printFor the time being, the Virginia-Tech massacre, where an Asian young man shot and killed 32 students (I don’t include the killer; media do, hence their reports of 33 dead) and injured at least 22 more, will end the insufferable Imus autopsies, and start the assaults on Second Amendment rights. Rosie will be mouthing what she regards as a given (ditto Bill Maher, the so-called libertarian): If all Americans are denied their right to defend home and hearth, it follows that all criminals will be unable to obtain weapons (NOT). Disarming law abiding Americans, with the exception of her security detail, is absolutely essential in order to prevent the odd evil individual from acting on his or her criminal impulses (NOT).
EVIL. Banish reference to that existential reality from your lexicon, won’t you? The “experts” have been dragged in to “explain” why a bad individual, described by his victims as calm and calculating during the executions, commits mass murder. To MSNBC’s credit, they mentioned that most such shootings have been carried out by individuals of foreign origins. Having brought that “out in the open,” to use the title of Paula Zahn’s putrid program about alleged, endemic, American racism, the network commenced the root-causes rabbiting. Society and the family must be saddled with the blame for the culprit’s actions.
You know the drill: crimes are never committed, but caused. Perpetrators don’t do the crime, but are driven to their dastardly deed, victims of larger, uncontrollable societal or familial forces. In the case of the common criminal, the exculpatory idiom is, “Daddy didn’t love me”; in the case of the terrorist it’s, “America loves Israel more than me.”
What we don’t need but will get in abundance is the staple mumbo jumbo from the experts, whose bag of tricks includes pharmacology (even though there is no scientific proof that these evil actions are fueled by misfiring neurons or defective levels of neurotransmitters), unconditional love (although adulation, with little or no corrective feedback, contributes to the creation of these monsters), and anger management.
Readings:
Coddling Killers: The Liberal Root-Causes Racket (The American Spectator), Mel’s ‘Malady,’ Foxman’s Fetish (WorldNetDaily.com) Trading Morality for Medical Mumbo-Jumbo (WorldNetDaily.com), Broken Brains? (WorldNetDaily.com), Sloppy Science Justifies Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (The Calgary Herald)
Update: Who knows? If not for the legislator, an armed student or faculty member might have been able to take the killer out before the body count reached 32. As WND reports, “More than one year before today’s unprecedented shooting rampage at Virginia Tech, the state’s General Assembly quashed a bill that would have given qualified college students and employees the right to carry handguns on campus… Most universities in Virginia require students and employees, other than police, to check their guns with police or campus security upon entering campus.”
Mercer, I fear you are correct. The disciples of people control are at their mindless best with tragedies like this one. Nobody wants to address the problem and face it down. We have become so cowardly in our culture that the only answer we have is to demand that government protect us since we haven’t the stuff to do it ourselves. We don’t dare fight back so we want all the guns taken up. It hasn’t worked anywhere else but liberal thinkers know that if something doesn’t work we just do it twice as hard and it will work sooner or later. It doesn’t matter that it hasn’t worked. Most Americans haven’t a clue as to what goes on anyway. I still hear constantly that we should be like Great Britain and outlaw guns. It seems that if the Brits do it, it must be correct. Nobody, it seems, has taken notice of the incredible crime rate over there because the populace are nothing but helpless targets. That’s what they want for us.
We are surrounded by hordes of thugs, nuts and assorted wackos who have no respect for human life, and who will not be disarmed. We live on a globe with numerous nations populated by desperate, hungry people who hate the United States and would cheerfully kill every one of us. We have just survived a century where approximately 100+ million people were slaughtered in acts of genocide, mostly by governments after making sure the people were disarmed. Yet the liberal thinkers of the day have no answer to life threatening situations other than to disarm the citizens. Thats what I call real leadership.
I’m with you 100%, Mrs. Mercer. I would just add the flip side of the argument for the freedom to bear arms. It is not enough to have the freedom to bear arms, just as it is not enough to have the freedom of speech. This freedom must actually be used in order for it to be good. [A interesting, original point.] It is not enough to say that the good guys should be allowed to bear arms; the good guys SHOULD bear arms.
The tragedy of the VT massacre is not merely that someone murdered 32 people. The tragedy of this is that school administrators were grossly incompetent in warning people of the armed monster when they knew he was on the loose two hours in advance. That is not merely indicative of stupidity; that is indicative of apathetic foolishness that comes with a philosophically void culture for which the responsible officials should be punished. The “security system” was there; but it wasn’t used.
I can hear the wheels turn already. The perpetrator is not being called a “killer”. The police chief is calling him a “gunman”. I fear this will lead to a renewed push for gun control, which, by logical extension, would effectively disarm the campus security as well, assuming this is not already the case.
Yes we are hearing about this man’s assumed “mental illness,” but I’d like to know what mental illness has to do with the cold and calculating act of lining 30 people up and slowly picking them off, execution-style. To me, it’s just plain evil. It’s too orderly to be “crazy.”
We all know that the government is pushing for mandatory mental health screening for all Americans, and might we assume that gun confiscation is being proposed.
It’s still too “tin-foily” for me to see this as a cruel stunt to put these measures in place, I think the creep was just plain evil. I do believe that this terrible event will be exploited by the gun control lobby and mental health professionals.
With respect to the Imus issue, and your column, “Scholar athletes,” “the best America has to offer,” “the future leaders of our country,” staight-A students, a valedictorian, a “classical pianist,” and on and on. Or “tattooed,” “tough,” “hardcore.” Which descriptions are more accurate?
I’d like to know more about these young black women, the “best America has to offer.”
Did any of them belonged to gangs before they received athletic scholarships to Rutgers, or have brothers, relatives,lovers, and friends who are gangsters and criminals?
How many listen, “jive,” and dance to “rap” and “hip-hop” that vilifies women as “bitches” and “ho’s” and “pieces of meat” to be abused and degraded, raped and sodomized, tortured and murdered. If they so do, how can they be “scarred for life” by Imus’s remarks?
How many espouse the racial views of rev. Al Sharpton, Julian Bond, the NAACP, the Nation of Islam, the New Black Panthers, Duke’s “gang of 88,” ad nauseam. How many major in “black studies”?
How many “know” that Seligman, Finnerty, and Evans are “guilty” of rape and were enraged when the charges were dismissed?
How many of the “best America has to offer” despise “Amerika.” How many of our “future leaders” hate all or most whites?
There is no arguing with someone with hoplophobia (fear of weapons). What I do instead, when arguing with female hoplophobes, is to pose this question: would you consent to a law that only women can own guns? Hey, 90-odd percent of all gun crimes are committed by men…
This is kind of fun – but then some react with a scary gleam in their eyes…
If I don’t care to argue, I just rub my hands with glee and say, “Oh boy! Make firearms unavailable and then the world – and all of you serfs, will belong to people like me again!” (i.e. fencers and martial arts fans who spend time learning to use obsolete weapons like swords.)
I’d be curious as to whether there will be a correlation between those who desperately wanted to see Imus fired for his speech and those who’ll find all manner of “explanations� for the behavior of the evil Virginia Tech killer. Was he off his meds? Did he come from an unloving family? Did he “feel isolated�? Time will tell, but it seems to me that we place far too much emphasis on “bad words� in America, and far too little on “bad deeds.�
Scott, what in the world are you popping off at the mouth about? What difference does it make who the Rutger girls are friends with? The same questions could be asked about Imus. And how do you know that the girls have tattoes and are hardcore? I think with your poor attempt to point out bigotry, you may have exposed your own hatreds.
I would love to know how many of the people who were on that campus and aware of the shooting while it was going on, had CC permits. I bet the number is at least 1.
I agree that carry, concealed or otherwise, should be legal. However, it’s no longer doable. The judicial system, of which the semi-gallant police are part, controls how all actions can be legally conducted. The police would rather have a ton of bodies lying about than accidentally shoot an armed citizen who defended himself, which could lead to legal complications. Listen to any cop on talk radio and you will hear this theme over and over. They have a job to do and by God, self defense will interfere.
Reason doesn’t indicate that we should be disarmed. Over and over and over these incidents have about a twenty minute police response time. This takes into account the latest procedures which are based on lessons learned. It’s all window dressing as that twenty minute response time never seems to change. That is a very long time to be under the gun.
These facts simply do not matter. Legal decisions, which lead to police procedures, trump reality. It’s a done deal and we will never again have the right to openly defend ourselves. It has gone too far for that. The police will be able to say that they did their best and local governments will pay off the victims. It’s all been decided by law. We are to be herded around like sheep as legal authority and our executioners see fit.
At the risk of getting flamed on here, I should say that there is nothing wrong with asking why someone would do something like this. We need to not only know warning signs, but also to act on them. It’s because of people and ‘idiot’ psychologists asking these questionns that we now have a greater list of warning signs.
There were lots of signs, but probably not enough done… I say probably, because I worry at the day where angry, non threatening letters bring the ire of the law. I’m also worried about gun confiscation and additional gun law regulations. Ack.
It’s probably coming, though. No need to get upset by it – just move on. *sigh*
“we now have a greater list of warning signs.
That’s not quite true. I don’t remember the numbers, but at Columbine students took surveys and teachers were asked to identify troubled students based on what the surveys learned. Not to surprisingly the shooters had a lot in common with close to half of the students.
Serial killers are another group that we have no idea how to identify, although, the FBI is constantly touted as having this ability. Most police officers will tell you that their profiles are worthless because they’re simply too inclusive. Chaotic behavior doesn’t require an organized or disorganized mind.
Regarding Imus, I don’t know anyone remotely like Al $harpton, Jesse Jackass or these “gangsta” rappers. And I don’t know anyone who finds these shock jocks entertaining, either. And both my church and my workplace are about an even mix of blacks and whites.
The media emphasizes that this murderer was a “loner.” Being a loner is no excuse for the commission of a crime. There are loners who would be the last people on Earth to commit such crimes, or to engage in any other evil or immoral activities.
THAT this person was a loner is irrelevant. WHY this person is a loner is relevant. This person was a loner because he was a ritualistic people-hater. This is in contrast to people who are loners not because they are people-haters – let alone rich-people-haters – but because people hate THEM. But the media likes to play on the word ‘loner’ to mix the good loners in with the bad loners in order to insult the good loners. It’s called “equivocation,” and it is used to deprecate those who are loners because they are HATED by people for their intellectual independence; not because they HATE people.
For example, Mrs. Mercer, you would be a loner [I am a loner, Edward aka Pil, as many writers in the old mold used to be]. Posting under a pseudoif you were to work at, say, Time Magazine, as a result of your intellectual independence. You would be a “loner,” but for good reason. You would not be a loner for the sake of being a loner; you would not hate people for the sake of hating people; and any dislike that you would have towards people would merely be a rational response to people’s irrational disliking of you. So in order to smear you, the media insults all loners, without regard for the REASON that one is is a loner, which is the relevant issue.
All staff and teachers should be permitted to carry concealed weapons on every college campus in the USA where Federal Dollars are spent in tuition and grants.
I know this sounds obvious.
My condolences to the family and loved ones of the victims at Virginia Tech.
How many lives might have been saved?
Just three months ago, a bill was killed that would have prevented universities in Virginia from abridging students’ right to carry concealed weapons on campus with a valid permit.
Virginia Tech cheered the decision, having enacted a policy last June for ‘violence prevention’ that bans guns in the hands of employees, students and visitors.
The article says, “Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker was happy to hear the bill was defeated. “I’m sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly’s actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus.””
The wimps’ desire to feel safe once again has taken precedence over reality. I wonder how safe Larry Hincker’s students feel now, after having been left helpless and defenseless in the face of death.
As for me, I feel less safe when I am defenseless, but quite comfortable in the presence of armed law abiding citizens.
My experience with men who feel like Larry Hincker is that it is not the remote possibility of danger an armed law abiding citizen poses that they resent, rather it is the immediately experienced, intolerable feelings of inadequacy they experience in the presence of real men that they must banish at any cost. So here you have the cost to be paid for their victory on this front in their campaign to emasculate the American male. The real threat was never even a consideration.
Thank you, Mr. Hincker, Virginia Tech, Virginia Association of Chiefs Of Police, and Virginia Legislature. Feelings trumped the fact that you can’t station armed protectors everywhere; the responsibility for at least some of these deaths rests upon you.
The news article:
http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/wb/xp-50658
–John Danforth–
How must I appear to most? I’m argumentative, a loner, own guns, ignore popular culture, Don’t watch TV, and known to hold many interesting and anti-PC/social views. Of course I’m never really alone. I read constantly. Catching up with someone I just talked with a few days ago isn’t one of my favorite activities. I’m sure my name is making many “lists”,
If the Hinckers and Blombergs of the world want 100% gun control all they have to do is look at Virginia Tech. 20+thousand people on that campus and evidently nobody was armed except the wacko who wanted to kill everybody. He wasn’t in too much of a hurry because he knew he was the only one with a gun. I hate to break the news to those enlightened thinkers trying to bring on the millenum by legislation but the wackos and thugs will always be armed. The “law abiding” people were following the rules and were, therefore, helpless targets. That’s what the country will be like if they disarm us. Even if we wanted the government to protect us, which most clear thinking individuals do not want, they aren’t able to do it. Therefore they should have no right to legislate against our having the ability to protect ourselves. If you corner a rat he will bite you. As a red-blooded American I should have the same rights as a rat.
Well said!
If Paula Zahn and Nancy Grace need to look for the problem with the USA they should take a peek in the mirror!
Unfortunately, Ilana, all of your predictions are coming true.
The mass media are ignoring the shootings at the Appalachian School Of Law in Virginia in 2002, when two armed students apprehended the shooter.
Even at the time, the mass media buried the fact that two students went to their cars to get their handguns once the shooting started, and went back to the scene to disarm and apprehend the shooter. Had they been armed inside the school, they might have been able to save a life or two.
This whole event is being used as an excuse to launch “serious discussions” on whether we should all be helpless targets, as James so eloquently mentions.
Perhaps we could sell bumper stickers to both sides of the argument, to make some money off the media carrion-eating exercise. Take your choice — Disarmed Victim, or Hopeful Bunny Rabbit.
It will now be a target-rich environment for the media psychobabblers as the madman’s rants are made public.
–John Danforth–
Now we have video and a manifesto from the pathetic loser. Apparently he rails against “rich kids” and decries their success in destroying his soul. He praises Eric and Dylan – the Columbine murderers – and promises that he will be an inspiration to future downtrodden tormented souls.
Unless he was walking around waving a gun and spewing out this filth, there would have been no way to predict he’d do this. There are lots of envious, pathetic, not-gettin’-any losers out there, but almost none of them will go to this extreme.
A pathetic testament to an evil loser. Yes, I agree – the only thing that might have stopped him would have been an armed person in the building.
“Questions lingered over whether campus police should have issued an immediate campus-wide warning of a killer on the loose and locked down the campus after the first burst of gunfire.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070419/ap_on_re_us/virginia_tech_shooting
Gee, I wonder.
Thats what I’m curious about as well… I’m a loner myself, and I hold many anti-PC views too. I dont ‘gel’ with other people because they often drive me nuts – I don’t have time to listen to their gushing of the new Korn or Hilary Duff CD. I’m glad it brings them happyness, but… *shrugs*
I can see loners, especially guys like me, being regarded with more negativity.
It probably gets worse for guys like me as well, because we listen to metal – including death metal. On top of that, I play the occassional violent videogame.
*cringe* Cripes… this could get ugly. :=/
Alex, my momma warned me about people like you..