someone is responsible

Wow, we are good at blaming other people.

 

Witness…

 

Celebrity news outlet, TMZ, is reporting that the first lawsuit is being crafted in the Aurora movie massacre.  It is being filed by Torrence Brown, a man who was in the theater but was not physically hurt, although a good friend was shot and killed. Brown now claims to suffer from extreme trauma.

 

So given his situation, he’s suing James Holmes, the shooter, correct?

 

Of course not.

 

According to TMZ and Brown’s attorney, Donald Karpel, Brown is targeting the following 3 entities or people:

 

1. The theater.  Karpel claims it was negligent for the theater to have an emergency door in the front that was not alarmed or guarded.  It’s widely believed Holmes entered the theater with a ticket, propped the emergency door open from inside, went to his car and returned with guns.
2. Holmes’ doctors.  Karpel says it appears Holmes was on several medications — prescribed by one or more doctors — at the time of the shooting, and he believes the docs did not properly monitor Holmes.
3. Warner Bros.  Karpel says “Dark Knight Rises” was particularly violent and Holmes mimicked some of the action.  The attorney says theater goers were helpless because they thought the shooter was part of the movie.  Karpel tells TMZ, “Somebody has to be responsible for the rampant violence that is shown today.”

 

“Somebody has to be responsible…”

 

I can’t shake that line.  While “someone is responsible,” that person’s name is James Holmes.  Granted, James Holmes doesn’t possess near the bank accounts of the theater, doctors, and Warner Bros.  While certainly the question of what each could have done differently would be prudent, holding them responsible seems financially expedient.  They are easy to blame.

 

Also, last week we witnessed Penn State receive sanctions for the sexual abuse scandal involving assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky.  Sandusky was found guilty of 45 charges of child abuse over a 15 year span.  In an independent report, members of the university’s administration and athletic department were found to be negligent; they were not involved in the abuse, but the tough questions are what did they know and what then, did they do with that information.

 

“Somebody has to be responsible…”

 

Penn State certainly should have reported what they knew when they knew it to law enforcement authorities.  There should exist a harsh consequence for that negligience.  Yet one of the penalties levied against the Penn State football program is the decision to vacate 112 of the team’s wins over the past 14 years.  In other words, all the victories on the grid iron during the time something should have been reported no longer exist.  Also, vacating those wins means extracting them from not only head coach, Joe Paterno, but also from the 85 other innocent collegians who potentially played their hearts out that day.

 

Again, “someone is responsible”; that person’s name is Jerry Sandusky. Sandusky’s perverse activity gave Penn State no competitive advantage on the football field.  What he did was horrific, but it didn’t influence the outcome of the game.  However…

 

“Somebody has to be responsible…”

 

We tend to place blame where it’s easiest…

 

… on those who can’t defend themselves…

… on those who are financially expedient…

… on those who’ve gone before us…

 

If we can hold someone responsible — regardless as to if they are the person responsible — sometimes it makes us feel better; sometimes is also adds to the foolishness involved.

 

Respectfully,

AR