Here we go again with some gratuitous America-bashing from the Vangua! There was a workplace shooting in Chicago in which six people were killed, as you know. The murderer (who had been fired, probably for spending all his time in court rather than at work) had been arrested twelve times in the last four months for illegal possession of weapons, assault, and domestic violence, so it's clear we're talking about someone with a real stable personality here. About as stable as a giraffe on ice skates. What I want to know is why they didn't lock him up a long time ago. Anyway, check out these facts from the news story, which is not labeled either "Analysis" or "Opinion":

It is evident that the harshness and competitiveness of the American labor system, added to the fragile network of social assistance, contribute to the desperation of those people who lose their jobs, and this can cause violent reactions.

Gee, that's interesting. It looks to me like this guy was a violent criminal who was seriously mentally disturbed. I bet that was what caused his "violent reaction".

Another fascinating comment in the story was that, in our reporter's opinion, the TV news didn't give enough coverage to this mass murder--they merely interrupted regular programming for a special report, that's all--because workplace killings are so "habitual" in the United States. He was able to cite two cases from 1999 to back up his statement.

Now, that's how you can distinguish legitimate criticism from America-bashing, because in cases of America-bashing you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. If the TV news had gone wild and played the story up huge, our reporter would have slammed the States for its superficial and sensationalistic media news reporting.

I also think it's interesting that our reporter didn't mention the well-known fact that Yankees are gun-crazy nutcases, at least in this particular story. This might be because a) the killer was Hispanic, and we all know that Hispanics aren't wackos like those Bible-belt shotgun-toting rednecks, b) he had obviously obtained his gun illegally, so you can't blame this one on the Second Amendment, and c) the guy's last name was Tapia, which is a surname of Catalan origin.

Here's my take on the story: Catalans are naturally inclined to extreme acts of violence, as is proven by the violent uprisings they carried out against a constitutional government in 1909 and 1919-23, and the mass violence that both sides dealt out in the 1936-39 Civil War, with thousands of civilian victims on both sides. The Catalans are, by nature, so dangerously violent that General Franco's 40-year repressive dictatorship was necessary to prevent even more acts of senseless killing. The fact that this murderer is of Catalan descent just proves my point.