The huge Wal-Mart in Valley Stream NY usually opens at 9 am, but for black Friday the opening was set for 5 am. Crowds began building the night before, and by 3:30 am there were 2,000 people stretching across a vast parking lot. The Nassau County police were called, but one officer with a bullhorn could do little to bring order.

And then just before 5 am the crowd began pushing forward, broke down the doors, and streamed into the store. It's to bad that a temporary Wal-Mart employee was pushed over in the melee, and the crowd streaming in trampled him to death. Other Wal-Mart employees tried to reach him, and could not. No police were anywhere in sight.

Just a minute! "To bad"? What happened to the compassion of Thanksgiving, the joys of Christmas season? Evidently the lure of a few vastly underpriced Christmas presents were too great.

Blame appears to be widespread:

* Obviously the crowd that trampled Jdimytai Damou bear much of the responsibility. However, people in the middle of a raging mob have little freedom to stop it.

* Wal-Mart, in setting the stage for this crowd event, but providing minimal security arrangements, deserves most of the responsibility. This was not an accident. The lack of planning for serious crowd control made some tragedy all too likely.

* The police who came, found that they couldn't control the crowd, and then left also share responsibility.

* And the rest of us . . . are we making Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other days of spiritual celebration real days of compassionate renewal? When police tried to clear the store after Jdimytai Damou was killed, shoppers refused to leave. Getting their bargains was more important than stopping after such a tragedy.

Many people are looking to Obama for leadership in dealing with this nation's huge problems. Well, on this one, responsibility is much closer to home. Yes, Wal-Mart needs to be held accountable, but what's happened to us as a people?

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