Cold Dead Hands
[2006-12-19 16:00]

I'm not desensitized. I'm just a heartless bastard. Or, I imagine that's what people probably would think, anyway.

I know I'm not desensitized to violence because, if anything, I've become more sensitive to violence, cruelty and tragedy than I was when younger. I've seen my share of gory movies and spent far too many hours playing violent games in my youth. Yet I find I have no stomach for, or interest in, the latest craze of torture flicks such as Hostel and (arguably) Saw. And nothing made my heart sink deeper than watching the video of Carlie Brucia being abducted or, more recently, reading about James Kim's desperate attempt to survive in the Oregon wilderness.

But, sometimes I don't care. Or, at least, I don't care as much as the news and public seem to think I should.

For example, this week's news is all about three missing climbers on Mount Hood. While this story is tragic, after the umpteenth hour of watching it on the news, I find myself getting annoyed. Unlike Carlie Brucia or James Kim, these men went up onto the mountain of their own free will, and they chose to do so during Winter. I find that I have more compassion for the rescue workers who were injured trying to save climbers in 2002 (on the same mountain, I might add) than I do for the mountain climbers who died.

I also find myself wondering how many tax dollars are spent on the rescue of stranded, lost and injured mountain climbers, and I wonder if it's a good use of our public resources. I realize that mountain climbers are taxpayers too and it's not that I want mountain climbers to die. It's just... well... it's got me wondering.

For the record, I'm a pro-gun (sort of), pro-death-penalty (sort of), pro-choice kill-'em-all liberal. But then, I'm not afraid of dying. So, I'm probably the wrong person to ask.