Turning It Off

About 50 or 60 people were shot today here in Virginia. Many of them are dead. Geraldo and Greta and Keith and Brian and Katie and Charles and Joe and Tucker are falling over each other trying to report the highest headcount, get the latest 20 second video feed to add to the loop, and blame everyone but the criminal.

At least I guess that is what they are doing. I don't know, because I am sitting here in the quiet darkness, listening only to the howling wind and my fingers tapping on the keys.

At times like this, everyone is praying for this or that. My wish is for the talking heads on TV to apologize to all of us for what our nation has become. And for the subscribers to People magazine to apologize to the family of Princess Di. And for the administrators at Virginia Tech to boldly recognize this random act of terror for what it is, and leave the school exactly the beautiful place that it was on April 15. The same beautiful place that I visited for just a single night 17 years ago on a road trip to New Orleans.

But I fear that next semester the metal detectors will be installed, and MSNBC will provide "breaking" cell phone video of the next shooting in the next town, and the terrorists will have won.