The subtitle or alternate title to this worst-post is: Madness vs absurdity.
Where will the line be drawn, dear worst-reader? For years now I’ve been saying after every senseless shooting in #americant: what will be next? I suppose asking the question “who” will be next is also appropriate but because of the sheer numbers of deaths, resembling a slowly played-out war-zone, personalising it seems futile. Besides, where is the Arlington National Cemetery for all the Americans lost in this “war”? Nomatter.
This worst-post is motivated by two thoughts.
- The recent slayings of black men by white cops.
- What came first, the madness or the absurdity?
Why is it that I can’t help but compare all this senseless dying by such extreme violence with things that shouldn’t be compared and thereby conclude that there must be something that connects it all together? Other than the number of people killed, what’s the difference now between a 72 year old reserve weekend-warrior cop–who obviously watches too much faux newz and Dirty Harry movies–and Adam Lanza or Cho Seung-hui? Put another way, what is it that connects these killers? Obviously what motivated these men is not comparable. Reserve deputy Robert Blates (see article link below) is nothing more than another wannabe American male. Bored with his wealth but angry with his conservative rearing he found a way to vent his grievance, belonging and sentiment–i.e. the secret sauce faux newz, Limbaugh & Co. have sold #americants–by joy riding around with cops. As absurd as it sounds, the man was even deputised so that he could prove his manhood by wearing a uniform and carrying a gun AND A TASER. How often do you think a man like that stands naked in front of his bedroom mirror with his gun in hand saying: Go ‘head punk. Do you feel lucky! Wow. What a picture, eh. When I first heard Bates’ voice in the infamous shooting video where he kills Eric Harris saying “Oh, I shot him. I’m sorry,” multi-coloured daffodils and rainbow balloons covered a huge road sign in my mind. Then a fresh breeze came through and blew the confusion away only to reveal the absurdity of the sign.
Welcome To Your Madness
The company that owns the road sign, which was printed in small letters at the base of the sign, said: Absurdity Inc. Yeah, that’s about where we are at, dear worst-reader. Or have we been here all along? Again. Nomatter. I know that run-amok mass shootings are different than the killings of weekend-warrior wannabe American males. Yet there is something that connects these acts. And. No. It’s not the guns and the lust for violence that connects them. The thing that connects all this is a sickness. A society sickness of such mass proportions that there is nothing with which to measure it. There is no scientist out there that has even begun to analyse it. In fact, the sickness is so profound, deep-seeded, embedded in #americant life itself, that only history will be able to recognise it.
The 73-year-old reserve cop who mistook his gun for a Taser has been charged | The Washington Post.
Good luck. Rant on. -Tommi
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