Anybody Else Feel Binary Today?

I felt like a computer writing out the date today: 01/11/11. Only day that will ever be more one-y will be in 10 months on 11/11/11. Yes, that's just more of the kind of hard-hitting analysis you've come to expect from this blog.

On a more serious note, I do feel compelled to say a few words about the events of this past weekend. If anyone saw The Daily Show last night, Jon Stewart was pitch-perfect. There is waaaaay too much obsession right now about whether or not the combatative political climate is the cause of this. I agree with Stewart when he says that you can't blame that anymore than you can blame Marilyn Manson for Columbine. Even worse is this petty bickering over what category this guy belongs in - crazy right-winger or crazy left-winger - because the operative word is not left or right but crazy.

When something this stupid and senseless happens, it's only natural for people to seek to explain it. That is our nature as problem-solving animals, and it's the defining characteristic that has helped us become the dominant species on this planet. But unfortunately too often in non-scientific matters (and sometimes even in those too) we attempt to ascribe our vision of the world to events rather than letting the events speak for themselves. If you believe in god, it's easy for you to see evidence of his work everywhere. If you're an atheist, it's just as easy to see evidence that there couldn't possibly be a god. In other words, if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

That's perfectly understandable, but just as regrettable. What's important here is that we all agree that this lunatic did something that we as a society cannot and will not tolerate and tragically took the lives of 6 innocent people. That should be the focus here; all the rest needs to be pushed into the background.

I've previously written on here that I do not support the death penalty. I still believe that, but I will admit that it's awfully hard to defend that position in this particular case.

I'm working on another post now that unfortunately will also be pretty weighty and melancholy. Sorry for that. Like The Daily Show promised, don't worry, I'll be back to my stupidity and inanity very soon.