Thoughts on Pittsburgh and Where We Are

I like to joke that I’m a “practicing Jew” — I can’t get it right so I have to keep practicing. After today, things don’t seem as funny.

While I tend to veer toward cynical, in my heart, I believe that people are good. It’s a huge part of why I love my job so much; I get to meet people, I get to tell their stories.

When bad things happen — whether it’s a Hurricane in Houston or the attacks on NY in 2001 — you see people rushing to help others.

That’s one of the things that keep me believing in people.

More often than not, though, so many expressions of sympathy seem to be rote, lacking in empathy.

You have to look no further than the president’s response to what happened in Pittsburgh, seemingly blaming the victims, saying if only there had been armed people inside, things would have been different.

Living in a world where suggesting that people gathering in a synagogue, church, or mosque for a religious rite should need armed protection is not normal.

Schools should not need armed guards. Kids should not have to practice active shooter drills.

These things are not normal and should not be accepted as such.

It’s so easy to lay so much blame at the President’s feet.

I’m concerned that he’s really just a symptom of a much larger problem, a growing lack of empathy in the country. At the same time, you can’t ignore his behavior.

It takes a special kind of narcissism to be able to not see beyond how things affect you directly.

Earlier this week, asked if he regretted implying that Ted Cruz’s dad killed John Kennedy, he replied “I don’t regret anything, honestly. It all worked out very nicely.”

In other words, since he won, nothing else really matters.

Quoting the president making comments that contradict other comments, that ignore facts, that just don’t make sense, is an exercise that could go on for a long time.

It’s also kind of a waste of time.

He’s not tethered to the truth. He’s said as much and that he doesn’t care as long as he gets the result that he wants.

Another thing that I love about my job is that by focusing on local news, I get to tell people what their neighbors are up to.

I really think that if everyone focuses on improving the quality of life in their immediate world, if everyone spends a little more time getting to know the people around them, things can — and will — get better.

We live in a country of people.

There are 11 less today. Really more than that. It’s the 11 that we’re hearing the most about.

My heart breaks for them, their families, their friends.

My heart breaks for the families of the black man and woman killed in Kentucky earlier this week by a white man who had been unsuccessful in his attempt to get into a predominantly black church.

My heart breaks for the more than two dozen killed in Sutherland Springs last year.

It goes on and on.

We have to be careful not thinks of these things in terms of numbers, think about the people, think about what was lost

I guess I just hope that there’s a way that more people can start thinking of others as also being people; people with friends, families, jobs, responsibilities. Think about what would happen, how you would feel, if you lost someone.

We need empathy. We need to remember that, in a big way, we all are really in this together.

We need to do a better job of looking after each other.

Things can get better. It won’t be easy. It can happen.