There&#x27;s something really eerie about this observation - perhaps one of the most astute Obama has ever made:<p>Of course, there have been plenty of cases throughout history of populations descending into epidemics of mass violence -- at much larger scales, even -- but usually they&#x27;ve been what we call &quot;pogroms&quot;, based an ethnic or religious hatred, or simple rage provoked by some particular incident.<p>But (mostly) apolitical, color-blind, religion- and everything else-blind violence -- with nothing in common in the way of a motivation, other than for the sheer <i>spectacle</i> of it -- I&#x27;m not sure if there have been any parallels in history, on any significant scale, at all.