Tuesday, April 17, 2007

So, Virginia Tech

I'm going to -- mostly -- do what I think is right, and refrain from what I really want to do -- antagonize the media. In some sphere I suppose it fills a need to mindlessly localize stories like this, under the same system of thought that allows one to see a weeping family member as a great scoop. So I won't antagonize. I'm just glad I detoured my life slightly, because I don't think I could do it and look at myself in the mirror.

More than anything, hearing the way people involved in journalism respond to this reminds of how I felt listening to Christians in the period of time after I stopped going to church. That is, I can't believer I was ever a believer.

The first things that popped into my head was the thought of walking into Burnett Hall back at UNL, but having to walk past security and through metal detectors on the way to class. This is not the way I want to live. Though I'm sure that's no consolation to parents of dead children, who would probably spit in the face of this Patrick Henry ideology, choosing restrained life over none at all.

My Philipino/Hawaiian roommate fears backlash against Asians. I fear one against liberty, and also "loners," a word used so condesendingly by pretty-boy anchors. Oops, I slipped there. Sorry. I'm sure hunters everywhere are dreading a 2nd Amendment backlash. I'm just tired of living in a world where this isn't surprising.

So no moments of silence. Those are moments you could be using to say something important. I suggest, "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore."

1 comment:

Chris said...

Media coverage of this has been nauseating. Yesterday, NBC news had a thirty second long shot of the VT campus with a translucent still of Cho's face superimposed over it. It's like you say: investigative reporting no longer means searching for facts and truth, it means searching for images and anecdotes.