The deadly school shooting in Red Lake, MN has passed without comment from President Bush or Vice President Cheney.
MINNEAPOLIS, March 24 -- Native Americans across the country -- including tribal leaders, academics and rank-and-file tribe members -- voiced anger and frustration Thursday that President Bush has responded to the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history with silence.
Bush White House response to Red Lake tragedy
3/21/05 - Red Lake, MN - 10 dead, many wounded
3/22/05 - WH response, a single comment from a spokesman
(The President) was briefed on it last night. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who were killed. This is a terrible tragedy. I think it's difficult for anyone to fully understand how something like this could happen. And our thoughts and prayers go out to the loved ones. Anything else?
Anything else? Yes, how about some leadership and compassion for the community of Red Lake, MN. What would that look like...?
Clinton White House response to Columbine tragedy
4/20/99 - Columbine, CO 13 dead, many wounded
4/21/99 -
VP Albert Gore at 50th NATO anniversary...
I came here today to talk about an armed conflict an ocean away. But before I begin, I want to say a word about Jefferson County, Colorado. For there is a war here at home, too. Today, there is a high school on the outskirts of Denver where our children should be learning and laughing and playing. Instead, it is marked off with the yellow tape of a crime scene. Yesterday, a great many precious young people lost their lives in a blaze of explosives and gunfire.
Now, Jefferson County holds its own close: children who will never see their brothers, sisters, classmates, and friends again. Parents who sent their kids off in the morning with a kiss and a backpack full of schoolbooks, and in the afternoon got the most terrible phone call a parent can ever receive.
To all the families of Columbine High School; and the surrounding community, Tipper and I want to say that we are holding your grief in the center of our prayers.
I would give anything to be able to tell those families that their children were not lost in vain -- that we could finally stop the violence, and make our schools and our neighborhoods safe again. And there are questions that demand answers -- questions of resources; questions of will; and yes, questions of values.
Why are there some young people who place so little value on another human life? And why, in a culture rife with violence -- in a country where teenagers have easy access to deadly weapons -- don't we rise up and say no more?
4/24/99 - President Bill Clinton Radio Address on Juvenile Violence
Good morning. Tomorrow in church services all across America, we'll be thinking of those who lost their lives in Littleton, Colorado. This is a time for all Americans to pray for their families, as well as those who were injured and their loved ones, and all the people of the schools and the community.
It's also a time for all Americans to ask what we can do -- as individuals and as a nation -- to turn more young people from the path of violence; how we can take responsibility, each and every one of us, for the future of our children. We've seen far too many tragedies like the one at Columbine High School. It's striking that these violent assaults on human life often eliminate the best of the human spirit. We marvel at the bravery of the fatally wounded teacher who led 40 students to safety. We look with admiration at the medics and the police officers who rushed to the scene to save lives; the clergy, the counselors, the local leaders who immediately began the painful process of helping people to heal; and the parents and students who, in the face of hatred, refuse to return it.
4/26/99 - Vice President Gore speaks at Memorial Service in Littleton, CO
Nothing that I say to you can bring comfort. Nothing that anyone else can say can bring comfort. But there is a voice that speaks without words, and addresses us in the depths of our being. And that voice says to our troubled souls: peace, be still. The Scripture promises that there is apeace that passes understanding.
I would be misleading you if I said I understand this. I don't. Why human beings do evil, I do not understand. Why bad things happen to good people, I do not understand. Like every one of you, at such a time as this I go on my knees and ask, "Why, Oh Lord, Why?"
I do know this: at such a time we need each other. To the families of all those who died here, I say: You are not alone: the heart of America aches with yours. We hold your agony in the center of our prayers. The entire nation is a community of shock, of love, and of grief. May you feel the embrace of the hundreds of millions who weep with you.
"Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted."
5/20/99 - President Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton travel to Littleton, CO and speak to the Columbine High School Community
One thing I would like to share with you that I personally believe very much: these dark forces that take over people and make them murder are the extreme manifestation of fear and rage with which every human being has to do combat. The older you get, the more you'll know that a great deal of life is the struggle against every person's own smallness and fear and anger -- and a continuing effort not to blame other people for our own shortcomings or our fears.
We cannot do what we need to do in America unless every person is committed to doing something better and different in every walk of life, beginning with parents and students and going all the way to the White House. For the struggle to be human is something that must be a daily source of joy to you, so you can get rid of your fears and let go of your rage, and minimize the chance that something like this will happen again.
The violent death of children in American schools is not so common as to pass without notice. I don't propose President Bush mirror the approach of President Clinton but I will say that there is nothing compassionate about silence.
"The older you get, the more you'll know that a great deal of life is the struggle against every person's own smallness and fear and anger -- and a continuing effort not to blame other people for our own shortcomings or our fears." Amen.
Contributions are now being accepted by the Red Lake Nation Memorial Fund to assist the victims and the families of the recent shooting at Red Lake High School in Minnesota. Donations may be sent to:
Red Lake Nation Memorial Fund
P.O. Box 574
Red Lake, Minnesota 56671