Not surprisingly for such a spectacle, national media had much to be ashamed of in its coverage of the Timothy McVeigh trial. Most pointedly, the unrestrained elation that accompanied the guilty verdict (the P-I's color, front-page photo of a woman flashing victory signs was perhaps the low point here) was at best socially irresponsible. It raises the question: would "we" (to use USA Today-speak) have been sad or outraged at an acquittal? Is the purpose of a trial for a heinous crime to determine a verdict or to sate the public appetite for blood and revenge?

There is nothing joyful about McVeigh's guilty verdict. Assuming he did it (always an open question, it seems, with verdicts in this country), it should bring a bit of closure to a tragic episode; nothing more. The celebration of his guilt and possible execution is a measure of the sick, violent tendencies of the whole country--not McVeigh. As with all death penalty cases, a possible execution only compounds the pathology, reinforcing the notion McVeigh embodies: the taking of life is OK if it's done for the proper reason.

Both mainstream and progressive media have used the Oklahoma case to scapegoat right-wing hate radio and other supposed sources of McVeigh's lethal instincts. But very little attention has been given to how Tim actually learned to kill. From an interview quoted in the New York Times, August 4, 1995:

Perhaps the Gulf War was a turning point for him. "When he came back, he seemed broken," said his aunt, Mrs. Zanghi. "When we talked about it, he said it was terrible there. He was on the front line and had seen death and caused death." She said that young McVeigh, a gunner on a Bradley fighting vehicle, spoke of killing Iraqis and had told her, "After the first time it got easy."

Bradleys--for those of you who haven't been reminded of Gulf War history lately by our politicians--were the vehicles used to bury thousands of drafted Iraqi soldiers alive in trenches.

The omnicidal tendencies of the U.S. government informed, trained, and then inspired Timothy McVeigh. How many more McVeighs would be created by his execution?