on a more serious note

[anotheranon]

I've been following the Knoxville shooting case and it seems to get a bit more disturbing the more I read. One source suggests it was case of domestic violence, but most sources (go to Google News for lots of 'em) focus on the shooter's hatred of liberals (and the UU's are a very liberal denomination, with a long record of supporting civil rights, desegregation, GBLTQ rights, etc).

If this hatred is the cause then pecunium is rightly calling this horror terrorism (found over @ patgreene).

I want to say I'm totally knocked off my feet by this, but I'm somehow not. Perhaps because I'm not a Unitarian and don't know anyone who was at that church and isn't all that personal for me, but more likely because it's not surprising - with all the hateful rhetoric from the right wing media, some nutcase was bound to act on it sooner or later :(

Comments

[wendyzski.livejournal.com]

The part that bugs me is that it was mentioned that the killer had recently been denied for food stamps (a program pushed through by the hated liberals in the first place) but also that he could have come to these people for help.

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that really is just more icing on this particular cake of shit.

I've read a few more articles and blogs about the shooting since I wrote the above, and no matter how you cut it, things like this don't happen in a vacuum - there are plenty of whackjobs around who don't go on shooting sprees. Either misogyny or hatred of liberals/gays (or both) fueled this guy to actually do something :(

[ladyaelfwynn.livejournal.com]

I've been paying slightly more attention to this than other news stories. It frustrates me.

I read a news report that stated that the police found books by Michael Savage (he who thinks autistic children just need more discipling) and Bill O'Reilly in his home. I'm thinking this poor schmuck took these right-wing rabble rousers at their words and decided to "do something" about it.

The liberals that this guy decided were the root of his problems were the ones most likely to help him. Liberals are usually the ones working for broader health care coverage, more social programs (like food stamps, educations, jobs programs), etc.
It's the right-wingers that want to cut taxes and expect everyone to get by on their own.

**sigh**

I hope the rest of those he hurt survive and that he, too, gets the help he needs.

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

I agree with what you're saying here, but even though I know this guy probably had violent tendencies/mental health problems long before he chose his targets, I still find it very hard to feel much pity for him.

I mean, he went on a shooting spree! How on earth do some people rationalize that this is a good way to deal with anything?

[ladyaelfwynn.livejournal.com]

It's not rational thought; it's why professionals will probably find he has some sort of mental issues. It could be there were voices in his head telling him to do that.

A friend I had when I was in college turned out to be a paranoid schizophrenic and had an episode during one of his visits. It was freaky and troubling and there wasn't a whole fat lot we could do about it. There was no insurance and none of us had jobs to pay for any sort of proper care.

My friends that were psych students talked to their professors and IIRC, we were able to get him to a counseling session (where he was diagnosed) but since he wasn't a student nothing else could be done. In the meantime, I begged money from still more friends to get him a bus ticket home, because that's all I could do; I couldn't look after someone with those issues.

I totally understand it being hard to feel pity for him. I want him to face justice and serve jail time; he doesn't deserve to walk free or get out of jail time because he's crazy.

It also sounds like he might have been screwed by the system. He would've had to have been a very young man in the late stages of the war to be a Vietnam War vet as is claimed in news reports. If he saw combat time, it wouldn't surprised if there are PTSD issues and who knows what else that the military ignored.

It's also easier for me to be more generous towards him because I'm further away. I'm neither from Tenn. or a Unitarian (though we were married by a Unitarian minister and were we to go to a church, it would probably be UU); I can afford to look beyond the horror.

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

You were a good friend to get your friend some help - you did what you could, and it sounds like you realize that it wasn't his fault.

And reading the above I KNOW you're right, and if this guy was in fact failed by the system I do have some sympathy there. I'm neither from TN nor UU (though, like you, we were married by a UU "hired gun"), but I think the frustration for me isn't because of closeness but because even if this guy had problems from the get go it was still hatred that pushed him over the line - it's that hatred as a motivator that I have no patience for.