Guest AuthorLast week, Americans were captivated when Secret Service and police chased an unarmed mentally ill woman through the nation’s capital and killed her.
Another sensational act of violence and desperation was center stage, and once again, within hours, it was written off as the unhinged acts of a mentally ill person.
Because it was not terrorism, we all moved on to more important matters, like the MLB playoffs and veterans being turned away at national monuments because of the government shutdown.
It’s alleged that Miriam Carey, 34, a dental hygienist from Stamford, Conn., tried to ram through a White House barricade with her black Infiniti with her 1-year-old daughter in the back seat. She then led police on a chase down Pennsylvania Avenue that ended with the woman being shot to death near the Capitol.
Tweeted faster than a speeding bullet, we learned that Carey “may have thought President Obama was stalking her,” that she had been treated both for post-partum depression and psychotic delusions that had led her to declare herself “the prophet of Stamford.”
It was our 21st century wham, bam, thank you ma’am news, with no one asking the hard questions about why these acts are becoming more frequent and more dangerous.
Instead, diagnosing Ms. Carey as deranged person is an easy explanation for media obsessed with the next electrifying headline.
Yep, it was the same just two weeks earlier with Aaron Alexis, a 34-year-old military contractor and former Navy reservist from Fort Worth, who was killed in a shootout with police at the Washington Navy Yard after he killed 11 other people. Reports stated that Alexis heard voices and suffered from what acquaintances referred to as paranoia, post-traumatic stress disorder and anger-management issues.
In our 24-7 news cycle, Carey’s death soon disappeared from America’s news radar, even though Carey’s family questioned whether the Secret Service and Capitol police had used excessive force in gunning her down.
Next time you go to pump gas, eat out, or shop at a supermarket, look around. You won’t see many people smiling or jovial.
Except for pockets of affluence such as Manhattan and D.C., the U.S. has suffered an undeclared depression that, along with fighting long, unwinnable wars, has made life difficult for many. As a result, America is now an angry, tired nation.
Islamic terrorists are often poor and find religious extremism appealing even though its adherents disregard the value of human life.
Given America’s grim economy, we must begin to question whether Carey’s disregard for life by crashing the White House gate with a baby in her car is more complex than just her mental illness.
The behavior of Carey, Alexis, California cop killer Chris Dorner, Aurora gunman James Holmes, and Shady Hook shooter Adam Lanza is more than the desperate acts of deranged people.
The violence is a symptom of a new, collective madness of an angry and depressed America.
The truth is, any one of us these days can become, and die, like Miriam Carey.
