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| Yes, Many of Them Being Held by Crazy People |
He heard voices in his head. He was receiving treatment through the Veterans Administration for mental problems. Police officials were aware of him through two shooting incidents.
Hmm - we've got a crazy guy with grievances, with a demonstrated penchant for gunplay and armed to the teeth - what could possibly go wrong? I can think of a dozen people who might give you a clear answer except that they're dead, felled by the crazy guy with grievances and guns yesterday in Washington's Navy Yard facility.
It's people just like Aaron Alexis who the people of gun-happy American need fear, not terrorists. People with emotional problems are always a threat in any country where access to guns is as pathetically lax as it is in the United States. Alexis should have been ringing all the alarm bells. The V.A. knew his problems. The police in Fort Worth and Seattle knew his problems. Yet he didn't sneak his way into the Navy Yard, he sailed right through the gate armed to the teeth and, pretty obviously, stoked up for a little bit of carnage.
There were a couple of good things to this tragedy. There were no kids killed. The dead ranged from 46 to 73. And apparently Alexis wasn't a particularly good shot. There were several people who said he fired on them and missed.
But this is the Armed States of America, the place where any leader who advocates for even modest gun control measures is quickly out of a job... even in Colorado.
As for the National Rifle Association, a statement was posted to the NRA web site stating that they're all down on their knees grieven' and prayin' for the dead and wounded of the Navy Yard. Oh I'll just bet they are.
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| courtesy TruthDig |
UPDATE
Wait, wait, wait - this just in. We can blame the Muslims for this. Yes, it's all their fault. According to the shooter's dad, his son has been dealing with anger issues resulting from post traumatic stress disorder he suffered from the 9/11 attacks. The old man made it sound like the shooter has been Bin Laden's little angel (of death) in waiting ever since.
What gets me about the Americans and their mass murders is, it's always someone with a grievance, and they always end up slaughtering a bunch of people who had nothing to do with causing their problems.
ReplyDeleteI mean, I'd rather they didn't have so many guns and didn't have mass murders in the first place. But OK, with all those guns and such a stressed-out society they're going to have those. But what is it with them never killing anyone but civilians, as it were? Of course it's pretty much the same when they go to war.
Maybe if that guy had a class analysis he would have been organizing, striking, occupying something instead of shooting. At a minimum, maybe he would have shot some bankers or Wall Street brokers, or at least officers rather than ordinary dudes.
On a side note--if he was in treatment, I wonder if he was on antidepressants or such? The use of those has often been in the background of these violent breaks.
I think you've hit on something there. What if the crazies could somehow be channeled to go after the very worst of the 1%ers? Focus their uncontrollable rage on the folks actually directly contributing to their plight. Could you imagine how fast the authorities would be mobilized to sweep the towns and cities for guns if the oligarchs were in the crosshairs?
ReplyDelete"What if the crazies could somehow be channeled to go after the very worst of the 1%ers? Focus their uncontrollable rage on the folks actually directly contributing to their plight. Could you imagine how fast the authorities would be mobilized to sweep the towns and cities for guns if the oligarchs were in the crosshairs?"
ReplyDeleteBring in a serious estate tax before going after the plutocrats!
I with you here MOS. I doubt I'll ever go on a killing spree, but if one did, why waste bullets? Oligarchs certainly have a bigger "footprint" on the planet and they certainly harm the many with their insatiable greed, just by depriving them of healthy food, living conditions and healthcare - not to mention the wars created to sell weapons and secure resources for the haves and have mores!
I can't remember if it was Sartre or Camus, but one of them wrote a piece that suggested folks get off the back of suicides and attempted suicides. The writer felt that folks should thank the suicide for not taking advantage of his pre-suicide lack of fear of sanctions and taking advantage of that to settle some scores. I mean if you want to die, threatening to kill you ain't very scary.
I think of it all as just another gun worshiping Hollywood film with a really poorly written screenplay, untalented actors and an unlimited budget.
ReplyDeleteMight as well. It's never going to change.
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