I need to get some things off my chest.  Since the story broke early last week Friday, the news reports of the Colorado theater massacre has been non-stop.  Yes, I’m using the word ‘massacre’ because that is exactly what it was.  Saying it was simply a ‘shooting’ belittles the violence, the bloodbath, that occurred and devalues the lives of those who could not have envisioned being showered in a hail of gunfire.

They were innocent victims.  They did not deserve this.

There are several things that are gnawing at me…

I’m sick and tired of how news outlets report the news.  They want us to take them seriously, pull this phony ’we care so much and are so saddened’ face.  Please.  I watched a news report and counted the gunman’s name 15 times — 15 friggin times — and stopped counting because it was only within 5 minutes — yes, FIVE minutes — which was sickening.  This son-of-a-b*tch is getting way too much airplay and is on too many newspaper and magazine covers.  Reminds me of reality show actors and actresses.  Too. Much. Airplay.

Okay, get ready for this next paragraph.

I’m also sick and tired of this whole ’he’s different’ angle, how ‘bright’ and what an ‘intellectual’ he is, how he came from an ‘affluent suburb’ and ‘good family’, and this whole thing about him being ‘quiet’.  The fact that he is obviously (and if you say he isn’t, you are full of sh*t) getting a lot of ’let’s give him the benefit of the doubt’ pseudo-positive spin to make him seem like he deserves it (why, I do not know) further convinces me that there is a sickening double standard here.  He is an animal — and there’s not an argument that can convince me otherwise.

And let me say this, my blood is boiling over this whole ‘mental illness’ nonsense.  Do not insult our intelligence.  Do not throw out the Mental Illness Card to humanize this person. He ain’t crazy – best believe. There are millions of people suffering with mental illness who do not put meticulous plans into place for months, walk into a movie theater, prop open an exit door, get suited up, re-appear to be in full combat-type gear, throwing gas canisters and then fire off rounds from high-powered weaponry at a theater filled with people ready to be entertained.  Oh, and rig an apartment with God knows what to cause more harm.  And yes, I purposely did not use the word ‘allegedly’ here.  Ain’t nothin’ alleged about this.  He knew very clearly what he was doing.  Spare us the mental illness, temporary insanity, borderline personality disorder bullsh*t.

Message to all the ‘Intellectual’, ‘Affluent Suburb’-living, ‘Quiet’ individuals out there:  If you want to leave the world with bullets, by all means kill yourself, just don’t bring along the rest of us on your destructive ride.

Talking heads on news reports are already chiming in — AGAIN — about gun control, about the right to bear arms and freedoms.  Then there are those who are talking about early intervention and support and the state of medical care for those with mental illness.  And of course, there’s talk of the death penalty.  Blah, blah, blah.  Haven’t we heard this all before?

If you saw my post on Twitter, I think you know where I stand on the whole right to bear arms and gun control issue.  But if you didn’t, here it is:

There is absolutely no need whatsoever for a citizen to have access to, rights to, ability to purchase automatic and semi-automatic weapons.  Similarly, there’s no need whatsoever for a citizen to have access to, rights to, ability to purchase things like hand grenades.  Really?  Hey, I know it’s a hard knocks life.  ‘Annie’ sang about it, and so has every rapper on the face of the planet.  But, unless you are on the battle fields of a war zone, you, I and my neighbor, do not need these anywhere near us — anywhere near our children.  To have something that can fire off a multitude of rounds of ammunition in seconds in an average citizen’s possession is ridiculous.  There’s a difference between having a gun that forces the individual who has complete disregard for human life to re-load multiple times giving potential victims time to escape or take cover versus having a gun that sprays a 100 rounds in a heartbeat — therefore, giving no-one a chance at living. Of course, there’s an argument that can also be discussed here about bullet types.  Bullets are bullets, but not all bullets are created equal.  I’m not getting more into that, but to think that this whole issue of crimes against the innocent will somehow miraculously be cured by Congress and all of our politcal representatives is hogwash.  They have no backbone to make sweeping changes because everybody has ‘rights’.

Hmmmm… I wonder how the families are feeling at this moment as they begin the task of contacting funeral homes and cemetaries and are making decisions about caskets and burial plots.

Reasonable restrictions do not trample all of our rights.  What’s wrong about having a reasonable restriction to guns with clips that hold multiple rounds and other types of war-like weaponry?  This is exhausting.  We’re so h*ll-bent on issues of rights and freedoms centuries old that we are tripping over ourselves in the 21st century like bumbling idiots.  It is simply too easy for people to get their hands on guns and ammunition in this country.  Too. Easy.

With all due respect to the President, history will remember the murderer.  Let’s stop fooling ourselves that we won’t.  I can rattle off the names of several mass murderers.  Don’t lie to me and to yourself that you can’t too.  Now, ask yourself, can you remember the names of the victims?  I can guarantee that there will be heightened chatter about the gun laws in this country and the differences — sometimes stark — between states about the purchase and sale of guns as the Presidential Election approaches.  Blah, blah, blah.

You know what?

We’re all idiots.  We’ll pick apart this Colorado massacre ad nauseum like ALL THE OTHER TIMES.

The system, the way the country has done things for years and years and years and years IS. NOT. WORKING.

Dead is dead, people.