David Maraniss -- "That Was the Desk I Chose to Die Under."
The WaPo published a piece by David Maraniss regarding the massacre at Virgnia Tech. Thomas posted a part of it this morning in his first post. I am not going to do anything of the sort.
Unlike NBC, I do not like making a scene about this tragedy. However I do encourage readers to read all of this piece. Thomas printed it out this morning after citing it from Allah's post over at Hot Air. I just finished reading it myself, in its entirety, and it was not easy. Halfway through I realized I had tears welling up in my eyes. It was not from reading about Mr. Cho's exploits that morning -- how he methodically killed thirty-two people; inncoent people in any sane person's eyes.
No, the tears came from the aftermath. When the piece shifts from the campus to the emergency rooms situated around, but off Tech's campus. I put myself in the position of the unsuspecting staffs being told they had incoming gunshot victims.
"They had been told to brace for the extraordinary numbers of victims and levels of trauma they would face."
Imagine being in their shoes. Wholeheartedly removed from the situation, but not really. They saw the aftermath. From the pice comes a spring of hope because they heard about the heroes that morning. They heard about the average man or woman in the classroom diving on others to protect them, pushing them into closets, or even giving their life to protect others.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is something that the media should be focusing on. Not the sicko that perpetrated the crime, but the success, albeit limited, of the "good guys" that morning.
There have been plenty of people playing Monday-morning quarterback since this incident occurred. And it does not matter which side of the aisle you sit on. Everyone has done it. Even Thomas and I. (Granted, he has conducted the majority of the updates regarding the attack.) We have speculated about what Mr. Cho diud, why he did, how he carried out the attacks, etc. Thomas even noted that Michelle Malkin had a valid point; a point that he wanted to make on Hugh's show on Tuesday, but understood that was just not the day to bring up his opinion on what could have prevented the massacre.
His allusion was that on 9/11 we watched a true set of heroes say "Let's roll," and trook control of their own destinies even though they knew that they were likely not going to survive the morning. Yes, had any of the students been armed, they could have stopped it, but those on United 93 were not armed. They fought anyway. Why did the college students not fight back? No offense, again, put yourself in their shoes. They did what they could. Their first instinct when out-gunned -- literally -- is to run. That is especially true when you are disarmed.
I am not going to question the student's actions. I am not willing to question the university. If you read the WaPo piece, you can understand why it took the administration so long to respond to the first shooting. You can see why the police and administration believed that the first shooting was an isolated incident.
That is not something we should be doing right now. We should be grieving for those that lost their lives, consoling those that survived, and remembering that Monday was not all about Cho Seung-Hui. There were other people involved in this attack, and I am happy to see that one news outlet could at least acknowledge that the whole thing was not about one sicko individual that just could not deal with reality anymore.
Marcie
Unlike NBC, I do not like making a scene about this tragedy. However I do encourage readers to read all of this piece. Thomas printed it out this morning after citing it from Allah's post over at Hot Air. I just finished reading it myself, in its entirety, and it was not easy. Halfway through I realized I had tears welling up in my eyes. It was not from reading about Mr. Cho's exploits that morning -- how he methodically killed thirty-two people; inncoent people in any sane person's eyes.
No, the tears came from the aftermath. When the piece shifts from the campus to the emergency rooms situated around, but off Tech's campus. I put myself in the position of the unsuspecting staffs being told they had incoming gunshot victims.
"They had been told to brace for the extraordinary numbers of victims and levels of trauma they would face."
Imagine being in their shoes. Wholeheartedly removed from the situation, but not really. They saw the aftermath. From the pice comes a spring of hope because they heard about the heroes that morning. They heard about the average man or woman in the classroom diving on others to protect them, pushing them into closets, or even giving their life to protect others.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is something that the media should be focusing on. Not the sicko that perpetrated the crime, but the success, albeit limited, of the "good guys" that morning.
There have been plenty of people playing Monday-morning quarterback since this incident occurred. And it does not matter which side of the aisle you sit on. Everyone has done it. Even Thomas and I. (Granted, he has conducted the majority of the updates regarding the attack.) We have speculated about what Mr. Cho diud, why he did, how he carried out the attacks, etc. Thomas even noted that Michelle Malkin had a valid point; a point that he wanted to make on Hugh's show on Tuesday, but understood that was just not the day to bring up his opinion on what could have prevented the massacre.
His allusion was that on 9/11 we watched a true set of heroes say "Let's roll," and trook control of their own destinies even though they knew that they were likely not going to survive the morning. Yes, had any of the students been armed, they could have stopped it, but those on United 93 were not armed. They fought anyway. Why did the college students not fight back? No offense, again, put yourself in their shoes. They did what they could. Their first instinct when out-gunned -- literally -- is to run. That is especially true when you are disarmed.
I am not going to question the student's actions. I am not willing to question the university. If you read the WaPo piece, you can understand why it took the administration so long to respond to the first shooting. You can see why the police and administration believed that the first shooting was an isolated incident.
That is not something we should be doing right now. We should be grieving for those that lost their lives, consoling those that survived, and remembering that Monday was not all about Cho Seung-Hui. There were other people involved in this attack, and I am happy to see that one news outlet could at least acknowledge that the whole thing was not about one sicko individual that just could not deal with reality anymore.
Marcie
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 3:06 PM
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