“A tragedy of untold magnitude”

Posted by Marc Hodak on February 8, 2008 under Revealed preference | Comments are off for this article

A city council outside of St. Louis was the target of a disgruntled citizen who went on a shooting rampage. This story recounts the unfortunate loss of life that ensued. Two police officers just doing their jobs were slain. Two council members and the Public Works commissioner were killed as well. The mayor was also shot and is in critical condition. The story relates how the gunman was apparently aiming for council members, especially the mayor.

Now is not the time for jokes about how one might get to this point versus City Hall. I was reading this story for the tragedy that it was, for the Kirkwood community where this happened, for the families of those slain, and especially for the cops who were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Then I come across this:

Deputy Mayor Timothy Griffin said this morning. “This is a tragedy of untold magnitude.”

Now, I would be much more than upset at losing friends and colleagues. But I would hope that I wouldn’t publicly lose my sense of proportion, especially if I were a public official.