Obviously, no college or university has experience in handling news of the tragic nature of yesterday’s shooting at NIU, unless it has already happened there. If you watched this morning's press conference, did you notice not one tear was shed?
The press conference conducted by NIU this morning was so staged that any genuine or authentic grief was absent. Even the remarks of the University president were carefully crafted and quite scripted.
How much better it would have been, if he had just stepped up to the microphone and expressed the grief that must be felt on campus.
Campus Police Chief Don Grady apparently got stuck with the duty to praise the “marvelous” and “magnificient” efforts and response of area law enforcement. His choice of words were way off the mark. And that chestful of ribbons? He wore more service ribbons than most Army generals with 30 years of service. What in the world were all those ribbons for? Battle duty at NIU?
Very little of the press conference was devoted to the effect of the tragedy; rather it was a “wave the flag” session and a sickening display of rallying the troops and circling the wagons.
The decision of the University to withhold the shooter’s name until the press conference was ill-founded. And the failure of the press to release the name, which they surely must have had by late yesterday afternoon, was inexcusable. His age was known, enrollment in 2007 and subject studied, that he had earned some type of award. So why withhold his name? Only grandstanding by the news “managers.” And as to the shooter's being "revered"? I doubt it.
Chief Grady said they “don’t need to repeat the number that died or were injured.” Oh, really? Well, exactly why not?
And then the Press Officer had the gall to say, “We need to wrap this up.” Why? Many reporters were gathered, and officials were there who could answer (or not answer) questions. Why waste the time of the reporters? If she wants a new job, she should contact The White Office. She’d be a front-runner for a job as Bush’s mouthpiece in Washington.
You never know who is interested…
3 months ago
19 comments:
Gee Gus - You probably go and take pictures of dead bodies at car accidents. Why give out the name of the shooter? Why give him posthumous noteriety? Why does it matter? His name is irrelevant - other than satisfying your morbid curiousity, it serves no purpose. After his name was released, the media descended on his father's home in Florida - a father who no douibt is trying to figure out what happened to his sone and how he could have killed so many people. Seeing this man's grief really doesn't accomplish a single worthwhile obejctive.
The reason the Chief stated that he didn't "need to repeat the number that died" was because he (and others) had already stated it several times. But lets face it, everyone wants to find out irrelevant info, who to blame, and why NIU allowed it to happen (as if anyone has a chance against a determined, premeditating, loony whose maion objective is to kill a bunch of innocents). Gus, you not da' man today!
Obviously, no college or university has experience in handling news of the tragic nature of yesterday’s shooting at NIU, unless it has already happened there. If you watched this morning's press conference, did you notice not one tear was shed?
The press conference conducted by Gus Wrote:
"NIU this morning was so staged that any genuine or authentic grief was absent. Even the remarks of the University president were carefully crafted and quite scripted.
How much better it would have been, if he had just stepped up to the microphone and expressed the grief that must be felt on campus."
You need to see the tears Gus? The worst part of any major incident is the way the press and media can drag out the healing process by sucking the blood out of every angle they can get at. It's sicko's like you that feed on this crap and are a detriment to society as a whole.
This post by Gus is the most disgusting, egotistical, self-centered piece of drivel to date. I know this will be deleted but until I see him face to face I will have to let this response do it. Gus you are truly a world class asshole.
Gus, you just stooped to a new low. I can't believe that you WANT someone to shed tears just to be credible to the public. I remember when my Father died my Mother didn't cry until everyone had left the funeral hall. She stayed strong and "tearless" to help everyone else get through their grieving and then took "her" own time to express her feelings. You have lost my respect, Gus. I hate you.
Have to burst your over enflated bubble Gus. You are not a world class asshole. That would imply that you were the best. You are not. You could achieve world class status if you didn't have that large hemorrhoid. Even the nose and glasses can't hide it. Sorry but you are not a perfect asshole.The anonymous tag assures that when someone pokes you in the nose you won't know if it was me or if I was just lucky enough to witness it. Now THAT would be an event worth publicizing!
Too bad you weren't in the front row of that classroom!!!!!!!!
“Campus Police Chief Don Grady apparently got stuck with the duty to praise the “marvelous” and “magnificent” efforts and response of area law enforcement.
Very little of the press conference was devoted to the effect of the tragedy; rather it was a “wave the flag” session and a sickening display of rallying the troops and circling the wagons.”
Well Gus, I guess I am in the minority regarding this press conference. All I wanted from this press conference was concern from the university and facts from law enforcement. To me, it appeared that Chief Don Grady made a preemptive strike against the possibility of future litigation. He began his praises by stating that, during the crisis, all the “team” members left their egos at the door. Evidently, he found their egos for the press conference.
I was greatly disturbed by the congratulations, the pats on the back and all the adjectives used to describe this “remarkable” team. Since when is it so important to extol such praise on individuals who were supposed to be doing their jobs? Exactly what part of their jobs did they do? The first part of their job is prevention. While no one on any of these teams could have prevented this tragedy, this is still their number one objective. According to a witness quoted on time.com, the shootings lasted six minutes, from 3:06 PM to 3:12 PM. According to Chief Grady, the police were on the scene in twenty nine seconds. What did this elite team do to stop the massacre? Absolutely nothing. The killer finished the job for them. By the time this elite team became involved, it was strictly a medical situation. For their life-saving efforts, they should be praised.
There is a time and a place for praise. I don’t think the first official press conference was the place to praise the efforts of law enforcement.
Gus, stop posting as "anonymous" and pretending like there is someone that actually agrees with you (see above comment). You are so lame to write the above statement. For a second there I almost believed that someone was actually agreeing with you, but then I put the crack pipe down and realized that crack must be really bad if i started to believe that! Nice try Gussy boy. -Snuzer-
Sorry to disappoint you Snuzer, but Gus did not write the post you claim he did. I wrote the above comments based upon my opinion of the press conference.
I found very little to praise with regard to the efforts of law enforcement. While others appear content with the rhetoric of Chief Grady, I was mostly disappointed. Does Chief Grady hold a press conference when his “remarkable” team completes a successful practice drill? Why not? It seems to me the lack of results would be similar in a practice situation to what happened in real life. No matter how you perceive it, Grady’s dream team was ineffective.
Everyone has their own way to experience death and tragedy. As was stated by another, tears aren’t necessary to display sympathy or remorse. What I believe Gus was trying to illustrate was the seeming lack of compassion by everyone on that stage. For those who can’t read or understand, I said “seeming lack of compassion”.
I would like to see less attention given to the shooter by the media. Seeing his picture everyday disgusts me. Although I completely respect their privacy, I would rather see more information about the victims and their impact on others. Honoring the victims makes much more sense than giving this despicable character more notoriety.
-plainfield,il
Congrats plainfield, you win! I have been collecting donations to send Gus somewhere and it looks as though I've found it. Was hoping for somplace further away but what the heck out is out. Thanks for stepping forward.
Gus,
Several people agree with you. A Sun Times columnist, my husband, myself, and our neighbors agreed with your take on the press conference. NIU's president used the opportuntity to pat everyone on the back perhaps they did this to feather their own nests. It would have been better if he would simply have given a blanket thank you to parametics, police and everyone who responded to the 911 calls. And again, on behalf of NIU and faculty I give my condolences to the families and friends of the people involved. Abraham Lincoln gave a short simple speech at Gettysburg that remained in everyone's memory.
I’ve tried to put myself in the shoes of one of the parents of the NIU victims. I imagined myself driving down the road, tuned into a news station and anxiously awaiting pertinent information. After several delays caused by technical difficulties, the press conference finally begins. I listen to the words of the president of NIU. It seemed a little too casual and scripted, but I am not in a position to judge another’s response to tragedy. I’m pretty sure I would be quite inept at delivering a speech in the aftermath of a massacre. I’d probably break down in tears in the first thirty seconds.
After a couple minutes, Chief Grady begins to speak. Instead of information about who, what, where and why, he speaks about the great team of professionals who responded to the scene. “But Chief Grady, my child is dead…what did your team do to prevent this?” Chief Grady continues with praise for all the departments. “But Chief Grady, my child is dead….why didn’t you stop this guy before he killed my child?” Instead of addressing the facts of the ordeal, Chief Grady chose to inundate the public with praise for the various law enforcement departments. “Chief Grady, our children, our brothers, our sisters and our friends are dead…do you think this initial press conference was the best time to congratulate your team?”
I don’t believe anyone is questioning the qualifications or the response of the law enforcement personnel involved with this tragedy. Furthermore, I don’t believe any of them could have foreseen this event nor could they have contributed to minimizing the damage. This was a premeditated murder-suicide act and it appears it was timed to do the maximum amount of damage in the least amount of time. Short of having a gun wielding officer attending that class, no one could have prevented any of the deaths.
For all you Gus haters, here is a link to the Chicago Sun Times article by Neil Steinberg. It is highly unlikely Gus wrote this for Neil:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/steinberg/798311,CST-NWS-stein17.article
I guess I don't understand why you have to find some issue that minimalizes the overall depravity of situations such as this. I noticed when the young responsible man was killed by the drunken illegal you also put blame to rest on the victim and his friends because they weren't walking on the sidewalk. Whats the deal you idiot? The first thing I thought when I heard Chief Grady speak was that this was a guy who was in charge, who was holding others together. I am glad they didn't give a bunch of info they couldn't verify, there was already too much out there. Families had to be notified and chaos needed to be averted. The President of the University didn't impress me but maybe public speaking was not his strength. I am sure he has not slept for days and has done his share of crying. I personally don't believe that him crying on T.V. would not give parents a sense of security. It never crossed my mind that they were unfeeling. Again your take on these situations makes no sense at all. I vote for Plainfield!
Wow, so the President of NIU must be an idiot since his remarks were not the equivalent of Lincoiln's Gettyburg Address ... and how many times have you been to a funeral or memorial where someone reads "prepared remarks" ... lets just ad lib and look like fools, rather than speaking in an organized and prepared manner. I'm sure the folks at NIU aren't pleased with this situation and share the pain of those families and individuals who lost loved ones. Do you realy want the Canpus Police Cheif to break down and start crying at a press conference? I know Gus did this several times as a self-appopinted, wanna be, volunteer deputy when he was 14, after pulling over a senior scitizen speeding down the street on a wheelchair on his way to dialysis!
Lets face it, if someone really wants to break the law, they'll find a way! But accordsing to followers of Gus (they're called "Gusophists" - I know where they like to put their fists!) its more important to find out who to accuse and who to blame rather than deal with one's loss. Why don't you climb in your BUG and drive over the dip and into the pot whiole and disappear! Snoozer 3sez : "Chief Don Grady - you da' man!"
I luv snoozer. He's the man!-Snuzer
I am a professor at NIU and, Gus, you have no idea what those affected by the tragedy are feeling or what university officials have been going through. President Peters and Chief Grady have been doing the best they can in this situation since it began. Have a heart!!!
Professor, you are right that I cannot know what the NIU staff, parents and students are feeling or what they are going through right now. I stand ready to support anyone in his or her recovery from this tragedy. At the same time, there is no reason to withhold comments about the "management" of the press conference and my opinion that the University's "heart" was not revealed in it.
It was interesting that not one Chicago-area TV station pre-empted regularly-scheduled programming to carry Chief Grady's press conference yesterday at 3:00PM.
You stand ready to support anyone in his or her recovery from this tragedy for a fee.
He is a licensed psycho after all.
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