Just a quick note to observe that there was a mass shooting with one fatality in Arizona today. This is making barely a ripple among the blogs, however. Granted, there was a much worse mass shooting in Tunisia today. But we seem to be getting awfully blasé about shootings.
Elsewhere, I see Bibi got re-elected. Damn.
Well, the shooter in AZ is white. If he had some more melanin, he’d be labeled a terrorist, and probably part of a terrorist cell, so we would have to haul out our color coded charts to see how alarmed we should be. But since he is white as sour cream, he’ll be labeled a ‘lone wolf’, and everyone in the MSM will shrug it off, then they’ll go back to wondering if President Obama is a ‘Real American’.
Well, I did reflect on the shooting, but when I saw it happened in Arizona I thought about something that Annette Funicello once said…”Be careful for what you wish for because it might just come to be.” Meaning that if you arm everybody to the teeth and foster a culture where firepower becomes the ultimate resolution to conflict or emotional turmoil you better expect casualties.
Have I become jaded?
we would have to haul out our color coded charts to see how alarmed we should be
Nice one.
I presume the white guy in AZ was “standing his ground.” During which, he was forced to carjack from one person and home-invade another, but still. Standing. His. Ground. Dammit.
We live in a country that shook-off the shooting deaths of 20 very young school children, and 6 of their teacher’s and administrators.
We live in a country where a Congresswoman (also from AZ) and a half-dozen of her aids and constituents, were shot. The Congresswoman, though badly wounded, survived. The rest weren’t as lucky.
After that, every other shooting is ho-hum.
It’s take at least two-dozen people being shot to death at one time, to get anyone’s attention.
Pretty much, ‘ Gulag. There are even people who think the Sandy hook massacre was a falseflag operation by Obama to crush the 2nd amendment.
Swami, how can any one think you are jaded when you quote Annette Funicello?
Bonnie …I guess you’re right. There must be some residue of humanity left in my heart. But considering the effect of the constant erosion of decency by the wingnuts I’m really surprised that little morsel of compassion has managed to remain.
It’s called desensitization. Perhaps it is a path to cure, and perhaps it is a path to barbarism. See the Wikipedia entry.
Yeah, paradoctor. It is desensitization. Sorta like when back during the invasion of Iraq after the insurgency started cutting off heads like those of Nicholas Berg and then a few other contractors. Joe Scarborough ( former R- Fla) made a comment on his morning show saying: “Oh, that’s so yesterday.” in regard to the repeated shock value that the insurgents were trying to impart.
I kinda sensed he was a bit desensitized by his mocking of their ability to shock a western audience by cutting off heads.
I remember also hearing about desensitization in the Rodney King beating. An analyst had said that by the news media constantly replaying the video footage that the jury would become desensitized to the horror and outrage that the footage portrayed. I know even for myself that after viewing the footage for a couple of dozen times I didn’t feel the same shock and outrage that I felt on the initial viewing.