I have shared one photo of an ER suite after trying to save one of these mangled children. I was already an anti-gun advocate. Even that was horrific, but seeing the children’s bodies is a step that must be taken. Any normal parent would be devastated. It needs to happen.
"But Americans must understand what’s really going on."
Yes, but you don't have to look further than people voting in trump for a second term to see that most Americans are not critical thinkers. Why does the zeal to exercise the right to own a gun make people stupid. Years ago I was a city council session when this heated debate erupted when a group of gun lovers railed against the rule of being allowed one gun a month. Honestly....
When I attended High School, we took a class in conjunction with drivers education. Parents had to give their permission. It was VERY graphic footage of traffic accidents. I can remember one where the occupant burned.
But, what has stuck with me to this day was tape of a state trooper. Two young adults died in an accident. As he was checking the car front seat area, he found their dead infant. Of course, he held it and cried.
So if they do this, it is imperative that it come with real time footage of the terror, tears, and heartbreak of all involved. In this day and age of cameras everywhere and expert editors, it is doable. It's the shared emotion that will really make it stick.
We have a LONG list to fight for. See you in the streets.
I still have vivid memories of those gory films, even after half a century. I remember asking my parents if I could be excused from seeing them, and they refused. My dad wanted me to know that driving a car wasn't to be taken lightly. I threw up in a wastebasket after seeing one particularly horrific scene, to which my dad replied, "Good. Lesson learned."
Too many people think mass murder is like a video game where casualties are totaled up and we move on to the next thing. Clutching of pearls and wringing of hands isn't going to work any more than "thoughts and prayers." We don't need protection from the reality of this horror. We need a graphic dose of reality if we're ever going to turn the tide on gun violence.
"Too many people think mass murder is like a video game" - THIS! The media, TV/movies, games, etc. have sanitized murder/death into entertainment. We've lost the capacity to understand what real violence is. Yet, we're okay with a president who wants to send troops into cities and masked people to literally kidnap and beat people around us.
That was a wise father who knew that you being sick to your stomach was nothing compared to what could happen in a car accident. It may have seemed extreme for him to insist, but it sounds like you internalized the experience.
It did seem extreme when I was 16, but it didn't take long to figure out the message. A girl I went to school with was killed in a car wreck not long after graduation.
Yes I understand. When I was 18 some high schoolers were drinking and driving and played chicken at night with my 15 year old brother walking along a road pushing his motorcycle and killed him on impact with their vehicle. That act reformed the driver.
My mother refused to press charges so they got 11 months in jail - she said that biblically it was not for her to punish them.
I have never had a DUI or driven while intoxicated, but I learned last year that two drinks before you drive is considered illegal. I stopped having two drinks with dinner in a restaurant.
In part why they don't show pictures of kids or grown up's killed by the AR 15 is because they are horrible and traumatize the parents and the family., what needs to be done is get the permission of the parents and family to publish the photo's, but the effort isn't made, because the corporate media is cowardly, and afraid of the NRA and politicians, who are bought and paid for by the NRA.
I long ago came to an opinion, after the Columbine shooting, that the shooter was a victim of bullying and just couldn't take it anymore. I still hold that opinion about school shooting.
The corporate media, nor society is willing or able to address bullying, simply because we are a bully nation. We bully native Americans, we bully blacks, we bully gays and trans, we bully Asians, and then we bully nations. Now we are ruled over by a professional bully..
And that takes me to Robin Westman. I was perplexed, still am, how a transgendered person, would have anti semitic and racist scribblings on her magazine and equipment
Several of the weapons and magazines were defaced with phrases such as "for the children," "kill Donald Trump," and "Where is your God?". The phrase "Israel must fall" was also written on one of the guns.
Then I found that Robin's mother worked at the school, and Robin had attended the school.
The Catholic church has been notoriously anti gay, and anti trans. Pope Francis eased up a little, but the American Bishops have not, they are still virulently anti gay and trans.
It is possible that Robin was acting out against the source of her pain, but why children, and why the conflicting messages, anti semitic and racist slurs, along with Kill Trump
She also said "I know that I am not a woman, but I don't feel like a man"
She didn't fit, no place for her, and those like her in a binary world, especially a bullying culture, I'm surprised that there aren't more, and am afraid of copy cats to come.
The easy access to weapons is responsible for mass shootings, but the uncaring, bullying nature of our society, especially now with MAGA in power, is to blame.
And we are a violent society, just look at our blockbuster movies, look at the video games our kids are addicted to.
Maybe if she was not shunned, tortured and bullied, by such a harsh, demanding and uncaring religion and culture, none of this would have happened.
Perhaps if bullies ere punished and not the victims who strike back, then there wouldn't be school shootings.
How many employees that walk into the offices of their former employers, shooting, are the victims of bullying.
The motivation of the shooter is never questioned or addressed, just their race, gender or ideology.
What is the motive behind a MAGAt? Why are they racists, misogynists? The question never asked is WHY?
William, once again you nailed it. As a teacher for over 35 years, I can confirm that bullying is more often than not the root cause of mass shootings. These people usually come from dysfunctional families as well.During my teaching career, I addressed the issue with the teachers I taught with. Much of the time they were silent. However, I made it a point to go into classrooms and point out the damage bullies cause. I also made sure to get some redress of grievances from the bully. My point is when you see it, always support the child that is being bullied and protect them. This is an educational issue that educational leaders have failed to address, and we have been seeing the consequences of their lack of action.
And I assume that you also used your knowledge to speak with principals, teachers, and the district about how to not only identify the bully but also get them help. Investigating these individuals’ families and the cause for their behavior may stop these young teenagers from being the next school shooters.
Help for him comes a bit too late. I am sure William you know his background. He was bullied by his father Fred and his mother had no say in raising the children.
That’s a good question, but it’s totally out of the scope of our discussion. I think the debate in this thread is about young boys and girls identified as bullies who need help so they don’t grow up to be Trumps. Unless Trump has an epiphany that he is a bully and it is a problem, in turn, our problem, he will never change. He should be removed from office.
My sympathy goes out to elementary school, middle school, and high school teachers and administrations who try to help kids from dysfunctional families. It takes nerves of steel to cope.
I'm listening to Stephanie Miller (an entertaining liberal airhead). She is on her usual rant, it is all about guns. While it is true if it wasn't so easy buy guns, She, other commentators, TV hosts nevr address the real cause, which is bullying.
Perhaps because we are a bully culture. Political correctness and cancelling is bullying as well.
When we all are guilty, no one is willing to naval gaze, to look into the mirror, pull the wool out of their bellybutton.
As a female introvert, I’ve been a target of bullying and the lesser “bossiness” entire life across all environments: school, social, sports, employment, volunteer work, church, dating, in-laws.
There is something very very wrong with U.S. culture, it is a very barbaric and aggressive one. Maybe all the European losers were kicked out and they crossed the Atlantic because they were homeless.
Canada is flawed but so much classier, must be a different white gene pool that landed there.
From what I understand female bullying, bullying of other females, is worse than male bullying in middle and high school.
My wife is a retired building inspector, a traditional male job, and can speak to bullying by bosses and even subordinates, subordinates to it differently, subordinates are, again,mostly male, and what they did is torpedo her, going over her head, misrepresenting things to male bosses, who would take the word as fact.
But that seems to be human nature, tell a lie about another person and it is believed, without fact checking.
Her mental health started to improve once she retired.
Point made about losers migrating. Those that have found success in life, stay put.
Internal migration in the U.S. occurred primarily, because we breed, and it takes at least 200 acres of good arable land for a plantation to be able to support a family.
And the early Americans had an image of themselves as planters, not farmers, they settle for farming, when they couldn't homestead enough land.
Inheritance laws, until 1789, were primogeniture, that is if the father died intestate, and most did, the eldest son inherited the land, Even if the father split his plantation among his sons, if the soil wasn't arable any longer and his holding wasn't large enough his younger sons had to move on.
Also they planted tobacco and cotton, and both crops deplete the soil of nutrients within a generation, and since they perceived themselves as planters and did no crop rotation,nor could afford the price of fertilizer, guano and manure) They had to migrate.
Women were not deemed necessary to tutor. The father was responsible for tutoring his sons, either personally or hiring a tutor, Girls were expected to get married, and so the mother taught them cooking and housekeeping, chopping wood and slopping hogs. Unless, her father was of the upper class (politician, planter, lawyer, doctor), then she was taught fine arts, emphasizing playing the harpsichord, singing, poetry,, the things that would make her a gracious hostess and enhance her husbands career.
Why don’t more school/teachers do the hard work of putting themselves out there to address the dynamics of bullying? I think you are commendable for your time spent addressing the issue. I realize that there is a lot on the plate of a teacher, but it should be one of the most essential things that districts can help implement. BRAVO.
What do you mean by my contribution? To what? Suppose you are referring to what can be done in schools to educate about the effects of bullying in the school community. In that case, the District in San Diego is well aware of the desire expressed by individuals for these programs in schools. Still, the District doesn’t allow anyone to take the lead without their leadership—and that, unfortunately, is lacking in public schools.
I have been an outspoken advocate of gun control and voted for it to go to Congress and pass laws; I also contributed to the Sandy Hook cause.
According to the San Diego School District’s Mission Statement, fundamental principles codify the District’s core beliefs and values, empowering employees to act with disciplined initiatives. They do not uphold their statement.
For example, the public schools do not abide by their own Mission statement. I wrote to the District about the organized group of teachers led by Kirsten Brown, a 6th-grade teacher, and Marie Vidal-Fowler, the principal at Silvergate Elementary, located around the corner from me, who are employing parents and students in an aggressive campaign against me. Parents in droves surround my house in a passive-aggressive manner daily with unspoken tactics. I don’t know what these people are doing in their homes, or when they will leave their homes, and I don’t care.
The school uses the slander of the day to defame me in unspeakable ways. Children walking by my house call me names. The thrust of this use of public schools clearly prohibits the use of public schools to organize a vendetta against a citizen. I have kindly addressed this issue in person with the leaders at Silvergate, but I have received no reply. In fact, they use psy ops to cover their ass.
Ms. Heasley. What you experienced at the hands of members of your community is unforgivable. It seems to me you are on the correct side of this moral issue. I purposely sent my son to a Catholic grade school even tho I am not a believer; because the nun who ran the school instituted a strict policy of NO BULLYING of any kind. After my son graduated from that Catholic grade school and was required to attend the local public high school; he was flabbergasted at the misbehavior and cruel acts committed there.
Furthermore, my daughter who attended that high school before my son had a bad experience with bullying while there. The school authorities were not sympathetic and told me my daughter brought it on herself. She was to blame for her experience of being the victim of bullying. I threatened the principal with a lawsuit if he did not do something to protect my daughter and other kids. He took me seriously because it was a small university town and he knew I was a personal friend of the prosecutor, attorneys and judges in the town.
Incidentally, my daughter promptly left that local public high school and applied for a scholarship to the national music school; The Interlochen Academy of Arts, from which she graduated and subsequently went to Columbia on scholarship and graduated with honors. Bullying can discourage, harm and eliminate some of the best students.
You are absolutely correct, Gerald; the bullies have discouraged me, and I am an adult. Twenty years ago, the surveillance was so bad that I gave up on being productive. And my issues with caring for my schizophrenic son took precedent.
However, writing poetry is my passion, and after studying for ten years as an older adult student and receiving stellar comments and grades on my performance, I could not write by hand or on the computer; such is the sophisticated degree of surveillance, and that type of scrutiny is a creative killer for me, besides being frightened when out at cost Co a person would come up and quote what I had written on my Word document that morning but shared with no one. I broke out in an autoimmune disease with large, watery, burning, itchy blisters all over my body that finally, after six years, went into remission.
People invest in this endeavor to break the naysayers who denied honoring my husband and running around the world, raising money for a foundation.. Consequently, they denied my truth. What are you talking about? Maybe you should get counseling. Or tell my husband, it isn’t happening; perhaps she is paranoid.
I appreciate your story, Gerald, because it takes a vigilant parent to take such measures to make their children safe when the teachers and administration should be doing their job. It’s a blessing to you that your children are so successful, and a testament to your guidance and support. Interlochen is a unique environment for music students.
Unfortunately, in my community or wherever I go, the police, City Council, Sacramento, and the White House will take no action to stop what is happening to me. Twenty years ago, if I needed a lawyer, I would call the one most suited to the issue at hand, and I had no problem with being rejected.
When this project to honor my husband gained traction, its magnitude seeped into every institution, garnering public and private support. Now, suppose I call a lawyer, and I know prosecutors, attorneys, judges, or the police. In that case, they all have been intimidated by surveillance and will not even grant me a consultation - they don’t want the ‘lights on their business’. It has been more than two decades of 24/7 surveillance and voyeurism.
People follow me everywhere by the hundreds and know my intimate business from the 24/7 surveillance. (I know this information repeats in my comments as it is happening in real time. Everyone on earth has been able to take a whack at me and influence the process that I didn’t sign up for, nor could I stop. People I don’t know, random people, for example, they say, ‘Well, my wife left me, so I can make your life miserable.’ Excuse me? Every breakup does match a template.
It has been an absolute nightmare caring for my schizophrenic son for 35 years, and every system needed, whether it be prisons, the courts, or the clinicians, lawyers, or police, is compromised because someone will call these entities and create problems. In addition, because many people have access to my private world, when my son is out in public, connections are made, and he comes home to create havoc. It is nearly impossible to care for a person with schizophrenia without the added interference.
This interference with my son began 20 years ago. He is not mentally well and thinks like a fourteen-year-old. Recently he moved (he is 52 years old and I can’t prevent him moving)and didn’t set up an adequate transition to a new clinic for his medication and a new therapist; in sorting it out in his new location they are using him to do what they want against me, then they will make it possible so he can get back on track with the expensive monthly injection.
“They’re arming him with surveillance information in his new location about what I am doing in my house 24/7. I think what they are doing is criminal. I do not believe he is a criminal, but they created an issue by implying that I think he is one. I have committed no crime and have not even been sued.
Ms. Sharron. I believe you are correct about bullying and "dysfunctional families" playing a role in this topic of the phenomenon of multiple murderers of strangers in society. But there is much more to the topic than that, including historical elements. I too taught for 36 years and studied criminology doing research for 40 years. Crim. was one of my courses. I ask you to please read my reply to Mr. Farrar on this.
I have asked myself this question. Because they believe in a Neanderthal view of humankind and society that aligns with their perspective, read the 2025 doctrine and Ayn Rand, which excludes those who will impede their view. If one is as selfish and arrogant about their role in the human race, they will be racists and misogynists.
Mr. Farrar. You would find HUNTING HUMANS as fascinating as I did, I am sure. It was written by Elliott Leyton and is the best analysis of this odd and horrifying phenomenon: the individual who murders multiple victims. They are of two types.
1) serial killer
2) Mass killer
The types are not identical. But do share some characteristics.
I know you are a lover of history so you will no doubt be interested to know that these people are not a recent phenomenon. There are credible accounts, with ample evidence, of them appearing as far as 600+ years in our past. For instance, Bram Stoker was inspired to write the novel DRACULA after he learned about Vlad Tepes who was far more frightening than Stoker's imaginary character. The father of Vlad Tepes had a nick name which was the Dragon. In 1400s Wallachia dragon was pronounced Dracul. His son Vlad, was therefore Dracula, or "son of Dracul." Dracula had his own nickname, it was Vlad The Impaler. What this monster did is almost unbelievable. But the historical evidence is there, and it is spectacular. There are two or three towns named after him. He is now considered to be a national hero in Europe.
Another historical example is Gilles de Rais, a 15th century French Marshall of France. De Rais was the military genius behind the seemingly magical girl from Lorraine: Joan of Arc.
Many are impressed by Joan's apparent ability to inspire soldiers to do a first rate job of fighting. And this is their inadequate explanation of the startling victories by French soldiers associated with her. However, it was the genius of Gilles de Rais which was actually responsible for the fighting success of those Frenchmen. Gille de Rais was also a serial killer of literally thousands of children. Probably the most prolific serial killer in history. He was the wealthiest man in France at the time.
There are more examples of multiple murderers going all the way back to ancient Roman times.
No doubt, "bullying" is a component in the understanding of the behavior of this multiple murderer today. But it is not the whole story. It is more involved than that. For instance; I am willing to bet that this killer left behind a manifesto of some kind, which he intended as both an explanation and a warning, or lesson to the rest of us. Just the same as the "Unibomber," Ted Kazinski did. Just as Dracula did. I also bet that he is not certain about the identity of his consanguine father, same as Ted Bundy was not certain. The overwhelming majority of all multiple murderers are White males. It is so rare they are Black or female that Hollywood has perversely and misleadingly portrayed those exceptions to the uninformed public in spectacular films. Shakespeare's smashingly successful play OTHELLO the Moor of Venice has, like Hollywood, also mislead the public for five centuries on this issue.
Please pardon me for dragging the unique English bard into this theme. But he has been a hobby of mine since my 11th grade English Lit. class. Perhaps you too are familiar with The Seventeenth Earl of Oxford: Edward de Vere?
One other thing, in case the reader come to the conclusion that I made a linkage between serial killers and bullying. I did not, twas Gerald that introduced that linkage.
As regards serial killers, besides being psychopaths. I am of the opinion that it is genetic. Going back to Ted Bundy, the offspring of a rapist and a waitress, he was raised in Tacoma, near the University of Puget Sound, by a Christian couple who adopted him showered him with love and care
I know of a bad seed, also the spawn of a rapist and a waitress. My team mate, and team leader, and his wife adopted the kid, and as he got older his psychopathy began to show.
Interesting indeed. I've read up on Vlad the Impaler, I don't quite believe the telling that he impaled his people, if he did he wouldn't be a national hero.
I do believe that he defeated and captured a Turkish officer and when the main force came though the troops were terrified, an excellent use of psychological warfare.
Othello was a Moor nota subsarah black.
It seems to be a common misconception that if anyone comes from Africa they are black.
Especially true with Cleopatra. She was Macedonian and Egyptian.
Moors arrived in England with Wiliams Mercenary Ar,m, the right flank was Bretons, which were descendants of the Brythonic peoples that fled the Saxons and the Sarmatians whom thegovernor Flavius Aetius gave permission to settle, before the stp[[ed Attila at the battle of the Catalaunian fields.
The left flank were mercenaries, Franks, Poles and Moors. More than likely Thomas Jeffersons ancestor was one of those Moors.
Thomas Jefferson's Y-DNA belongs to the rare haplogroup K2, a lineage that is uncommon in Europe but more prevalent in East Africa and the Middle East. Analysis of the Y-STR haplotype shows his Y-DNA is most closely related to an Egyptian K2 haplotype,
Mr. Farrar. Vlad Tepes is a national hero because he was the military leader who repeatedly turned back the Ottoman Turks in their attempts to invade Western Europe via the valley which Vienna lies in. The fact that he impaled thousands of human beings is simply ignored, not talked about. This is not difficult to believe as there are generals in the pentagon who have created the weapons systems to wipe out all living creatures larger than a cockroach. Yet, nobody calls them "mentally ill" or genetically predisposed to murder. They are highly paid civil servants. And highly respected. The claim that somebody does what they do [something horrible] because they have gene to do so; is simply a way to ignore a difficult and serious problem.
Yes I know all about Vlad, and I know why he was a national hero.
The generals in the Pentagon don't invent weapons
As regards men and weapons. Life has always been an arms race.
The first man that beat the shit out of another man, left the loser looking for something harder and bigger than a fist, so he found a rock, and it escalated from there.
Am I saying that generals and soldiers have a gene to do it? Hell no.
All I said was that serial killers might have a gene, but that is distinct from bullying.
Your head goes in some strange places, connecting disconnected things.
What has serial killers got to do with war, conflict and the arms race, unless we are all, at root, serial killers.? Now that is a thought
Really Gerarld. I start off by talking about bullying possibly being behind mass shootings. Somewhere along the line I dropped something about serial killers possibly being genetic. But I don't link serial killers to bullying, my bad for introducing another subject, then you come along and link serial killers to generals.
gerald, you like William are way above my pay grade. I don't have the historical knowledge either of you have. Like most people, I can only deal with the on the job experience I've had. I believe Robin did leave behind a sort of manifesto. He was a troubled child experiencing suffering and pain. He attended a Catholic school his mother taught at. I am almost certain his relationship with his mother was dysfunctional. I would't be surprised if he was bullied and yes he amassed weapons of all descriptions. He left political messages naming Jews he despised. What else is new? https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/crime/2025/08/27/shooter-suspect-minneapolis-mass-shooting/85849795007/
As a former soldier, I have seen these things in other countries. Not so much children but bodies nonetheless. Most people really have no idea just what kind of damage large caliber bullets can do to a body, human or other wise.
I seriously doubt any victims parents in any red state will allow any Mamie Till moment, but a blue state someday? Maybe, now that this sort of request is out in the public discourse. This idea will circulate since Thom Hartmann has such a large audience.
The pictures taken by journalists, and the news videos, showing the world the dead bodies of soldiers from both sides during WWII, Korea and Vietnam ushered in a new way of highlighting the horrors of wars.
Make no mistake, this is a war on the people of the United States. They just haven't realized it yet. Maybe some intrepid photo journalists should start writing the stories of these tragedies as if they're war stories, with gruesome pictures of the war dead, to wake people up.
I made the same comment on another site. The pictures of the Sandy Hook victims, babies, too young, smiling, nearly made me cry. The pictures of their torn apart bodies would invoke another reaction, one of hatred and anger. SHOW THE BODIES OF THOSE BABIES. We've seen the pictures of the Holocaust victims, the victims of wars in Gaza, the Boston bombing, etc. Many of those shots are readily available on Google. Those pictures got people angry, motivated to do something. Until parents show the same courage as Emmet Till's mother, and allow the rest of us to see the horror they have to live with, I don't think anything will change. First start, shower the lawn of the White House and the chambers of Congress and the mailboxes of the most avid 2nd Amendment advocates with those pictures.
Typically, we don't show human gore on television, we blur it out, so as not to sicken or frighten viewers. We don't blur out movie depictions of violence, though. Maybe we need a movie version of Sandy Hook to show in theaters.
The MSM daily news never shows blood and guts among bodies torn apart by military weapons. Thom might be right, that rubbing people's noses in horror of gun deaths might woke up people enough to change the laws. Americans have been groomed since childhood to love guns, and boast that gun ownership is key to democracy.
As kids in the 50s, we were groomed every Saturday via TV as we watched Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy, Matt Dillon, etc. kill badguys. We played "Bang-Bang, you're dead," just like John Wayne or The Lone Ranger. How about later, Adam-12 or 77 Sunset Strip? It was a fun fantasy that the NRA paid a lot to encourage. The American Rifleman never showed gore, just a dead deer in an open field.
Today, the MSM on TV, like PBS, warn viewers that this next scene might be disturbing for some viewers, then they just show crying parents kneeling over body bags. Gaza news only shows piles of body bags, and pics of limbless little kids recovering in hospitals, not the aftermath of an IDF ambush.
TV news, or even Hollywood, never shows mangled bodies torn apart by bombs and machine guns with heads missing faces, bodies missing heads, and limbs strewn about the scene. It will freak out their audiences.
It is not ironic that guns are strictly controlled in Europe. Maybe that is due to voters having lived through two world wars in their own front yards? One thing is certain, gun murders in the EU are way,way,way fewer than - well, pick any US state - how about Texas or Florida?
I'm with you,Thom, I remember seeing pictures of dead Vietnamese people and dying children on the TV and in magazines. That was shocking, back then. The Republicans in Congress will be forced to act, and Vote for strict gun laws NOW. Thanks,Thom, great article this morning ☕ TGIF to you and your readers, and will reStack ASAP 🙏
US government policy and public opinion did not turn on Somoza in Nicaragua until the video of one of his national guardsmen shooting a US reporter at point blank range went public. Once that happened Somoza was out of there within days.
It is unfortunate that the news can’t share the detailed results of the war, especially with reporters filming in combat zones, because, as you experienced as a teenager,Eva, there is an impact seeing the raw damages of war and ultra assault weapons here. Something about human rights and permission needed to show the bodies.
Thank you D. Solomon for setting the record straight on Obama's efforts to reduce gun violence, and thank you T. Hartmann for this column. I wish there would never be another murdered child, and no parent would ever have to consider allowing a photograph to be shared.... But since it continues to happen, maybe that would be a way to stem the violence, since nothing else seems to work.
As horrifying as it would be, I agree that showing the carnage for mass murders, especially at schools, would go a long way in countering the NRA's stance that there must be no restrictions on 2nd Amendment rights.
"And yet, pictures convey reality in a way that words cannot. One of these days, the parents of children murdered in a school shooting may make the same decision Mamie Till did in 1955."
This is accurate and I agree that visual images will be needed to make what is a reality real to many Americans. I think it might be accomplished with drawings or pictures taken from war scenes which illustrate what weapons of war do without having the victims identified. However, this is only necessary because Americans live in a "Leave it to Beaver" and insular unreality in which we are never exposed to the things which a very few people in certain jobs or certain environments experience firsthand. We do not ever read or hear the words describing these horrors and the gut-wrenching sensations and feelings with which they are associated, and we do not allow ourselves or our children to think about the violence, injury, death, and disregard for life that is outside our comfort zones. Once again, we spend our entire youth in a cocoon and immersed in descriptions and depictions which are manufactured to keep us sedated, calm, and unaware of anything except a lovely, quiet life on main street or in a controlled and well-policed environment. We are kept totally preoccupied with mundane and inane subject matter and when there is a death or a disaster, we are encouraged to forget it as quickly as possible and to pretend it didn't happen. From the beginning, creating an image of life in America has been the job of people who deny reality and strive to keep us, and especially children, focused on some idyllic picture that is imagined as the coming perfected future for all via social engineering and schooling. When reality does get too close, the answer is to use substances and distractions to dull the pain, many prescribed by doctors and sold as casual or socially enhancing harmless remedies. We have allowed people who live in their own protected and privileged spaces to decide what will be in the school curriculum and to sanitize history and the biological truths which are part of human nature. And to prevent change, we have passed laws that give power and influence to people who are preoccupied with controlling what is seen and experienced.
Robert, remember what George Bush Jr. said after 911? I do and perhaps you do too. He said "go shopping at your local mall" or some such pro-consumerist advice. In other words "don't look too closely at what just happened. It might wake you up. Keep spending money and help corporate America rake in its profits." Have you seen the sarcastic movie THEY LIVE? Our leaders assuredly do not want us to look too closely at our social problems. "Just turn on the T.V., sit back and crack open a beer. The authorities will take care of everything. Keep your nose out of it."
Well spoken, as always. I think that distractibility is a common feature in all societies and is related to the capacity our brains have for dealing with problems and discontinuities. Finding answers and solutions is difficult, and threats and conflicts are always scary. These are reasons why it is so tempting to rely on authorities and on magic or superstitious ideas and why having democratic institutions and education for democracy and for building trust in people and confidence in oneself are so crucial, I believe. I don't have Netflix or any of those services but am making a note about looking for "They Live". This is all sort of a piece. It isn't that leaders or the uber-wealthy consciously distract us or try to get us to focus on entertainment and consumerism. It is just that systems develop and evolve with rewards and punishments and incentives for staying on a particular course. Sports are great in many respects and life would be less interesting and exciting without them. But the culture has not been able to keep them in perspective, and they do prevent many people from getting depressed or demoralized about the state of humanity. You are probably familiar with the book, "Amusing Ourselves to Death", by Postman. He was an educator also, and obviously all this reflects on how schools misdirect attention and train students to think happy thoughts and avoid any dissent or disagreement, not to mention for the one-millionth time, they inculcate a powerful dependence on authority. How much pain will be necessary to shake people out of their somnambulance?
Robert Yes I read that book by Postman many years ago. He hit the nail on the head. I was happy to see you use the phrase: "It is just that systems develop and evolve...." we are both thinking in the same playground. Good response, as usual.
Do you remember Thom after the Newtown massacre in which 20 children were killed Obama shed a crocodile tear and said "something had to be done," then when asked by a reporter what he was going to do he said "now is not the time" to talk about politics? I remember as well. And so it goes.
Google: As President, Barack Obama pursued tighter gun restrictions through both legislative proposals and executive actions, most notably following the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Due to congressional opposition, his most ambitious legislative efforts failed, leaving a legacy of frustration over stalled federal progress.
Major legislative proposals
In the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre, President Obama made a major push for "common-sense" gun laws with the following proposals:
Universal background checks: A proposal to close loopholes and require background checks for all gun sales, including those conducted privately at gun shows and online. This effort failed to pass the Senate in 2013.
Assault weapons ban: A measure to reinstate and strengthen the 1994 ban on military-style assault weapons. This also failed in the Senate in 2013.
High-capacity magazine limits: A push to limit ammunition magazines to 10 rounds.
Significant executive actions
Frustrated by the congressional gridlock, Obama relied on executive actions to advance his gun safety agenda, particularly in 2013 and 2016.
Expanded background checks:
Trusts and corporations: An executive action to close a loophole that allowed individuals to purchase dangerous firearms through trusts or shell corporations without a background check.
Clarified dealer licensing: The ATF clarified that anyone "engaged in the business" of selling firearms must obtain a license and conduct background checks, regardless of whether sales occur at a brick-and-mortar store or online.
Better enforcement:
Improved records: Measures were taken to encourage states to submit more comprehensive records on domestic violence convictions and mental health issues to the national background check system.
ATF resources: The administration sought to hire more ATF agents to help enforce gun laws and to crack down on illegal gun trafficking.
Gun safety technology: The Departments of Defense, Justice, and Homeland Security were directed to sponsor and conduct research into "smart gun" technology that could prevent unauthorized use.
Mental health: A $500 million investment was proposed to increase access to mental health care, alongside efforts to improve mental health reporting to the background check system.
Overall legacy
Obama has publicly stated that the failure to pass significant gun legislation was one of his biggest frustrations as president. The inability to pass federal laws meant that real change largely relied on action at the state level. Despite his efforts, gun sales reached record highs during his presidency, driven in part by fears among Second Amendment supporters that the administration was trying to restrict gun access. Some of his executive actions were later reversed or challenged by subsequent administrations or in court.
Mr. Solomon. Obama can be blamed for some inaction. But most certainly, not this firearm topic. Congress has been the greatest impediment to sane gun laws in this country. Too many legislators take money from the NRA.
“But we need to go the next step and show the actual pictures for this truth about the horror of gun violence to become widely known. Doing this will take leadership.”
Indeed! But where is that leadership? Will you find those pictures and start the process? Has to start someplace.
While we’re at it, where’s the leadership to stop the destruction of our Constitutional Republic by one malignant narcissistic psychopathic criminal and his acquired grifter sycophants?! He got there by voter lack of knowledge
Do we see it from our politicians whose job it is? Are we suppose to get it by the many excellent writers out there, like yourself, explaining what’s real and needed? But few can read and understand when its behind a paywall! Disinformation and lies are free to read!
I’ve followed you since Air America. The country needs help, don't stay behind a paywall like so many leaders are doing now. Where are you on MSNBC and other sources?
I have shared one photo of an ER suite after trying to save one of these mangled children. I was already an anti-gun advocate. Even that was horrific, but seeing the children’s bodies is a step that must be taken. Any normal parent would be devastated. It needs to happen.
I'm grateful to Thom for spotlighting this.
"But Americans must understand what’s really going on."
Yes, but you don't have to look further than people voting in trump for a second term to see that most Americans are not critical thinkers. Why does the zeal to exercise the right to own a gun make people stupid. Years ago I was a city council session when this heated debate erupted when a group of gun lovers railed against the rule of being allowed one gun a month. Honestly....
This is doable
When I attended High School, we took a class in conjunction with drivers education. Parents had to give their permission. It was VERY graphic footage of traffic accidents. I can remember one where the occupant burned.
But, what has stuck with me to this day was tape of a state trooper. Two young adults died in an accident. As he was checking the car front seat area, he found their dead infant. Of course, he held it and cried.
So if they do this, it is imperative that it come with real time footage of the terror, tears, and heartbreak of all involved. In this day and age of cameras everywhere and expert editors, it is doable. It's the shared emotion that will really make it stick.
We have a LONG list to fight for. See you in the streets.
I still have vivid memories of those gory films, even after half a century. I remember asking my parents if I could be excused from seeing them, and they refused. My dad wanted me to know that driving a car wasn't to be taken lightly. I threw up in a wastebasket after seeing one particularly horrific scene, to which my dad replied, "Good. Lesson learned."
Too many people think mass murder is like a video game where casualties are totaled up and we move on to the next thing. Clutching of pearls and wringing of hands isn't going to work any more than "thoughts and prayers." We don't need protection from the reality of this horror. We need a graphic dose of reality if we're ever going to turn the tide on gun violence.
"Too many people think mass murder is like a video game" - THIS! The media, TV/movies, games, etc. have sanitized murder/death into entertainment. We've lost the capacity to understand what real violence is. Yet, we're okay with a president who wants to send troops into cities and masked people to literally kidnap and beat people around us.
That was a wise father who knew that you being sick to your stomach was nothing compared to what could happen in a car accident. It may have seemed extreme for him to insist, but it sounds like you internalized the experience.
It did seem extreme when I was 16, but it didn't take long to figure out the message. A girl I went to school with was killed in a car wreck not long after graduation.
Ditto, only our class lost a student the night of Baccalaureate. They left an empty seat at graduation for him, Somber day,
Yes I understand. When I was 18 some high schoolers were drinking and driving and played chicken at night with my 15 year old brother walking along a road pushing his motorcycle and killed him on impact with their vehicle. That act reformed the driver.
My mother refused to press charges so they got 11 months in jail - she said that biblically it was not for her to punish them.
I have never had a DUI or driven while intoxicated, but I learned last year that two drinks before you drive is considered illegal. I stopped having two drinks with dinner in a restaurant.
In part why they don't show pictures of kids or grown up's killed by the AR 15 is because they are horrible and traumatize the parents and the family., what needs to be done is get the permission of the parents and family to publish the photo's, but the effort isn't made, because the corporate media is cowardly, and afraid of the NRA and politicians, who are bought and paid for by the NRA.
I long ago came to an opinion, after the Columbine shooting, that the shooter was a victim of bullying and just couldn't take it anymore. I still hold that opinion about school shooting.
The corporate media, nor society is willing or able to address bullying, simply because we are a bully nation. We bully native Americans, we bully blacks, we bully gays and trans, we bully Asians, and then we bully nations. Now we are ruled over by a professional bully..
And that takes me to Robin Westman. I was perplexed, still am, how a transgendered person, would have anti semitic and racist scribblings on her magazine and equipment
Several of the weapons and magazines were defaced with phrases such as "for the children," "kill Donald Trump," and "Where is your God?". The phrase "Israel must fall" was also written on one of the guns.
Then I found that Robin's mother worked at the school, and Robin had attended the school.
The Catholic church has been notoriously anti gay, and anti trans. Pope Francis eased up a little, but the American Bishops have not, they are still virulently anti gay and trans.
It is possible that Robin was acting out against the source of her pain, but why children, and why the conflicting messages, anti semitic and racist slurs, along with Kill Trump
She also said "I know that I am not a woman, but I don't feel like a man"
She didn't fit, no place for her, and those like her in a binary world, especially a bullying culture, I'm surprised that there aren't more, and am afraid of copy cats to come.
The easy access to weapons is responsible for mass shootings, but the uncaring, bullying nature of our society, especially now with MAGA in power, is to blame.
And we are a violent society, just look at our blockbuster movies, look at the video games our kids are addicted to.
Maybe if she was not shunned, tortured and bullied, by such a harsh, demanding and uncaring religion and culture, none of this would have happened.
Perhaps if bullies ere punished and not the victims who strike back, then there wouldn't be school shootings.
How many employees that walk into the offices of their former employers, shooting, are the victims of bullying.
The motivation of the shooter is never questioned or addressed, just their race, gender or ideology.
What is the motive behind a MAGAt? Why are they racists, misogynists? The question never asked is WHY?
William, once again you nailed it. As a teacher for over 35 years, I can confirm that bullying is more often than not the root cause of mass shootings. These people usually come from dysfunctional families as well.During my teaching career, I addressed the issue with the teachers I taught with. Much of the time they were silent. However, I made it a point to go into classrooms and point out the damage bullies cause. I also made sure to get some redress of grievances from the bully. My point is when you see it, always support the child that is being bullied and protect them. This is an educational issue that educational leaders have failed to address, and we have been seeing the consequences of their lack of action.
And I assume that you also used your knowledge to speak with principals, teachers, and the district about how to not only identify the bully but also get them help. Investigating these individuals’ families and the cause for their behavior may stop these young teenagers from being the next school shooters.
Carol, I did not speak with the district. I was too isolated.
I understand. What do you think about my comment regarding not only calling out the bully but getting help for them?
Trump is a bully, what do you suggest that will help him?
Help for him comes a bit too late. I am sure William you know his background. He was bullied by his father Fred and his mother had no say in raising the children.
That’s a good question, but it’s totally out of the scope of our discussion. I think the debate in this thread is about young boys and girls identified as bullies who need help so they don’t grow up to be Trumps. Unless Trump has an epiphany that he is a bully and it is a problem, in turn, our problem, he will never change. He should be removed from office.
Carol, agree completely. Usually, they come from dysfunctional families that are also hard to deal with, but yes it's an excellent idea.
My sympathy goes out to elementary school, middle school, and high school teachers and administrations who try to help kids from dysfunctional families. It takes nerves of steel to cope.
Thanks Eadie.
I'm listening to Stephanie Miller (an entertaining liberal airhead). She is on her usual rant, it is all about guns. While it is true if it wasn't so easy buy guns, She, other commentators, TV hosts nevr address the real cause, which is bullying.
Perhaps because we are a bully culture. Political correctness and cancelling is bullying as well.
When we all are guilty, no one is willing to naval gaze, to look into the mirror, pull the wool out of their bellybutton.
As a female introvert, I’ve been a target of bullying and the lesser “bossiness” entire life across all environments: school, social, sports, employment, volunteer work, church, dating, in-laws.
There is something very very wrong with U.S. culture, it is a very barbaric and aggressive one. Maybe all the European losers were kicked out and they crossed the Atlantic because they were homeless.
Canada is flawed but so much classier, must be a different white gene pool that landed there.
From what I understand female bullying, bullying of other females, is worse than male bullying in middle and high school.
My wife is a retired building inspector, a traditional male job, and can speak to bullying by bosses and even subordinates, subordinates to it differently, subordinates are, again,mostly male, and what they did is torpedo her, going over her head, misrepresenting things to male bosses, who would take the word as fact.
But that seems to be human nature, tell a lie about another person and it is believed, without fact checking.
Her mental health started to improve once she retired.
Point made about losers migrating. Those that have found success in life, stay put.
Internal migration in the U.S. occurred primarily, because we breed, and it takes at least 200 acres of good arable land for a plantation to be able to support a family.
And the early Americans had an image of themselves as planters, not farmers, they settle for farming, when they couldn't homestead enough land.
Inheritance laws, until 1789, were primogeniture, that is if the father died intestate, and most did, the eldest son inherited the land, Even if the father split his plantation among his sons, if the soil wasn't arable any longer and his holding wasn't large enough his younger sons had to move on.
Also they planted tobacco and cotton, and both crops deplete the soil of nutrients within a generation, and since they perceived themselves as planters and did no crop rotation,nor could afford the price of fertilizer, guano and manure) They had to migrate.
Women were not deemed necessary to tutor. The father was responsible for tutoring his sons, either personally or hiring a tutor, Girls were expected to get married, and so the mother taught them cooking and housekeeping, chopping wood and slopping hogs. Unless, her father was of the upper class (politician, planter, lawyer, doctor), then she was taught fine arts, emphasizing playing the harpsichord, singing, poetry,, the things that would make her a gracious hostess and enhance her husbands career.
Also Eadie,
Why don’t more school/teachers do the hard work of putting themselves out there to address the dynamics of bullying? I think you are commendable for your time spent addressing the issue. I realize that there is a lot on the plate of a teacher, but it should be one of the most essential things that districts can help implement. BRAVO.
And what is your contribution Carol? Maybe other can follow your lead.
What do you mean by my contribution? To what? Suppose you are referring to what can be done in schools to educate about the effects of bullying in the school community. In that case, the District in San Diego is well aware of the desire expressed by individuals for these programs in schools. Still, the District doesn’t allow anyone to take the lead without their leadership—and that, unfortunately, is lacking in public schools.
I have been an outspoken advocate of gun control and voted for it to go to Congress and pass laws; I also contributed to the Sandy Hook cause.
According to the San Diego School District’s Mission Statement, fundamental principles codify the District’s core beliefs and values, empowering employees to act with disciplined initiatives. They do not uphold their statement.
For example, the public schools do not abide by their own Mission statement. I wrote to the District about the organized group of teachers led by Kirsten Brown, a 6th-grade teacher, and Marie Vidal-Fowler, the principal at Silvergate Elementary, located around the corner from me, who are employing parents and students in an aggressive campaign against me. Parents in droves surround my house in a passive-aggressive manner daily with unspoken tactics. I don’t know what these people are doing in their homes, or when they will leave their homes, and I don’t care.
The school uses the slander of the day to defame me in unspeakable ways. Children walking by my house call me names. The thrust of this use of public schools clearly prohibits the use of public schools to organize a vendetta against a citizen. I have kindly addressed this issue in person with the leaders at Silvergate, but I have received no reply. In fact, they use psy ops to cover their ass.
Ms. Heasley. What you experienced at the hands of members of your community is unforgivable. It seems to me you are on the correct side of this moral issue. I purposely sent my son to a Catholic grade school even tho I am not a believer; because the nun who ran the school instituted a strict policy of NO BULLYING of any kind. After my son graduated from that Catholic grade school and was required to attend the local public high school; he was flabbergasted at the misbehavior and cruel acts committed there.
Furthermore, my daughter who attended that high school before my son had a bad experience with bullying while there. The school authorities were not sympathetic and told me my daughter brought it on herself. She was to blame for her experience of being the victim of bullying. I threatened the principal with a lawsuit if he did not do something to protect my daughter and other kids. He took me seriously because it was a small university town and he knew I was a personal friend of the prosecutor, attorneys and judges in the town.
Incidentally, my daughter promptly left that local public high school and applied for a scholarship to the national music school; The Interlochen Academy of Arts, from which she graduated and subsequently went to Columbia on scholarship and graduated with honors. Bullying can discourage, harm and eliminate some of the best students.
You are absolutely correct, Gerald; the bullies have discouraged me, and I am an adult. Twenty years ago, the surveillance was so bad that I gave up on being productive. And my issues with caring for my schizophrenic son took precedent.
However, writing poetry is my passion, and after studying for ten years as an older adult student and receiving stellar comments and grades on my performance, I could not write by hand or on the computer; such is the sophisticated degree of surveillance, and that type of scrutiny is a creative killer for me, besides being frightened when out at cost Co a person would come up and quote what I had written on my Word document that morning but shared with no one. I broke out in an autoimmune disease with large, watery, burning, itchy blisters all over my body that finally, after six years, went into remission.
People invest in this endeavor to break the naysayers who denied honoring my husband and running around the world, raising money for a foundation.. Consequently, they denied my truth. What are you talking about? Maybe you should get counseling. Or tell my husband, it isn’t happening; perhaps she is paranoid.
I appreciate your story, Gerald, because it takes a vigilant parent to take such measures to make their children safe when the teachers and administration should be doing their job. It’s a blessing to you that your children are so successful, and a testament to your guidance and support. Interlochen is a unique environment for music students.
Unfortunately, in my community or wherever I go, the police, City Council, Sacramento, and the White House will take no action to stop what is happening to me. Twenty years ago, if I needed a lawyer, I would call the one most suited to the issue at hand, and I had no problem with being rejected.
When this project to honor my husband gained traction, its magnitude seeped into every institution, garnering public and private support. Now, suppose I call a lawyer, and I know prosecutors, attorneys, judges, or the police. In that case, they all have been intimidated by surveillance and will not even grant me a consultation - they don’t want the ‘lights on their business’. It has been more than two decades of 24/7 surveillance and voyeurism.
People follow me everywhere by the hundreds and know my intimate business from the 24/7 surveillance. (I know this information repeats in my comments as it is happening in real time. Everyone on earth has been able to take a whack at me and influence the process that I didn’t sign up for, nor could I stop. People I don’t know, random people, for example, they say, ‘Well, my wife left me, so I can make your life miserable.’ Excuse me? Every breakup does match a template.
It has been an absolute nightmare caring for my schizophrenic son for 35 years, and every system needed, whether it be prisons, the courts, or the clinicians, lawyers, or police, is compromised because someone will call these entities and create problems. In addition, because many people have access to my private world, when my son is out in public, connections are made, and he comes home to create havoc. It is nearly impossible to care for a person with schizophrenia without the added interference.
This interference with my son began 20 years ago. He is not mentally well and thinks like a fourteen-year-old. Recently he moved (he is 52 years old and I can’t prevent him moving)and didn’t set up an adequate transition to a new clinic for his medication and a new therapist; in sorting it out in his new location they are using him to do what they want against me, then they will make it possible so he can get back on track with the expensive monthly injection.
“They’re arming him with surveillance information in his new location about what I am doing in my house 24/7. I think what they are doing is criminal. I do not believe he is a criminal, but they created an issue by implying that I think he is one. I have committed no crime and have not even been sued.
There are no words for what I experience.
Interesting.
Ms. Sharron. I believe you are correct about bullying and "dysfunctional families" playing a role in this topic of the phenomenon of multiple murderers of strangers in society. But there is much more to the topic than that, including historical elements. I too taught for 36 years and studied criminology doing research for 40 years. Crim. was one of my courses. I ask you to please read my reply to Mr. Farrar on this.
I have asked myself this question. Because they believe in a Neanderthal view of humankind and society that aligns with their perspective, read the 2025 doctrine and Ayn Rand, which excludes those who will impede their view. If one is as selfish and arrogant about their role in the human race, they will be racists and misogynists.
I tried to read Ayn Rand. Her writing made me almost physically ill.
Mr. Farrar. You would find HUNTING HUMANS as fascinating as I did, I am sure. It was written by Elliott Leyton and is the best analysis of this odd and horrifying phenomenon: the individual who murders multiple victims. They are of two types.
1) serial killer
2) Mass killer
The types are not identical. But do share some characteristics.
I know you are a lover of history so you will no doubt be interested to know that these people are not a recent phenomenon. There are credible accounts, with ample evidence, of them appearing as far as 600+ years in our past. For instance, Bram Stoker was inspired to write the novel DRACULA after he learned about Vlad Tepes who was far more frightening than Stoker's imaginary character. The father of Vlad Tepes had a nick name which was the Dragon. In 1400s Wallachia dragon was pronounced Dracul. His son Vlad, was therefore Dracula, or "son of Dracul." Dracula had his own nickname, it was Vlad The Impaler. What this monster did is almost unbelievable. But the historical evidence is there, and it is spectacular. There are two or three towns named after him. He is now considered to be a national hero in Europe.
Another historical example is Gilles de Rais, a 15th century French Marshall of France. De Rais was the military genius behind the seemingly magical girl from Lorraine: Joan of Arc.
Many are impressed by Joan's apparent ability to inspire soldiers to do a first rate job of fighting. And this is their inadequate explanation of the startling victories by French soldiers associated with her. However, it was the genius of Gilles de Rais which was actually responsible for the fighting success of those Frenchmen. Gille de Rais was also a serial killer of literally thousands of children. Probably the most prolific serial killer in history. He was the wealthiest man in France at the time.
There are more examples of multiple murderers going all the way back to ancient Roman times.
No doubt, "bullying" is a component in the understanding of the behavior of this multiple murderer today. But it is not the whole story. It is more involved than that. For instance; I am willing to bet that this killer left behind a manifesto of some kind, which he intended as both an explanation and a warning, or lesson to the rest of us. Just the same as the "Unibomber," Ted Kazinski did. Just as Dracula did. I also bet that he is not certain about the identity of his consanguine father, same as Ted Bundy was not certain. The overwhelming majority of all multiple murderers are White males. It is so rare they are Black or female that Hollywood has perversely and misleadingly portrayed those exceptions to the uninformed public in spectacular films. Shakespeare's smashingly successful play OTHELLO the Moor of Venice has, like Hollywood, also mislead the public for five centuries on this issue.
Please pardon me for dragging the unique English bard into this theme. But he has been a hobby of mine since my 11th grade English Lit. class. Perhaps you too are familiar with The Seventeenth Earl of Oxford: Edward de Vere?
One other thing, in case the reader come to the conclusion that I made a linkage between serial killers and bullying. I did not, twas Gerald that introduced that linkage.
As regards serial killers, besides being psychopaths. I am of the opinion that it is genetic. Going back to Ted Bundy, the offspring of a rapist and a waitress, he was raised in Tacoma, near the University of Puget Sound, by a Christian couple who adopted him showered him with love and care
I know of a bad seed, also the spawn of a rapist and a waitress. My team mate, and team leader, and his wife adopted the kid, and as he got older his psychopathy began to show.
Mr. Farrar. Your words:
"Long ago I came to an opinion, after the Columbine shooting, that the shooter was the victim of bullying"
"I still hold that opinion about school shooting."
"Especially a bullying culture, I'm surprised that there aren't more, and afraid of copy cats to come."
"maybe if she was not shunned, tortured and bullied ......none of this would have happened"
"Yep, Trump, the product of bullying, makes my case"
Yep, that is what I said. So what?
Mr. Farrar. You did in fact link "bullying" with this subject in at least 3 places in this blog. I don't get it. What are you trying to say?
I did? I am not trying to say anything. Refresh me where did I link bullying to serial killers.
Interesting indeed. I've read up on Vlad the Impaler, I don't quite believe the telling that he impaled his people, if he did he wouldn't be a national hero.
I do believe that he defeated and captured a Turkish officer and when the main force came though the troops were terrified, an excellent use of psychological warfare.
Othello was a Moor nota subsarah black.
It seems to be a common misconception that if anyone comes from Africa they are black.
Especially true with Cleopatra. She was Macedonian and Egyptian.
Moors arrived in England with Wiliams Mercenary Ar,m, the right flank was Bretons, which were descendants of the Brythonic peoples that fled the Saxons and the Sarmatians whom thegovernor Flavius Aetius gave permission to settle, before the stp[[ed Attila at the battle of the Catalaunian fields.
The left flank were mercenaries, Franks, Poles and Moors. More than likely Thomas Jeffersons ancestor was one of those Moors.
Thomas Jefferson's Y-DNA belongs to the rare haplogroup K2, a lineage that is uncommon in Europe but more prevalent in East Africa and the Middle East. Analysis of the Y-STR haplotype shows his Y-DNA is most closely related to an Egyptian K2 haplotype,
Mr. Farrar. Vlad Tepes is a national hero because he was the military leader who repeatedly turned back the Ottoman Turks in their attempts to invade Western Europe via the valley which Vienna lies in. The fact that he impaled thousands of human beings is simply ignored, not talked about. This is not difficult to believe as there are generals in the pentagon who have created the weapons systems to wipe out all living creatures larger than a cockroach. Yet, nobody calls them "mentally ill" or genetically predisposed to murder. They are highly paid civil servants. And highly respected. The claim that somebody does what they do [something horrible] because they have gene to do so; is simply a way to ignore a difficult and serious problem.
Yes I know all about Vlad, and I know why he was a national hero.
The generals in the Pentagon don't invent weapons
As regards men and weapons. Life has always been an arms race.
The first man that beat the shit out of another man, left the loser looking for something harder and bigger than a fist, so he found a rock, and it escalated from there.
Am I saying that generals and soldiers have a gene to do it? Hell no.
All I said was that serial killers might have a gene, but that is distinct from bullying.
Your head goes in some strange places, connecting disconnected things.
What has serial killers got to do with war, conflict and the arms race, unless we are all, at root, serial killers.? Now that is a thought
Really Gerarld. I start off by talking about bullying possibly being behind mass shootings. Somewhere along the line I dropped something about serial killers possibly being genetic. But I don't link serial killers to bullying, my bad for introducing another subject, then you come along and link serial killers to generals.
And generals are not civil servants.
gerald, you like William are way above my pay grade. I don't have the historical knowledge either of you have. Like most people, I can only deal with the on the job experience I've had. I believe Robin did leave behind a sort of manifesto. He was a troubled child experiencing suffering and pain. He attended a Catholic school his mother taught at. I am almost certain his relationship with his mother was dysfunctional. I would't be surprised if he was bullied and yes he amassed weapons of all descriptions. He left political messages naming Jews he despised. What else is new? https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/crime/2025/08/27/shooter-suspect-minneapolis-mass-shooting/85849795007/
As a former soldier, I have seen these things in other countries. Not so much children but bodies nonetheless. Most people really have no idea just what kind of damage large caliber bullets can do to a body, human or other wise.
I seriously doubt any victims parents in any red state will allow any Mamie Till moment, but a blue state someday? Maybe, now that this sort of request is out in the public discourse. This idea will circulate since Thom Hartmann has such a large audience.
The pictures taken by journalists, and the news videos, showing the world the dead bodies of soldiers from both sides during WWII, Korea and Vietnam ushered in a new way of highlighting the horrors of wars.
Make no mistake, this is a war on the people of the United States. They just haven't realized it yet. Maybe some intrepid photo journalists should start writing the stories of these tragedies as if they're war stories, with gruesome pictures of the war dead, to wake people up.
I made the same comment on another site. The pictures of the Sandy Hook victims, babies, too young, smiling, nearly made me cry. The pictures of their torn apart bodies would invoke another reaction, one of hatred and anger. SHOW THE BODIES OF THOSE BABIES. We've seen the pictures of the Holocaust victims, the victims of wars in Gaza, the Boston bombing, etc. Many of those shots are readily available on Google. Those pictures got people angry, motivated to do something. Until parents show the same courage as Emmet Till's mother, and allow the rest of us to see the horror they have to live with, I don't think anything will change. First start, shower the lawn of the White House and the chambers of Congress and the mailboxes of the most avid 2nd Amendment advocates with those pictures.
Typically, we don't show human gore on television, we blur it out, so as not to sicken or frighten viewers. We don't blur out movie depictions of violence, though. Maybe we need a movie version of Sandy Hook to show in theaters.
In 3D in Supermax in the House and Senate.
Refrain.
See you in September in DC.
https://removalcoalition.org/
Congress returns. There are many issues we can use to convince a few Congressional Republicans. Brian Fitzpatrick is a case study.
Pressure them directly, their donors, families, social friends etc. Picket. Sit in.
Proportionally 4 x more crime in MAGA Mike's home town than in DC. Memphis is the most crimeridden city in the US. Jackson, Mississippi! Bessemer, AL!
Interview the National Guardsmen. Odds are more crime at home.
Labor Day 2025, Workers Over Billionaires https://maydaystrong.org/
The MSM daily news never shows blood and guts among bodies torn apart by military weapons. Thom might be right, that rubbing people's noses in horror of gun deaths might woke up people enough to change the laws. Americans have been groomed since childhood to love guns, and boast that gun ownership is key to democracy.
As kids in the 50s, we were groomed every Saturday via TV as we watched Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy, Matt Dillon, etc. kill badguys. We played "Bang-Bang, you're dead," just like John Wayne or The Lone Ranger. How about later, Adam-12 or 77 Sunset Strip? It was a fun fantasy that the NRA paid a lot to encourage. The American Rifleman never showed gore, just a dead deer in an open field.
Today, the MSM on TV, like PBS, warn viewers that this next scene might be disturbing for some viewers, then they just show crying parents kneeling over body bags. Gaza news only shows piles of body bags, and pics of limbless little kids recovering in hospitals, not the aftermath of an IDF ambush.
TV news, or even Hollywood, never shows mangled bodies torn apart by bombs and machine guns with heads missing faces, bodies missing heads, and limbs strewn about the scene. It will freak out their audiences.
It is not ironic that guns are strictly controlled in Europe. Maybe that is due to voters having lived through two world wars in their own front yards? One thing is certain, gun murders in the EU are way,way,way fewer than - well, pick any US state - how about Texas or Florida?
I'm with you,Thom, I remember seeing pictures of dead Vietnamese people and dying children on the TV and in magazines. That was shocking, back then. The Republicans in Congress will be forced to act, and Vote for strict gun laws NOW. Thanks,Thom, great article this morning ☕ TGIF to you and your readers, and will reStack ASAP 🙏
Amen
US government policy and public opinion did not turn on Somoza in Nicaragua until the video of one of his national guardsmen shooting a US reporter at point blank range went public. Once that happened Somoza was out of there within days.
Vietnam: I was a teenager and I saw the murder of a Vietnamese prisoner by a South Vietnam general ON THE WALTER CRONKITE SHOW! It had an impact.
It is unfortunate that the news can’t share the detailed results of the war, especially with reporters filming in combat zones, because, as you experienced as a teenager,Eva, there is an impact seeing the raw damages of war and ultra assault weapons here. Something about human rights and permission needed to show the bodies.
Thank you D. Solomon for setting the record straight on Obama's efforts to reduce gun violence, and thank you T. Hartmann for this column. I wish there would never be another murdered child, and no parent would ever have to consider allowing a photograph to be shared.... But since it continues to happen, maybe that would be a way to stem the violence, since nothing else seems to work.
As horrifying as it would be, I agree that showing the carnage for mass murders, especially at schools, would go a long way in countering the NRA's stance that there must be no restrictions on 2nd Amendment rights.
"And yet, pictures convey reality in a way that words cannot. One of these days, the parents of children murdered in a school shooting may make the same decision Mamie Till did in 1955."
This is accurate and I agree that visual images will be needed to make what is a reality real to many Americans. I think it might be accomplished with drawings or pictures taken from war scenes which illustrate what weapons of war do without having the victims identified. However, this is only necessary because Americans live in a "Leave it to Beaver" and insular unreality in which we are never exposed to the things which a very few people in certain jobs or certain environments experience firsthand. We do not ever read or hear the words describing these horrors and the gut-wrenching sensations and feelings with which they are associated, and we do not allow ourselves or our children to think about the violence, injury, death, and disregard for life that is outside our comfort zones. Once again, we spend our entire youth in a cocoon and immersed in descriptions and depictions which are manufactured to keep us sedated, calm, and unaware of anything except a lovely, quiet life on main street or in a controlled and well-policed environment. We are kept totally preoccupied with mundane and inane subject matter and when there is a death or a disaster, we are encouraged to forget it as quickly as possible and to pretend it didn't happen. From the beginning, creating an image of life in America has been the job of people who deny reality and strive to keep us, and especially children, focused on some idyllic picture that is imagined as the coming perfected future for all via social engineering and schooling. When reality does get too close, the answer is to use substances and distractions to dull the pain, many prescribed by doctors and sold as casual or socially enhancing harmless remedies. We have allowed people who live in their own protected and privileged spaces to decide what will be in the school curriculum and to sanitize history and the biological truths which are part of human nature. And to prevent change, we have passed laws that give power and influence to people who are preoccupied with controlling what is seen and experienced.
Robert, remember what George Bush Jr. said after 911? I do and perhaps you do too. He said "go shopping at your local mall" or some such pro-consumerist advice. In other words "don't look too closely at what just happened. It might wake you up. Keep spending money and help corporate America rake in its profits." Have you seen the sarcastic movie THEY LIVE? Our leaders assuredly do not want us to look too closely at our social problems. "Just turn on the T.V., sit back and crack open a beer. The authorities will take care of everything. Keep your nose out of it."
Gerald,
Well spoken, as always. I think that distractibility is a common feature in all societies and is related to the capacity our brains have for dealing with problems and discontinuities. Finding answers and solutions is difficult, and threats and conflicts are always scary. These are reasons why it is so tempting to rely on authorities and on magic or superstitious ideas and why having democratic institutions and education for democracy and for building trust in people and confidence in oneself are so crucial, I believe. I don't have Netflix or any of those services but am making a note about looking for "They Live". This is all sort of a piece. It isn't that leaders or the uber-wealthy consciously distract us or try to get us to focus on entertainment and consumerism. It is just that systems develop and evolve with rewards and punishments and incentives for staying on a particular course. Sports are great in many respects and life would be less interesting and exciting without them. But the culture has not been able to keep them in perspective, and they do prevent many people from getting depressed or demoralized about the state of humanity. You are probably familiar with the book, "Amusing Ourselves to Death", by Postman. He was an educator also, and obviously all this reflects on how schools misdirect attention and train students to think happy thoughts and avoid any dissent or disagreement, not to mention for the one-millionth time, they inculcate a powerful dependence on authority. How much pain will be necessary to shake people out of their somnambulance?
Robert Yes I read that book by Postman many years ago. He hit the nail on the head. I was happy to see you use the phrase: "It is just that systems develop and evolve...." we are both thinking in the same playground. Good response, as usual.
Do you remember Thom after the Newtown massacre in which 20 children were killed Obama shed a crocodile tear and said "something had to be done," then when asked by a reporter what he was going to do he said "now is not the time" to talk about politics? I remember as well. And so it goes.
There you go again.
Google: As President, Barack Obama pursued tighter gun restrictions through both legislative proposals and executive actions, most notably following the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Due to congressional opposition, his most ambitious legislative efforts failed, leaving a legacy of frustration over stalled federal progress.
Major legislative proposals
In the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre, President Obama made a major push for "common-sense" gun laws with the following proposals:
Universal background checks: A proposal to close loopholes and require background checks for all gun sales, including those conducted privately at gun shows and online. This effort failed to pass the Senate in 2013.
Assault weapons ban: A measure to reinstate and strengthen the 1994 ban on military-style assault weapons. This also failed in the Senate in 2013.
High-capacity magazine limits: A push to limit ammunition magazines to 10 rounds.
Significant executive actions
Frustrated by the congressional gridlock, Obama relied on executive actions to advance his gun safety agenda, particularly in 2013 and 2016.
Expanded background checks:
Trusts and corporations: An executive action to close a loophole that allowed individuals to purchase dangerous firearms through trusts or shell corporations without a background check.
Clarified dealer licensing: The ATF clarified that anyone "engaged in the business" of selling firearms must obtain a license and conduct background checks, regardless of whether sales occur at a brick-and-mortar store or online.
Better enforcement:
Improved records: Measures were taken to encourage states to submit more comprehensive records on domestic violence convictions and mental health issues to the national background check system.
ATF resources: The administration sought to hire more ATF agents to help enforce gun laws and to crack down on illegal gun trafficking.
Gun safety technology: The Departments of Defense, Justice, and Homeland Security were directed to sponsor and conduct research into "smart gun" technology that could prevent unauthorized use.
Mental health: A $500 million investment was proposed to increase access to mental health care, alongside efforts to improve mental health reporting to the background check system.
Overall legacy
Obama has publicly stated that the failure to pass significant gun legislation was one of his biggest frustrations as president. The inability to pass federal laws meant that real change largely relied on action at the state level. Despite his efforts, gun sales reached record highs during his presidency, driven in part by fears among Second Amendment supporters that the administration was trying to restrict gun access. Some of his executive actions were later reversed or challenged by subsequent administrations or in court.
Mr. Solomon. Obama can be blamed for some inaction. But most certainly, not this firearm topic. Congress has been the greatest impediment to sane gun laws in this country. Too many legislators take money from the NRA.
And "they" are still hiding behind Bernie's picture. Pretty sure they're Russian.
Glad you answer, Daniel.
Mr. Kaufman. You have gone a bridge too far here.
Who decided that news should blur or totally suppress photographic evidence of reality in this country anyway?
“But we need to go the next step and show the actual pictures for this truth about the horror of gun violence to become widely known. Doing this will take leadership.”
Indeed! But where is that leadership? Will you find those pictures and start the process? Has to start someplace.
While we’re at it, where’s the leadership to stop the destruction of our Constitutional Republic by one malignant narcissistic psychopathic criminal and his acquired grifter sycophants?! He got there by voter lack of knowledge
Do we see it from our politicians whose job it is? Are we suppose to get it by the many excellent writers out there, like yourself, explaining what’s real and needed? But few can read and understand when its behind a paywall! Disinformation and lies are free to read!
I’ve followed you since Air America. The country needs help, don't stay behind a paywall like so many leaders are doing now. Where are you on MSNBC and other sources?