BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) - A gunman opened fire in a Virginia Tech dorm and then, two hours later, in a classroom across campus Monday, killing at least 30 people in the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history, government officials told The Associated Press. The gunman was killed, bringing the death toll to 31.
[....]
A White House spokesman said President Bush was horrified by the rampage and offered his prayers to the victims and the people of Virginia.
"The president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed," spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
I found this quote also on the Dallas Morning News, San Francisco's KRON TV 4, and Philadelphia's NBC 10 News.
Now I'm not surprised that the Bush White House would push such a political statement as what Perino said on this tragic day. It is a rather crass statement to make, but I'm somewhat willing to let it slide. In my first posting on the Virginia Tech shootings, I wondered whether we should start revisiting serious gun control laws as a means to stop this violence.
But then something happened that made me want to revisit Perino's statement. The Bush administration finally figured out their PR-spin on the shooting:
President Bush said in a brief televised statement: “Schools should be places of sanctuary and safety and learning. When that sanctuary is violated, the impact is felt in every American classroom and every American community. Today, our nation grieves with those who have lost loved ones at Virginia Tech.”
While Fox News quotes the religious aspects of Bush's statement:
President Bush said the "nation is shocked and saddened" by the shootings.
"Today our nation grieves with those who have lost loved ones at Virginia Tech," Bush said. "We hold the victims in our hearts, we lift them up in our prayers and we ask a loving god to comfort those who are suffering today."
You can read President Bush's entire statement on the Virginia Tech shootings here.
Oh, and SURPRISE! White House spokeswoman Dana Perino's statement politicizing the Virginia Tech shootings is slowly being quashed out of the news media! You just have to laugh at this. The Virginia Tech shootings take place, and the White House press corps starts asking for President Bush's opinion on this event. Perino should have just left it at Bush is horrified at the Virginia Tech shootings, and will offer his prayers to victims yada yada yada. In other words, keep it at the standard sympathy quote, until the White House staff can gather enough information about the tragedy in order to reevaluate policy issues here. Perino didn't do that. She had to make a political statement on the tragedy--Gotta reassure the National Rifle Association that the Bush administration will not take your guns away! And the news media is happily being spoon-fed this crap from the Bush White House.
Incredible.
Update: Dana Perino's statement on gun control can be found in this White House press conference statement here. The statement was made in response to a reporter's question on gun control, and whether the current gun control laws should be strengthened. Perino should have skirted the issue, saying that the Bush administration should get the facts and information on this shooting first, before deciding on what policies and laws needed to be changed in the aftermath of this tragedy. Perino didn't do that. And that makes the Bush administration seem more crass in protecting the interests of the National Rifle Association over that of the lives of our young college students.
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