By now we all know that some very bad things happened today; for far too many, lives were brought to an end before they barely had a chance to begin.
One would hope that we could use today to remind us all of what we have and what really matters; to send our positive thoughts to those who undoubtedly can’t comprehend what has happened. From our President to law enforcement officials to small communities, many of us have done just that.
But unfortunately there are some who still can’t keep their eye on the ball. Violence and evil are a very tricky thing – if we could explain why they exist and how we can reduce their occurrence we undoubtedly would.
Yet today has shown that more often than not we can not, but that hasn’t stopped many people from trying to sway us towards a certain direction, seemingly to support their own separate agenda.
Fox News has already been suggesting that the killings are the byproduct of violent video game playing.
People for gun control are blaming guns…
Gun rights groups are blaming people…
Meanwhile twenty six individuals, ranging from ages 4 to 50, will never walk this earth again.
You’d think that would be story enough – kids over a decade away from legally being called adults go to school and end up dead — but for whatever reason some people need to formulate their own biased opinions, albeit with no factual, empirical or incontrovertible evidence to support them so that they can push their agenda. It’s disgusting.
While they try to explain to us how they KNOW what happened, families are identifying their dead children and first responders are still sorting through a horrific crime scene.
There’s something terribly wrong about all of that.
Today’s school shooting is arguably one of the most horrific in our lifetime, and hopefully that will forever remain the case. But, miraculously The United States has seen something very close to this before, albeit 85 years ago in a little place called Bath Township, Michigan.
A man who was upset that his farm was foreclosed due to taxes to pay for schools, blew up his local school district, killing 38 children and two teachers in the act (he had plotted to blow up the ENTIRE school, but that portion of his plan fell through).
Obviously he didn’t play video games. Video games did not exist. There is no record on what he thought about guns or what his childhood was like growing up.
All we know is that he was not rational and he was obviously willing to kill, two ingredients that were arguably more deadly than the pyrotol and dynamite he used to blow the fuse.
What was the difference between this man and the shooter that took 20 children’s lives this week?
It’s a question humanity wish we could answer, yet is one that we seemingly aren’t asking enough, only tucking under the covers while we pronounce answers to questions that nobody really seemed to be asking in the first place.
If our society continues to apply unfounded superficial answers to incredibly important and complex questions for the sake of pushing an agenda, we will not progress. We want to point the finger at FOX NEWS and others and admonish them for poor judgment and fear-mongering comments during this tragic time.
Our hearts go out to all the families and individuals that are enduring incomprehensible pain and loss.
Paul Nyhart – who has written 881 posts on The Jace Hall Show.
Paul Nyhart has been the Head Editor and Writer of JaceHallShow.com since Season 3. He began his career as a sports announcer, segueing into the world of voice-over and film production. Send all tips to Paul@HDfilms.com

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