Quotes from abroad on VT's tragic loss...

• Someone should have done something to prevent this...
• Where were the police after they were called to campus the first time?
• Why didn't the university do more to inform the student body?
• How could something like this happen?
• There should have been a better plan in place to handle such a crisis.
• The university should have had more police presence on campus.
• Students should be allowed to carry firearms on campus.
• The state of Virginia should have stricter firearm laws- this could have been prevented.
• The university should install hundreds of surveillance cameras on campus...
• I'm mad that the administration didn't do more to prevent this tragedy!
• How hard is it to find a gunman on a small campus once the shooting starts?
• Campus buildings should have stricter access requirements.
• How in the world did a Korean national obtain not one, but two firearms so easily?

The best quote I gleaned from a major news source this morning, The Wall Street Journal, summed up the tragedy succinctly and poignantly:

"...whose madness can't be explained by reason." (In referencing shooter Cho Seung-Hui)

Sad, but true. Madness can make such a mess of reason and post-event analysis. That's what makes madness so difficult to deal with. There are no parameters to neatly configure, analyze, scrutinize, justify, understand, comprehend or even to adequately assign blame. The press and a great majority of the public want that last part- badly. They want a swift, subsequent action as a result of a madness induced episode. This is not healthy. This does not help the victims' family grieve or come to grips with their horrific loss. President Bush was correct in his reply to NBC news anchor Brian Williams when asked, "What should we do about these guns?"

The President's immediate response was awesome: "I believe there...will come a time for political conversation about the issue, but now is not that time. We need to focus on healing and support those who are grieving during their loss."

For a guy who catches a lot of flack for his lack of quality communication- he nullified a non issue softly and poetically as anyone who cares for people who are hurting would do.