Spinning before the blood is dry

WE HUMANS are an opportunistic group. Our genius lies in taking life's tragedies, great and small, and somehow turning them to our advantage. Sometimes we're sincere. More often, our reactions mirror our personal agendas.

Some used 9/11 to target all Muslims as terrorists and camouflage racism as red-white-and-blue patriotism. On the other hand, some Arabs and Muslims want to think the entire Western world is after them, leading to ridiculous civil-rights lawsuits against vigilant "John Does."

Then there's Imus, the new catchword for "racist." While the radio shock jock is certainly a foul-mouthed character, it seems strange that he lost his job so quickly when a local firefighter who called for the death of fellow police officers in a rap song is still holding on to his. And please don't give me a song and dance about comparing apples and oranges; Imus lost his job because of unacceptable speech. But he shouldn't be the only one in the unemployment line. Many people say repulsive things, but society shouldn't only make an example of some of them.

And let's not forget the Duke boys. How fortuitous that Imus shot off his mouth about the Rutgers women a few days before the remaining charges against the lacrosse players were dropped. It allows us to ignore the ugly fact that they were as much victims of racism as their athletic sisters at Rutgers.

And now we have a chance to exploit some spin again, on the backs of the dead students on a Virginia campus. Hours after the tragedy, bloggers were already posting messages about our "gun culture" and how it was only natural that a redneck state like Virginia with lax gun laws would be the scene of such carnage. On a local site, the first message posted began with the phrase "Is it time yet to ban guns?"

No surprise there. Without waiting to find out the details, without caring that the issue is more complicated than whether a deranged student went postal, the anti-gun lobbyists started milking this horrendous tragedy for political gain.

Ironically, that's what Bush-haters have decided to do, too. When the president said he was going to attend the memorial service for the fallen students, critics began to demand, self-righteously, that he stay away.