VT shootings

I was in Blacksburg for 3 weeks this summer. I stayed at the Holiday Inn a block from campus. I know a kid from High School who plays football there. I rode my bike through campus. I golfed at the campus course. To think about what happened there yesterday is painful.
I wonder what I would have done in that situation. I wonder what the killer looked like. I wonder what it would sound like. But most of all, I wonder what was going on in his head. How could one person want to do that much harm to people he doesn't even know? This is a good blog by somebody who had a play writing class with him. From what the blog says, there were warning signs everywhere, like there are with most school shootings.

I can almost understand...no, sympathize with someone who gets to the point where they would want to take their own lives, but why take others down with you? When did he get to the point where he just gave up? Could anything been done to stop all this? Could he have changed his views about the world. Get married. Have beautiful children?

I know that even if there were answers to these questions they wouldnt help much, but one cant help but wonder. I feel for his parents, more so than the parents of other victims. Even though they may have some part to blame, they still lost a son, and their son still produced one of the most heinous crimes in American history. How does a parent live with this?

The only thing we can do is to try and help others who seem like they have lost their way, and we can try to live each day with happiness and hope to instill that happiness in others. It may make no difference at all, but at least we can say we did all we could do. At least we wouldnt have so many questions.

Vote McCain

So I am watching 60 Minutes right now and they are doing their special feature on John McCain. While I have traditionally been a Democrat, I find myself moving more towards the center as I get older. Not because I don't like the Democrats, but rather I dont want to be labeled as Democrat. I like having autonomy over my beliefs and I feel the "Moderate" label provides that.

In saying this I think (for the time-being) that John McCain should be the nations next President. I dont necessarily always agree with him, but I believe that he is an honest man and the best man (or woman) for the job. He supports the war in Iraq but realizes it has been drastically mishandled. While I haven't been the biggest fan of the war, I understand that there can be some good that comes out of it and I think if we do leave now, it will only hurt us more in the end. In all of my arguments concerning the war they havent centered around the war itself, but rather its' mismanagement. I will always fault the Bush administration with this and McCain has openly criticized them as well.

But like McCain I see hope in General Petraeus and I hope things will turn out for us. One thing that doesnt get displayed across the media is that McCain has an 18 year old son about to go to Iraq.

Aside from the war I like his support of stem-cell research, global warming, and budget reform.

So in voting for the next President I encourage you not to vote on party lines, but find that person who you respect the most, and vote for them.