Somethings Wrong With This Picture, Cookie Thorton

[CelticRadio]

This is one of those disturbing news stories that has you asking what is going on in this country.

Man has a disagreement with City Hall for years - then takes matters into his own hands and kills 6 City officials.

Man is regarded as justified by the community......

He showed a lack of respect of life for those individuals all because of his business. What a selfish reason to kill 6 innocent people. He showed a lack of respect for life in general and did not care about the lives and the families of those individuals.

The people that state he is justified are doing themselves and this country a dis-service. Everyone is responsible for their own actions and how they end up in Life.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/09/us/09mis...issouri.html?hp

[stoirmeil]

This is always an uncomfortable one to discuss. It puts me in mind of the "black rage" defense that was attempted for the Long Island Railroad shootings perpetrated by Colin Ferguson some years back:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/background/insane/lirr.html

The problem is, it's sometimes hard to keep a distinction in mind between "explain" and "excuse." This man's frustration and the complicating factor of racial tension in his town are certainly no excuse for what happened -- therefore referring to him as a "hero" is over the line, and should not be tolerated for five seconds. On the other hand, those things do go toward explaining why this guy went postal, and should not be thrown out of the discussion because they are "no excuse," when we already KNOW they are no excuse, but they ARE a reason. You ask yourself why he did it -- well, it's not hidden, it's right out there. Not talking about blame or responsibility, criminality or lack of respect for life -- it is criminal, it does show a lack of respect for life. But we want to take that in, acknowledge it as no excuse, and move on to consider: "WHY?" What you can't explain, you have a very hard time rectifying or preventing; and on the off chance that this guy and his griefs are not an isolated case, it's better to consider "Why?" than not to, and I think it's not misplaced apologetics to do so.

[maggiemahone1]

Yes, there is something very wrong with this picture. There's no excuse for what this man did!!! He went in with the intention of taking lives. My heart goes out to these people that have to deal with this terrible tragedy. There's no justification in what this man did...