As many as 27 dead, 18 of them children. Devastating. I can't possibly imagine what it's like to be up there. To be a medic, seeing those children's bodies. To be a teacher or a parent. Good Lord.

Of course we're a long way from knowing anything about circumstances under which the shooter got his gun(s). It will probably turn out, or at least it usually does, that the person obtained the guns legally and stricter laws wouldn't necessarily have prevented blah blah blah.

But whatever is determined on that front, in a broader sense our culture glorifies these fantasies--not of shooting children, obviously, we're not that far gone yet, but revenge fantasies that involve blasting people to bits with guns. It's sick and quite unique among advanced countries. Our society, led in this direction by the people and forces with whom we're all familiar, fundamentally considers deaths like today's worth the price of keeping these demented fantasies alive. That's the sad truth.

I just heard on the WABC live stream I have on my computer that parents are right now waiting outside a firehouse where children are gathered. Is my child in there, safe and alive? Imagine that one. I hope to God that finally, this event changes things. Please add updates and your thoughts to the thread below.