Children's Deaths By Car Accident Not As "Sexy" As By School Shootings

Forward:
"Sexy" is a term used by news organizations describing something that is:
"3) interesting, exciting or trendy".
"Apples and Oranges" is a phrase that is often used as a crushing blow to an analogy when in fact, "denigrating an analogy by accusing it of comparing apples and oranges is, in and of itself, comparing apples and oranges."

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When it comes to children's (usually defined as 17 years old or younger) deaths in school shootings, almost everybody gets wildly and irrationally emotional. Parents, educators and especially craven politicians' reactions to school shootings, whether they realize it or not, are fodder for both the Mainstream Media (MSM) and countless bloggers because the subject and reactions are just too darn "sexy" to pass up. When it comes to children's deaths in vehicular accidents, the reaction is, well, uh, fairly muted. In fact, children's deaths in vehicular accidents are so "un-sexy" that when one types in a Google search for, "politicians call for stricter laws on children deaths in car crashes", not only does one get over 861 million hits, but most of those hits are about children's deaths by school gun violence! A true "what the hell" if there ever was one. Apparently not only does the search parameters on Google think the shooting deaths are more "sexy", they also show that the "apples and oranges" argument is alive and well as, "comparing apples and oranges is, in and of itself, comparing apples and oranges."

Why is this so significant? Let us look at the numbers. Between 1980 and 2012, the number of people killed in shootings at school is 297, which includes mostly children, but also adults. The number of children killed in vehicular accidents is estimated at more than 51,000 for the same period. The numbers are so drastically different that the free-for-all reactions that happen in the MSM and in political houses across the country over school shootings show that the topic is not only "sexy" but "damn sexy" as well. Looking at the numbers alone, one would think that the reactions should be diametrically opposite, but, of course, they are not. Why?

I mean, look, even when typing a Google search for, "number of children deaths by accident in home per year", and one still gets trafficked to sites about children dying in school shootings by the multitude, one is forced to admit that something is wrong in how we are dealing with the deaths of children. As school shootings over the years have resulted in schools resembling prisons more and more, despite the fact that the odds of one's child being killed is so extremely rare, and the improvements to car safety lag so woefully behind in comparison, one is again forced to ask: why?

While after a school shooting it is now de rigueur for a parent (more often than not the father) to begin a media blitzkrieg condemning lax gun control laws before their child's body is even cold; there is no corresponding reaction to the daily toll of over three child deaths in vehicular accidents. Are there mass condemnations or protests in front of General Motors headquarters? No one suggests or even wants to put the head of Ford Motor Company's head on a pike and parade it down the street to the jeering cries of a multitude of people. Although that reaction would certainly be a "sexy" news item in the eyes of the MSM, it just never happens. In fact, the gap between reality and Americans' perception of horrible, out of control gun violence prompted the Pew Research Center to publish a reality check entitled, "Gun Homicide Rate Down 49% Since 1993 Peak; Public Unaware".

When it comes to gun control, there are extremists on both sides of the issue and they both can outdo the other when it comes to outrageous behaviors, which are, of course, imminently "sexy" to both the MSM and the craven politicians. However, when it comes to somehow really curbing the death toll of children in vehicular accidents, there are no corresponding extremist positions and not really even a middle one. The best we have is Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), with no such opposing group such as Fathers For Soused Driving existing or even contemplated. MADD is a good group to have around, obviously, because a lot of the deaths of children in vehicular accidents are caused by drunk drivers.

Among the many things about the United States of America, love it or leave it, that make it so damn interesting, yes even "sexy", are the many inconsistencies and incongruities. From religion to mass entertainment or political discourse to sexual mores, the USA is a blooming basketful of apples and oranges. If one stops to think about it, one might wonder how the country has survived for as long as it has. Yet, while the continued overreaction to the woefully few children's deaths at school because of guns is undermining the education process itself and turning schools into prisons, any meaningful change in vehicular safety for the sake of "our children" is condemned to the "non-sexy" well of sickening silence.
 

Dead Sandy Hook Elementary School Principal Interviewed By Local Paper About Shooting

A most disturbing find.

In its first article about the shooting at Sandy Hook School on December 14th, 2012, the local paper, The Newtown Bee, included an interview with the school principal, Dawn Hochsprung. The problem is that Dawn Hochsprung was reported as shot to death during the attack! How was the newspaper able to interview someone who was supposed to be dead? The original article is here, and in case it gets scrubbed, it is reprinted below in full with the relevant passage in bold. (UPDATE: the article was scrubbed this morning 12/17/12, but some of the paragraphs are now contained in article under the headline: "Gunman Opens Fire At Sandy Hook Schools; Fatality Reported") Following the reproduced article below is a screen capture.

SHOOTING REPORTED AT SANDY HOOK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
State and Newtown police, ambulance, and emergency response personnel responded to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shortly after 9:30 am, Friday, following reports of a shooting. One child was carried from the school by a police officer, apparently seriously wounded. Other injuries are reported, and emergency personnel have set up triage facilities. Three victims were transported to Danbury Hospital by ambulance. The other children in the school exited school under state police protection.
Police are in the process of setting up a staging area for parents coming to the scene that is away from the school, possibly at Fairfield Hills, to alleviate the traffic congestion in the immediate area.
Sandy Hook School Principal Dawn Hochsprung told The Bee that a masked man entered the school with a rifle and started shooting multiple shows [sic] – more than she could count – that went "on and on."All of Newtown's schools are in lockdown, and the private schools have in town have been notified of an alleged shooting being reported at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson said the schools were placed on lockdown the morning of Friday, December 14, "until we hear what is going on there."
Dr Robinson said it is best if parents do not try to call the district at this time, and the school district will release a message once further information is known.
The situation is evolving.

(Photo source: KDVR)

In another article on the newspaper's website under the headline, "Stories Of Heroism Emerging From School Shooting Tragedy", is what has become the official narrative of her death.

"But none were more tragic than the accounts of Principal Dawn Hochsprung, who was emerging from a meeting and apparently saw the gunman and warned several colleagues who were about to step into the hallway behind her, and into the shooter's direct line of fire. The last thing one witness recalled was her turning back and yelling a warning to lock the door as she apparently confronted the gunman. A few moments later she was shot."

This disturbing find is completely irreconcilable with the official narrative of the shooting spree. According to the newspaper, the reporter interviewed the Principal in person. Also, Ms. Hochsprung's statement to the newspaper included many specifics of the shooting and she was quoted as saying the shooting went "on and on". How is this even possible? She's suppose to be dead! And after appearing on the newspaper's website for 3 days, the article has now been scrubbed!

Unfortunately, this shooting event isn't only about opening a dialogue on gun control. Something is just not right here.

2ND UPDATE
If you go to the newspaper's link (see above), there is now an article entitled: "Retraction & Apology". This raises more questions. Who was the woman that identified herself to the reporter as the Principal? How did she know so many details? Why isn't this woman being investigated? And, of all the people for this woman to impersonate, why would it be the Principal, who had not yet been identified as being shot? What else would one expect the newspaper to say?

Here is another post about too many gunmen at Sandy Hook.