Thinking in vain...

First off, I apologize if the VT posts are getting daunting to anyone that regularly reads this. I can't help it. It seems that writing about it is helping me deal with it a little. Maybe I'll try to make this my last.

Secondly - I wish the National media would stop showing that evil, little creep. He's everywhere. Now all they have is a split screen - you can't watch anything because there's his damn photographs and video everywhere, even when they're interviewing victims. They're burning the image of him in everyone's minds - he's unimportant - the people that are important are his 60+ victims and their friends and family.

There was a psychologist on Anderson Cooper 360 and he begged everyone to stop showing those clips. This horrible kid looked up to those Columbine shooters, he wanted the fame and the martyrdom and everyone is giving it to him. He doesn't fit the profile of normal college shooters, he fits the one of high school shooters, I'd be inclined to think he's been thinking of this for years.

If the administration and faculty and hell, high school teachers are at fault - then perhaps every single one of us is.

My best friend is a 7th grade English teacher, some of her kids are reading at 5th grade levels or can't read at all - and she's so overworked with having to write papers and lesson plans and being required to advise clubs that she has no extra time to work with troubled students or students falling behind. Teachers are so overworked and our school system is so taxed, I think it's hard for them. Hard for them to reach out to students or hard for them to intervene.

We've also created a politically correct society where this kid's freedom of speech is protected - no matter how violent or hateful (Re: horror films and Neo-nazis in Skokie respectively ). His right to express himself is protected. His plays and short stories are just as disgusting and disturbing as any horror movie. But he never did anything. If the school had started monitoring him or expelled him and someone found out, I'd be willing to bet the ACLU would have swooped to campus faster than the vulture-like journalists that are there now.

This kid managed to fall through the cracks in each instance. But how would any of you have stopped him?

I think it's not only human nature to want to blame someone, but I think everyone wants to think this was preventable (and I'm not saying that is wasn't). People argue that maybe if this gun law was passed or that mental health law was passed or if he'd been whatever that it wouldn't of happened. People can't handle the idea that the faculty, students and police involved did everything they could have and it still happened. I don't think as a society we like to think that evil can happen and that it's our job to pass laws to stop and prevent it.

As one of the English faculty points out - "Look, all our hearts are broken. There's no need to add to the pain with guilt."

I would hope people could learn from this and place blame the one and only place it should be at this point - on him. Firing President Steger and Chief Flinchum and others will only ruin more lives.

The only people I've seen handling this with decency is the local media. K92, a local radio station, announced this morning that they will not say the killer's name or play any audio clips of his videos... I think Q99 is doing the same - the other stations I don't know about because I don't listen, but I'd assume they're doing something along the same lines. As they pointed out this morning - we don't care about him, we care about the victims and they are going to be the only people we talk about.

I realize the national news channels want their ratings - but the degree that they are showing this is sick in itself.