The killing of innocents always brings out the conflicting feelings in me.  I feel rage at the evil that was done and helplessness at not being able to do anything as the horrific drama unfolds.

I feel sorrow for the families of the victims, horror at the suffering the victims themselves must have suffered,  and pity for the unmentioned victims, the family of the shooter, for they are victims also in that they well bear his stigma in his coward's death.

But sadly for me, in this day and age, I also feel frustration at the politicians and media (bloggers included) who will spin, promote and demagogue away with this event.  What ought to be a shared moment of national sorrow becomes a media circus in what Michelle Malkin has labeled the Blame-the-guns bias watch.

From The Seattle Times tonight:

OLYMPIA – The Sonics' proposal for a $500 million taxpayer-subsidized arena in Renton appears dead, prompting Sonics owner Clay Bennett to say tonight there is "little hope" the team will remain in the area.

Emerging from closed-door negotiations in Gov. Christine Gregoire's office this evening, key lawmakers said no action would be taken on the proposed arena before the Legislature adjourns this weekend.

"This [is] a staggering and quite likely a debilitating blow to our efforts to develop a world-class arena facility," Sonics owner Clay Bennett said in a written statement. "Clearly at this time the Sonics and Storm have little hope of remaining in the Puget Sound region."

. . .

All I can say is: I saw this coming and Mrs. Amber Gunn got it dunn with her Valentines' Day present.

Some interesting observations in this post about the NYT's Baghdad Bureau Chief and the variance of his views with the editorial page of his own paper.

Below are three great blogs covering the 2008 presidential election to keep an eye on:

Blogs for McCain — A pro-McCain blog with contributors in Seattle, Phoenix, New York, and Los Angeles.

Bloggers for Rudy — A pro-Rudy blog with contributors in Washington, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Kansas.

Race42008.com — An increasingly popular blog with contributors covering all the major 2008 GOP contenders.

In an editorial dated Sept. 5th, 2006, Larry Hincker Vice President of University Relations from Virginia Tech, replied to an editorial from Bradford Wiles titled "Unarmed and vulnerable," Aug. 31. The last line of Mr. Hinckers editorial states:

Guns don't belong in the classrooms. They never will. Virginia Tech has a very sound policy preventing same.

Just imagine if students were armed. We no longer need to imagine what will happen when they are not armed.

Update:

The original Unarmed and Vulnerable editorial is now at AndrewsDad