Barack Obama‘s splash page reads:
Today, we are a grieving and shocked nation. Violence has once again taken too many young people from this world. In Blacksburg, they were daughters. They were sons. They were our nation’s new leaders. We mourn them. We will miss them, and we pray for their families and the injured fighting for their lives. ~Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton‘s website reads:
I am shocked and saddened by the horrific tragedy at Virginia Tech. My prayers are with the victims and their families, as well as the students, faculty and community devestated by these gruesome killings. As a parent, I am filled with sorrow for the mothers and fathers and loved ones struggling with the sudden, unbearable news of a lost son or daughter, friend or family member. This tragedy is still unfolding and I hope as a nation we can come together and keep in our thoughts all those affected as we learn more about the events which took place this morning. – Hillary Clinton
Here is John Edwards‘s response:
We are simply heartbroken by the deaths and injuries suffered at Virginia Tech. We know what an unspeakable, life-changing moment this is for these families and how, in this moment, it is hard to feel anything but overwhelming grief, much less the love and support around you. But the love and support is there. We pray that these families, these students, and the entire Virginia Tech community know that they are being embraced by a nation. There is a Methodist hymn that gave us solace in such a moment as this, and we repeat its final verse here, in hopes it will help these families, as it helped us:
In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity;
In our doubt there is believing, in our life, eternity,
In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.Our dearest wish is that this day could start again, with the promise of these young people alive. Knowing that cannot be, our prayer is for God’s grace and whatever measure of peace can be reached on this terrible day.
John and Elizabeth Edwards
Bill Richardson‘s front page:
“On behalf of all New Mexicans, Barbara and I extend our condolences to the families of the victims whose lives were cut short by this horrific tragedy,” Governor Bill Richardson said. “This is a sad day and our hearts go out to the Virginia Tech community as it grieves this loss.” Governor Bill Richardson
Note: all these notes are either on the splash page before one enters the website or directly on the front page of the website.
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On the Republican side: I cannot find a statement at all on MittRomney.com (it’s certainly not obvious) as of 8:31pm. I cant even find a press release. Can anybody please correct me if I missed it??
McCain: No front page message but, in the latest news there is a link to the Press Release he put out. Here is the statement:
“I am shocked and saddened to hear the news of today’s events. This inconceivable tragedy was a horrific act of cruelty that took the lives of so many innocent young people, cutting their lives short and inflicting tremendous pain on all of those who loved them.
“Cindy and I extend our deepest sympathies and prayers to the students, faculty, friends and family of the Virginia Tech community.”
Of the top three Republicans on Rudy had a splash front page statement:
“On this day of national tragedy, when we lost some of our finest to a senseless act, we stand together as a country to mourn those who lost their lives.
“My thoughts and prayers continue to be with the survivors and the many friends, colleagues, and family members of those who perished. May God bless them all.”
-Rudy Giuliani
This is not about who had the “best” statement, and you damn well better believe this event should not be used as a political backdrop for any candidate of any party. But this ought to be a small data point as to who is there for us and who is missing.
Once again, my heart and prayers go out to the families, friends, neighbors and all connected with this horrible tragedy.
is nowhere to be seen on his front page. You have to click “News,” then “Press Releases,” and finally “Statement on Today’s Tragedy at Virginia Tech.”
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He remains, I believe, the only major candidate of either party without some kind of mention of this tragedy on his front page. Sad.
Do you actually think that anyone was rushing to the websites of the presidential candidates to be comforted in the wake of this atrocity?
Do you?
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Honest to God, politicizing this hideous massacre should be beneath even the most craven political devotee.
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Shame on you.
I was responding to a specific point in the post, nothing more.
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Shame on you for your overreaction.
Sorry, David, to go off on you like that.
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But I’m really Goddamned angry today. To the point of almost becoming phisically ill.
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All day, I’ve had visions of those young adults, kids really, after having been assured that they were in a “safe place”. Yet, being systematically lined up and shot like a scene out of Nazi Germany.
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So no, right now I don’t give a fiddle or a f*** what platitudes Obama or Edwards or Mitt et al. have to offer. They can’t help, and they don’t count.
No one can make me feel better today, at least no one here.
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Soon enough, we will probably have to endure a ration of useless promises and proposals by one or more of the above, each of whom has the legislative “answer” to prevent this unspeakable horror from visiting us ever again. And, of course, they’ll be full of shit, because that’s what politicians do.
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And it will happen again.
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So again, David, nothing personal, really. But I’m in very ill humor, and the last thing I want is the self-serving B.S. from the suits-in-waiting.
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They’ve got nothing I need right now. Nothing.
Not even Mitt.
Thanks for the response. (Apology accepted ‘n’ all.) I do take your point about how little it really matters what a candidate’s website says on its front page today.
I am coming from 3 days off the grid, and am behind on all of this – but your statement ‘only major candidate without some kind of mention on (his/her) front page’ is contradicted in the post.
How much do you think the candidates have to do with this? Putting a press release on the top of a website certainly strikes me as a staffer issue more than anything else. Personally, it doesn’t tell me much of anything about a candidate’s potential.
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Does this tell us anything about what type of president the candidates would be, or more about the decisions of their campaign staffers?
It seems to me that you’re absolutely right – it’s the staffer’s problem, not the candidates. But I have to say, given the enormity of the event, I’m really surprised that Romney’s campaign (a well funded one at that) wasn’t on top of this.
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That’s besides the point. A staff takes their cue from their candidate, and most likely staffers on a campaign are gonna want to be in the Administration should the candidate be elected, so it’s at least an indication of the tin ear an administration can have.
First off, I find myself curious who, if anyone, is highlighting ongoing casulties in Iraq?
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I also have to admit that in something as huge as a campaign, I have trouble buying the “staff takes their cue” argument. Presidential campaigns are so unwieldy, that deciding which releases go on the website is done a level or two away from the candidate. I guess I’m saying I can’t get too worked up about this…
I don’t remember mentioning it. But candidates repeatedly refer to the mounting casualties in Iraq if that’s what you’re talking about. I’m not sure what you’re getting at there.
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“…deciding which releases go on the website is done a level or two away from the candidate.” Yep! You bet. But this one should be a no-brainer for any staffer. Why is it that every other campaign put up some front pager about this?
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PS: I’m not that worked up over this. If I were a Republican, this wouldn’t make or break my decision to support Romney and it shouldn’t. As I said in the post, this isn’t about politics, it’s about looking to our would-be national leaders and seeing if we can add this as a (as I said) small data point as to who is there for us and who is missing.
I just brought up Iraq because to me that’s an ongoing tragedy whose real cost is often lost in the politics of the issue. I guess I’m echoing geo999 in wondering how quickly this can be politicized. We don’t highlight auto traffic deaths, smoking deaths, but candidates are expected to highlight the events in Virginia Tech — why?
I say it’s new not because random shootings are new, but because it is the largest since the two dozen killed in Killeen, Texas, in 1991 (source).
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Smoking deaths, cancer deaths, traffic deaths, etc. are meaningful and important to highlight (and there are a number of fine organizations that do), but like the frog in increasingly hot temperatures, those are not immediate and glaring. They are spread out over the course of time and place and have become routine. I’d also say that smoking deaths, except of course in the case of second hand smoke, are to some degree a matter of personal choice, whereas the VA murders clearly were not.
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Is it sensationalist? Yeah. But I think it’s sensationalist for a reason – it shakes us to the core, makes us angry, and forces us to ask the question, “How can a human be so cruel to another human being?”
I’m not commenting to be filp, and I’m not saying that this wasn’t post-worthy (it absolutely is, and the post and commentary was put together well), but I know I don’t care. What are they going to say besides the standard, “I’m shcoked and horrified. My thoughts and prayers go out to Va. Tech”? Isn’t this just a standard campaign requirement? At this time, do candidates really ahve anything to add to this mess?
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Don’t get me wrong, I do care what the candidates will say when the air clears and they have the freedom to dissect the situation and discuss strategies to reduce and prevent future occurances of similar events.
Whenever I hear of a national tragedy, I cannot help but think of Robert F. Kennedy’s remarks on the news of Martin Luther King Jr.’s death. He said:
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That tragedy was about racial hatred, and his aim was to calm the tensions between whites and blacks. This tragedy is something altogether different. As near as I can tell this is violence for the sake of violence, insanity for no other reason than insanity exists. I don’t know the motive of the killer or even if there was one. There can be, near as I can tell now, no sense of justice for those victims and their families who have suffered. There is only the painful dismay of a horrific tragedy larger than ourselves which came from the smallness of an individual.
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But the point, I think, is that words can be used to help a nation cope with tragedy. And, yes, I am asking our would be national leaders to use their powerful platforms to give us some words that can help us cope. It might have been unfair of me to look for them on the candidates websites, but then I noticed the peculiar dearth of a front page post on Romney’s website. That’s what prompted this.
I love RFK — Jackie may have been the brains of the Dynasty, but Bobby was the heart. The highest compliment I can pay a politican is that s/he’s the “Bobby Kennedy of my generation” — and I’ve only thought that about one person.
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One thing that always strikes me when I listen to his remarks in the wake of the assassination is when Kennedy says that his favorite poet is Aeschylus. Can you imagine a candidate saying that today? They’d be branded as too highbrow and intelligent to run for office. Heck, if you say anything other than the guy(s) who wrote the Bible you lose a huge section of the electorate and media.
Is there a reason why we should care what candidates think?
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No.
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Long answer, unless I am proven wrong, it its probable that these little pieces were written by the candidates’ press handlers, not by the candidates themselves. Why the candidates’ press handlers believe that they have to weigh in every time a tragedy happens is beyond me. Is it another manifestation of the Billary Clinton “I feel your pain” syndrome?
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A guy in Virginia ran amok*, and far too many people were killed as a result. A guy from Texas has been running amok, too, and far too many people in Iraq have died as a result. That guy from Texas is your pResident. He has had a number of aiders and abetters, but he has been the one running amok.
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*There seem to be far too many guys in Virginia who run amok. Remember the incident at the gay bar in Roanoke a few years ago, in which a guy shot up the place? Several people were killed. And those who were merely injured feared for their livelihoods given the fact that they had been injured in a gay bar. Nice place, Virginia.
…at glass Gay Bars
…I’m not in Massachusetts at the present time*, so I can cast all the stones I want. (I’m being tongue in cheek of course.)
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*I’m in Germany, where they had their own school shoot-em-up a couple of years ago.
I am shocked and saddened by the horrific tragedy at Virginia Tech. My prayers are with the victims and their families, as well as the students, faculty and community devestated by these gruesome killings.
David? Bob? Charlie? You can use mine and Hillary’s if words fail you. But you HAVE TO have a response on your splash page, immediately. We’re timing you.
that this is some kind of joke, John?
Yeah, I was being cynical about the way we react to things like this, sorry.