Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Yesterday we were in Staunton, VA only an hour from Virginia Tech when we heard about the massacre. At first, I thought it was just a rumor as we overheard people at the restaurant talking about it. Then our worst fears were verified when we got back into the car and turned on the radio.
Cho Seung-Hui, a resident alien from South Korea, was the shooter. This psychopath killed 32 innocent people. Since he killed himself the blame game has already started. People are searching for someone or some group to hold accountable. I’m sure since he was an immigrant; they will start there with a “whack a mole” blame game.
As soon as I heard the shooter was dead I told my wife they would immediately start searching for the sacrificial lamb. First, they wanted to blame the police for not knowing two murders in a dorm would grow into the worst massacre on a college campus in American History. Then, they jumped on the school for also failing to read his mind. Now they have started a witch hunt for any students, faculty or staff who might have known about anything. Who could have predicted this? Even if he would have told somebody, who would have believed it? Punishing somebody would be ludicrous.
Very soon they will find out what kind of music he enjoyed and blame the artists. Then they will find out which video games he played and try to ban them. I am sure they will also try to blame the gun shop who sold him the guns, even though he legally bought them and even waited the legal three days. He was an English student who read Shakespeare and Edgar Allen Poe. Do you think they will try to ban books by those authors now?
Now they are probably going to try to pass a slew of laws, none of which would have saved any of these innocent people, but will be a major loss of liberty to every law abiding citizen in the country. There will be stupid law suits against the school, so now every University will be forced to lock campuses down like prisons or face similar stupid law suits. Where will it end? I don’t know.
My heart pours out to the families of the innocent victims but the reality of the situation is, in a free society, there is no way to stop random acts of violence like this. No amount of laws or loss of freedoms will ever stop this kind of behavior. This is the price we all pay for living in a free society. The alternative is to regulate EVERYTHING and to sacrifice liberty for safety; this is the definition of fascism. Don’t buy into this!!!!
Pray for the families, mourn with them but don’t jump on a fascist bandwagon which will accomplish nothing except to eliminate the freedoms our grand-parents have paid for with their blood. Like it or not, the right to bear arms is a Constitutional right which cannot be sacrificed for safety’s sake or convenience sake.
This guy was a psychopath, plain and simple. Don’t let his mental illness influence the rights which we fought so hard to obtain. The fact of the matter is no amount of changing of the laws will ever keep us safe from psychos; they will always find a way to be psychos. But don’t apply the least common denominator principle and treat all of us like this psychopath.
Our vacation continues. Yesterday we toured Endless Caves and the Woodrow Wilson birthplace. Today we saw the Manassas Civil War battlefield and Mt Vernon. Enjoy some pictures from the past two days in Virginia.
Endless Caverns
A family of bats on the cave wall. They don't like to be petted and they hate Skittles.
Mt. Vernon, home to George Washington, the father of liberty. He died of a sore throat which became infected. If they only had Triaminic he might still be alive today.
Woodrow Wilson's birthplace. They actually had the bed in which he was born (and conceived) in the house.
I'm sitting on GW's back porch enjoying the view of the Potomac River. You can actually see my duck feet in this picture.
Manassas National Civil War Battlefield. An early battle won by the Confederates thanks to the leadership of Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson. He acquired that nickname at this battle.
In other news, I've also changed my mind about the Dodge Charger, it is a piece of crap. It might look fast but it has no pick up at all. We were having troubles passing 18-wheelers. My Monte Carlo can run circles around it. There are many more inadequacies with it: the horn sounds when you lock the car, the lights turn on when you unlock it and they stay on after you lock it for quite a while.
Cho Seung-Hui, a resident alien from South Korea, was the shooter. This psychopath killed 32 innocent people. Since he killed himself the blame game has already started. People are searching for someone or some group to hold accountable. I’m sure since he was an immigrant; they will start there with a “whack a mole” blame game.
As soon as I heard the shooter was dead I told my wife they would immediately start searching for the sacrificial lamb. First, they wanted to blame the police for not knowing two murders in a dorm would grow into the worst massacre on a college campus in American History. Then, they jumped on the school for also failing to read his mind. Now they have started a witch hunt for any students, faculty or staff who might have known about anything. Who could have predicted this? Even if he would have told somebody, who would have believed it? Punishing somebody would be ludicrous.
Very soon they will find out what kind of music he enjoyed and blame the artists. Then they will find out which video games he played and try to ban them. I am sure they will also try to blame the gun shop who sold him the guns, even though he legally bought them and even waited the legal three days. He was an English student who read Shakespeare and Edgar Allen Poe. Do you think they will try to ban books by those authors now?
Now they are probably going to try to pass a slew of laws, none of which would have saved any of these innocent people, but will be a major loss of liberty to every law abiding citizen in the country. There will be stupid law suits against the school, so now every University will be forced to lock campuses down like prisons or face similar stupid law suits. Where will it end? I don’t know.
My heart pours out to the families of the innocent victims but the reality of the situation is, in a free society, there is no way to stop random acts of violence like this. No amount of laws or loss of freedoms will ever stop this kind of behavior. This is the price we all pay for living in a free society. The alternative is to regulate EVERYTHING and to sacrifice liberty for safety; this is the definition of fascism. Don’t buy into this!!!!
Pray for the families, mourn with them but don’t jump on a fascist bandwagon which will accomplish nothing except to eliminate the freedoms our grand-parents have paid for with their blood. Like it or not, the right to bear arms is a Constitutional right which cannot be sacrificed for safety’s sake or convenience sake.
This guy was a psychopath, plain and simple. Don’t let his mental illness influence the rights which we fought so hard to obtain. The fact of the matter is no amount of changing of the laws will ever keep us safe from psychos; they will always find a way to be psychos. But don’t apply the least common denominator principle and treat all of us like this psychopath.
Our vacation continues. Yesterday we toured Endless Caves and the Woodrow Wilson birthplace. Today we saw the Manassas Civil War battlefield and Mt Vernon. Enjoy some pictures from the past two days in Virginia.
Endless Caverns
A family of bats on the cave wall. They don't like to be petted and they hate Skittles.
Mt. Vernon, home to George Washington, the father of liberty. He died of a sore throat which became infected. If they only had Triaminic he might still be alive today.
Woodrow Wilson's birthplace. They actually had the bed in which he was born (and conceived) in the house.
I'm sitting on GW's back porch enjoying the view of the Potomac River. You can actually see my duck feet in this picture.
Manassas National Civil War Battlefield. An early battle won by the Confederates thanks to the leadership of Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson. He acquired that nickname at this battle.
In other news, I've also changed my mind about the Dodge Charger, it is a piece of crap. It might look fast but it has no pick up at all. We were having troubles passing 18-wheelers. My Monte Carlo can run circles around it. There are many more inadequacies with it: the horn sounds when you lock the car, the lights turn on when you unlock it and they stay on after you lock it for quite a while.
posted by DarthImmortal at 8:32 PM
3 Comments:
The news from VTech is so sad and hard to watch. I agree with everything you have said here.
On a lighter note...the pics are great! Bump into any ghosts??? :)
Have a good one, take care.
Pretty pictures. I hope you guys are having a good time. Construction has picked up back home, be careful coming back.
My word verification is assjavi.
As someone who has worked in mental health I can tell you that we can not control everything. These kinds of incidences by someone so sick are extremely rare compared to child molestation, physical abuse and husbands/wives murdering spouses. While I do believe in gun control due to impulse being the root of many evils however. Totally tragic and senseless is the other side of joyful and meaningful- one does not exist without the other.
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