Oh, The Humanity!

Let's all agree on one thing. 

What happened in Aurora, Colorado last week was deplorable.  A sin of wasted, mostly young lives who will never realize full potential.  No careers that will thrive.  No babies that will be born.  No footprints in the sand extending down the beach of a long, long life.  Especially for that six-year-old who was inexplicably taken to a midnight movie.

But, thanks to the undying need for us to blame something or somebody else for whatever calamity happens in our world, we suddenly don't agree on one thing.

Whose fault is it?

Hmmm, let's blame Hollywood.  After all, it was Warner Brothers who put out this latest Dark Knight dreck.  Hell, I'm not going to see this, but I defend their right to release whatever film they want.  Let's face it, Tinseltown is just addressing the needs of the average, young moviegoer in 2012.  A consumer who is delivering a darker and darker view of life as each decade passes.

Hmmm, let's blame any theater chain that schedules midnight showings of anxiously anticipated films on opening day.  I've always been completely confused by any idiot who would run out to see a movie at the stroke of 12AM.  Don't you have a freakin' job???  Isn't there someplace you need to be in the morning like the rest of us????  Isn't it time you went down to Walmart and put a life in your shopping basket????  Nevertheless, there are people who somehow think that the movie is a lot better at 12 Midnight than it would be at a bargain matinee around 3PM the next day.  So, theater operators are again addressing the needs of the average, young moviegoer in 2012.

Hmmm, let's blame the Tea Party.  Heck, ABC News did.  They Googled the name of the killer, James Holmes, and the first thing that found was somebody with the same name who was registered as a Tea Party member in some state.  Well, then it must be the same guy because all Tea Party folks are vile, despicable, and prone to murdering innocent citizens in mass quantities.  Another sterling example of shlock and reprehensible journalism by the lamestream media.  ABC, NBC, CBS.  All one in the same.  The culprits here were Brian Ross and George Stephanopoulos, the latter never shredding his original career stripes as a political operative.  With any guts, both of these asswipes should be fired...and then sued for slander by the James Holmes they smeared as an assassin. 

Hmmm, let's blame the theater staff.  Yeah, let's do that.  After all, they should have spotted somebody dressed all in black and carrying in a couple of canisters filled with lethal gas.  Right.  Have you ever noticed who is working in a movie multiplex these days?  Teen agers.  Making a part-time buck to get through college or buy that used Camaro.  The only question they are equipped and, more importantly, allowed to ask the patrons is whether they'd like an extra large Coke for just a quarter more.  Frankly, if one of these youngsters use this fiend come into the theater dressed like that, you'd just figure it was costume night at the movies.

Hmmm, let's blame the family of the killer, James Holmes.  They should have alerted somebody that their relative had these tendencies.  Er, yeah, right.  Spoken by folks who don't have the first clue on how you deal with mental illnesses.  Usually, the family is the last to notice.  And, frankly, how hard must it be to call the local mental hospital when it looks like your son just might be "cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs."  How gut wrenching must that be?  Yet, that doesn't stop some of the usual loudmouths who know it all.  Take, for instance, movie critic and apparent psychological profiler Roger Ebert.  He wrote a whole mental work-up of James Holmes in his column.  Here's another jerk who should keep his mouth shut.  Or keep closed whatever he is using now to voice his opinions.  Ebert is fast becoming one of the dumbest things on two legs and one jaw.

Hmmm, let's blame Barack Obama.  Hell, half the country does that anyway these days.  He must be guilty of something, so let's pin the motive of the shooting on him.  In this case, folks, the fundraiser-in-chief gets a pass, although he should be slapped on the knuckles for once again turning this occasion into another excuse for a campaign rally.  His comments to the nation about the shootings included references to his own kids.  They easily could have been victims in that theater.  Oh, sure, right.  Only if they were wearing bullet point vests and guarded by a phalanx of Secret Service agents, who have surrounded these two urchins for the past five years.  Come to grips, America.  This is not your average American family.  They are rich.  They are elitist.  They are not the people next door.  And please stop pushing us with the notion that Michelle Obama, the alleged Pontius Pilate of sensible dinner meals, has seen the inside of a kitchen for the past fifteen years, except maybe to yell at the help.

Hmmm, let's blame Mitt Romney.  Hell, half the country does that anyway these days.  He must be guilt of something.  He has a Swiss bank account.  He's worked for supposed evil empires.  Maybe James Holmes worked for a company that had jobs outsourced to India and he was replaced by some goofball in New Delhi.  Yeah, that sounds right.  Or maybe the killer really, really hated Mormons.  Sounds stupid?  Of course, but I guarantee that there was some media pundit out there who echoed that very sentiment on a Sunday morning talk show someplace in America.

Hmmm, let's blame the NRA.  Yeah, let's.  Those guns, those damn pesky, madcap guns.  Weapons of semi-mass destruction.  Sadly, I don't have a fast answer to this.  Yes, the Constitution gives us the right to bear arms, but I don't think the founding fathers counted on the possibility of mental illness in our country's framework.  Ban them all, as fat slob Michael Moore suggests?  Umm, no.  If a dad wants to have a handgun for the bedroom night table so he can protect his family from a home invasion, he should be able to.  But, the ability for some nutjob to arm himself like he's his own Middle Eastern country, there needs to be some controls.  Better and tighter legislation.  At the same time, when Richard Speck slashed up eight student nurses back in the 60s, nobody tried to close down the doors of their local Hoffritz Cutlery store.

And, there is the issue, gang.  Plenty of non-blames and we forget a simple fact of life.

There are lunatics out there.

The aforementioned Speck.

Charles "Clock Tower" Whitman.

David "Son of Sam" Berkowitz.

Charles "Helter Skelter" Manson.

Name the decade and I can name the heinous crime carried out by some wacko.  Down through American history. 

The bottom line is that it will happen.  These crazies will persist, all of them zooming in for their date with psychotic destiny.  And all the finger pointing and hand wringing and politicians and gun laws will not be able to stop them.

Sadly, and usually without reason or warning, shit happens.

The one area in which we can all share a little of the small blame that can be allotted for this mass mayhem is the darkness that more and more envelops our world.  Yours and mine.  It's unescapable and growing at a quantum pace.  Our insatiable desire and need to enjoy suffering.  Misery is now entertainment. 

Look at our television shows and our movies.  Pitch black motifs.  Harsh reality displayed nightly for our collective grins.  Who's going home?  Who's getting kicked off?  Who's the big loser today?  Can that Snooki and/or Kardashian be any more pathetic??

Where's the civility of it all any more?  What happened to the days when the biggest dilemma in our nighttime viewing was how Lucy would manage to get into Ricky's show down at the Tropicana?

Hell, in my seemingly harmless array of Words with Friends games I have going, there's even a nasty hint of competition.  Whenever you score enough points to take the lead, what does the site say?

"You've left ____________ in the cold!"

Heck, I was just trying to have fun, not humiliate a friend.  Shouldn't we all have the same objective?  I'm not playing "Words with People I Hate."

But, no, we open the door to darkness.  And then get upset when it actually enters the room.

Dinner last night:  Leftover sausage and peppers from Carlo's.