Guns don't kill people, talk radio does

Ok, I'll probably get my head bitten off for my trouble, but I'm gonna chime in here. My only comment is that in a free country bad things can happen, especially when they are unexpected and sudden. Either we can be free, or safe. Myself I would rather be free, and take the risk of sudden tragedy. If you want the government to "guarantee" your safety then Kehrt euch! (ger. - about face!!) and then goose step off into the horizon. Keep in mind what one of the founders of our country said, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-Ben Franklin

 

If some lunatic decides he wants to kill a few people, it's going to be hard to stop him. Guns make it easy, but people in other countries seem to manage without access to guns. Knives, axes, fire, bombs, and automobiles all do a good job. Mostly you have to hope for a family member or neighbor to head this off before it happens.

Tom

 

Say what?

The guy was crazy. Please don't use this tragedy as your own personal pulpit.

 

Your point is a good one, miscrms. I truly feel your pain.

Thanks for 'venting' what many of us are thinking and feeling.

 

Hi All,

This is not the first or last time some wacko is going to say "Rush Limbaugh made me do it" .

 

It wasn't Rush, it was the voices in my head...

Wait a minute, what if I have Rush Limbaugh in my head?!? OMG, get him out of there....AAaaahhhh, I can't stand it (thump, thump, thump).

Tom

 

Yup .... Tom's got it right.

Crazy is crazy, and when crazy snaps .... well, you see the result. Of course the manipulators that are talk radio today played a role, but if it hadn't been them, it would have been someone else.

Having stated that, it certainly doesn't excuse the talking heads for promoting their agenda of hate ..... in the name of God, of course. It's a very disgusting thing to manipulate a demographic that can't separate truth from pure propaganda.

... Brad

 

This is a rather large demographic and a big reason our founding fathers established the electoral college.

That being said, I don't think it's disgusting or un-American to pander to the masses. What is disgusting is to do so with a message of hate or violence.

My x-brother-in-law was a bit unstable. He was tattooed-up, x-military (nerve and cognitive problems as a result of Gulf War illness), former (maybe) drug user, etc... but I remember one conversation with him that stood out. The topic of talk radio came up, and we discussed a few radio programs. He said he quit listening to Savage not because he disagreed with most of his rants, but instead because it made him too angry. He said it made him feel like going out and doing something violent about it. As wacky as the guy seemed, he was wiser than most in his shoes.

 

you assume the government can guarantee your safety - it cant - especially from threats from within - and it cant even do it against threats from the outside.

no system is 100% safe - there is assumed risk everywhere. tell me, how many people died in car accidents during the morning of the shooting, how many kids died in detroit or wash dc in gang related issues, how many americans were killed by illegal aliens that morning --- this last one is the issue you should be focusing on in terms of our government and its presumed current function of protecting the citizens

 

Rob

I'm not trying to make light of the terrible thing that happened

But you have to admit - that demographic is the one most neocon's count on to get their way

Reminds me of the deranged Dodge Ram Cummins trolls we had visit awhile back. Didn't take long for the conversation to turn to "liberals" and "gay marriage." I mean, who even gives a s***?! So many problems now, so many serious issues, and - naturally - the conversation turns to "liberals" and "gay marriage."

Consider that Canadians are "liberal" by American standards, and allow "gay marriage." Canada hasn't exactly burst into flames, received any Wrath Of God stuff, now has it??

I'll agree that a handful of ex-military are in serious need of long-term help. Unfortunately, it seems no Western country gives one s*** about veterans. We train them to kill, perhaps send them off to battle, where they do kill (Except this guy, apparently he was a cook??), they return, and we take their rifle away and say "don't let the door hit your butt on the way out!"

This is nothing new. Around 70 years ago Brigadier General Smedley Butler had scathing remarks about the military industrial complex, the way veterans are treated, even a coup attempt that was to bring down the US government.

He wrote a book "War Is A Racket," and brought up some points we would now find deeply embarassing. Such as how Mussolini was a *darling* of the American press during the early 1930's. Of course, we shouldn't be surprised how complicit the media is of that

In the early 1930's - under Stalin - when the Soviets were starving Ukraine in an act of genocide, Walter Duranty of the New York Times claimed there was no such thing happening.

Of course, Duranty has never been stripped of his Pulitzer Prize. He wrote glowing reports of the wonderful 5 year plans Stalin had for the USSR.

This is no different than the modern media complicity regarding current events.

 

It's not the country.

It's not the media.

It's not the political commentators nor the politicians that they praise or lambast.

It's not the guns either.


The blame lays squarely on the shoulders of the mentally unstable perp that committed this horrible act on the community. Trying to say that this murderer has anyone else to blame but himself is misguided and untruthful to say the least. He was a bitter man with a bigoted opinion of how his world should appear, and he didn't want anyone else he didn't approve of in his world. Those he killed and wounded were not a threat to anyone, and the children he made watch the carnage may never feel safe on a stage again.

I think it's a shame he lives.

 

But is that just a cop out? If we just say bad things happen and there's nothing we can do about it we cleanse ourselves of any associated guilt. At what point do we accept some responsibility for the products of our society? If this man was a veteran, shouldn't he have received the support and counseling he needed to be a productive member of society? If he was unable to do so, should he have been walking around on the streets and buying fire arms?


Are you kidding Me? The guy was NUTS. End of story! I have NO associated guilt or any such gibberish! Now, If I knew they guy and had somehow set him off, then, ok, I would feel some guilt over it, but it's absolutely absurd to try to pin this on "society". We have freedoms and as others have pointed out, there's a downside to that. But hey, this is the real world, not some controlled social experiment. There are no guarantees of safety in life.

 

I haven't kept track of the politics of spree killers. Was the guy at Virginia Tech a leftie or rightie?

Like Freud said 'Sometimes a nut case is just a nutcase'.

 

Isn't how 1/2 of our nation responded to religious crazies on 9/11?

 

I think if Obama was POTUS this would not have happened :high5:

 

And you don't think listening to a constant stream of hate radio didn't influence his actions at all?

 

The guy was obviously nuts regardless of talk radio, internet sites, etc. The hate mongering is heard both from the far right and far left and means nothing unless you fall into that area yourself and relish in this nonsense. He was and is crazy, but hopefully he will not get off with the insane defense.