The T Word Again

It was the worst mass shooting since Newtown. Fourteen dead, 17 injured as of this posting. Naturally, the news media, including the major networks and cable outlets, jumped into wall-to-wall coverage, as they were obliged to do. The only problem was that afterwards, the information about what was happening came out in sparse bursts. Some cable anchors even sounded a little whiny about why more information wasn’t being released. So, those anchors had time to fill.

Much of that time was spent discussing whether the shooting was an act of terrorism. Terrorism has been defined generally as a violent act to create fear, I think we can safely say, that was the broad motive involved, though revenge is a good one, too. The only problem with the “T” word is that it’s politically toxic. Listeners hear “terrorism” and many of them mentally fill in a word before it: “Islamic,” just because that phrase has been drummed into our heads.

Later in the evening, the news anchors were telling us that it was more likely a disgruntled employee of San Bernardino County, which would account for why a county agency holiday party was the target of the shooting.. Complicating the issue, though, is that the disgruntled one is of Middle Eastern extraction. Anyway, if it wasn’t Islamic terrorism after all, what are we supposed to feel? Relief? Of course not – so now we go back to the gun control/mental health debate. When is it all going to stop?

Some of us may be upset with the frenetic wall-to-wall coverage these things get, and the inane and sometimes inflammatory comments made while the anchors fill time. I used to think that. But now we have social media. If we didn’t have this intense coverage by the major media institutions, we would be left to the mercy of Tweeters. Do you think we’d be better off with an untempered rumor mill?

Whatever you want to call this incident, 14 people are just as dead – the definition doesn’t really matter, does it. Perhaps this is the new normal in our lives. The only thing that occurred to me was that if it takes 18 months for a Syrian refugee to be admitted to this country, why can’t we make it take that long to get a gun? Just wondering.

Cluster Fubar

Just in case anyone’s wondering, the “F” in Fubar can also stand for Fouled (Up Beyond All Repair).

Christopher Dorner is dead, as best can be determined at the moment, and that’s a good thing, but Tuesday was bizarre in many respects. It was Mardi Gras day, and then there was that other thing…oh, yeah, I forgot, the State of the Union address.

The Dorner incident, for the most part, did not represent journalism’s finest hour, as reporters badgered the PR people for the LAPD and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office with stupid, repetitious questions, calling on them to “speculate.” On the other hand, one television reporter for KCAL-TV in Los Angeles performed almost heroically, relaying the sound through his cell phone of an intense gun battle between Dorner and the cops. It was historic audio, as one anchor observed.

There were conflicting reports about Dorner being dead and in the burning cabin. “Multiple sources” told reporters that he was dead; the LAPD said no body had been found yet, and that as far as they were concerned, he was still alive. The San Bernardino Sheriff’s spokeswoman said that authorities believed that Dorner couldn’t have escaped, even though the body hadn’t been found. LAPD kept saying it was San Bernardino’s case all along, so why their spokesperson had to comment at all, I don’t know. The media were blamed for running with the dead-Dorner story without confirmation, but if multiple people, perhaps some wearing uniforms, tell you something happened, you’re inclined to believe it, right?

Did the Dorner incident say anything about guns in America? No; he was an ex-cop, trained in all those things. It perhaps does say something about how quickly respected and well-trained people can become unbalanced.

But it must be hard walking down the streets of Hollywood now, with all the saliva flowing from movie producers’ mouths over this one. I have no doubt we’ll see the premiere happen early next year, if not sooner.