The last time that I posted a blog entry with this heading - just a few days ago, really - it barely received any views. However, my idea behind it is to mock this notion of Americans accepting these ridiculous, insane events as somehow a new normality that we just have to accept, because that implies these kinds of things losing their shock value. It also suggests that we really should not give too much thought about these kinds of happenings.
You might not have heard about this one, because it did not make quite the news that mass shootings with more victims tends to.
Still, there was another mass shooting yesterday, this time in remote northern California. Four people were killed, not including the gunman, although he was shot dead by police.
What does it say about our country, about our society, that such an insane news story as this does not even make the major headlines? I mentioned this before, hoping to be wrong, but it really does seem that these days, mass shootings do not even get much of a blip on the national radar unless they reach a certain level of fatalities. Years ago, this would have dominated the news cycle, and we would have serious discussions on this topic. But these days, it seems that this is unofficially classified as a minor mass shooting, and thus, will not qualify as one of the major national news stories.
Seriously! I heard about this almost by accident through a Facebook post. And when I checked the news, the headlines were dominated by stories about President Trump, and some other news stories. I specifically had to look for California news before stories started showing up about this.
Think about that. These kinds of events have become so much accepted as the new normal in this country, that an event like this, where someone who clearly has mental issues decides to take his gun and shoot a bunch of people (this began at the shooter's home, and spread to seven locations in total, apparently) is buried behind more sensational news headlines about President Trump.
And let's be clear: Donald Trump has nothing of worth to say about something like this, or about much of anything else, really. To me, he is fluff news stories, because he is a fake president. Stories like this can occur, but they get in the way of him dominating headlines, so he tries to wait patiently until the next opportunity to shock people, to generate major news stories.
Here is another sign of this new normal: school officials heard the shooting, which was less than a mile away from the school, and immediately locked down the school. Authorities are crediting this for preventing a much worse tragedy, one that perhaps would indeed have dominated headlines.
For what it is worth, my heart goes out to the victims and their families. Let us hope that we finally solve this problem of far too many tragedies involving gun violence here in the United States.
And let's be clear: Donald Trump has nothing of worth to say about something like this, or about much of anything else, really. To me, he is fluff news stories, because he is a fake president. Stories like this can occur, but they get in the way of him dominating headlines, so he tries to wait patiently until the next opportunity to shock people, to generate major news stories.
Here is another sign of this new normal: school officials heard the shooting, which was less than a mile away from the school, and immediately locked down the school. Authorities are crediting this for preventing a much worse tragedy, one that perhaps would indeed have dominated headlines.
For what it is worth, my heart goes out to the victims and their families. Let us hope that we finally solve this problem of far too many tragedies involving gun violence here in the United States.
At Least 4 Victims Killed After Shooting At School, Other Locations In California Facebook Twitter Email November 14, 20171:57 PM ET Camila Domonoske square 2017 CAMILA DOMONOSKE Twitter Richard Gonzales RICHARD GONZALES
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