Politicians' hyperbole prevails after shooting
Campus Times
April 30, 1999
It is scary how predictable certain political right-wing morons have
become and how detached they are from reality.
After the horrible shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.,
last week, I knew it was just a matter of time until some idiot was once
again going to blame music, movies and video games for the outbursts of
violence in this country.
And, sure enough, when I opened up the Los Angeles Times last Thursday,
presidential hopeful Gary Bauer (R) was quoted, saying that a "culture
of death" was "in our movies" and "in our music."
He also said this culture "tolerates abortion and fosters violence
like the bloody school massacre in Colorado."
Not surprisingly, he did not mention the gun control issue or the death
penalty.
I am sick and tired of idiots blaming music, movies and video games
for the problems of this country.
Violence on television can influence a young child, but in most cases,
no harm will be done if a child is brought up the right way. If parents
took time to understand their children, taught them right from wrong and
did not use the television as a baby sitter, the children would be more
likely to grow up to be responsible, caring human beings, no matter to what
kind of entertainment they are exposed.
A translated version of almost every American movie or video game can
be bought in every Western European country. Interestingly enough, I have
yet to hear of incidents similar to the ones in the United States occurring
in that part of the world.
In Europe, most television shows do not have ratings. Bad language,
nudity and violence are broadcast, for the most part, without being censored.
I know; I grew up there. Yet I do not go around and shoot anybody, do I?
The simple fact is that one does not shoot people with CDs; one shoots
them with guns. That is where the precious Second Amendment comes in. Hello!
That was written 200 years ago when one actually needed a gun to survive.
However, nowadays it is easier for a teenager to buy a gun than to buy
a beer. Yet some people are more concerned about the music of the oh-so-evil
Marilyn Manson this same teenager might be enjoying.
Bauer was not ashamed to abuse the massacre for his political propaganda,
unjustly comparing it to abortion.
I agree with Bauer. There is a culture of death in this country-but
it does not originate from CDs or movies. It exists because of the eye-for-an-eye
mentality that is the basis for the death penalty, and because of the fact
that a gun can be bought at every street corner.
I understand that Bauer was probably not aware of that fact prior to
the recent shooting. Teenagers have been dropping like flies for years in
inner-city gang warfare. But they were bad people, right? They were drug
dealers and gangbangers. Who cares about them? Live by the gun, die by the
gun, right? It seems as if that applies to the rest of the country, too.
But it took a bunch of dead suburban, middle-class students to wake
up the most ignorant of American politicians who are probably more interested
in President Clinton's private life than in what is really going on in this
country.
Some politicians are so detached from reality that they will never change
their narrow-minded views.
Though it might already be too late, politicians should just once make
some reasonable decisions. If they do not, the killing will never stop.
Michael Anklin, a sophomore journalism major, is a staff writer for
the Campus Times. He can be reached by e-mail at anklinm@ulv.edu.
