This week the Penn State child abuse scandal battles with the Aurora, Colorado shootings for the top spot in the media headlines. A slight blip came today came with the sentencing of an official of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Then the media returned to the pros and cons of the NCAA sanctions against Penn State and the heroes and lessons of the movie theater shootings.
Quite frankly, I'm tired of it all. Except for the cast of players, the plot remains the same. We watched the stories of survival, the remembrances of victims, and the debates over gun control after the shootings in Killeen, TX, Colombine, CO, Virgina Tech, Tucson, AZ, and more. We followed the unfolding of investigations and prosecutions of sexual abuse cases in Boston, Philadelphia, Lackland Air Force Base, Tailhook, and beyond. We debated gun control, mental health, racism, the abuse of authority, and the keeping of secrets. As the satirical news site The Onion reported, "Sadly, Nation Knows Exactly How Colorado Shooting's Aftermath Will Play Out." In humor there is truth.
We keep having these conversations. Over and over again. Ad infinitum. But has anything really changed? We put in more security systems, but we don't limit the types of firearms citizens may possess. We write laws to protect victims, but we don't provide the support they need over time.
When major tragedies and scandals happen we reach for the giant communal shampoo bottle and follow the directions. Wash, rinse, repeat. And repeat. And repeat. Who was it that said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result?
When are we going to stop talking about change and actually work at creating some?
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