Shorter Peggy Noonan
Cold Standard: Virginia Tech and the heartlessness of our media and therapy culture
Above: Suggested the second ‘R’ in the title of Nelly’s 2002 hit, ‘Hot In Herre’
- For God’s sake, won’t someone please think of us as children?
‘Shorter’ concept created by Daniel Davies and perfected by Elton Beard.
Travis adds: Noonan chides Barack Obama for drawing a tenuous societal link between language and violence, but in the very next section of her essay she writes:
With all the therapy in our great therapized nation, with all our devotion to emotions and feelings, one senses we are becoming a colder culture, and a colder country. We purport to be compassionate–we must respect Mr. Cho’s privacy rights and personal autonomy–but of course it is cold not to have protected others from him. It is cold not to have protected him from himself.
Aren’t they basically talking about the same thing, only using different language?
Yeah, basically. It sucks to be a conservative when the bad guy doesn’t fit into your preconceptions of who the bad guys are and you can’t say “Suck it up, violence is good for boys”. You end up having to… think.
I know this isn’t a serious blog, but I do agree with her on the video. I couldn’t believe that they showed that on NBC. Not that I think that it helps us to dehumanize the killer, but he was obviously trying to encourage copycat sprees with his manifesto, so why give him airtime?
Couldn’t get past this line:
“Dennis Miller the other night said something compassionate and sensible on TV.”
Why air it? Ratings, that’s why. Who, somewhere deep inside, didn’t want to see it?
I used to work in news (and for a little while at an NBC subsidiary), and from that perspective: If you’ve had Teh Biggest Scoop Evar of Teh Moment mailed right to you, not running with the ball never crosses your mind. Show it all, let the ombudsman sort it out.
Please don’t tell me you’re surprised that Ms. Peggy would suggest that she and Sen.Obama AREN’T talking about the same thing.
Why not give the country a look at what his beefs were?
Sure there’s the risk of copycats.
I think it’s more likely to help other folks spot similar time-bombs, and still others to maybe speak and act towards others that could ameliorate feelings of isolation and aversion and potentially preventing time-bombs.
You know – it can be hugs tiem now motherfuckers!
Therapized? Is that a real word?
Nanny state, nanny state, oh nanny nanny state…
Oh, wait, we’re cold now!
awesome “shorter”, Travis. an instant classic.
Like the asp that apocryphal woman helped halfway across the river, it is our NATURE, as americans, to be much more interested in the motives and thoughts of the killer than the victims. The victims didn’t actually DO anything, they were just there. Flesh and blood pup-up targets if you will.
But the fascination with someone who would kill that many people is endless for us. Just watch one night of prime time, if you can stomach it. How many murders are shown, how many murderers are sought? And then on the documentary channels there’s “The mind of the green river killer” and “lockup-Supermax” and all that shit. That’s where america’s fascination lies.
You can’t blame NBC for showing this stuff anymore than you can blame Harrah’s for building casinos or columbians for smuggling cocaine. If there was no demand, there’d be no supply…
mikey
I don’t know if Peggy actually thinks much? She feels. Oh’ how she feels. There are rainbows and lollipops and sunshine, and magic dolphins aiding the plight of Jesus Elian Gonzalez and of course the Gipper. And if we find that magic place within ourselves, you’ll see why tax cuts for the rich really are heavenly, and a war mongering foreign policy is just a metaphor for a big happy flag of red, white and blue freedom.
It’s more of a “your tenuous societal link has no basis in reality, whereas my tenuous societal link is glaringly obvious and conveniently serves my political ends.”
I’m kind of with King Atrios on this one. I’m not sure NBC did the right thing in broadcasting the videos etc.
But I know that I don’t think the corporate heads of NBC should be the ones deciding what we get to see on the news.
Obama’s quote was definitely lame.
I think Obama, however, is the Democratic candidate the ReThugs most fear. He has the Teflon thing going. It’s going to be tough to smear him, because he projects the same kind of aura that (Bill) Clinton did– that he may be flawed, but his heart is in the right place.
John Kerry came across as a douchebag in 2004 because, well, John Kerry IS kind of a douchebag. When Obama makes a misstep, it doesn’t seem to be as cringe-inducing as when Kerry would say something dumb.
I know, way OT, but the perfect storm is brewing: [url=http://www.theagitator.com/archives/027718.php#027718]Debby and the Harpy[/url] are partnered again…
Shitfuckdamnhellcocksuckermotherfuckertits. Who do you have to fuck to get a preview around here?
Did somebody say…
Debby and the Harpy are partnered again?
Yes.
But the language that Nooners is using could lead to violence.