Let’s Exploit This Thing

Hmmmm….who should get the blame for today’s massacre at Virginia Tech? Should it be video games? A lack of guns? Not enough Jesus?

I blame the shooter.


posted by greg on April 16, 2007 @ 5:17 pm

6 comments »

  1. Very correct attitude to attribute the disaster. Detailed rumors about his identity: http://motls.blogspot.com/2007/04/virginia-tech-gunman.html

    Comment by Lubos Motl — April 16, 2007 @ 5:42 pm

  2. A lack of guns. Ah, of course. That’s why dozens of events like this occur every year in countries with gun control.

    Aren’t guns supposed to be for overthrowing the government if it becomes oppressive? Like that would work against tanks and (sub)machine guns.

    Comment by me — April 17, 2007 @ 12:01 am

  3. Wait…I thought we were supposed to blame the criminal for their acts.

    OHHH!!! That’s unless there’s a political point to be scored by claiming something else was responsible…

    Man, it’s hard to remember which shade is white and which is black on any given day. I really need to start getting that memo delivered with the paper.

    Comment by thrashbluegrass — April 17, 2007 @ 5:46 am

  4. A friend of mine is active in his local Lutheran Church, and wanted to get some money from their Social Concerns Committee for a nonviolence training program. The chair of the committee told him ahead of time that if he kept his pitch narrowly focused on teaching school kids to use nonviolent means to resolve their conflicts, he would get his money, but if he veered off into any discussion of the way our government uses violence to resolve its conflicts, then certain members of the committee would reject his request out of hand as being too “controversial”.

    Because we must never, ever, make the connection between individual violence and the massive violence our government employs.

    Besides, that would be “exploiting” the tragedy.

    Comment by SteveB — April 17, 2007 @ 6:33 am

  5. People who are currently appealing to various notions of collective blame are, I think, forgetting that there’s a reason our criminal justice system relies so heavily on notions of individual agency.

    Comment by Armagh444 — April 17, 2007 @ 8:45 pm

  6. [...] the identity of the shooter was confirmed, the wingnutosphere was afire in an attempt to exploit the tragedy for political gain, instantly making a leap of logic on the level of Superman’s ability to “leap tall [...]

    Pingback by JABbering Stooge :: The storm before the calm :: April :: 2007 — April 27, 2007 @ 8:05 am

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