Absolutely nothing. It says only that one individual living behind a mask, secretly in contempt of society, was sick and deranged enough to premeditate a mass murder of innocent children and adults. He deserves the death penalty.
Certainly, there will be handwringing and political discussions about what his means about American society, as if his lone act of craziness can be seen in some larger context. It can't.
There will be groups that will call for less violence in movies and video games, seeing how the mass murderer seemed to be emulating the Joker from the Batman movies. Yet in most cities, there is more violence on the nightly news. There will be calls for more money to address mental health issues, although the low-profile killer studying medicine would have never been eligible for it.
There will be groups calling for gun laws, more restrictions on gun ownership and purchasing ammunition. Keep in mind, though, that some of the cities with the strictest gun laws have the highest murder rates. See Chicago, for example, where the number wounded in a weekend can reach as high as the Aurora, Colorado theater count did early Friday morning.
The Unabomber never needed a gun. Nor did Timothy McVeigh to devastate that community. Sick individuals, isolated from their neighbors and peers, will always be a threat to society. There are no politics behind it. There is no reason behind it. There is no protection from it. There is just evil.
It would be nice for once if the media chose not to sensationalize this story and moved forward without another word of the shooter's "motivation" or "family life" until it's time to report on his trial. For now, there are only victims -lives cut tragically short - and that's where the focus should be.
I, for once, find myself agreeing with the president. Let's focus on the precious moments we all have together with our loved ones. I'm pretty sure it's the one thing the victims would tell us is most important after all.
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