Just when we've gone numb to the recurring tragedy of mass shootings across our country, we get a wake up call. We just thought it couldn't happen in our own backyard.
But the senseless slaughter of four public servants just up the road in Floyd County is a stark reminder that our country is in crises. We have a problem that is rare in most 1st world countries, a contagion whose symptoms include irrational exuberance for bloodletting and blind faith in easily disproved conspiratorial thought.
In the most extreme forms, these individuals (almost exclusively male) strike out in a blaze of glory taking innocent lives in parades, at concerts, in schools, in stores and in the quiet streets of someone's hometown. Like Allen, Kentucky.
I can't help but wonder--maybe I'm trying to find the bright side in a very dark place, but what if these heroes prevented an even greater tragedy? What might a guy who would hold a woman and children hostage with an arsenal be planning? Perhaps something special for an Independence Day celebration nearby.
The three officers and K9 who were murdered last Thursday evening join the long list of innocent people killed for no reason by an individual with entirely too much firepower. Outside Kentucky, few barely even noticed the addition of three law enforcement personnel among the dead in Highland Park, Uvalde, Buffalo, and elsewhere.
But we sure noticed. The outpouring of emotion and support for the people of Allen and Prestonsburg has been overwhelming. As usual, our own are stepping up to support neighbors in need. But when can we stop reacting and start preventing these acts?
I certainly don't know. We have to come to terms with the fact that it is far too easy to acquire weapons capable of killing or maiming dozens in seconds. Harder still, we have to come to terms with why we think people need access to these weapons in a civil society.
But perhaps the hardest contributing issue to deal with is the extreme level of disinformation, misinformation and downright loony tune conspiracies that way too many Americans give credence to. Especially when these lies are spread through ubiquitous media sources like Fox News and Newsmax.
Social media has exacerbated this problem exponentially. It's no exaggeration that a lie makes three trips around the world before the truth raises its head. With social media, we don't really know if the lie originated in a Washington think tank, in some kid's basement bedroom or from deep within the Kremlin.
We hold freedom of speech to be a sacred right, but do we extend that courtesy to Vladimir Putin? Should a Saudi Prince be allowed to subjugate American women through an American cable channel? Can a rogue politician convince millions of Americans an election was illegitimate using easily refutable lies.
The answers to these questions will not bring officers William Petry, Ralph Frasure, Jacob Chaffins and K9 Drago back. The answers will not soothe the terrible loss their family and friends have suffered. Those answers won't replace the dedication and community service we lost on that terrible day.
But those answers might prevent another American community like ours from suffering the same kind of unspeakable, senseless tragedy.