It's All Fun And Games 'til Someone Dies

The unspeakable tragedy at Virginia Tech warrants and introspective look at America and…..whoa whoa whoa. Hang on just a second. Did I say “unspeakable”? Well what I meant was shamelessly exploited tragedy. And rather than jump on the train that is headed to debate tougher gun laws, campus security, what could have been done and who is at fault, I’d rather talk about this editorial that ran in the Rocky Mountain News. Why is it that when things like this happen, the Nation grieves and laments the state of our nation, while we facilitate these kinds of tragedies every day in Iraq and no one seems to shed a public tear. Take your time to read the editorial. Even if the math is flawed, there is no doubt that the tragedy of Blacksburg does not compare to what is happening in Iraq daily. If you ever needed a solid example of how callous America can be to the suffering of others, this is it. This is not to detract from what happened in VA. No one can doubt the suffering and anguish of the people affected. But take that suffering, that pain, and put yourself in the shoes of
these people. I know this sounds very bleeding heart, but the reality is that this stuff is happening and all we hear about daily is simply body counts and what the “leaders” of this nation and this war are arguing about. You don’t hear about the stories that cut to the heart of what we are really doing over there. There were likely many stories similar to these before March 2003 from people suffering under the rule of Saddam Hussein, but we didn’t seem to care about it then either. But when 32 people are murdered on our soil by one lunatic with a gun, suddenly out come the black mourning clothes. People are people, wherever they live, whatever religion they belong to, whatever flag they salute, whatever color of their skin. Hopefully the good that may come of this tragedy is a little awareness of the world around us. Hopefully, but the cynic in me doesn't think so.