Don't I know you?

The tragedy in Aurora, Colorado Friday morning is stupefying and shocking— that is, until you recall Columbine in 1999, Virginia Tech in 2007, Utoya (Oslo) 12 months ago, or Tucson just 18 months ago.

Each of the horrible events (as well as others less-recalled, but no less memorable) were each carried out by individuals remarkable only by their isolation and seeming invisibility to the rest of us.

The “profile” and demonic characteristics of these loners is better-understood than society cares to admit.  Other than reporters questioning of acquaintances of the perpetrator for “telltale signs” that habitually go unnoticed, the story of “how-can-this-happen?” is implausibly short-lived.

Do I think there are too many guns floating around?  Yes.  But I prefer not to console myself this way.

The “pivot” in the wake of such tragedy, from mourning the victims to stoking the politics of gun control is as routine and perhaps as deadly as the incidents themselves.  The uncomfortable notion that possibly a parent or a loved one, a co-worker or teacher, a Facebook acquaintance or a twitter follower might have “seen it coming”-- albeit without knowing what they were seeing or hearing-- is a harder concept to face compared to the ease of blaming and banning guns.

What about a shared, apolitical responsibility to prevent a future tragedy?  Do we even have one?  A society that lets loners such as these plot and plan in our midst isn’t to blame, but it’s not off the hook, either.  At some point we need to ask ourselves why, in the busy-body of our chaotic lives and daily breakneck routines, we can’t or don’t slow down long enough to spot these people?

And how has society communicated with all these would-be armed lunatics among us?  For those who don’t commit suicide on-the-spot, we coddle their delusions with instant celebrity, give them historical footnotes, and surrounded them with psychiatrists who dote on their every word while taking copious notes at each ridiculous utterance.  If you happen to crazy, this is like winning the Powerball.

Surely the premeditation shown in these many cases over the years would tell us sane people to reward the assailants with the death penalty.  Yet somehow we’re the ones so fascinated by what they were thinking that we refuse to.  The argument given against executing mass killers is that the death penalty would not have deterred them “anyway,” and keeping them alive to “study” could prevent future tragedies.

How’s that one working out for you in Littleton, Tucson, and Aurora?

Does anyone doubt our latest celebrity nutcase didn’t think that one through?  Unless they plan to take their own life, they know from brooding and planning as they meticulously do, that the chance of dying in the commission of the mass hysteria and bloodshed is slim, but the chance of dying from being punished for it is zero.

So without giving Aurora’s diabolical madman more credit than he deserves (And note that I have refused to grant him the use of his name), consider this spectacle… Once his booby-trapped apartment is entered and his computer hard drive is dissected by the FBI, we’ll find ourselves staring at the fitting final diversion: The whitewashed face of the “Joker,” aiming gun control in our faces as he again flees responsibility and death.