Columnist Bob Bridge
”All bad behavior is really a request for love, attention, or validation.”
- Kimberly Giles
Mass shootings were not frequent when I was a child. Relatively speaking, I felt safe within my elementary school. I can’t imagine my mind processing such a shocking and sinister multiple murder at such a tender age.
That said, my youth was not without sorrowful, sensational occurrences. On Nov. 22, 1963, the principal summoned us to the gymnasium to whisper the woeful words: “President John F. Kennedy has been killed.“
Alas, assassinations soon became all too frequent. Martin Luther King was slain in 1968 and Robert Kennedy was taken from us three months later.
Traumatic?
I wondered if good people would continue to volunteer for service and leadership roles. The dissension and distinct division during the Vietnam War added to the confusion and chronic conflict, further clouding our nation’s future role as the world’s superpower.
While I recall the mass murder at the University of Texas in Austin in 1966, it wasn’t until Columbine in 1999 that school shootings forged to the forefront. More than 400 have followed in the next quarter century.
Political assassinations have been rare. However, the recent shooting of former President Donald Trump this past weekend during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania shocked the nation and stirred recollections of those fateful days during the 1960s.
The reason why the young sniper focused his rifle on Trump? As I write this column, no official motive has been determined by investigators.
The political rhetoric and name-calling have crescendoed in recent weeks as President Joe Biden struggles to retain his coveted seat in the Oval Office. He’s convinced the retention of our democracy is on the line in the upcoming election.
Theories on why this young man pulled the trigger?
Mine is consistent with my take on many of the school shootings. These extraordinarily evil endeavors are certain to propel perpetrators into the public spotlight.
This is their timely opportunity to make others notice their presence and potential power in a society where they have been overlooked, ignored and perhaps bullied or treated as an unimportant factor.
Imagine the impact on social media and the entire community. Attention, though undoubtedly negative, would abound.
How can a killer of such spectacular circumstance be considered meaningless, insignificant?
Going out with a much ballyhooed bang?
Why not?
In an age where America is less and less a meritocracy, it appears far more convenient to employ an evil act than good works to secure society’s illuminating spotlight.
Senseless?
For many of us … yes.
For the ostracized, abandoned soul?
What’s he got to lose?
Bob Bridge welcomes comments at 812-276-9646 or bbbbbridge@gmail.com.
Comments