It has been four days since the shootings in Newtown CT and most of the victims are still not laid to rest. Families are devastated, a town is now ripped to shreds and our nation is joining in the mourning of those lost innocent souls. Yet, what are we hearing from our news sources? Stories about the community coming together? Some. Stories about the victims and their families? Some of those too. Stories about the human debris responsible? Lots of those. All of those combined do not add up to the stories about the gun control issue though. Not even close. So many so called objective reporters are using this tragedy to promote their own political views on this issue, they are actually starting to come out in the open with their opinions.
I watched today as Andrea Mitchell gleefully predicted a whole new set of gun laws sure to come while she was interviewing Nancy Pelosi. It was Congresswoman Pelosi, arguably the most Liberal pol in Washington, who had to talk Mitchell down from the Liberal high she was experiencing. It was Nancy Pelosi, of all people, who had to say, while she hoped some new laws would be enacted, there was no guarantee it would happen. First off, shame on me for watching Andrea Mitchell, but I am always fascinated by Nancy Pelosi and her ability to ignore reality as she presents her views on issues. I was shocked to hear her sound so reasonable, but I guess even she could see how wrong Andrea Mitchell was in her reaction to the shooting. It was, in my opinion, as if Mitchell was rejoicing in the age of the victims as a way to get her desired policies enacted and maybe Pelosi felt sensed that too and instinctively backed off from it. Still, there was a glint in her eyes too and I don't think it was just from the studio lights.
I read a pundit today who are said the tragedy only happened because there are not enough gun control laws yet in the US. I guess in his mind the 22,000 plus laws already on the books are not enough. No mention of the shooter or his responsibility though. No mention of the shooter's caretakers, if he was mentally ill, who allowed for him to have access to the weapons used either. As a matter of fact, there was not one mention of any of the recent shooters and all of their collective mental illness. Violent video games? Violence on TV or in the movies? No mention of those things. No mention of the dozens of laws broken by the shooter either. I mean, I'm pretty sure it is illegal to have a weapon on your person if you are not licensed, it is illegal to discharge a weapon in or near any building, especially a school. It is illegal to kill or hurt people. Well, you get the point. None of those things were mentioned. None at all. Just a simple statement that the shooting was directly as a result of a lack of more gun laws. These are just a couple of examples of the hundreds of commentaries on the incident.
I believe this type of behavior by all media types, at this time, is wrong. Still, I must admit, I have myself written reactions to some of the comments made. I will refrain from doing so further for now. Most of the victims are not even laid to rest yet and a whole town has had its heart ripped out. I feel this is not the time to politicize this event. While I do believe an honest discussion should be had by people from all sides of the issues, I don't think it should be now. Knee jerk reactions will only lead to more resistance for real change and a kicking of the can down the road to the next horrible event.
Unfortunately, I think this is just too great an opportunity for many in the media to pass up, even if it would be the right thing to do. Maybe their lack of empathy is simply a reflection of what is wrong with our society in general. Whatever the case, I believe it is wrong and would wish they would hold off on the political debates about the incident at least until after all of the funerals.
