I don’t know what to say about the massacre in Las Vegas. I’d like to know why he did it. I’d like to know how he picked his targets. But that’s just curiosity on my part. All that matters is that he could do it.
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BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
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Think anyone will say anything about guns or gun controls? Trump did not. Obama may have. But that was another world I once lived in.
I’d like to know if this guy was sane. Interview with his brother suggests he was. He worked for Lockheed and was retired. And seems was a heavy gambler. Maybe he lost too much and was seeking revenge?
What can you say about this kind of horror?
My cousin and his wife are in Vegas for a vacation. They were about two blocks from the shooting. They are safe, and now planning on getting out of the city as soon as they are able.
We are such a deeply violent culture. The fact that this eludes almost everyone I know is another one of those puzzling and mysterious things over which I despair. Our complete lack of ability to even consider this violent history and the roots of it, much less actually look for ways to deal with it and possibly try to minimize it, seems to just be baked into the American cake.
As I have said, time and again, if the massacre of a classroom full of kindergartners does not move the needle, then we are beyond hope. All we have are fucking “thoughts and prayers”. God, I cannot put into words how much I hate that empty sentiment.
“Thoughts and prayers” Useless, mindless, do-nothing pap.
It was jarring to see on the monitor places I’ve spent time in over the years – one of my work trips puts me in Vegas nearly annually. My spouse was asking me if I would be able to find a way out of going this coming year. Good luck with that. Good that your relatives are safe.
Apparently, we now live in a country where random slaughter takes place, and every time it’s larger and more horrible, and everybody knows we can’t do anything about it, because to actually do anything would require that we take people’s guns away. And 5 cretins on the U.S. S.Ct. have made that impossible anyway.
So, I’m just not going to wallow this time in all the agony of the victims, and the blame shifting in which it will shortly appear that some other is to blame.
Because if we did, we might take their guns away. That’s why. And we can’t do that, so:
Picked his targets?
Have you ever shot one of those mega-round magazines? There IS NO AIMING. Just pull the trigger and listen to the rounds come out.
I meant the event.
If he wanted to kill a lot of people, this event was good, and he was from the area.
Sick sick people are more common than we believe.
If you have 10 guns, want to kill a lot of people, and have a lot of people in front of you, picking targets is not needed. You just shoot.
A terrible terrible event, and my heart goes out to any involved.
Haven’t you heard? Guns don’t kill people — people do! Without the gun he would have used a knife or something. It doesn’t make any difference.
Also, where were the other spectators who should have been packing, and therefore could have “taken him out”? I’d say this is really their fault. Not enough guns in the scenario.
Have we been warned not to “politicize” this yet?
(You can only “politicize” a mass shooting when the shooter is non-white; especially if they’re Muslim.)
Even when it’s explicitly political (Oklahoma City), the perpetrators are white so it’s not terrorism; they’re just mysteriously troubled and we can’t draw any conclusions.
Spot on.
Mass murderer categories:
Black – thug
Muslim — terrorist
White — lone wolf, disturbed individual
There was a report this guy was ISIS. But you are right. Just a lone wolf, I suspect.
He’s white, so it’s already relegated to “isolated, profound mystery” status.
White fella can’t get no respect!
Too soon. No matter how much latter, too soon, as we will be reminded by the Beltway sages. Wanna bet this shooting doesn’t even slow down the “Sportsmen” bill currently in the House that would legalize silencers?
Yes. Soon after you asked the question.
Brace yourself, Booman; the right-wing troll army is out in force, taking over any left/liberal threads about this to attack the liberals, BLM, Antifa, Obama, etc., etc., spewing the usual dreary propaganda, and in general spreading furious obfuscation. No More Mister Nice Blog’s post, for example, was overrun with suchlike within minutes of being posted; there’s probably a search function running for the bots and the bought-and-paid-fors.
comments at No More Mister so overwhelmed the thread is essentially unreadable. The main goal must be to shut down discussion.
Please note there is not the usual out rage in the donald’s response. Total control and on script. White man causes death and physical harm to almost 600 and his only directive is to lowers the flag to half staff. In the coming days will he tweet that the shooters family be locked up?
Well, this has to make the NRA gang happy. Hey, every dark cloud has a silver lining, right?
Mass shootings are still thankfully infrequent – I tend to rely on the more cautious statistics that Mother Jones compiles. Mass shootings would be nearly non-existent if we had some sensible regulations on firearms. The trends in this country indicate that this is a problem that is getting worse, even as overall violent crime rates have stayed near historic lows. The jaw-droppingly awful event today in Las Vegas would likely never have happened if our nation had basic and enforced gun registration laws, limitations on ammo purchases, etc. The political will to do those basic things will not exist as long as the GOP runs the show and as long as the NRA continues to buy off politicians and distribute its inflamatory propaganda.
Because there was nothing stopping him. This seems nothing less than a naked enactment of white, male privilege.