Had someone been prepared and armed they could have stopped this "bad" man from most of this tragedy. He was two and three feet away from folks, I understand he had to stop and reload. Where were the men of flight 93???? Someone should have stopped this man. Lives were lost because of a bad man, not because he had a weapon, but because noone was prepared to stop it. Had they been prepared to save their lives or lives of others, lives would have been saved. All that was needed is one Courages/Brave man prepared mentally or otherwise to stop this it could have been done.
Lives were lost not because the gunman had semi-automatic weapons but because no one was prepared to stop him?!! Judging from other comments I've read, Pearce is not alone in blaming the massacre not just on the fully-armored man carrying an assault weapon that can shoot up to 100 rounds but also on the people in a dark theater who failed to stop the murderer.
I find comments such as these offensive on so many levels. First, they show an appalling inability to sympathize with victims. Sure, Pearce goes on after his rant to say that his "prayers are with all of those suffering this senseless act," but that's after he's called every one of the victims--and especially the men--a coward. The comments also reveal a willingness to pass judgment with insufficient knowledge: Pearce "understands" that the murderer "had to stop and reload." But hours later, surviving victims' recollection of events suggest that the murderer might have started firing the shotgun first, then the assault rifle (which jammed) and then the Glock semi-automatic pistol with its 40-shot capacity. In addition, the shooter was dressed in black in a dark theater, was heavily armored, and had confused the crowd with canisters of what might have been tear gas. But facts do not matter to the rigid ideologue--only his stupefying world view.
And then there is the sexism. The brave are always men, a few good men, or, according to Pearce, "one Courages/Brave man prepared mentally or otherwise."
Most appalling of all, however, is how these comments totally disregard the bravery that was exhibited in those horrifying moments. President Barack Obama publicly highlighted one of those brave acts: that of twenty-one year-old Stephanie Davies, who saved the life of her nineteen-year-old friend, Allie Young. When James Holmes threw the canisters of tear gas into the theater near their seats, Allie Young stood up, as if to warn people. She was immediately shot in the neck and fell down. Her friend Stephanie dropped down beside her friend Allie, pulled her out of the aisle, and kept pressure on Allie's wound, while using her other hand to call 911 on her cellphone. And Stephanie refused to leave her friend's side while the gunman continued his rampage.
Other people shielded their friends and loved ones from bullets, and, yes, several of these were men. Some lost their lives being the brave men that Russell Pearce lamented were not present in that theater: Matthew R. McQuinn, Alexander Teves, Jonathan T. Blunk. And I'm sure there were other acts of quiet and desperate bravery that will never receive public attention.
These are our heroes: ordinary men and women acting extraordinarily in moments of terror.
The President best summed up that heroism: "As tragic as the circumstances of what we've seen today are, as heartbreaking as it is for the families, it's worth us spending most of our time reflecting on young Americans like Allie and Stephanie because they represent what's best in us, and they assure us that out of this darkness a brighter day is going to come."
That's an attitude I can embrace.
2 comments:
Pearce? What an ass!
I always appreciate a great article or piece of writing. Thanks for the contribution.
Post a Comment