One tragic flaw that has always bothered me is the glorification of war and our war machine. We do not seem to be able to remember what war really is, and this administration has made sure we as a society don’t really look at the reality. Only thing they can’t cover up is that we lost in Iraq. Had we “won,” Bush would be enjoying hero status. We are entirely too much in love with military prowess and “winning” wars, just as we are entirely too much in love with guns - and I do support responsible, sane gun ownership and use.

And yes, I think he should be lamented; it is lamentable that he got to this state and nobody noticed, nobody intervened. “Any man’s death diminshes me”; and what with the way things go these days, I feel pretty small sometimes.

I remember back in 1989 when I had begun my brief foray into graduate school there was an incident at a university in Canada where a guy rounded up and murdered a bunch of female engineering students. Seven of them, I think. My reaction was much more immediate and visceral then than it is now. Maybe I’ve become numb to mass deaths. Or maybe 32 in one place, one at a time, is too much death for me to wrap my head around.

I immediately recalled the organized rallies of Virginia gun-shop owners just a few weeks ago protesting New York’s anti-gun-sales efforts (specifically, New York felons are getting their hands on guns bought in states like Virginia that have lax background checks and no waiting period). But the details of this shooter suggest that that discussion may not be relevant in this case. This kid was disturbed, probably insane - but is there a system anywhere that checks to see if you’re a sociopath before you can buy a gun?

Meanwhile, my friends from other countries are increasingly convinced that Americans are all insane gun-toting maniacs, and if they ever were to visit here they would be killed in a crossfire. Stuff like this doesn’t help to convine them otherwise.

I think I’m overreacting. I must be upset. Time for a glass and a good book.

To put it simply there is no expectation of death in the student setting whereas soldiers are intimately involved with death.

The death of a soldier may imply glory, vengeance, duty, and sacrifice and may be perceived as a fitting and honorable end. The death of a student implies a lost future and would most often seem odd if described in the same way as the death of a soldier.

Stripped of their roles each is in fact a person which may be what Cooper and others are getting at. I don’t think that reacting to the setting, to the role each person has chosen, and to the presence of death in the particular setting and upon the particular role is ignorant or in any way lacking in perception as seems to be implied.

I in no way mean to minimize the horror of the VA shooting, or to suggest that it isn´t worthy of media coverage. I guess it is human nature to feel things more the closer they are to home.