After reading the Huffington Post article about the Holmes family statement to the press and going through the attendant comments on that site, I came away with several thoughts. Mostly about our collective thirst, abetted by social media, to revel in public punditry. And become judges and jury in the ether.
And yes, here I am, posting in a public forum. Irony does not escape me.
I understood the need for the family statement, because it is clear that Arlene Holmes statement "You have the right person." has been taken by many as an acknowledgement that she knew her son was a ticking time bomb.
I cannot understand the venomous attacks on the family of James Holmes. From accusations of bad parenting--they created this monster--to the charge that successful parents overlooked their child's mental illness because they held a conceit that his "genius" excused everything.
There were actually a few rational voices that recounted knowledge of families that did have a member go inexplicably astray. In my own life, I have had both dear friends and professional acquaintances with largely successful kin, except for that son/brother who ended up homeless, died after a drunken accident, etc. And those people tried for many years to find help for their kin, but had reached a point where they had to come to terms with their helplessness in the face of the situation.
I am not saying that was the same situation with the Holmes family, because, neither I nor anyone else knows anything about their family dynamic.
Perhaps it is time to read David Kaczynski's account about turning in his brother, Ted.
And listen to a little Joan Baez:
http://www.youtube.com/...