Tragedy Strikes — And Leftists Shame Themselves
“Of that which we cannot speak,” the philosopher told us, “we must pass over in silence.”
As of this writing, twelve people are dead because of the theatre shooting in Aurora, Colorado. One was a six-year-old child, Veronica. Three were young men who threw themselves over their girlfriends and saved their lives. There was an Air Force veteran. A devoted Dad. All of them were people who went out to enjoy the communal pleasure of a big movie opening, and should be at home right now, bragging about being the first on their block to see The Dark Knight Rises.
Of all the commentary that has followed this disaster, one remark by a public figure has struck me with its truth. The star of the film, Christian Bale, said in a statement, “Words cannot express the horror that I feel. I cannot begin to truly understand the pain and grief of the victims and their loved ones, but my heart goes out to them.” Readers of this blog will know I don’t usually turn to movie actors to find wisdom, but Bale got it exactly right. I don’t understand. My heart goes out. Words cannot express. That is literally all one can rightly say.
And yet within minutes of the news first breaking, celebrated leftists, smelling in the blood of innocents some chance for political advantage, began to appropriate the corpses of their fellow citizens for soapboxes. ABC “newsman” Brian Ross slandered an innocent man in the hope of using the killings to perpetuate the media lie that the Tea Party movement is violent. Lefty politicians like Senator Frank Lautenberg and Mayor Michael Bloomberg began to beat the drum for anti-gun laws, despite the fact that Aurora already has stringent gun control. Brain-dead celebrities like Bill Maher and Cher found in the shattering grief of their neighbors a tremendous chance to insult America and Mitt Romney.
Does the ABC News team think a dead six year old is a prop for their disinformation campaign? Do Senator Lautenberg and Mayor Bloomberg think a community’s trauma is nothing more than a political opportunity? Do Bill Maher and Cher think anything? Do they know anything even exists outside the wonderlands of their own narcissism?
What these lefties reveal in moments like this — and they reveal it again and again — is that human beings — real live actual human beings with individual lives and desires and dreams and fears — do not mean a thing to them. Not a thing. To them, the Aurora massacre is not about the dead and the mourning, it’s about getting one in on the Tea Party! It’s about getting their hands on the Second Amendment! It’s about getting off a sarcastic remark! The victims and their families are just convenient stepping stones on the path to where they want to go.
I do not hear anyone on the right talking like this. This sort of moral vacuity is a product of the leftist philosophy — a philosophy that does not understand the worth of individuals, that does not conceive of each person as being a point and purpose in and of himself. We’re all just theoretical pieces in the puzzle of their perfect world. Never mind that we may not fit where they want us to. If we’ll just give them the power to push and push us enough, why, we’ll surely snap into place and, ah, what a beautiful life it will be then. It’s a way of thinking that deadens you to other people’s pain.
Twelve people are dead. A six-year-old child. Ordinary guys with the hearts of heroes. Sons and daughters. Lovers. Friends. Is it too much to ask of these chattering elites that they refrain from grandstanding on our neighbors’ bodies? Offer your condolences. Express your grief. Then shut your fat flapping faces. You’re not going to improve the situation. You’re not going to prevent it from happening again. You’re not going to do anything but show yourself to be so much less than what, with all your power and wealth and privilege, you really owe it to us to be.
****
Thumbnail image courtesy shutterstock / Nejron Photo
Related at PJ Media:
Victor Davis Hanson: The Demons of the Modern Rampage Killer
Michael Walsh: A History of Violence
Rick Moran: The Predictable Banality of the After-Massacre Media
Dave Swindle: The Aurora Shooting Victims
Roger L. Simon: Time to Curtail Violence in Film
Well said.
In the Book of Job, his friends came and sat with him for days in silence. They didn’t mess things up until they started talking.
Excellent point.
That’s what I call the Holy Shutup.
Don’t. Say. A. Word.
(hugs are OK)
As I said in a Facebook upload, it would make sense the liberals would do something THIS shameful and cowardly (the using a tragedy to forward their agenda, I mean).
While agreeing with everything you said, I have to note that at least one GOP politician appears to have shamed himself by using the occassion to advocate for greater rights to carry a firearm. He may have been right (the theater was a posted ‘no carry” zone), he may have been right or wrong (I’m not sure that a civilian with a handgun would have been able to stop a determined killer who had the element of surprise, greater range and firepower and who was wearing body armor, all in a darkened crowded theater with innocent people between the civilian and the killer, and more innocent people behind the killer), he may have been responding to someone else’s opportunism (I have not heard or read the full interview), but this was not the time to make his observations.
When gun control advocates (namely democrats) begin pounding the drums for more gun control – regardless of how soon it is after a tragedy such as this – it is incumbent upon our representatives in Washington that disagree with such an approach to come right out and say it.
To stand back and say nothing out of a misguided sense of respect only allows those who wish to wave the bloody shirt that much more time to seize and control the narrative and do everything in their power for that brief span of time to chip further away at our birthright.
It is not a measure of disrespect for the families of the slain, but rather a measure of the respect being afforded our freedom.
Not only should our representatives speak out but we all should let these liberal freaks who would deny all of us the ability to protect ourselves know they and their gun control mantra are as responsible for the innocents that were murdered as the gunman. I’m sick of letting these irrational people try to put me and my loved ones in harms way by refusing my right of self defense. It is more than certain that if there had been one or more armed CC permit holders in the audience this clown would have received very speedy and efficient justice on the spot and the loss of life would have been greatly diminished. These people are dangerous fools whose agenda will get more Americans killed. Gun Control kills people, not guns. It’s high time we started recognizing the truth here. And while we engage this debate condemnation should drown these leftist control pimps for their shameless lack of sensitivity for the victims and their families one of whom was a six year old child for God’s sake. Have they no shame? For openers, they should immediately become unemployable and their revenue streams should be shut down. Anytime one of these creatures rises from the swamp the pouring out of contempt on them should be immediate and withering. They revolt me.
Probably more importantly, if there was a certainty of a number of concealed carry holders in that theater, a shot would never have been fired in the first place. Even lunatics will think twice about going on a shooting spree when the inevitable outcome is their own certain death. That’s what the gun-control nuts don’t understand — the deterrent factor.
According to the latest reports, there was no body armor. Even if there were, you’d apparently be shocked that at least some CCW permit holders are trained how to deal with it.
The greater range of the rifle is immaterial; the engagement started at pistol range.
Darkness plays both ways; the shooter lost most of his night vision after the first shot.
If people are going to use this incident as an argument FOR “gun control”, then it’s the Right Thing to point out that the site already had instituted “gun control”.
I don’t know the guy’s AR-platform weapon, but my Mini-14 in .223 even with a “muzzle brake” (flash suppressors are illegal some places, you know) is like a flame thrower when fired at night. He’d be essentially blind after the first shot unless he was well enough trained to turn away so he could use his peripheral vision. From what I can gather this guy didn’t know jack about using the weapon and just had it because it was “cool.” Those drum magazines are for the gun store warriors; if they were reliable the military would use them, and even the M249 doesn’t use drums. I’ve never been satisfied with the reliability of even aftermarket magazines on my Mini. The OE Ruger mags are relatively expensive but they feed properly. Though it is much improved from its Vietnam days, the .223 platform is still finicky. My ancient 180 Model Mini has been a faithful friend but I’m thinking there’s an AK platform rifle in my future, maybe a Saiga in .308.
According to a friend of mine who dealt with the FN Mistake in the Army, it doesn’t even feed reliably from the standard M16 20 or 30-round magazine. And as a “bonus”, the flipover dustcover (that closes the belt feedway when the box is being used, and vice versa) tends to pop over into the belt feedway when you least expect it, thereby stonewalling the whole production.
He told me the surest way to spot an experienced 249 SAW gunner was to look for 100-mile-an-hour tape over the box magazine feed opening. (SpecOps types have been known to spotweld the darned thing to make sure it doesn’t get in the way.)
As for a really experienced SAW man, he’s the guy with the 7.62mm NATO 240 Bravo.
cheers
eon
My youngest kid carried a M249 for the better part of a year in Southern Afghanistan. Strangest Christmas present I ever bought was the SAW sling and magazine carrier vest from Tactical Tailor he wanted. People who don’t know any better think that uniformed soldiers are uniformly uniformed; they have everything but polo ponies and aligators on that stuff and all the snobbery that goes with it – and the prices for some of that stuff!
Issues we had with the SAWs when they were new in the Regan era were all Magazine related, but when Belt fed they really rocked.
Dont know if the ‘original” FN design had the auxilliary Magazine feature or not, or if it was something “we” dreamed up for US forces…It seemed like good intentions, and it DID work kinda OK…I’d rather be able to fire SOMETHING from it than be S.O.L. when my belt runs dry. M-16 magazines always being plentiful
The issue when Mag-feed was (circa 1984) a locking lug on the lower left of the bolt head, round about the 7 o’clock position. It would depress the top round in the magazine during its rearward travel, and (because the cyclic rate was rather high) the magazine spring would not “rebound” fast enough to seat the cartridge up against the feed lips in time to get picked up by the bolt face on the forward movement.
Sort of like “valve float” in an engine thats over revved, some parts just moving faster than others can keep up with.
We Jarheads LOVED the SAW at the squad level, the M-60 being just a little (Ok, a lot) too big and heavy for fast mobile fire & maneuvering tactics. You just cant build a Fire Team around one, and three SAW’s per SQUAD beats the Two M-60 “attachments” per platoon, every day, and twice (no, three times) on Sunday…
We liked to imagine the SAW was (finally!) the “B.A.R. replacement” for our generation, a slot that had been missing for SOOO long, as the M-60 was always more of the “Browning 30″ equivilant in our Table of Organization.
Only complaints were how noisy the plastic box containing a 200 round belt was when running around at night (the rounds rattled around inside, the hard plastic box echoed the sound).
And of course, no top shroud on the barrel…trying to “get-up-and-dash” after firing a few bursts invariably had that wonderful uniquely and useful human digit, the oppossable thumb, “naturally” wrapping AROUND the top of the barrel when you picked her up in a hurry and….OUCH!
Other than that, being a SAW gunner was about the best time I had in The Corps.
.308 Winchester is a great round. I don’t know much about how it performs in an AK weapon, but I have taken a few pronghorn at long range with that very accurate round. ABO2012
Even though he was wearing body armor, being hit by a bullet would have probably knocked him down and given the defender and others the chance to disarm him.
A holder of a CCW permit is most likely experienced with guns and aware of target acquisition and bullet travel beyond the target. And body armor would have slowed the bullet down enough to minimize any damage sustained by innocents.
To speculate that fighting back would have been worse than doing nothing just nonsensical.
Having the ability to defend ones self is always better than being powerless because of government mandate.
I’d rather die on my feet than live on my knees. Only to be killed at the leisure of those that would do me or my loved ones and neighbors harm.
There are conflicting reports as to whether he was wearing armor or not. The vest first described as a “ballistic vest” that the mail order firm sold him is NOT a ballistic vest, but rather just a vest with magazine pockets and a pistol holster. A vest like that could be worn over armor, though.
I’m thinking he was “costumed” in Mall Ninja gear like the paintballers wear, though the Blackhawk vest is pretty decent quality. When I first heard the report that he was wearing head to toe armor, my first thought was along the lines of “that’s two or three thousand dollars worth of armor alone, where did he get the money?” You have to assume that he intended for all the “buckets” of ammunition in his apartment to cook off when his incendiary devices went off. For an apparently unemployed college student, he sure had a lot of cash available in the last few weeks to buy all stuff he used for his fifteen minutes of fame.
I was wondering where an unemployed student gets the kind of money this idiot spent on ammo alone, much less how much he spent on guns and body armor. Then a co-worker pointed out that as an upper level student, he would have had access to a pretty substantial student loan.
WALTC
“Even though he was wearing body armor, being hit by a bullet would have probably knocked him down and given the defender and others the chance to disarm him”
Exactly right, Walt.
Blunt Force Trauma is a M#therf#cker.
Even with body armor, he could have been stopped by anyone with a gun.
An officer in my town, one I knew personally, was killed because of the effects of Blunt Force Trauma….
A punk snatched his partners gun and shot him center mass….the bullet WAS stopped by his armor but…
The impact was sufficiently “incapacitating” that the perp was able to turn and shoot TWO OTHER PEOPLE in the room before returning to, and executing with a head-shot, the officer who’s vest “stopped” that first bullet….
This officer died because he was unable to function effectively for several seconds AFTER his vest “stopped a bullet”….
He could NOT fire his weapon, (already partially drawn) because the impact of a single “stopped bullet” had THAT powerful an effect on his nervous system.
I am absolutely certain that few quick hits from ANY CCW holders average caliber handgun would have sufficiently incapacitated this “joker” enough to get “tackle-mobbed” in such a crowded room.
Its not impossible.
It is in fact, PROBABLE, that such would have occured if anyone was able to fire back in self defense.
Spot on. A .45 slug in the center-mass puts you on the ground, gasping for breath, regardless of body armor. And it’s just really hard to do your best work killing the unarmed when someone armed is shooting at you with any caliber weapon. Changes the dynamic. Ruins the concentration, doncha know.
Yup.
I garantee you those armorded-up “Hollywood Bank Robbers” were having a hard time of it for few seconds, EVERY TIME they took hits….cleanched fists, holding their breath, Abdominals pushing hard like youre constipated, eyes closed real tight, no ability to respond.
Lucky for them, they were outside with a big amount of stand-off they could maintain between them and the “pistol packin” cops with sheer volume of fire…
But inside? Mowing down a mob of the unarmed up close? Not knowing WHO might pop up (from behind?) as you concentrate on that “running away” mass in front of you?
Not so much.
Their “armor” was made of cut up tires; sort of flexible plate. That would spread the impact over a wide enough area to not cause trouble for them.
Phillep,
Old Tires? I’d not heard that. Must have had a layer of ballistic material over them, and used the tires just to defuse the Blunt Force shock because bullets go right through tires.
Before you guys go too far with this theme that “blunt force trauma”, even though there is no penetration by the bullet, is sufficient to incapacitate, or even knock down, an armored shooter, you might want to view some of the video taken back in 1997 when two armored bank robbers exited the North Hollywood branch of the Bank of America to confront the Los Angeles Police Department.
Just Google “Hollywood Shootout — National Geographic Situation Critical.” For nearly 45 minutes these two men stood fully exposed to police gunfire as they strode TOWARD dozens of officers who sent a hail of bullets at them. In some of the video you can actually see dust flying from their armor as they were stuck numerous times.
It should be noted that the majority of police weapons were 9-mm Glocks and Berettas, although one officer hit one of the perps in the side with a full-load of 12-gauge buck-shot. Not only were neither man “incapacitate by blunt force trauma”, they weren’t even knocked down. Indeed, if you didn’t see the dust flying from their armor, you wouldn’t even know they had been hit.
Another point to notice is that neither of these men wore a helmet, or any other head or throat protection. They simply wore black ski-masks. Yet despite the barrage of rounds fired at them by trained marksmen, neither was ever stuck in the head which, I think we all can safely assume would definitely have incapacitated them.
Viewing this footage is a sobering experience. I think it is also instructive to all of those who have written over the past several days that one or more civilians with CCW permits would have saved the day in that darkened, gas-filled, panic-struck theater in Colorado.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I certainly believe in defending yourself and those around you from a gun-welding madman. That’s why I carry. If the choice is between hiding under the theater seats and hoping for the best; or unloading the seven .357 rounds in my revolver at the gunman, you can believe I’ll be sending lead his way.
But if this guy was, in fact, wearing body armor as has been reported in the media and by the authorities; I’m not sure how effective my shots would be. If ever confronted with this situation, I’m disregarding my training to “go for the body mass.” I’m aiming at the head and God-help me hit it.
You guys must be flaming lunatics to read this article and turn it into a fun-fun chat about guns.
” Yet despite the barrage of rounds fired at them by trained marksmen,”
Someone besides the cops was shooting at them?
(Go play on the freeway, Fail.)
I will castigate the Republicans or Conservatives (the FEW that there ALWAYS are) when I see the FIRST liberal begin to EVER speak out against the demagogues on their own side.
Secondly, elected officials can say anything they want because the citizens at home have ultimate power over them. They must maintain an inherent sense of responsibility for their actions.
The “Journalism” Profession on the other hand is a TOTALLY different animal. They are SUPPOSED to be held by simple, simple, did I say SIMPLE, tenets of their profession. Even a child can understand them (maybe the networks need to hire ACTUAL children rather than the adults acting as children). Not only do THEY get it wrong, they hype the other darlings of the media who promote their agenda.
We all know what the real problem is. Once again a child can see it. The relentless attack on our values and the see no evil attitude that exsists because of it.
Isn’t there something wrong with the coverage itself? We seem to have made a group decision that, if you’re crazy and depressed, you can get a moment in the sun by killing a lot of people. In a society that puts a premium on attention, we’ve promised every loser a nickname like the Shoebomber or the Trenchcoat Mafia if they’ll just do something big. Businessmen don’t earn our respect, but killers do? I don’t get it. I’d rather see both presidential campaigns announce that they’re *not* changing their plans because of the tragedy.
I agree totally the media should be silent and not let this monster enjoy any lime light at all. They all just want a part of the action at the cost of lives. The Guns didnt kill anyone it totally is the sick person that did the devils bidding.
Everybody who doesn’t know his story yet is hereby urged to look up “Herostratus.”
His name has entered our language as the root of “herostratism,” committing a flamboyant crime in pursuit of notoriety. Suffice it to say that Herostratus achieved his goal, and sadly, so do most of the scum who follow in his footsteps.
If someone had mentioned that he was connected to the DOJ Fast & Furious program, he would have received A LOT less attention from the media. Am I right?
Change the culture to exactly what you would wish it to be. Human nature will still be the same. We are homo sapiens. Been around for between 150 and 200 thousand years. We have had about 6,000 years of the veneer of ‘culture’ of one sort or another, but the savage lurks beneath the veneer. And we have the divine gift of free will. Which is meaningless if we are not free to choose the darkest evil as well as the brightest good. Our nature can only be mastered on the individual level and by the individual. The society that believes its rules or philosophy can perfect the society as a whole is delusional. For cinematic metaphor, see FORBIDDEN PLANET and the doomed Krell. Monsters from the id will always be among us. And perhaps we are fated to be constantly surprised at their appearance. After all, no one expects the Spanish Inquisition.
Interestingly, more people, thirteen, died in a pickup truck that crashed into a tree in Texas last night: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DEADLY_TRUCK_CRASH_TEXAS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-07-23-03-13-41
Of course, the Administration Press is vague about just who these people are, but a pickup with at least 23 people in it heading north about a hundred miles north of the US-Mexico border can give some insight. Where’s the media? Where are the lefties about Border control, human trafficking, Hell, overloading pickups?
I wait patiently for an official statement by the Brady Campaign for sensible truck control. (snark)
I too was struck by the disparity in coverage between these two incidents. Only reason the pickup crash made the news at all was the oddity of the large number of passengers was my impression.
Two thought about this tragedy.
I don’t care about either side that is looking to make political hay about this, but I am concerned about who the slimeball lawyer is that will try to twist and pervert the law and common sense to try and get this man out on the street, and all those that will stand in protest should this monster get the death penalty and protest that somehow this monster should not be removed from the earth.
The second thought is with all the prayers being issued by the president and others, where are the atheists protesting that this is somehow a violation of the “separation of church and state” Or do atheists know that they only get coverage when they protest when there is no tragedy.
I hate lawyers. And I hope this SOB fries – and I am the first to admit that he is going to get off easy because nobody capable of this sort of heinous act will ever be found mentally competent – but what you say about not allowing him legal representation, because what he did is evil or whatever, frightens me just as much, if not more, than what he did. In a system where we can deny the full protection of the law to people we feel don’t deserve it, sooner than later, most people will be denied legal representation.
I know Holder all but told us he could have fun “show trials” in civil court that would guarantee the terrorists would all end up locked up forever, but that other people want more of that, should frighten us all.
I tried to listen to him on Sunday to see if he would say anything about it and apologize. From what I heard NOTHING was said.
From the begining I said that stephie was the one who went after this. Imagine the first thing they did was look on the web site of the TEA PARTY!
The Tea Party – the people who love America! The people who have served this nation! The people who leave their rallys cleaner than they found them.
Now if they had looked under “occupy” you could understand. They are the ones who hate America. They want to tear down the country, do away with capitalism, are the sons and daughters of “O”. The people who nanci pelousi loves. They are the ones who pivan wants to march in the street and commit violence.. like the group in California.
Remember the vote is Nov 7.
“ABC “newsman” Brian Ross slandered an innocent man in the hope of using the killings to perpetuate the media lie that the Tea Party movement is violent.”
I’m getting so sick of this. I’m sick of the liberals and the Democrats calling the Tea Party every name in the book, from “Nazis” and “Brown Shirts” to “Astro Turf” and, the worst, “Un-American.” Members of the Tea Parties have been insulted and maligned for years now and we will make our voices heard in November.
Keep yelling insults at us, but you will not win. You can try to stamp us out, but that will only increase our numbers and make us stronger. Like the minutemen who answered the call over 200 years ago, we are answering this nation’s desperate call for fiscal responsibility, smaller government, lower taxes, and less government regulation in just about every aspect of our lives. So you can see why the left hates us so much. We stand against everything they love and hold dear, which is why they MUST be defeated. Come November, they will be.
What needs to be pointed out and emphasized about Brian Ross’s little faux pas–and what I fervently hope brings a megabuck lawsuit down on him and his employer–is the fact that he didn’t have anyone do a minute’s fact-checking on this and that he callously, cold-bloodedly threw out this man’s name, knowing almost certainly that James Holmes, tea party member, was almost certainly NOT the culprit and that he was irresponsibly putting an innocent man’s life, livelihood, and family in jeopardy. But of course Ross did not give a hoot whose life he was risking to score a few cheap political points. Any damn “tea-bagger” deserves whatever happens to him, right?
I’m almost disappointed in knowing that (like the similar Spike Lee incident) this will be quietly settled with a big out-of-court payout.
Did you hear O’Really equivocate about Ross’ “mistake”? Yep. O’Stupid said Ross is a well respected journalist and it was just a mistake. Nothing mentioned about that is was a purposeful mistake.
Of course Ross did it on purpose. And for O’Dummy not to recognize it shows his colors are commie red.
Let’s not call the scum who perpetrated these senseless murders by his real name. Let’s not give him the respect of letting him have the infamy he so desperately wants and wanted. Let’s use the nom de guerre of . . . Brian Ross. Now if some wise guy then says that it might be the same Brian Ross that’s on ABC News who very suspiciously was heard to mention Aurora Colorado a number of times, we could say, we are going to investigate and follow up. If we do and it turns out to not be the same Brian Ross who appears on ABC then we can say, those who confused the two were wrong, but it is a common name. No harm done. And it serves the more important purpose of depriving Brian Ross, as he sits in solitary, of the fame he so desperately wants but does not deserve. Obama on that point is right. “Mr. Ross, you did not earn that fame alone. Dozens of people gave their lives and their health to give you that fame. It is not your own.”
Meanwhile let us celebrate the names of the victims forever.
Hear, hear, Andrew. What you’re describing is an appalling lack among our cultural elites of something that should be obvious and fundamental to everyone in a free society, something which Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale (both native Britons, curiously enough), have had the class to display.
It’s called decency.
Andrew,
“Is it too much to ask of these chattering elites that they refrain from grandstanding on our neighbors’ bodies?”
Yes, it is too much. They can do none of the things you ask…show true remorse, compassion, insight, honesty…
They can do none of this when a tragedy occurs because they are in fact, one and the same emotional personage as this self-absorbed killer…
They are, and must continue to be, The Center Of The Universe. Only THEIR feelings matter, only THEIR opinions should be heard…We exist for them only to be spoken TO, never to converse WITH…We are their inferiors, their slaves, objects of their perpetual distain as they blame and ridicule everything about US, as the core and causation of miseries they cannot ever accept, were and are created by THEMSELVES.
Others mean nothing to them…not their lives, priorities or opinions, not thier rights, nor their desires to be left alone, unmoslested, untaxed, and uncontrolled, by the dilusional whining that propells them lash out at all that disturbs their view of THEMSELVES as the center of all things…
The Left is perpetually convusing in the exact same selfish tantrum-orgy of their own self importance, as THIS guy.
Their mindsets are one and the same.
Which is why, Andrew, you cannot expect from them a few moments of DECENT behavior when an event like this happens….
Because everything….every God-blessed thing on this earth…is about how it affects THEM
None of the filth coming from the left is a surprise any more. Note to Cher: regarding your childish comments about Romney’s underware….. at least he wears some.
It’s not true that no one on the Right moved to politicize this tragedy.
Within hours after the story broke, I saw plenty of stuff on blogs about how the theater had banned guns–and if only some ordinary untrained citizen with a handgun had been in the theater, this tragic incident would not have happened.
In other words, the same kind of comments that have already been posted in THIS discussion earlier.
Such claims are highly debatable. But the time to have that debate is NOT while doctors were still treating the wounded at Emergency Rooms.
I don’t care how many liberals want to rant about gun control or Tea Partiers. I have insisted that we all should just sit tight and let law enforcement and the medical profession to their jobs. Not jump to conclusions and advocate for our *own* pet proposals out of ignorance.
You let your own bias show with that “untrained citizen” bit.
I’d also like to hear what you regard as appropriate training for dealing with this sort of situation.
Any time this sort of thing happens, I /will/ be ill mannered and point out that an armed citizen may well have been in a position to interfere. The reason for my ill manners is 40 years worth of watching what happens when the legacy news media and the politicians are able to get in the first word and set the narrative.
Exactly how many “untrained citizens” do you think there are around you every day? Former and current military, off duty police, prison guards, private security, and the common everyday country boy taught by his father or grandfather.
Personally I am a former military everyday country boy type taught by my grandfather, a WWII combat veteran who taught me more about firearms and marksmanship than some of my military instructors did. I qualified expert in my first combat handgun training course, 42 out of 45 center of mass hits with cover changes and reloads on a timer. Does that count as an “untrained citizen” in your book?
Last I checked firearm ownership in the U.S. was somewhere around 88 per 100 population. Of course that was U.N. numbers and they may have been padding the count a bit for the fear factor to push a treaty, but the point remains there are hundreds of millions of firearms in the hands of both trained and untrained “citizens” and criminals. Which group would you have armed?
My experience as an Instructor:
Just about any “recreational civilian shooter” can, when the course of fire is explained, out-shoot your average cop. Or at lest remain on-par with them in any shooting excercise.
Too many cops “qual” once a year, and grudgingly at that. Their gun is like their flashlight and radio…just another f#cking thing around their waist that makes life uncomfortable.
CCW holders who also “shoot for fun” are perfectly capable of employing a firearm responsibly and effectively.
Put it this way…when was the last time YOU heard of a CCW holder emptying a 15 round magazine, RELOADING AND DOING IT AGAIN, while hitting NOTHING AT ALL.
I can find several Police examples of that, every year. Three of them will often do that together, and ONE of them may strike the target 2 or 3 times. The others hit NOTHING, despite the losing of two full magazines.
Find me just ONE incident like that among civilian self defense shooters.
And since their are actually MORE civilian self defense uses of firearms every year than there are Police shootings, “do the math” on who’s really “untrained and ineffective” when it comes to weaponscraft.
Hint: Its the Union Bums
Yup.. I’ve read FBI statistics that reveal that only twenty percent of all ruonds fired by police in real life gunfights HIT one of their adversaries. That is, HIT. Anywhere. A light scratch on a leg counts as a “hit”, What percentage are telling shots is not recored.. or perhaps not admitted. LEO are notorious for being poor shots. I know of one such who gladly takes the unused ammunition issued to his force-mates who just don’t want to use them on training.. too lazy, I guess. So, he LOVES to shoot, and is happy to have the extras. He knows who NOT to team up with in the field, too.. those who regularly give him their “excess” practice ammo.
Most folks taking the time, trouble, and money, to get and fit out a handgun for everyday carry will spend the additional time in practice to at least become better than the average cop.
Besides, from what I have learned of this perp, I have the strong impression he is enough of a wimp that the first couple of rounds returned his way would have had him leaking yellow liquid down into his groin protection gear, and wilting into a pile of mush onn the floor of the theatre. I got the distinct impression he is, at base, a wimp, hates pain, and would go to any lengths to avoid it. He would have likely so fallen apart hearing the reports of shots fired in his direction he’d have panicked and become so vulnerable as to have been an easy take down by those in the area. There WERE some heroes amongst the fallen… I’ve read that at leasat three MEN used their own bodies to protect those of their loved ones, dieing in the process. If that isn’t hero, what is? Laying down one’s life for a friend…… nothing more noble or brave. Had any of those MEN been armed, b etter yet, had ALL of them been armed, I’ve no doubt things would have turned out differently. My guess is, at least two of them would yet be this side the pale……
Very well put, Andrew. Why does half of what we see and read these days leave us wanting to rant from the rooftops?
Contrast this to the media coverage of 71-year-old Samuel Williams’ prevention of armed robbery, and possible murder, in Florida by pulling and using his legal sidearm.
Now, we all know the media JUST LOVES stories about old people thwarting young punks. Think of all the “old folks with canes beat off assailants” stories you’ve read about or seen on TV news.
Barely a word in the MSM, and then they certainly didn’t make him a hero. More like he was some eccentric. Not someone you’d want over for dinner. No warm chuckles for this story.
The media virtually blacks out armed defense stories because it destroys their gun control narrative. They’re afraid that if it gets explained to them, that urban liberals will figure out the best deterent against an armed assailant is the fear that someone else has a gun and knows how to use it.
What if this “joker” had shot-up an ABC newsroom, or a Cher concert or better yet, a Bill Maher taping? What if? Why doesn’t evil, once in awhile, thin it’s own herd? Why won’t evil spread the horror equally in the name of fairness? Oh, I forgot, evil doesn’t play fair, but it does cry fowl when it becomes the victim, kind of like the Left.
Never happen because all of those venues you listed are protected by armed guards.
The movie theater posted a gun free zone yet did nothing to protect its customers. Doesn’t matter whether any of the patrons was licensed to carry or not, the act of the theater implies a reasonable expectation of protection. Not a fan of lawyers and law suits, but I hope the damage payments break them.
“What these lefties reveal in moments like this — and they reveal it again and again — is that human beings — real live actual human beings with individual lives and desires and dreams and fears — do not mean a thing to them.”
This, in a nutshell, is the clearest illustration of the mindset of the Collectivists that are predominant in the Democrat Party today. There is no empathy for the human soul. My theory is that this type of person has no connection to their own souls and so it is easy to ignore the humanity of others. They operate with only the veneer of empathy and understanding, the deeper layers have long been discarded for expediencies sake and so they are more to be pitied than blamed They truly do not have the capacity to dig deep into their souls and put themselves into an individuals place in any given situation. They are sad creatures indeed.
Can we really expect anything else from people who believe it is perfectly acceptable to kill a baby for the sake of convenience?
I truly believe progressivism is a cult, its believers indoctrinated into believing total crap with complete sincerity. Like cults, progressivism uses constant repetition, no exposure to alternate ideas, ingrained sense of superiority, euphemisms that break down morality, and a framework of supposedly good intentions. If something is pounded into you long enough, you start to believe it body and soul, especially if you refuse/are forbidden to listen to anyone who contradicts that view. This is how murdering babies becomes women’s rights and taking from one group by force to give to another becomes a moral imperative. It’s whacked, but they believe it body and soul. It’s a cult.
Hear, hear! The political idea responsible for more violence in America is called ‘Right to choose’.
Shall we say the Aurora shootings were just really, really, really, really, late term abortions, carried out with a firearm, by someone who wanted to kill innocents without their permission, and for his own convenience? Would the lefties oppose abortion were it done with .22′s? And what’s the gripe about the gun confiscation laws? They worked in this case, didn’t they? After all, some 99% of the people in the theater obeyed the ‘No guns in here mate’. I think more common sense laws about dressing up in Batman movie costumes are needed. And one last thing. What the h*ll was that guy doing in the movies anyway? Didn’t he know that if you want to kill a lot of people, you aren’t supposed to do it in places where firearms are not permitted? Whiskey, tango, foxtrot?
Holmes is/was delusional, that is clear. But, that leads me to believe that he joined with other delusionals in last year’s occupy corruption. There has to a a record of what took place in Aurora with the occupiers. Is Holmes visible? Did he sign petitions, march in parades, threaten normal people?
My thoughts as well.
I suspect OWS types were instrumental in informing his opinions on matters, hence his reference on a profile that his politics were “middle of the road”.
Middle of the road to hell maybe…
And if he WAS delusional, was it due to meds or illegal substance abuse?
If it were meds, and he went off of them – then he is responsible for the original decision to go off of them. If he chose drug abuse, then it was his original decision to engage in drug abuse to begin with.
No matter the underlying cause or whether or not he begins to see cracks of reality in his peripheral vision – he is responsible for where he ended up and should be held accountable.
I agree with this from Mr. Klavan. I find it disgusting when people seek to use a tragedy to advance their own political goals. It’s insensitive and proves that the person is about as morally bankrupt as humanely possible.
I do compliment Christian Bale’s response, though. To-the-point, not being a jerk about it, and showing some true emotion.
AnachyRules, if this “joker” had shot up a Bill Maher taping, he’d be blaming it on the entire right wing for spreading a “culture of hate”.
Well said Mr. Klavan.
Cher’s constant ranting on Twitter is downright comical.
Desperate for some approval/attention, she’s just slinging mud at whatever conservative figure is popular now, hoping to get a guest spot on Bill Maher I guess.
Poor Mitt can’t even offer condolences to the Aurora shooting victims without this has been jumping down his throat.
pro or con, is so closely tied to acts of violence that we ought to resign ourselves to loud outcries in their immediate aftermath as reflexive, inevitable reactions from both sides of the argument (for the record, I’m for concealed carry).
on the other hand, abc’s depraved brian ross and george stephanopoulos blaming violent murders on the tea party, or pointing the finger at Sarah Palin, as was done in the Gaby Gifford shooting last year, are another matter entirely.
These are blood libels, aimed to incite hatred and violence, and come from the vicious, corrupt Barack Obama camp.
Well said, Mr. Klavan. To understand the leftist mind is to be filled with pity and horror. You express what I feel, when I see them dancing in the fresh blood of every victim. These folks are not extremes of the left. They are perfect embodiments of it.
13 killed in a traffic accident in Tx today. 1 person was driving. 10 more were injured. No clue as to the political leanings of the driver.
If you aren’t hearing it on the right, Mr. Klavan it’s because you aren’t listening. Several fundamentalist ministers have spoken up to say the victims are going to hell if they haven’t accepted Christ as their personal saviors. And a Texas Congressman said that it happened because America had lost its Judeo-Christian values.
Now I happen to think it is just as inappropriate to use a tragic occasion to hawk your particular brand of religion as it is to advocate for gun control. So, yes to what you said, but it applies to the right as well as the left.
Oh, puleeze, Glue Huffing Post superuser, a preacher posted something on a Christian website, another said something on a religious radio show, and it’s Christianist Alert! to the frothing moonbats on Glue Huffing Post. Ignore the elephant in the room and scour the interent for any “Christianist” who says something about the removal of religiousity from the so-called “public square” or some other innocuos comments about heaven and start babbling about how the right is trying to exploit this! You’re pathetic. Just go back onto Glue Huffing Post and get back to your usual sky fairies and magic man in the sky blubbering.
ABC has a duty to report facts. Despite the glaring fact that they repeated fail in this duty, to trumpet speculation about the Tea Party on national TV for obvious political motivations is not the same thing as “several fundamentalist ministers”. Were they all named Ross and Stephie?
If you have not heard anyone on the right talking like this, it is because you haven’t been (or won’t) pay attention.
To a political fanatic everything is political, and always a means to an agenda of power. Which to our left means wreckage and harm.
To be fair, at least one Conservative commentator used bogus information to link Holmes to the Democrat party.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/07/20/Exclusive-Dark-Knight-Shooting-Suspect-James-Holmes-Registered-Democrat
It’s ok, that article, while in bad taste, did include a disclaimer…
“Breitbart News has not confirmed that this James Holmes is in fact the suspect, but the details above appear to match closely. There are certainly more facts in our documents than in ABC News’ irresponsible speculations.”
The entire article was, to anyone with a pair of functioning brain cells a direct slap at a certain “news” network that jumped to conclusions only to have to repeatedly backtrack and apologize while correcting the record.
Loved every word you wrote. About time ordinary people told their alleged “rulers” to STFU. In unison. Over and over again.
Quote from this article by Andrew Klavan; “Is it too much to ask of these chattering elites that they refrain from grandstanding on our neighbors’ bodies? Offer your condolences. Express your grief. Then shut your fat flapping faces.”
Well done! You are all doing exactly what this article is complaining about!
Let’s face it, Cher is a washed up “has been”. Once famous, she is getting old and ugly. She is no longer popular, no longer cool, no longer chic, hasn’t had a hit song on the top 100 in years. I liked her when she was married to Sonny, I thought their music was cute.
She’s afraid nobody loves her anymore. She is obviously still seeking another 15 minutes of fame. That she chooses to use this venue as an opportunity for attention just makes me sick to my guts.
Cher, Maher, et.al. dont care about our neighbors or us. It is always about THEM. Cher mocking Romney for the remarks he made after the killing not only shows you who she truly is but is also disgusting at best. Maher never pretended to be a good person and is truly doing an excellent job of being a swarmy, small and insigificant person. In their child minds they believe that they are making edgy, and brilliant statements. How sad they are.
This is the best article I have read on this tragedy.
As for those who want to use this horror to disarm Americans someone should impress upon them that we are the coutry of “Let’s roll!” and do not do well groveling on our knees.
Don’t forget, 25 people were shot (2 killed including a 22 month toddler) in a single incident in a rough Toronto area on July 16th. I believe the shootings weree gang related. What level of “gun control” does Toronto practice?
Quote from this article by Andrew Klavan.
“Is it too much to ask of these chattering elites that they refrain from grandstanding on our neighbors’ bodies? Offer your condolences. Express your grief. Then shut your fat flapping faces.”
Well done, you and the author, are all doing exactly what this article is complaining about!
You don’t see anyone on the “Right” talking like that? Read your own comments!
Leftists: The world’s greatest humanitarians, they just can’t stand people.
There will be another Obama arena Tucson/Columbine Memorial II for the victims, Obama 2012 t-shirts hanging on the back of each chair, awaiting their occupant. Obama will relate, “I just came back from the hospital where I visited with Selma, a critically injured girl in a coma, when suddenly she opened her eyes for the first time. (roaring applause and Obama pausing to prolong the effect) Yes, she opened her eyes for the first time! And then she said, with great effort, ‘Don’t let them sell guns Mr. President.’ Well, I’m here to say to little Selma, SELMA, I WON”T FAIL YOU! SELMA, WE WON’T FAIL YOU! WE WON’T FAIL YOU!”
Crowd chants….”WE WON’T FAIL YOU! WE WON’T FAIL YOU! WE WON’T FAIL YOU! FOUR MORE YEARS! FOUR MORE YEARS! FOUR MORE YEARS! FOUR MORE YEARS!”
Obama lifts chin to the heavens and beams.
Lessons learned from this shooting — quit with the victim disarmament zones already.
Nuff Said!
There are two things that the shooter could have done had someone taken him under fire.
1. Pay no attention and continue shooting. If he pays no attention then the person who shoots at him has a clear shot at someone who doesn’t shoot back.
2. Or, the gunman returns fire. If he is shooting at the person who is shooting at him, he is not shooting at the other patrons who could then make good their escape.
Here is footage from two weeks ago in Florida. Draw your own conclusions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t5f5AwkkiY
not to throw every lefist/liberal idea in the toilet, But I stopped my flaming liberalism when I clearly saw my empathy waning.
Heard you this a.m. on america’s morning news. Good job.
I patronize *NO* establishment that requires that I disarm. Which means also that I’ll make a two day drive and burn vacation time for business where a 5 hour flight would’ve sufficed.
I have 3 grandsons that live in the Aurora area and my wife-unit, being a classical passive-aggressive sort, refused to call. So Friday night after work I called and discovered that everyone of my extended pack was okay. This was a relief as this was just the sort of thing son-in-law would’ve taken grandkids to.
I don’t know perzacktly what I might have done were this to come down in my town. I can only hope that I’d have tried to do *something* given my historical propensity to move towards the guns and absolutely ****over whoever was handy.
If this had been titled ‘Tragedy Strikes — And Politicians Shame Themselves’, you would’ve had a more accurate title, but really far be it from someone here to show things in an impartial way.
Unless you consider Louie Gohmert a liberal in some weird classification of things.
Good one, Phil. My neighbor is a cop and we often shoot together. He’s pretty damn good. But I doubt that there are that many others in the local force who are. And for you Fail, I take your point. The discussion on when and when not to use a firearm in self-defense is something that many of us who have CCW permits spend some time thinking about. And we should. Still, we can’t lose sight of what just happened and how devestating it has been to all who were involved.
Mr. Klavan,
The left did much worse than shame themselves with their biased, lying, misguided pivot from the shock and tragedy of mass murder in Aurora, Colorado to a politically misguided attack on the second amendment along with a pants on fire story that the shooter was a member of the Tea Party.
The left, the anointed one’s socialist thug pals he runs with in Washington, the puke Soroses of the world, the media traitors, hacks and feckless miscreants.
A high definition crystal clear picture of them is finally coming into sharp focus for the American people. One that’s worth a thousand words. Which lays out the darkness of their mission to destroy this nation.
They hate everything the United States stands for that’s good and right and, wholesome and true. They despise the notions of duty, honor and country that hundreds of thousands of brave, courageous Americans have laid down their lives for on the alter of freedom, giving up their tomorrows so we can live out our days in freedom.
My fellow Americans, the picture of the dirt and slime that lies beneath the surface of the left; the evil present every hour of every day in their heart of hearts; it’s all becoming all too apparent.
Obama’s malicious intent to subvert the good of America; the strength of America, the freedom that we stand for; it’s becoming more obvious every day.
This morning the Rasmussen Daily Presidential tracking poll reported that Obama was behind Romney by three percentage points, garnering only 43% of the popular vote with Romney at 46%. It’s an unheard of low water mark for a President just over 115 days to election day.
Folks, Obama’s lied to much, been anti American too often, been disrespectful to the values that built America; that make America the arsenal of Democracy, the torch bearer of freedom all over the world.
The end of the trail for Obama is now inevitable in my view.
President Barack Obama on November 6, 2012 will beg, barrow and steal enough electoral votes to win California, Pennsylvania and New York.
Every other state his anti Americanism; his Marxism; becoming more and more evident to most American voters will result in a landslide Romney victory that will stun the leftist world, and shine the light of hope of liberty more brightly than ever before on more freedom loving people around the world.
From November 6, 2012 forward, John Kennedy’s Jan. 20, 1961 Inaugural words will ring like never before. “Let every nation know whether it wishes us well or ill that we shall bear any burden, pay any price, meat any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to insure the survival and the success of liberty.
President Obama, you’ll soon be relegated to the trash heap of history. A prime example of a little man with little regard for honor and liberty, whose sick desire to rule the world resulted in living out his sorry life in a huge state of humiliation.
Rachel;
You’re a lady to my liking. I just wish there were more of you in the electorate.
I’ve read recently that single women vote overwhelmingly for Dems. What’s the root cause? Indoctrination by the radicals/pinkoes in public schools, the ‘pop-culture’, general ignorance & apathy, instant gratification, the latest fads? How do we reach at least some of them before November?
I am astounded how many people are fooled by the agitprop coming out of the media, Capitol & the WH. The gangsters in the Red Evil Empire didn’t fool me as a preschooler & they tried in the mandatory Kindergarten, although, my mother was a homemaker.
Even though I am a Reagan optimist, I worry about the ~50% who voted for ‘O’ + the voter fraud, the lying media, the union thugs, the Left’s propaganda machine oiled by the Dracula-esque Soros, et al…
I surely hope that your optimism is warranted.
Lastly, from personal experience. Were the likes (they’re the real hoi-polloi) of cher, maher, olbermann, ross, moore, maddow, obamination, reid, etc., ad nauseam, in a totalitarian regime, all of us on the Right’d be in the ditches, jail or on the gallows. Just look at the bloody legacy of Stalin, Mao, Khmer Rouge, the Shining Path…
We all know what the Left’s solution to the problem of needless gun deaths is—now what’s the Right’s—Nothing?
The right’s solution is for the Government to train all the concealed carry permit holders and require them to carry their weapons, concealed into any place the nuts routinely frequent for their acts of acting out: malls, banks, theatres, parks and schools and where the young and innocent frequent. Then the Government announces these law abiding and trained deputies are out there. A few nuts would still show up, but most would not.
That would work better than allowing only the nuts to show up and posting signs that no law abiding citizen defenders can be armed. The West was cleaned up in few generations when everyone was armed. Read your history. The leftists obviously want the innocent to be slaughtered by the unopposed disciples of evil. The Right’s solution works because it is based on human nature, human DNA and mammal DNA (e.g., we are more closely related to tigers, lions on the hunt, killer whales and sharks than vegetarian koala bears). As usual leftist ideas are based on stupidity, impracticality, inattention to how humans actually think and behave, and ignorance of anything important, unless they are really interested in promoting and subsidizing evil, because that is all they do.
Andrew, this will be comment #85, so it will be ignored, probably, but I have to say that many people here in PJM are doing the same thing you score the left for doing — using the corpses of ordinary people for a soapbox. That is, many articles here in PJM are about, e.g., “What this means for the 2nd amendment” and similar.
I am glad we have the 2nd amendment. But all those people killed? Instead of becoming a cause for your heart to break open, they have become an occasion for EEOC: equal editorial opportunity callousness.
There’s a registered sex offender named Brian Ross in the metro-D.C. region. Now, we don’t know if this is the same Brian Ross. But it’s Brian Ross of metropolitan D.C.
“Does the ABC News team think a dead six year old is a prop for their disinformation campaign?”
They tried the exact same thing last January, when they tried to put the blood of everyone who was injured or killed when Gabby Giffords got shot on Sarah Palin’s hands. One of those victims was a 9 year old girl. So, unless the left suddenly grew a conscience, or there’s a pre-existing age limit for that kind of behavior, yes, the left does think exactly that.