Did Obama's speech trivialize the tragedy at Virginia Tech?

Question

Alluding to the VT tragedy, Obama went on to say the following:

"There's also another kind of violence that we're going to have to think about. It's not necessarily the physical violence, but the violence that we perpetrate on each other in other ways," [Obama] said. He then went on to catalogue other forms of "violence."

There's the "verbal violence" of [Don] Imus.

There's "the violence of men and women who have worked all their lives and suddenly have the rug pulled out from under them because their job is moved to another country."

There's "the violence of children whose voices are not heard in communities that are ignored."

And so, Obama says, "there's a lot of different forms of violence in our society…."

So being unemployed, or ignored, or called a name is somehow to be compared to being shot in the head at point blank range?

Do these comparisons trivialize the awful events at VT?

Answer 1

I think it plays into a culture of fear to focus on a question like "how can I avoid being shot in the head". Obviously, all our hearts go out to those who lost loved ones at VT. At the same time we, the living everyday people need to acknowlege that we seldom pay attention to the people who die everyday in car accidents, in pool drownings, or from heart attacks.

Our focus is selective and Senator Obama is asking us to take this moment to make a broader use of our grief than our narrow, sensational habits tend to afford. If we are to take a moment to learn from an event like this, it is best to learn as broad a lesson as possible.

Of course, some would keep us focused on the narrowest most hysterical side of things.

Love each other, and take those who risked their own lives to protect others as your example.

Answer 2

They do seem to trivialize murder compared to bad language and unemployment.
I'm not saying he shouldn't talk about those other issues, or even refer to them as a sort of violence (lots of people do) but it did sound insensitive so soon after the massacre.
I wonder if Obama has any idea what violence really is?

Answer 3

I didn't hear the speech, but I did think that VT's memorial turned pep rally, was a little....off.

Answer 4

Just another instance of Obama showing he doesnt have a clue.

Answer 5

Yeah.

Answer 6

life always goes on

Answer 7

obama is a moron