U.S. Rep. Blunt calls Neosho church shooting "senseless"

"I call that Neosho church shooting senseless, but I didn't actually say it, my staff put it out in a prepared statement that they sent to newspapers all across the state so I can get some mileage out of this thing. Now, excuse me buddy, I got to see a man about a dog."

© 2007, Springfield News-Leader
U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt has issued a prepared statement about yesterday’s church shooting in Neosho.

Three people were killed and several were wounded when someone opened fire at First Congregational Church.

“Today’s shooting in Neosho was as depraved as it was senseless, an act of extreme and unprovoked violence by an individual with reckless indifference to human life,” Blunt’s statement said.

“Our thoughts and prayers are foremost with the families who lost loved ones on Sunday, as we also recognize and honor the men and women of Neosho and Newton County who willfully put themselves in the line of fire to rescue their friends and neighbors,” the statement said.

Two things about this article found on the SN-L website, Ozarks Now, jumped out at me:

1. That a politician would insert himself into this tragedy with an unsolicited news release. It was a "prepared statement". All of us who watched the news of this episode as it unfolded realized that it was horrendous and a senseless act of violence. We didn't need our US Representative to tell us that. Isn't every shooting like this senseless? This kind of thing is not supposed to happen in a church. Funny, we almost expect in schools, what with the security badges, hall passes, metal detectors and school police. But we never expected in a house of the Lord. For Blunt to feed off of this tragedy is self-serving and unnecessary. In issuing this "prepared statement", Blunt shows himself to be only interested in the political payoff he can collect from this tragedy. What other reason could there be? The only thing missing from the prepared statement is a photo of Roy B.

2. That the SN-L published this as news.