Texas Tech Cartoon.
Nice display of class from our good friends from the north who display such class on a regular basis.
This cartoon was in Texas Tech’s Daily Toreador (their newspaper) on Friday.
In their defense, there has been a decent outcry against the cartoon from both current and former students. The cartoonist stands by it, however. He says that “Our current president is the most ardently pro-gun president we’ve had in a long time, and his administration has let the few recent pieces of gun legislation wither to almost nothing. No one but the young man in Virginia pulled the trigger, but I strongly believe that our gun-crazy culture is shameful, and not free from blame.”
It’s hard to imagine that someone so out of his mind as the guy in VT would have been stopped had President Bush signed a bill requiring one more piece of paper to be signed or one more hoop to jump through before you could purchase a gun, but who knows.
Also, Jim Bob and Petey who like to go huntin‘ every Saturday didn’t make him do it. In fact, I didn’t make him do it either. I like guns just like Jim Bob. I enjoy shooting them just like Petey. According to Mr. Cartoonist, I must accept some blame for this shooting since I contribute to the enjoyment of guns. I refuse to accept that. Guns made it easier for the killings to happen but as anyone who glances through the news on a regular basis can see, there are lots of ways to kill many innocent people if you’re crazy enough. It seems like this guy was crazy enough.
George Bush didn’t make him do it. He didn’t use a stolen Nazi WWII weather machine to cause Katrina and he didn’t kill anyone in Virginia. I didn’t make him do it. Our culture didn’t make him do it. It happened. He was crazy. It was sad. Incredibly sad, end of story. Whether you agree with the President or not, placing blame on him doesn’t change anything. When people begin to take responsibility for their own actions, realize that sometimes tragedy strikes without purpose or conspiracy, and quit placing blame on anyone and everyone else, then we’ll have something to talk about.
Instead, without an apology for lack of sensitivity (especially in an environment so highly emotional about tragedy like a college campus), Mr. Cartoonist says “This, as painful as it may be, means critically examining our culture, and ourselves.” In other words, I’m trying to place blame and if that makes you sad, oh well.
In the end, everyone has a right to their own opinion and Mr. Cartoonist’s is as good as any. I just wish that people would fully analyze a situation before spouting off. Either way, this is America and I’d rather have people tactlessly spewing their opinion than saying nothing at all.
2 Comments
April 24, 2007 at 9:45 pm
Hey, easy on Techsters…there are nuts at every university! You’d think however a school with “Pistol Pete” as a mascot would be for guns…they are definitely for cheap beer! Gun control unfortunately doesn’t control the maniacs…which are the real problems.
April 25, 2007 at 7:22 pm
I think you hit the nail on the head my Mamma always said “take responsibility for your actions” I think if more people would do that the world would be a much better place.