Shooting a bunch of innocent people in a nightclub got the latest nutjob’s name and face known.
In our “Broadcast yourself” culture, the lunatics will do anything to get attention.
For weeks people will be talking about it, with their own spin. For some it’s about gun control. Others, it’s about Muslims. Some it’s about gays and discrimination.
But, in the end, it’s only about one thing: Some nutjob seeking attention.
And the more we talk about that lunatic, the more he achieves his goal, to become a “Terrorist Celebrity.”
Sadly, our culture breeds them.
If you’re a nobody who wants to be a somebody, you look out at the world, and see, well, if I make a sex tape or kill some people, I’ll be famous.
While a sane person would never act on it, some lunatic always will.
And, every time we promote these nutjobs, by putting them on our TVs, in our print, and all over the Internet, we send a signal to all the other nutjobs.
A reason we don’t negotiate with terrorists is because it encourages the next lunatic that he too can win the bounty.
The problem is that we no longer need to negotiate with terrorists, because we give them what they want anyways, what every sixteen-year-old girl wants: We make them famous.
Kids will behave good or bad to get attention, and these Terrorist Celebrities are the same.
And, like training a dog, the best we can do is ignore them and their bad behavior.
Who cares what his name was. Who cares where he came from. Who cares what he thought he stood for. Who cares why he did it.
Mental hospitals are full of people smearing their own feces on walls, but nobody cares why they do what they do.
That lunatic says nothing for our gun debate. Nothing for Muslims and gays. Nothing for discrimination. He speaks nothing for who we are.
He just reminds us that the world is full of nutjobs, and we must stop promoting their bad behavior.
Instead, we must stay focused on promoting the world we want to live in.