American Terror

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It seems as though we are subjected to a terrorist attack every day in this country. Gun-toting, knife-wielding citizens bust into a restaurant, a former place of employment, a television station, even a school and wipe out innocent people.

Perhaps if we treated them all as separate terrorist attacks we'd be able to get on top of the problem.

Yesterday, James Jay Lee, upset with the programming of the Discovery Channel, stormed the building and took a few hostages. The cops ended up taking the man down before anyone else was killed, but the event begs a few questions.

First off, why do they always get their middle names listed? Does it make them sound more cowboy-like? If I ever commit such an act will Clifford James make me sound more sinister? I just don't have the name for it.

Secondly, if he didn't like the programming on Discovery why didn't he change the channel? I hate the programming on almost all the networks - except for the Yankee Entertainment Station - use the freaking clicker, dude. The report said he hated the show Kate Plus 8. I imagine that I would hate it as well - that's why I never watched even a second of it.

Thirdly, I read a bunch of media accounts regarding this attempted rampage. The citizens who commented on it were the real culprits.

We're both mammals, why don't we do it like they do it on the Discovery channel? One informed reader wrote.

A second guy blamed the shooting on Al Gore saying that left-wing extremists are responsible for all the destruction in the country.

A third guy thanked James Jay Lee for bringing the world population down by one.

And my favorite...It had to be a head shot that killed him. Why don't they print that picture?

So, why won't we stop these mini terror attacks?

Because we seem to rather enjoy them. We read about them, sensationalize them, and then forget about them.

What was the name of the guy who wiped out people in Binghamton, NY last year? Or the guy who shot the Amish kids at church? The man at Virginia Tech? Hell, what were the names of the Columbine shooters?

In and out. Human nature. Forget about it.

That won't really fix the problem, will it?

As Sartre said, "Hell is other people."

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