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There’s been so much talk about the tragedy in Arizona.

The rhetoric and politicization has been fast and furious.

Unfortunately, or, at least, ironically, the killer doesn’t seem to fit neatly into the slots that would make it easy to blame.

Doesn’t sound like he listened to talk radio, cared about the right or the left or even followed politics much.

It seems pretty clear the guy is mentally ill, probably with paranoid schizophrenia. That means he doesn’t get reality. Rarely, thank God, people with this mental illness get violent.

So when a guy with this really bad mental illness–which by the way is tortuous to have– acts out we all look for meaning.

It just might be that the only meaning in this is that the guy has a mental illness. Him tragically killing people is indeed tragic but in my view it is tragic like a meteor crashing, a tidal wave or an earthquake.

Mental illness doesn’t make sense. It’s very often awful for the person with it and everyone in their lives. Does it make someone evil?

Best we can do is to keep guns out of the hands of people who aren’t in touch with reality. Apparently there are already laws to that effect. Let’s face it, if your mental illness is powerful enough you’ll find ways around those laws no matter how tough they are.

Life rarely makes sense. Most often, it’s just absurd. Sometimes it’s tragic and awful.