Undoubtedly, most of you have heard by now about the tragedy at Astroworld. It happened on Friday and here we are on Tuesday and seemingly the world has moved on to assign blame. Heck, there have already been lawsuits filed against Travis Scott and Drake and the blood hasn’t even dried yet.

At this point in an investigation, facts are few and far between. Supposedly, there were over 50,000 people at the event. Is that too many? That’s certainly a possibility, but even if that is true it can be hard to assign blame for overselling the event.

For instance, did the promoters of the event know for a fact that had sold as many tickets as they had? Did they know for a fact that the venue could only handle a certain number and then ignore that? Again, that’s hard to say. Even if that is true, who exactly do we hold responsible for that error in judgment.

It’s also possible that the event wasn’t oversold and instead there was a problem with the venue’s design. This certainly isn’t the first such tragedy and it likely won’t be the last. In many of these instances, there was a design flaw that made such a tragedy a larger possibility.

Then, we get to the questions of Scott himself. What did he know and when did he know it? This is always a pressing question in situations like this. Supposedly, he continued to perform while much of this was going down. Yet, it is difficult to imagine him performing with full knowledge of what was going on.

Furthermore, he was supposedly briefed on the security of the event as the people on duty had obvious concerns. What were their concerns? Were their concerns met with the seriousness they deserved? We obviously don’t have all of the answers there either.

In the backdrop of all of this was the woman heard at my local gym. Her only response to the tragedy was to ask if it was a Christian music concert. When she heard it wasn’t there was some obvious disdain there. It’s as if somehow that these things happen when the music is morally objectionable and that the lives lost are not as valuable as those that would enjoy a more wholesome brand of entertainment.

Whether your objections be moral, negligence on the part of the venue, negligence on the part of the performer, or bad behavior on the part of the spectators, we hopefully can all acknowledge that this is a horrible situation that never should have happened. There is all the time in the world for blame. Let’s hold off and instead take stock in what we’ve lost. The families involved deserve a whole lot more than the pointing of fingers.

Let’s decide once and for all what Fake News really is.  Remember when it was easy to tell the difference?

Well, now it can be a little harder but one thing is for sure — news is not fake simply because a Republican doesn’t like it.

And somebody is standing up to them.

The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel in Colorado is accusing state Sen. Ray Scott of defamation and threatening to sue. If filed, legal experts said it would be the first suit of its kind, potentially setting a legal definition for what is considered fake news and what is not.

The Sentinel published an editorial asking that the state senator go forward on bill to make it easier to obtain public records.  The senator did not take kindly to some damn body making legitimate requests.

Scott took issue with the column on Twitter. “We have our own fake news in Grand Junction,” Scott tweeted.

Boy Howdy, Sen. Ray Scott just poked the wrong publisher. He’s says he gonna take a few days to cool down but he damn well might sue.  A lawyer who has represented the Sentinel before has a say, too.

“We are seeing a trend, not just here in Colorado, but that politicians for a variety of reasons have taken to calling very legitimate media entities — whether it be The New York Times, The Washington Post or CNN — fake news,” he said. “It’s intended to delegitimize those sources for news.”

Oh, this might be fun.

Thanks to Brad for the heads up.