It was a dark night in Colorado. There has been another one of those periodic American events.

This one has some vaguely interesting nuances. The location was not far from Littleton, to a town in which I once lived.

It happened in Aurora, at the Century 16 multiplex theater. A “lone gunman dressed in black” entered theater nine through a side exit wearing Kevlar and a gas mask, tossed some pepper spray and began shooting up the crowd.

The people were there to see the midnight premier of a fairly-well reviewed film in the Batman franchise. It has been so hot lately that the dark of night and the air conditioned theater must have been welcome to the crowd.

Aside from those details, the story is about the same as the last horrific gun event: some deranged guy, always a guy, takes a moment to transform the lives of dozens, and end those of a dozen innocent citizens.

I don’t know what to say. Jared Lee Loughner was the last young white man who took the notion of his supposed exceptionalism to a murderous level when he attacked a pert, personable Congresswoman and her staff.

There is a depressingly long line of lone gunmen in our recent history. The horror at Columbine High School was unusual in that Eric Harris enlisted the help of his buddy Dylan Klebold to commit the despicable crime.

They just announced this new murderer’s name, James Holmes, 24, and they did take him into custody. I am betting he is going to have a lot in common with some of the other assholes we have been forced to learn about.

It was a dark night in Colorado. Hell of a summer on the Front Range. Pray for those who were wounded. Mourn for those who died.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

Copyright 2012 Vic Socotra
www.vicocotra.com