Busload of Faith

I'm no narcissist, though a compelling argument for the blogging thing may prove otherwise, so after a day of working on serious computer issues (a full re-install, complicated by being sent the wrong driver disc at the time of purchasing this Wizard's machine, further complicating things by installing all the wrong drivers before getting the right ones, an another full re-install, so on and so on) and not really watching TV, I switched on Olbermann last night while I took a break and drank a beer...Holy Shit.

This morning, it seems that we know a little more. We know, for example, that Big Paranoia has already informed us that "Gun-control claims lives at Virginia Tech" (doesn't the the VDL just give it that extra quasi fascist/terrorist cache?) My question for these folks is simple: If there had been a concealed carry law on campus, as you advocated, then because this guy was carrying pistols, even everything had gone okay in terms of alerts, you would have let this guy go, if he had the proper permits? Otherwise, you'd sue, right? And what makes you think an armed faculty, staff and student body would have made a difference?

To be fair, the otherside got right on top of this as well.

While I might be inclined to give the above a pass for relevence if not for taste, what has really irked me about all of this are the usual suspects blaming movies, video games and Marilyn Manson (though these suspects are not to be found at the moment). I don't think movies, video games and music are the cause of this shit-I think we are a country with more than a few fucked up people. But how did they get so fucked up?

I think a lot of it has to do with a "death valley days" tradition in this country of handling problems with violence, of seeking revenge, of a mistaken notion that somehow, a lone gunman can right all wrongs. This unilateralism is relegated to fucked up young people, though: Look at the current Administration.

The problem may lie, as Michael Moore portrays it, in our history.

At any rate, as I sit here, drinking my last cup of coffee, smoking a cigarette, I can't help but wonder about the kids I'll be looking at in an hour and a half, and think about the kids at Virginia Tech who went to class yesterday, expecting another day of droning on by a Professor, distractedly checking their e-mail, checking phone messages, and only then becoming aware of the nightmare in the hall.

Perhaps their Professor, a lot like me, forbids such devices as rude and distracting to the serious work the class is doing, only to be interrupted by a fusillage of rage and lead by some lone gunman, seeking to right wrongs.

Perhaps this guy at the lectern looks like me. Perhaps his students look like mine.

Perhaps I, we, need to savor every breath.


For the Staff, Faculty and Students of Virginia Tech...a Busload of Faith.



Update: Some perspective...