Thinking in vain...

I liked this, mainly because I agree with him and he says it so much better than I have been.

People's Weekly Brief: Virginia Tech Survivors Deserve Peace and Honor, Not Speculation

And there’s an instinctive drive to place blame… a desire to say that if only certain actions had been taken then we could have prevented the loss of so many lives. No sooner did the magnitude of the incidents at Virginia Tech become apparent late Monday morning than the questions started to surface.

Were all reasonable actions taken following the first of the two attacks? Should the campus have been shut down and classes been canceled after the first bodies were discovered in the residence hall? During the past year were there opportunities to remove the killer from the student body as a result of past infractions or improper behavior?

In the brief time since the tragedy, there has been a steady drumbeat of speculation, second-guessing and hyperbole. Even before the evidence has been fully gathered, investigated and analyzed there has been no shortage of “experts” willing to venture into the media to offer up opinions of what went wrong.

How about this for an idea: How about we honor the grieving families, survivors and student body through our thoughts and prayers and otherwise respectfully keep quiet while allowing the FBI, state and local authorities to finish the investigation without throwing speculative spitballs at everyone from the campus police to the university president.

I read this post tonight over at AdRants.

I'm in shock. Now first off, I think everyone has the right to their opinion. He has his. He has different experiences from me and probably came from a different kind of upbringing - so he thinks things differently. Although, I don't think anyone (including me) appreciates blanketly being labeled a idiotic moron just for disagreeing with someone.

My views on gun control are different than his, but that's not what upset me about his post.

No, what upset me is he has used a horrific event to step onto his soap box. He has used an event that is rippling and affecting thousands of lives in this Valley. Virginia Tech is the community of Blacksburg, people from all over the Valley send their children and loved ones there to learn and to teach and to work.

He never acknowledged our heartache, our horror. He trivialized the event with a flippant "Wait until your kid gets shot by some student in a bad mood with a gun."

And in my opinion, shame on him. It's shameful that not even two full days after these senseless acts that someone would use them as an avenue for their opinions without acknowledging the horror or the sadness... and in the vile way that he did it.

I hope you feel you got your point across.

Update: I actually posted a similar comment to this post over at AdRants. I got an email back too. Perhaps, I myself, lashed out a little - tired of all the finger-pointing and politics I've seen on the news. He seems like a nice man.

Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Perhaps I was too callous yesterday. The issues irritating me last night are inconsequential to the events.

If it was a perfect world no one would remember that madman's name. Several times I've heard people mention William Morva. How many people remember his name, but can't recall the names of the brave deputy and security guard he shot?

My father knew a lot of the faculty in the engineering department. Thankfully, none of his friends were killed, we don't think any were injured. But he had met Liviu Librescu. I hope the heroic stories like his, Derek O'Dell and law enforcement's are what are burned into people's minds. After all the senseless violence, stories like his remind me of the goodness inherent in most people. I can't help but be completely overcome with sadness at the thought of wonderful people and students with so much of their lives in front of them being taken away with such senseless acts of evil.

I pray the violence is over... words from me seem useless right now.

http://blog.myspace.com/vtmemorial_41607

Update: Unfortunately, I've found out that my father knew Kevin Granata. My prayers go out to the close friends and family of this brilliant man.

What a horrific day.

We got to Roanoke Memorial at about 9:50 this morning for my mother's shoulder surgery. There in the waiting room was the breaking news that there was a shooting at Virginia Tech. At that point it was only 2.

We watched as the events unfolded. I can't tell if it was 2 or 3 or 5 victims that were brought to Memorial. First it was 3, then 2... then 2 more but I don't know if it's the same 2. One of the victims was in anesthesiology with my mother, she'd been shot in the face. My mother, being an old ER nurse listened as the nurses and doctors swarmed to her aid. My mother said that she was so proud of how everyone handled the situation. And that's a high compliment from my mother. My mother prayed for her as she went into surgery.

My biggest problem now is the journalists tearing into the VT president and the police officers. I've heard the exact same information that everyone else has. Maybe more as I've been in front of the TV since 10:00 this morning and I've seen it unfold.

Campus police and administration never make snap decisions - and they usually make cautious ones that don't close school down. 2 hours to inform the entire student body of a possible domestic shooting if the building has been secured is understandable in my opinion. Especially when they were in the midst of questioning a suspect and locking down an elementary school. When we had women getting attacked on campus, it took DAYS to inform the campus and the emails always down-played the incident.

Yes, a shooting is completely different. But it takes time to find things out and they still don't know that the incidents are related. I'm sure that if the President and Chief of the VT Police could, they would go back and change the decisions they made.

This isn't the time, but Monday-morning quarter backing is real easy once all the facts are out. At the time I'm sure no one had any idea this kid was planning to lock himself in an academic building and go on a shooting spree.

Some people are tacky as well - one guy actually called into the radio and said he was a UVA fan but he'd pray for the victims. What was the point of that? And Liberty issuing that statement? Tacky.

My heart and prayers go out to the victims and the victims' friends and family. I still can't believe this has happened. I'm still hoping and waiting to hear that friends and friends' children are okay.