HORROR IN TUCSON OVERSHADOWS FOOTBALL
Once again we have been jarred into the unreal world of mindless violence. Why on earth would an individual make such a choice? We may never know what caused this obviously disturbed young man to commit such a horrific act today in Tucson Arizona. It's so disturbing when we realize there are people walking our streets who believe killing innocent people is an answer to anything. Whether it's killing your own children in a custody dispute, murdering someone because of their race or sexual orientation or because you have some sort of twisted interpretation of reality that makes murder justified.
We had all three cable news channels on as well as the football games. We listened to more of the news coverage than the games & honestly, I was extremely bothered by the almost immediate finger-pointing & pure speculation on much of the coverage. How on earth do these talking heads, they're not journalists, have any real insight as to why this madman committed this slaughter? Have they spoken to him, do they have definitive evidence from the authorities as to his mindset? They don't, but it certainly didn't stop them from looking straight into the camera & telling us why it happened. This is the epitome of arrogance & irresponsibility. Sitting here in Central Missouri, I haven't a clue as to this maniac's motivation & neither do the people sitting in studios in New York. If this shooter was motivated politically, as these morons on cable news would have you believe, then why did the shooter kill a nine-year old girl? This is a psychopath who's favorite books included The Communist Manifesto & Mein Kampf. Talk about both ends of the spectrum. It could be a long time, if ever, before we know what was going thru this monster's brain. The fact that some of these cable news talkers hid behind the quote of Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik who said "the vitriol of some of the people on the radio & some of the people on TV might be called freedom of speech, but words have consequences." Each of these shameless "journalists" knew the sheriff meant other media-types, not them, they're the good guys.
When the first report of this tragedy came in the form of breaking news during halftime of the high school all-star game I was watching on NBC, National Public Radio was reporting Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords had been killed. They stuck by this story for well over an hour. Fortunately they were wrong. Once again, violating the first lesson of Journalism 101, verify your story before you rush it out there for public consumption. I can't imagine what her friends & extended family went thru until NPR was set straight by Rep. Gifford's parents & they retracted their story.
Today the fragility of human life was once again shoved in our faces. The mindless cruelty of this madman defined the saying "they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time." I guess going to the grocery store on a Saturday morning is now going to be considered a risky endeavor, one that only foolish people would take. That's makes about as much sense as what we heard from the TV "journalists" tonight.
I'll do the football recap later.
We had all three cable news channels on as well as the football games. We listened to more of the news coverage than the games & honestly, I was extremely bothered by the almost immediate finger-pointing & pure speculation on much of the coverage. How on earth do these talking heads, they're not journalists, have any real insight as to why this madman committed this slaughter? Have they spoken to him, do they have definitive evidence from the authorities as to his mindset? They don't, but it certainly didn't stop them from looking straight into the camera & telling us why it happened. This is the epitome of arrogance & irresponsibility. Sitting here in Central Missouri, I haven't a clue as to this maniac's motivation & neither do the people sitting in studios in New York. If this shooter was motivated politically, as these morons on cable news would have you believe, then why did the shooter kill a nine-year old girl? This is a psychopath who's favorite books included The Communist Manifesto & Mein Kampf. Talk about both ends of the spectrum. It could be a long time, if ever, before we know what was going thru this monster's brain. The fact that some of these cable news talkers hid behind the quote of Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik who said "the vitriol of some of the people on the radio & some of the people on TV might be called freedom of speech, but words have consequences." Each of these shameless "journalists" knew the sheriff meant other media-types, not them, they're the good guys.
When the first report of this tragedy came in the form of breaking news during halftime of the high school all-star game I was watching on NBC, National Public Radio was reporting Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords had been killed. They stuck by this story for well over an hour. Fortunately they were wrong. Once again, violating the first lesson of Journalism 101, verify your story before you rush it out there for public consumption. I can't imagine what her friends & extended family went thru until NPR was set straight by Rep. Gifford's parents & they retracted their story.
Today the fragility of human life was once again shoved in our faces. The mindless cruelty of this madman defined the saying "they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time." I guess going to the grocery store on a Saturday morning is now going to be considered a risky endeavor, one that only foolish people would take. That's makes about as much sense as what we heard from the TV "journalists" tonight.
I'll do the football recap later.
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