God, Politics, and Rock 'n' Roll: Penn State Students Dress As Virginia Tech Victims

On the Left

Growing up in northeast Florida, Tara attended Catholic grade school and a huge public high school before attending the University of Florida (go Gators!) and the University of Miami School of Law. Grad school brought her to the Midwest and she's stayed ever since. While living in Minnesota, she was inspired by the progressive politics of the late Senator Paul Wellstone and attended his "Camp Wellstone" political training school (where she got to shake his hand!). A move to Iowa in 2003 got her firmly hooked on Iowa politics and she's now a dedicated Democratic activist. Tara practices law in a small town and tries to find time for political activism at the county, state, and federal levels. She attends a Unitarian Universalist fellowship but still has fond memories of being raised Catholic, and she often thinks she would make a good Buddhist. She loves female vocalists and songwriters, 80s music ranging from Wham! to the Cure to Poison to the B-52s, and funny and poignant and artsy films.

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Penn State Students Dress As Virginia Tech Victims

Let's just realize it: with Facebook and the 24-hour eye of the Internet upon us...there are no secrets.

Penn State has sent an apology letter to Virginia Tech after photos of two Penn State students dressed as Virginia Tech shooting victims appeared on Facebook. The two students wore Virginia Tech shirts covered in bullet holes and fake blood to a Halloween party.

The students have been identified, but won't be disciplined because Penn State says that would violate their free speech rights.

This story breaks after ABC News reported the agony suffered by the family of Nicki Catsouras, the 18 year old girl killed in a car accident last Halloween. The California Highway Patrol somehow leaked graphic accident photos which landed on the Internet and were emailed continuously to the Catsouras family.

In the world of a free, unregulated Internet and a country blessed with free speech, we're going to need to count on future generations to have a greater sense of common decency.

On the Right

Jeff grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, where one day in grade school, a movie was shown on a large, bulky machine called a Video Cassette Recorder. He has loved movies ever since, including a stint as a projectionist for the summer movie festival in the St. Louis County Library system. He grew up listening to Top 40 DJs, and played records and 8 tracks on his parents' General Electric stereo system located in the living room of their house. He thinks the MP3 player is the greatest invention since the wheel. Educated in a Lutheran Grade School (where he was valedictorian and the first youth group president) and a Lutheran High School (where he served as class president and vice president of the choir), he considers himself an evangelical Christian who likes to rock. As part of a Political Science class in high school, he participated in the re-election campaign of a state representative. Officially bitten by the political bug, he was elected to the Iowa State Senate in 1996 where he served three terms before "retiring" to the private sector.

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Saturday, December 08, 2007

Penn State Students Dress As Virginia Tech Victims

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