Yes, the death of 32 students and faculty at Virginia Tech on Monday is tragic and has touched us all, but does it really warrant the extensive, obsessive media coverage? Let’s face it, while it affects hundreds of people’s lives, the university shooting does not have any relevance on the national or international level. It seemed preventable, but only with 20/20 hindsight, and may point towards some ills in our society, but it was a freak incident executed by one disturbed person. While we’re obsessing over the details of this event, every day more soldiers and civilians die in the Iraq war. These aren’t people who died because of a random shooting. These are people who die because they were ordered to fight a senseless war. Where is the national day of mourning for the fallen soldiers and innocent bystanders? Oh, that’s right, we’d have to declare every day a day of mourning …
To put things into perspective:
- Deaths from Virginia Tech shooting: 32
- Americans died in Iraq war (as of 4/19/07): 3,315
- Iraqi deaths (estimated): 62,000 - 68,000
Enough said.