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Fame and Loathing feel Familiar
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The shooter in the mall in Omaha was named Robert Hawkins.
Now here is a really inappropriate connection force fed to Jericho fans by what should be a horrifying and unthinkable act. Unfortunately the unthinkable is becoming more and more common.
It has been reported that the Omaha Robert Hawkins left a note saying "he was sorry and he would no longer be a burden to his family... Now he would just be famous..."
In what possible frame of mind could you believe that killing 8 people and then yourself would make you any less of a burden to your family?
As for famous, the only real way to become so now is to kill more people then the copycats who came before you.
Mr. Hawkins killed 8 and then himself so he does not come close to prominance there but he may be able to claim some sort of title for his holiday approach.
In the year 2525, if man is still alive, the fame seeking killer will have their work cut out for them. I think he, they are mostly he, will have to kill the most folks while standing on their head, holding their breath and with eyes closed.
But I guess we have already reached this stage.
I know it could be shown that this young man was mentally ill and could have been helped. But he is a symptom of a much larger sickness in male culture and real medicine does not treat symptoms.
To quote Lou Reed: “It makes me mad and that makes me sad and then I start to freeze.”
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Also on this morning’s news was some audio of the Chaplain of the United States Senate offering a prayer for the productivity and well being of the Senators. This brought my mind back to MikesMom’s story about the prayer in the Rotary club. She Wrote:
“I recall being confused attending my first Rotary meeting. The meeting started with the pledge and a prayer (still does). This is by no means a religious based organization, so it left me questioning things. It didn’t take long for me to realize that the prayer was to seek guidance and strength in our efforts as a group”
I get this aspect of it, I really do, but I wonder if the same purpose could not be served by a moment of silence.
Now here is a really inappropriate connection force fed to Jericho fans by what should be a horrifying and unthinkable act. Unfortunately the unthinkable is becoming more and more common.
It has been reported that the Omaha Robert Hawkins left a note saying "he was sorry and he would no longer be a burden to his family... Now he would just be famous..."
In what possible frame of mind could you believe that killing 8 people and then yourself would make you any less of a burden to your family?
As for famous, the only real way to become so now is to kill more people then the copycats who came before you.
Mr. Hawkins killed 8 and then himself so he does not come close to prominance there but he may be able to claim some sort of title for his holiday approach.
In the year 2525, if man is still alive, the fame seeking killer will have their work cut out for them. I think he, they are mostly he, will have to kill the most folks while standing on their head, holding their breath and with eyes closed.
But I guess we have already reached this stage.
I know it could be shown that this young man was mentally ill and could have been helped. But he is a symptom of a much larger sickness in male culture and real medicine does not treat symptoms.
To quote Lou Reed: “It makes me mad and that makes me sad and then I start to freeze.”
****
Also on this morning’s news was some audio of the Chaplain of the United States Senate offering a prayer for the productivity and well being of the Senators. This brought my mind back to MikesMom’s story about the prayer in the Rotary club. She Wrote:
“I recall being confused attending my first Rotary meeting. The meeting started with the pledge and a prayer (still does). This is by no means a religious based organization, so it left me questioning things. It didn’t take long for me to realize that the prayer was to seek guidance and strength in our efforts as a group”
I get this aspect of it, I really do, but I wonder if the same purpose could not be served by a moment of silence.
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I once read that in meetings between Native American leaders a chief would speak until they had finished their thought and then there would be a period of silence designed to allow the speaker to add any additional thoughts they might have.
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I once read that in meetings between Native American leaders a chief would speak until they had finished their thought and then there would be a period of silence designed to allow the speaker to add any additional thoughts they might have.
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What a great Idea!
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2 comments:
Excellent post Tero. Lots to think about here. Thanks.
RIDIN' THE RODS
December 3, 2007 ~ Bridget DiCosmo ~ Southeast Missourian
“An adult man and a child were found shot to death in a Jackson home Monday afternoon in one of the most violent shooting sprees in Southeast Missouri in recent memory, leaving three more severely wounded in what police are calling an apparent murder suicide.”
A Neighbor said:
"He didn't seem like the kind to go off the deep end,"
The Associated Press reported of Robert Hawkins:
Debora Maruca-Kovac, whose family took in the former foster child, said, “He was like a lost pound puppy that nobody wanted. I felt sorry for him . . . He wasn’t a violent person at all.”
Despite
“…the night before his mall attack, when he had shown her an SKS semiautomatic rifle - apparently the one he used in his murderous assault - she said she thought little of it, believing him to be a gentle, harmless person.”
John Gibson of foxnews.com writes:
“I suppose there were warning signs, but it also seems useless to talk about warning signs if no one will do anything. The warning signs should have told somebody to lock him up. They could force-feed him his meds. They could give him a lobotomy. They could keep him under lock and key forever. All of it would have been better than eight people dying because they were trying to get their Christmas shopping done and some demented excuse for a human being thought it was a good day to kill.”
Tim Reid the Washington reporter for the timesonline.co.uk pointed out:
“America was confronted with yet another gun massacre — an event that was not even the lead story in many of yesterday’s newspapers “
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