Your Moral And Intellectual Superiors

Media 52 Comments

YOU were there. YOU, with your enormous video cameras. YOU, with your microphones poking into the bubble of grief that grew bigger as we waited for our parents to find us. YOU, with your horrible questions about what had happened, had we known Mike, had we seen anything? No parents there yet, just children. No teachers, just children. And you.
Some of us screamed at you to leave us alone. Some of us answered your sick questions, because you were the grown-ups, and we were the kids. I don’t even know how you got there so fast, before our parents, before anyone else could swoop us back inside and ask you to leave. But there you were, with your vans and your lights, asking us how it felt to know that another child had been killed. How it felt to be scared. How it felt to wonder about the names of everyone else, to be desperately hoping for more information, while feeling terrified about what the truth would really be.
I remember you. I remember your names. I remember what channel you were from. I remember that you filled the parking lot at Mike’s funeral. You stood in a line outside of the door, devouring the footage of crying football players running away from the service, like rabid hungry wolves. You replayed the video of Mike being loaded into the ambulance, over and over and over again, even when people wrote to you and asked you to stop.
And you were there today, in Newtown. Asking children who can barely spell their names what it felt like to have the trajectory of their life changed in a single morning.
How the fuck do you think it feels?

Related – “The media should be ashamed of its Connecticut coverage”
h/t JoanOfArgghh

52 Replies to “Your Moral And Intellectual Superiors”

  1. Thank you for posting this, Kate. I was arguing on Facebook with a woman who saw nothing wrong with the media being there, interviewing the children. I did.
    I know, how crazy of me to think that the personal lives of the traumatized children and their extremely frail psychological state at the time trumps the voyeuristic inclinations/expectations of TV Viewers such as this woman. How crazy of me.

  2. But…but…my fame is far more important then some stupid rug-rat’s psyche!
    If I don’t force answers (WITH TEARS!!) out of these brats then public will watch or read something else and MY FAME(!) will suffer!
    Holy krap! Don’t you stupid bloggers understand priorities!?

  3. But…but…my fame is far more important then some stupid rug-rat’s psyche!
    If I don’t force answers (WITH TEARS!!) out of these brats then public will watch or read something else and MY FAME(!) will suffer!
    Holy krap! Don’t you stupid bloggers understand priorities!?

  5. And Robert in Van….on facebook? Sorry,but tells you her mentality level right there(and yours..sorry..:):))

  6. Justthinkin, there’s plenty of us that use Facebook messenger for extended conversations with folks alll over the planet. It’s stable, and private enough to share opinons.

  9. Remember when we used to have Sanitariums to lock up the unstable and insane people for the common good?
    A lot of today’s social problems sure started when we got compassionate and let all those misunderstood out.
    Your average homeless derelict isn’t out there because they’re just a hard luck case. Your average autistic 20 something wasn’t expected to be just a misunderstood functional person in normal society.
    A lot of these ticking time bombs show warning signs long before they go off.

  10. The problem is caused by using a variety of drugs to apparently ‘normalize’ mental illness. The drugs have not been adequately tested, and the synergistic effects of multiple drugs isn’t clearly understood. This drug experiment to control mental problems will have unintended consequences, like we’ve seen far too often. Every one of the shooters in these incidents have been on prescribed drugs for mental problems.

  11. This recent incident happened in a solidly liberal region of America. Liberals have a common trait of ignoring personal responsibility and always blaming external factors for a person’s problems. This approach to mental illness isn’t working very well.
    These people voted for Obama, let him fix it.

  12. Yes, the media scum will be tap dancing on the childrens’ coffins for days and cashing in on tearful gales of sorrow. There is nothing more tragic than a deranged liberal f*cknuckle killing other liberal f*cknuckles and children in a bastion of gun-free liberal idiocy, is there? How could this happen?
    Obviously this is the fault of duck hunters, deer guns and gun club duffers!!!
    And of course, our role models in the media are turning the camera now to the raging morons that are blaming guns for this tragedy. The corpses are still warm, and president Obutthole is promising to solve this problem ‘regardless of politics’. You run with that, Hussein…
    My advice, folks, is to take heed. Stupidity like that is firmly entrenched in our gov’t too. Stock up on pistols, black rifles and high cap mags.
    Something stupid this way comes.

  13. I have no idea why media vehicles are not fair game for trashin’. Can’t broadcast the crap without the up link antenna… can you?

  14. It’s plain as day that the various investigative agencies are being very very careful to pass any facts that they discover through the filter of political correctness, while the media indulges in a pathetic blubberfest.

  15. There is nothing more tragic than a deranged liberal f*cknuckle killing other liberal f*cknuckles and children in a bastion of gun-free liberal idiocy, is there? How could this happen?
    If only they had known this was going to happen they could have aborted the kids and saved them all this pain. /sarc

  16. @north 0f 60
    Zero will fix it all right, another decree from upon high to ban all guns. They love this, it’s opportunity to push their agenda.

  18. Well said, Big Bad Jim. “Law Enforcement” in the US had BETTER be thinking REAL hard as to whether they will actually honor their oath of office – to the Constitution – or if they will instead grovel before their Bloomie and Emanuel and Chimp in Chief Masters, as they have so consistently done. But then I ALREADY know how that will go.
    You nailed it as well, pok.
    Of course, stradivarious is spot-on as well.
    But I sure miss Kitty, with that insightful analysis from the other post…

  19. THe rest of us learned at a very early age that there were times when people needed solitude, and other times when they needed comfort – and that stupid questions provided neither.
    Do they actually teach these embarassingly stupid questions in journalism school – or is it just yet another symptom of a deteriorating profession that has become a haven for the incurious, the lazy, and the incompetent?
    “What are you feeling right now?”
    I mean, are they really expecting something different as far as an answwer goes? “Oh, I think its Jubilation” perhaps. Or, “I’m head over heels with happiness right now”.
    Stupid, useless bastards.

  20. “Law Enforcement” in the US had BETTER be thinking REAL hard as to whether they will actually honor their oath of office
    Get real. The cops have no mandate to protect you. Their function is to collect evidence, lay charges, and make arrests when laws are broken. “Preserve and Protect” is just a catchy motto for the sides of cars.
    As municipal budgets get reduced in a difficult economy, most cops will be laid off and will likely be hired by the rich to police their gated communities. Everyone else will be on their own.
    “the cops don’t need you and man, they expect the same” Bob Dylan – Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues 1965

  21. You should be asking if a senseless act like this is what it takes to get an honest emotional response from people. Obviously that is what the MSM thinks.
    Our society has become so detached that people grasp at events like this to feel community. The majority of people, particularly in Canada, do not have a religious outlet. As much as government wants to be everything to everyone it cannot provide what these people seem to need. Obama in tears will bond him to many people for a very long time.
    My cousin and 7 others were killed in the Phillippines many years ago. The media descended on our little town and no question was too distasteful for them to ask.

  22. Agree, the behaviour of the media in this instance has been, as usual, disgusting.
    But equally disgusting were the other actions that also used the tragedy, a very personal and private tragedy, by insisting that this personal grief must be made public.
    We saw it in the media who insisted on asking people to make public their private feelings.
    We saw Obama use it for his political benefit, when he, in the most outrageous act of all, faked tears to present himself as ‘caring and compassionate’. Remember how he treated the parents of those killed in Benghazi? And how he treated the survivors of the Sandy storm? It’s all for his own political agenda.
    We see the anti-gun lobbyists using the event for their own agenda.
    The media use it for their ratings and money.
    In a week, Obama and the media will forget. And the gun lobbyists will forget the pain and use the action for their own agenda.

  23. Over the last number of decades I have come to the determination that my default position to the media is contempt and this only changes regarding specific individuals through experiencing how they operate and write or speak.

  26. “You want to really hurt these pr1cks? Hit them right where they live?
    Shut off your TV and cancel your cable.”
    Done. 15 years ago.

  27. Already did that, The Phantom. Several years ago. Back when the US when digital for broadcast TV. Couldn’t see spending $40 to get the box. Nor could I see making ANYONE ELSE spend that $40 to give me one.
    And north_of_60, the rich are only willing to spend so much of their own money on armed security. They expect the government to provide the REST of their security for them. THAT is what “Law Enforcement” is really all about. So as the “Law Enforcement” head count drops, I curse the remaining ones even more. For none of those who stay care the least for their oath to the Constitution. Nothing more than Thugs with Guns. The stench is overwhelming.

  28. It seems even lefty Morgan Freeman is essentially calling out the media.
    What’s the most effective societal action to purge the media of their moronic values and change their hurtfull acts?
    Easy answer, but it happens only when the “people” demand it. Good luck with that.
    What we need is a conservative land, with conservative people to live there.

  29. Watching the global liberal media crawl over the dead bodies of children to score cheap political points has to be the most despicable sickening thing I have witnessed. The media’s behavior has crossed every ethical line that exists in civilized society, I have never liked the progressive left but now I down right hate them for using dead children to destroy the second ammendment.

  30. The maturity of some of these youngsters who were interviewed was astounding, in the wake of such overwhelming tragedy. Perhaps it’s the innocence which generated those candid responses which adults would be incapable of giving. I still agree, however, that it is an unethical practice, sticking a microphone in a child’s face during an ongoing trauma. I recall an extremely minor incident, by comparison, where a reporter shoved a mike at me on a picket-line immediately after the announcement of a plant closure at my place of employment for 25 years. It’s sort of like these media jocks want to capitalize on the “shock value” or something, like they maybe want to see what a speechless person may mumble out. It is this sense of violation, when a person is vulnerable and laid bare emotionally, that they don’t hesitate to forge ahead with, regardless of any moral boundaries or consideration for the person. Money / Media / Politics… People need to get off the Hollywood bandwagon, live some real life and start caring for other people. This life has become far too impersonal, too disconnected, too selfish, and too ignorant, to stand any chance of becoming an enjoyable, harmonious place to mutually flourish. BUT, I don’t want to see any more murders and people offing themselves because of it!! At least, if you’re actually thinking about it, just off yourself first.

  32. How would those blackguards in the media have a clue how it feels? Or Obama? They were born as bereft of consciences as was Adam Lanza. If it pleases the Lord to let me enter the kingdom of heaven I intend to ask Him why He permits some to be born without souls, the way some are born missing arms or legs or blind or deaf or dumb.
    If Obama thinks his crocodile tears are fooling anybody but himself, he really is a lunatic. You can rest assured that he, along with his toadies in the media, are thrilled that Adam Lanza did him the service of slaughtering 20 future Republican voters—and saw that decent people who had tired of feeding packs of feral farm animals and fled crushing taxes and street crime in New York City “got theirs” for “disrespecting” the “community.”

  33. Unfortunately these LAZY SOBs are just giving the viewers/listeners more of what they demand – (Infornmed??) Entertainment! Only when people do shut off the ‘news’ will things change and that won’t happen in the forseeable future! How many copies of ‘the Globe’ and ‘the Enquirer’ hit the streets each week, anyhow???

  35. At least there is the comforting thought that we who think the same way are not alone. Pre computer how many of these comments would have seen the light of day? Maybe a reader’s letter to the editor possibly edited would have been allowed.

    A blonde CBC lady just now, mending a few fences and having an authortative female saying the media can help. The media coverage can be positive etc.

    I remember over ten years ago, someone telling of being contacted by a woman media “journalist”. The media woman would pay for a hotel room, send flowers and then dig for the “story”. When they got what they wanted, they then took off. The person cried and said ” I thought she was my friend”.

    Rotters. Thank heaven for a “shelf life”. I wonder where we will be this time next week?.

  36. Mark Matis, I miss KITTY too; moreso MISS KITTY from Gunsmoke. As for these ruthless KILLERS, the eyes tell it. Those empty eyeballs give it away every time, but every time it’s too late. Usually brilliant, ulta-quiet, anti-social, monk types, who go walk their paths alone until they decide to let the bullets do the talking, and then they seldom leave anyone to interrogate, so it’s always a post-mortem analysis of what made them tick, or didn’t. I really wish we could just give them instant “ASSHOLE Hall of Fame” status rather than elevating them to that lofty Hollywood profile for other wackos waiting in the wings to emulate.

  37. Is this really any different than the Zimmernam – Trayvon Martin Case ? The whole country was up in arms with everyone including Obama instantly picking sides and pushing their own agenda. The MSM had Zimmerman convicted before any facts were established and the whole story turned racial to suit all the preconceived notions. This tragedy immediately brings out all the gun control nuts including Obama (again) who never consider that this might have been largely averted if the teachers were armed and mental patients were locked up as they should be. It’s not the inanimate objects that kill. It’s the nuts using them that are dangerous. Nut control is far more important than gun control.

  38. north of 60
    U again raise the stupid flag with your “garbage can” analysis of mental illness and it’s treatment. Lanza supposedly had aspburgers (a mild form of autism)and those who have this can quite often fuction reasonably normal. The investigators have found some evidence at Lanza’s home that may indicate a motive. All those who knew and had interreated with Lanza found this behaviour out of character. Two people you may have heard of possibly were midly autistic, A Einstein and I Newton, and I’m certain ifthey were U would recommend they should have been institutionalized. I personally am a dylexic, and dyslexian is often called “autism light”, so should I also be institutionalized???? And one more thing, many of those with higher intellect have autism or dyslexia, so U would be institutionalizing many of the brightest, because a few may blow a gaskett???, and what will you do with the non-autistic nut jobs that blow a gaskett, institutionalize that whole demographic aswell, just so you have ALL the basis covered????

  41. I certainly did not follow the coverage of this tragedy closely as the first part of this and any event is talking heads and so called experts trying to fill airtime with noise for the viewer to stay tuned. After that is the media interview circus where anyone who was alive and knew where the event happened is interviewed. I am puzzled though as to who gave permission to interview each child. These children are minors and cannot legally agree with anything. I’d truly love to see a parent or two sue the pants off the media morons.
    My heart goes out to those who have been affected by the actions of a crazy.

  42. I am glad that some here, Tripper523, are able to appreciate the various levels of commentary in my posts…
    }:-]

  43. I often wonder how the media plays a role in these events. If the perpetrator is a loner is (s)he more likely to go on a killing spree because (s)he knows that the mass killing will get MASSIVE media coverage.

  44. Ditto what Joe said.
    The media coverage frenzy, of this massacre and others, fuels the “go out in a blaze of glory” lunatic mindset.

  45. Posted by: The Glengarrian at December 16, 2012 7:14 PM
    Agreed. Then we’re long overdue for some massive lawsuits, aren’t we!

  47. So Nme666 doesn t think we should automatically assume that all those with mild forms of autism or dyslexia are potentially capable of these horrific school shootings.On the other hand why should we assume that every person that owns a gun is capable of these same atrocities just because they happen to own a legal firearm.
    On the other hand from what I have been able to determine from news reports the fire arms that were used in this school shooting belonged to Adam Lanzas mother.She was reportedly a teacher at the school where this masacre took place.If that is correct why were they not secured in a place where they could not be accessed by someone like her son Adam who aparently had some mental health issues.This amounts to Criminal Negligence on her part if this is true.

  48. So Nme666 doesn t think we should automatically assume that all those with mild forms of autism or dyslexia are potentially capable of these horrific school shootings.On the other hand why should we assume that every person that owns a gun is capable of these same atrocities just because they happen to own a legal firearm.
    On the other hand from what I have been able to determine from news reports the fire arms that were used in this school shooting belonged to Adam Lanzas mother.She was reportedly a teacher at the school where this masacre took place.If that is correct why were they not secured in a place where they could not be accessed by someone like her son Adam who aparently had some mental health issues.This amounts to Criminal Negligence on her part if this is true.

  49. Frankeman just to keep you up to date the mother of the perpetrator was NOT a teacher at the school.
    Nme666 Autism/Aspergers/Dyslexia does not preclude committing mass murder. What has not been established in my mind is that Autism/Aspergers was the cause of this mass shooting. Coincidence does not indicate Causation and all that you know.

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