The Fred Thompson Report: Another Lesson from the Virginia Shootings

ABC Radio Networks ^ | April 18, 2007 | Fred Thompson

[Josh Painter]

It seems to be part of our nature to feel that we live in an era separate and distinct from the past – until something like the Virginia Tech killings forces us to face reality. Then, the horrors and atrocities of "the olden days" visit us again.

Periodically it has been decided, by the people who decide this sort of thing, that history as we know it is over. Or, at least, that things have changed so much that the lessons of the past no longer apply.

Though there are fewer and fewer people around today who remember it, the conflict that was officially ended by the signing of the Versailles Treaty in 1919 was known for several decades as “The War to End All Wars.”

World War II, however, required a rewriting of the history books. The Holocaust and similar genocides committed by the Soviets now make the reverie of the ’20s and ’30s a sad footnote.

Since then, history has “ended” several times, notably with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Once again there was the sense that, finally, we had moved beyond the need to think about people and regimes willing to murder for their own ruthless purposes...

Technology has made great leaps forward, but human nature – and the fact that society still sometimes produces people like the killer at Virginia Tech – has not changed...

What happened on the campus in Blacksburg, Va., was an awful reminder of the challenge ahead of us – not just to secure the safety of our college campuses, but to secure all of the rest of our nation as well. Once upon a time, madmen needed armies to attack other nations. This is no longer the case.

[stephenjohnbanker]

Brads gramma, and I have been sniffing and reporting “ I just signed up, and I wanna buy a gun” trolls all day. But watch out for the 4th : )

Sniff zoom Z O T!

[stephenjohnbanker]

: )

[Brad’s Gramma]

And they don’t answer us all the time, either.

I’m thinking this is poor etiquette. And rude.

[stephenjohnbanker]

” Rat own, bay bay”

[stephenjohnbanker]

“And they don’t answer us all the time, either.”

Dead givaway.....I was trained by darkwing 104, and old sarge : )

[Brad’s Gramma]

< inserts picture of Windex >

We’re hijacking the wrong thread. Let’s move over to Ms. O’Donnell’s, shall we?

[Cobra64]

It is my opinion that if a teacher is not willing to carry a concealed weapon...let him beat the sidewalk for a job. Replace them with Men and Women willing to take control in a critical situation. The educational atmosphere would return when these evil punks learn they cannot invade our classrooms and create such carnage.

While I'm a strong carry advocate, your suggestion is not very well thought out. Are all school teachers supposed to be cops? That's not their job. Furthermore, just owning a weapon does not mean you're even capable or qualified to use it. Even at the range, I see people with all sorts of guns do some really stupid things.

[Cobra64]

SJB, What’d the troll say?

[stephenjohnbanker]

Tell me what you think of this

One senior has a gun on each floor

GPS tracking

I know it is a pipe dream, but it might have made a big difference.

[garylmoore]

Who you supporting, Cindy Sheehan, Hillary, or the Breck boy?

I’m afraid you’ve mistaken me for someone else, I am a Fred Thompson supporter.

[AFreeBird]

B4L8r

[stephenjohnbanker]

We have had 3 trolls post the following.....almost verbatim “ I just signed up, and I want to buy a gun”

Yeah, and I want to go to Heaven and meet the Lord.....FR won’t open escrow for ya : )

[Brad’s Gramma]

I think you posted that on the wrong thread.

[jellybean]

please add me to the list

Happy to have you aboard. :)

[A1 Southern Man]

I believe it is destiny for Fred Thompson to be the President.

[babygene]

“Furthermore, just owning a weapon does not mean you’re even capable or qualified to use it.”

Even someone who doesn’t “know how to use it” is better prepared than the unarmed...

[babygene]

One further thought... I have a permit to carry, but I have never fired a weapon at another person, except for the five and eight inch guns on my ship 43 years ago. Of course then you didn’t actually SEE the target.

Would I be effective in a situation like this? I don’t know, but I’ed like to have the option.

[DB]

This touches on why the isolationist wing (Pat Buchanan, Ron Paul) are so deadly wrong. The world has changed. Rapidly individuals and small groups are beginning to pose more of an actual threat than standing armies. The founding fathers could have never envisioned the destructive technologies to come that could be commanded by so few upon so many.

[SE Mom]

Fred does it again.

If there was ever a man for the times..

[SE Mom]

Have you read this piece yet?