UPDATED – In defense of the ‘OddBall’

First off, let me say that what happened at the University of Alabama was a horrible tragedy. This is why I have avoided blogging about this topic; as I did not want to be accused of politicizing the whole thing. I personally do not care what the woman’s politics were, the fact is that this woman ended up killing three people, people who were Husbands, Fathers, and friends to many. That, I feel, does transcend politics, and because of that, I basically shunned the subject.

However, I do feel the need to address one thing here. There is this story in the Boston Herald:

As authorities searched for clues into what could have sent a University of Alabama neurobiology professor on an alleged killing spree, friends and family yesterday described Braintree native Amy Bishop as an awkward introvert on the brink of losing her teaching job.

Bishop’s husband, James Anderson, told the Herald his wife had been fighting the university for over a year about a tenure denial, and several months ago received a final decision. She was upset, but not overly emotional, approaching her appeal “like a game of chess,” he said.

Police in Huntsville, Ala., charged Bishop, 44, with capital murder after she allegedly opened fire on six colleagues at a faculty meeting Friday, killing three. Afterward, she calmly called her husband and asked him to pick her up as if nothing had happened, said police Chief Henry Reyes.

“She was an oddball – just not very sociable,” said Sylvia Fluckiger, a former lab technician who worked with Bishop in 1993.

What bothers me is this; there is a narrative being played up here. That this woman was an ‘Oddball’. As someone who has been labeled an ‘Oddball’ in my lifetime. I find this to be very disconcerting. Yes, I have my quirks; I like to think of myself as a bit eccentric, but I am not a murderer. What this woman did was a act of a deranged killer and not just some overly educated ‘oddball’ eccentric. There is a difference, and I wish that the media would please point out that difference.

First it was people that were loners, and very quiet and kept to themselves. Now, they are going with the ‘Oddball’ characterization. Why is it that the police and other said authorities just cannot be content with just explaining that the woman was a cold-blooded killer and stop the personality characterizations? It is quite disgusting and it is totally unfair to those of us, who might to possess those qualities and may just be normal average people, who are not looking to inflict any sort of harm on anyone.

Others on the subject: Jules Crittenden, American Power, POWIP, Moonbattery, Weasel Zippers, Riehl World View and Althouse (H/T Memeorandum)

Update: Smitty over at The Other McCain agrees. Proving once again, that AllahPundit and the rest of the atheists are crazy and there is actually a God. 😉