LAST MONDAY morning, tragedy struck the nation. By Monday evening, the media started pointing fingers. By Tuesday morning, politicians were weighing in. Sounds like the typical news cycle and politicization of events in America. Exceptthis was a genuine tragedy. Families are devastated. Classmates are traumatized. Friends, many of whom are at the University, are heart-broken. In this most human of circumstances, the treatment of the Virginia Tech shooting by vested interests as a means to an end is despicable. Pundits, think-tanks, politicians, mainstream media and even presidential candidates have all jumped on the bandwagon of using this national calamity to advance their position on gun control. They ought to be ashamed of themselves.
The first entrant to jump into the fray and strip the victims and their families of their dignity was mainstream media. The New York Times ran a lead editorial on Tuesday (meaning it was actually written the day of the shootings) that read: "Some of the gravest dangers Americans face come from killers at home armed with guns that are frighteningly easy to obtain." They argued that the proper response to the shooting was increased gun control. Once The New York Times opened the floodgates,a deluge of other reporters were quick to follow their lead. Every politician was suddenly swamped with gun policy questions related to the shootings. Most politely dodged the questions but not all.
Despite protests from party leaders, the Democrats were the first to take the bait and some lesser known Congresswomen basked in the glory of their newfound media attention. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D