Ironic, That
The news cycle for the Virginia Tech tragedy is about to wind down. What has been said is all that can be said - if in indeed, it was of value at all. To mark the end of the cycle, Charles Krauthammer, as syndicated in the Chicago Tribune bemoans the politicizing of the event.
It is inevitable, I suppose, that advocates of one social policy or another will try to use the Virginia Tech massacre for their advantage. But it is simply dismaying that a serious presidential candidate should use it as the ideo- logical frame for his set-piece issues.
He then goes on to attack Barack Obama’s reaction while campaigning in Milwaukee. Barack reportedly spoke about violence in our society, expressing a need "to reflect a little bit more broadly on the degree to which we do accept violence in various forms." The other forms included references of Don Imus’ slander, among other things.
Then Charles sums up his complaint:
This whole exercise in defining violence down to include shock-jock taunts and outsourcing would normally be mere intellectual slovenliness. Doing so in the shadow of the murder of 32 innocents still unburied is tasteless, bordering on the sacrilegious.
Perhaps in the spirit of Obama’s much-heralded post-ideological politics we can agree to observe a decent interval of respectful silence before turning ineffable evil and unfathomable grief into political fodder.
Political fodder. It seems acceptable for him and his ilk to lambaste tragedy 24/7 for a whole week to sell news copy. That’s just fine, somehow. Let’s make money dissing the political fodder, while ignoring the week-long news hound feeding frenzy on the same subject.
I wonder how much money was made selling stories about the Crimes of Mr. Cho. How much money did you make selling this story, Chuck?
April 23rd, 2007 at 2:53 pm
If I may play my most common role:
In general I agree with your perspective here, but it is also very likely that Mr. Krauthammer (a name that invokes WWI more than any other I can think of) was assigned to write about the very topic. Publishers and Editors are equally culpable in the sensationalism and sometimes even more so than the journalists reporting on the topic. The fact that Krauthammer chose the punctuating perspective he did is a step in the right direction, in my opinion.
(that “So There!” submit button is just great, btw)
April 23rd, 2007 at 3:54 pm
I like the new look!
April 24th, 2007 at 7:25 am
Thanks, friends!
Travis: Your Devil’s Advocate suit fits you well