Why can't the MSM say that?
Remember, the only uniform our Commander in Chief ever wore looks different than the one that our soldiers wear and strikingly similar to that of the shooter:
Posted on 11/11/2009 10:40:24 AM PST by Star Traveler
November 9, 11:33 PM
by Rebecca Heath
When Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan went on his murderous rampage killing 13 and wounding 30 others Thursday at Fort Hood, Texas, he became the latest perpetrator of a uniquely American phenomenon of mass public shootings.
One day later, alleged gunman Jason Rodriquez, walked into the Orlando FL., engineering firm where he had been terminated two years before. He left one person dead and 5 injured.
These latest U.S. shooting sprees add to this year's deadly toll of workplace violence. Although the anecdotal evidence seems to belie the figures, homicides in the workplace are actually down slightly overall, despite the recession. There were 517 workplace homicides in 2008 and that was the lowest level since the Labor Department began tracking this 16 years ago.
Law enforcement now must sort out the details and in Texas army officials go about the huge task of comforting more than 600 people affected by this one horrible act. A memorial service is scheduled for Tuesday and public donations are being accepted to help victim's families (Fort Hood website)
In the both cases, as investigators examine the aftermath motivations are still a mystery. When Rodriquez was taken into custody he was asked point blank by a reporter "why?" "They left me to rot," said Rodriguez, who had recently declared bankruptcy.
Hasan had been allegedly trying to get out of the military since 2001. He has told his family that he had been taunted for his Middle Eastern ancestry since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Hasan's relatives have issued statements saying they were shocked and mortified by the shootings. "… there is no justification, whatsoever, for what happened. We are all asking why this happened -- and the answer is that we simply do not know."
The modern era of mass shootings started in 1966 in Texas when Charles Whitman opened fire from the top of a 27-story tower at the University of Texas in Austin , killing 14 people and wounding 40.
Since then more than 105 Americans have gone on killing rampages.
In the just one month of this year more than 53 people were murdered in high-profile shootings: On March 10, Michael McLendon killed 10 people before committing suicide in southern Alabama. Police say he had struggled to hold down a job and targeted employers and co-workers.
On April 3rd, Jiverly Wong, a 41 year old immigrant from Vietnam walked into an immigrant language center, killed 13 and wounded 20 before killing himself. He told family members he had been harassed for his poor English. He dropped out of language classes at the American Civic Association. It was to his former classroom that he returned with two handguns, wearing body armor to terrorize the people who had tried to help him.
At the time, an acquaintance of Wong described him as "a very nice guy, but he seemed very, very depressed." Wong's wife and kids had left him and he told this friend, 'I did everything good for everybody, but nobody ever did anything good for me.'"
What is it that causes someone to make this ultimate act of hate and retribution. To become completely devoid of compassion and empathy, to take the lives of other people's sons, daughters, mothers and fathers? Is there something about our society that drives people to do things like this?
In the wake of the Fort Hood massacre, US media pundits and politicians will again follow the expected sequence of events, offering theories and examining consequences. Expressions of sympathy and outrage for the victims will precede inquiries and promises that changes will be made. But will they?
It's been 10 years since the Columbine High School killers left 15 dead, and two years since the Virginia Tech shooter murdered 32. What more do we know today than we did then?
Here's one fact:
One of the only other countries that has had a similar violence problem has been Australia which saw a string of mass shootings in the 1980s and 1990s. Finally, in 1996, armed with a semiautomatic rifle, Martin Bryant shot and killed 35 people at a Tasmanian historical site. Australian lawmakers reacted with tough gun control legislation banning semiautomatic rifles. The result? No mass shootings since the ban.
A base spokesman said one of the reasons Hasan's actions were so deadly was that he fired at least 100 rounds in a small space. He was armed with two pistols, one a semiautomatic FN-Five Seven tactical pistol capable of firing up to 20 rounds without reloading.
As officials untangle the reasons for Thursdays carnage, attention is focusing on the psychological consequences of a drawn out war. Fort Hood statistics show that base personnel are under increasing stress and reportedly are not getting the mental health resources they need. There have been 76 suicides since 2003 and domestic violence has risen by 75 percent since 2001.
And this is not the only recent shooting at Fort Hood. Last year upon returning from Iraq, Staff Sgt. Gilberto Mota, 35, shot his his wife and himself. In September, Spc. Jody Michael Wirawan, 22, shot and killed 1st Lt. Robert Bartlett Fletcher, 24, at a party. Both had just returned from the war.
An ironic footnote: Killeen, Texas, the nearest town, to Fort Hood.,was scene of one of the deadliest shooting mass murders in American history. On October 16, 1991, George Hennard drove his Ford Ranger pickup truck through the front window of Luby's Cafeteria and began shooting, killing 23 people and wounding 20. Before taking his own life Hennard yelled, "This is what Central Texas did to me!"
“In the both cases, as investigators examine the aftermath motivations are still a mystery. “
PC insanity.
HERE IT COMES - THE ‘NEED’ FOR MORE GUN CONTROL
Most of the ones that ended with the shooter killing himself ended that way because (1) the shooter was almost out of ammo and was determined not to be taken alive, or (2) the shooter was prevented from killing anybody else as a result of being shot/injured or cornered by police and was determined not to be taken alive.
Of the ones who gave themselves up, they were able to continue their rampage until THEY decided to stop it.
In either scenario, the killing could have been stopped earlier had law-abiding citizens been able and prepared to defend themselves and others against the perps.
But in communist countries, there have been true mass killings. Not thousands, or hundreds of thousands, but millions and millions of people killed. In fact, over a hundred million people killed. Those are true "mass" killings.
There are different categories and kinds of killings. There are killings for hire, killings during crimes committed for other reasons, there are killings by the Islamic terrorists, and there are killings in war and also there are killings by dictators and despots who can kill many more than any citizen or even those Islamic terrorists have done.
But, in this case (when using the terminology "mass killings" in America), this is an instance of the kind of killings in which they are done by people in this country killing other people in a public setting. Those are the ones which are referred to as "mass killings" (and/or public killings). That's the kind where someone ends up killing people they may have known (worked with or associated with or related to) and also others in the public right along with them.
We're all very familiar with this kind of "mass killing" in America, in public with strangers and/or some who may be known by the perpetrator[s]. We've seen it enough times in the last few decades...
Remember, the only uniform our Commander in Chief ever wore looks different than the one that our soldiers wear and strikingly similar to that of the shooter:
“uniquely American phenomenon?”
Canada, Australia, Finland, Germany, Scotland, Israel...
Rebecca Heath left out Pearl Harbor: The most terrible mass shooting in the workplace in American history.
That's a different type of killing. As I was saying, there are different types and categories of killings as has been done or is done by people and/or governments.
In this case, the public knows what one means when they read about someone going into the public and shooting a bunch of people. We've seen it with Fort Hood, in Orlando and yesterday in Tualatin, Oregon.
Of course, if we're talking about a government sending their soldiers to kills a bunch of people, that's another type of killing -- but's it's not of the same type as Orlando, Florida, Tualatin, Oregon and Fort Hood, Texas.
It's Islamic Terror.
I would say so, in terms of Fort Hood. But I wouldn't say so in terms of Orlando, Florida and Tualatin, Oregon. And also with the list in Post #2.
We should be more like the rest of the world and save our mass killings for the soccer riots.
That little tiff between the Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda was mostly a machete affair. Mass hacking instead of shooting. The carnage far outstripped the few shootings in the US. The death toll in the 1994 genocide is estimated between 800,000 and 1 million killed.
In either scenario, the killing could have been stopped earlier had law-abiding citizens been able and prepared to defend themselves and others against the perps.
At Fort Hood, that's a place where people have guns and know how to use them. And the perpetrator was stopped. However, he was not stopped before getting quite a few people killed in the meantime.
It appears to me that no matter how many people you've got with guns (even on the biggest military base around in the U.S.), a person can end up killing a bunch of people in the general public -- no matter what.
LOL..., yes, there are “mass riots” too... :-)
The people at Fort Hood know how to use them, but they do not have guns. They were all unarmed except for the first POLICE responders. Hasan was taken down by two cops who arrived on the scene and were able to assess the situation and respond appropriately. EVERYBODY ELSE except for the shooter was UNARMED. In case you didn't know, on a military base all the guns are kept locked up - not carried around by the soldiers.
Can’t believe nobody yet has mentioned Suzanna Hupp about the authors “ironic note” talking about the Luby’s shooting.
The “ironic note” was that Suzanna Hupp had a gun, and had the perfect chance to stop the shooter, but she had left it in her car to comply with Texas gun laws at the time.
The shooter...well he wasn’t complying with the laws.
HERE IT COMES - THE ‘NEED’ FOR MORE GUN CONTROL
It's a problem that is evident in the U.S. over the past few decades and these killings are not just perpetrated by criminals but ordinary citizens (at least they were "ordinary" at one time, until they carried out the killings...).
By Rick Bella
November 10, 2009, 8:16PM
GLADSTONE -- Friends and associates saw Robert and Teresa Beiser as devoted, hardworking parents who ran into problems but were trying hard to work them out.
Both parents worked two jobs. They owned a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath home on Southeast Oatfield Road, where they were rearing two children, 14-year-old Nicole and her 11-year-old brother, Drew.
"They are -- were -- amazing parents," said Lana L. Traynor, a Portland attorney who has worked with the family. "They were very united for the kids."
Both parents visited Tae Kwon Do 2 in Clackamas three or four times a week to watch Nicole work out and compete.
Nicole, a freshman at Gladstone High School, has studied tae kwon do for four years and has a black belt. She has participated in major competitions in Las Vegas and Chicago.
"Kids like Nicole have really good friends in here," said Al Dorsey, an instructor at Tae Kwon Do 2 and a family friend. "It's like one big family here. It's like a big martial arts support group."
Then, last week, a crack appeared to outside observers. The Beisers, who were married in 1994, filed for divorce in Clackamas County Circuit Court. Teresa is listed as the petitioner.
In court documents, their split appeared amicable. They were seeking joint custody of the children, and Robert tentatively agreed to pay $1,100 a month in child support.
Teresa, they tentatively agreed, would remain in their home with the children. When the property sold, the Beisers would split any profit.
Dorsey knew the Beisers were going through a divorce but thought they were managing the situation.
"They were on good terms," he said. "In fact, the mom had told us that they were separating. We've seen them, and they were always civil."
Thirty-nine-year-old Robert -- friends called him "Rob" -- worked as a vehicle claims adjuster for Property Damage Appraisers in Lake Oswego. He also made predawn deliveries of The Oregonian, working first as a private contractor, then for one of the major distributors.
Teresa, 36, worked as a lab technician for Legacy MetroLab-Tualatin, which provides drug and alcohol testing for employers and the courts. Teresa, an avid bodybuilder and cyclist, also worked as a spin instructor at 24 Hour Fitness on Southeast Sunnyside Road in Clackamas.
Steve Rautio, who distributes The Oregonian in the Clackamas and Oregon City areas, said he couldn't guess Rob was suffering so much or that he was capable of violence. He said he was aware that the couple were divorcing. "He was fine, he was fine," Rautio said, choking back tears. "But he had problems."
No, in this case it was an Islamic terrorist killing. And in other cases in America, there are - as you said, "killings for hire, killings during crimes committed for other reasons."
Then there are killings "where someone ends up killing people they may have known (worked with or associated with or related to) and also others in the public right along with them." But what you don't mention is that these latter killings, despite their screaming, blood-spattered gun-grabber headlines, are statistically the absolutely least likely cause of gun death in America.
So my point stands. You pervert statistics to bloat the perception of these types of killings, you invoke monstrous associations, and you hide statistics which would easily reveal the miniscule threat of such occurences compared to other dangers.
And why? Because you want people to fear guns, to doubt their competency, and to move politically towards voting for regimes which would delegalize and seize guns from the people, and put them solely in the hands of the government.
Which is exactly the scenario proven to be historically necessary for, as you put it: "killings by dictators and despots who can kill many more than any citizen or even those Islamic terrorists have done."
What a nice goal for your efforts.
The shooter...well he wasn’t complying with the laws.
By the nature of a "criminal act" -- that's always going to be the basic problem. There's no way around that one...
There is no mystery here and of course, Ft. Hood has it's own string. . .which this writer refuses to follow. No mystery here either, as to writers motivations. . .and political persuasion.
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