guess I am not as familiar with the garden variety right wing scumbags that make their natural habitat on the Planet Earth as I should be.
The guy with the tractor name, John Derbyshire wrote the following of the young men and woman who experienced the recent massacre at Virginia Tech :
"As NRO's designated chickenhawk, let me be the one to ask: Where was the spirit of self-defense here? Setting aside the ludicrous campus ban on licensed conceals, why didn't anyone rush the guy? It's not like this was Rambo, hosing the place down with automatic weapons. He had two handguns for goodness' sake—one of them reportedly a .22."
Is this self admitted chickenhawk actually suggested these students (students, not trained Marines) were supposed to "rush the guy" who was shooting at them?
Is he f#cking kidding me? Human beings instinctively run away from and not strait towards the maniac who's shooting a gun.
Ahh, but tractor boys insane hyperbole is easily dissected with the single statement "Setting aside the ludicrous campus ban on licensed conceals"
Oh, I get it. Wet-pants is afraid that gun laws might change in wake of this tragedy and he thinks students should be allowed to carry concealed weapons on campus. The man is clearly a genius if your comparing his intelligence to that of an earthworm.
"At the very least, count the shots and jump him reloading or changing hands." Dipshitshire writes.
Oh yeah, because we all know how many bullets are in a clip because were all just rootin' tootin' cowboys.
"I shoot mine all the time at the range, and I still can't hit squat." - Derbyshire
That's probably because he's shortsighted.
"I doubt this guy was any better than I am." - Derbyshire
He was "good enough" to kill over 30 people.
"And even if hit, a .22 needs to find something important to do real damage—your chances aren't bad." -Derbyshire
Yeah, because ... you know, bullets don't hurt, that's a Liberal lie!
PS: Dear Derbyshire, before calling yourself a chickenhawk you may want to know there are is more than one definition for the word chickenhawk, neither is good. One definition is one who "advocates military force to carry out a foreign policy but has never served in the military" and the other is "a man who seeks out boys or young men as his sexual partners." Take your pick, Rambo.
The young men and woman who were victims in the Virginia Tech shootings, their friends and their family deserve nothing less than our thoughts and prayers in this time of grief.
UPDATE:
Any number of right wingers are coming out and insulting the young adults who survived this tragedy. I don't care what kind of justification they use, it is tasteless and tactless to attack victims.
Some of the same far right wingers are claiming that if there was not a weapons ban on campus that other students would have had guns and would have been able to "fight back". In other words there could have been a "wild west shootout" instead.
Does anyone seriously think that allowing students to carry weapons on campus is a good idea? That has got to be one of the most insane things I have ever heard in my life.
What was once a fist fight or verbal confrontation would quickly turn deadly if students were allowed to carry guns at school.
Can you imagine the danger and climate of intimidation?
But here the right wing extremist are, advocating that students should be allowed to carry guns in schools, right after a mass school shooting. Crazy.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Tragedy At Virginia Tech - At Least 32 Students Dead After Rampage
Related :
Officials: Gunman dead after bloody campus rampage
Gunman kills 32 in Virginia Tech rampage
My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their friends and family in this time of grief.
UPDATE :
Turns out there were various warning signs that should have sounded alarm bells with the University. The shooter, now identified had raised concerns of a teacher over a year ago with disturbing writing. Furthermore there was an incident with a dorm room fire and increasingly erratic behavior, including stalking young woman and a brief stint in a mental hospital.
Still, he was able to get not one, but two handguns. Nice. Immigrants who have been in mental hospitals can get guns now. Wow, that's ... smart gun control laws for you.
It also looks like the authorities handled the situation in the worst possible way. The first shooting occurred at the Ambler Johnson Dorm where it appears only two people where killed. Authorities only locked down the single building opposed to the entire campus.
This allowed the shooter to go back to his own dorm, reload, write a note and resume his rampage a full two hours later. Over 30 lives could have been saved if authorities had been quicker on the ball.
Furthermore the failure to act proves the security for our nations universities is lax to a point of nonexistence.
What if the rampage had been organized by a group of terrorist opposed to a lone gunmen? The authorities did not even have control of the situation with only one loose gunmen, how would they have handled it if it had been a dozen extremist? Even worse.
LINKS :
- Gunman had stalked two female students
- World Reacts to Tech Shootings
- Quiet loner's writing dwelled on violence
Related :
Officials: Gunman dead after bloody campus rampage
Gunman kills 32 in Virginia Tech rampage
My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their friends and family in this time of grief.
UPDATE :
Turns out there were various warning signs that should have sounded alarm bells with the University. The shooter, now identified had raised concerns of a teacher over a year ago with disturbing writing. Furthermore there was an incident with a dorm room fire and increasingly erratic behavior, including stalking young woman and a brief stint in a mental hospital.
Still, he was able to get not one, but two handguns. Nice. Immigrants who have been in mental hospitals can get guns now. Wow, that's ... smart gun control laws for you.
It also looks like the authorities handled the situation in the worst possible way. The first shooting occurred at the Ambler Johnson Dorm where it appears only two people where killed. Authorities only locked down the single building opposed to the entire campus.
This allowed the shooter to go back to his own dorm, reload, write a note and resume his rampage a full two hours later. Over 30 lives could have been saved if authorities had been quicker on the ball.
Furthermore the failure to act proves the security for our nations universities is lax to a point of nonexistence.
What if the rampage had been organized by a group of terrorist opposed to a lone gunmen? The authorities did not even have control of the situation with only one loose gunmen, how would they have handled it if it had been a dozen extremist? Even worse.
LINKS :
- Gunman had stalked two female students
- World Reacts to Tech Shootings
- Quiet loner's writing dwelled on violence
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