Because there's been some questioning about it (including by one particularly disappointing fuckweasel who seems to think I'm one cranky thought away from becoming the Punisher), I might as well point out why I wait 48 hours.
Reason one: nobody's listening anyway. People are feeling scared, hurt, helpless, disgusted, or some combo of the above. And all the usual arguments come roaring out that have been heard a million times before. There's bullshit bubbling up I've been debunking since the first Ft Hood shooting (before then I was on active duty and couldn't make political commentary). Nobody is in a listening mood. They all want answers that will never come. They want crazy killer detector tests and phaser stun settings that don't fucking exist, and they haven't come to grips with that.
The second reason is that for the first 24 hours, nobody knows anything. Any commentary or analysis in the first 48 hours is shit: someone pulled it straight out of their ass and decided to show the world. Somewhat endearing in children being potty trained, unhelpful and disturbing in adults old enough to operate heavy machinery and buy intoxicants. Everyone who knows the facts is fucking busy. They're triaging wounded, clearing dead, investigating the scene, notifying families, and getting everything else done. At 48 hours, most of them have had the time to grab chow and maybe a shower, file a report and rack out somewhere. The media knows this and gives no fucks. A story gotten first and having to redact later is orders of magnitude better than an accurate story reported on last.
Thus, I wait.
Reason one: nobody's listening anyway. People are feeling scared, hurt, helpless, disgusted, or some combo of the above. And all the usual arguments come roaring out that have been heard a million times before. There's bullshit bubbling up I've been debunking since the first Ft Hood shooting (before then I was on active duty and couldn't make political commentary). Nobody is in a listening mood. They all want answers that will never come. They want crazy killer detector tests and phaser stun settings that don't fucking exist, and they haven't come to grips with that.
The second reason is that for the first 24 hours, nobody knows anything. Any commentary or analysis in the first 48 hours is shit: someone pulled it straight out of their ass and decided to show the world. Somewhat endearing in children being potty trained, unhelpful and disturbing in adults old enough to operate heavy machinery and buy intoxicants. Everyone who knows the facts is fucking busy. They're triaging wounded, clearing dead, investigating the scene, notifying families, and getting everything else done. At 48 hours, most of them have had the time to grab chow and maybe a shower, file a report and rack out somewhere. The media knows this and gives no fucks. A story gotten first and having to redact later is orders of magnitude better than an accurate story reported on last.
Thus, I wait.
RSS Feed
