Wednesday, April 18, 2007

The courage of idiots

Fucking fuck John Derbyshire.

Fucking fuck Nathaniel Blake.

And fucking fuck all of the mindless gun loving zombies that delude themselves into thinking that more guns would solve the problems of gun violence.

How dare these cretins impugn the courage of the students, faculty and staff at Virginia Tech, as they face the trauma, shock and loss brought about by this violent tragedy. Indeed Mr. Derbyshire, it is easy to say things. It is entirely another matter to do things while under fire.

Neither of these crawling idiots seems to have given the least thought to the circumstances involved in these shootings. Derbyshire has this to say, "Handguns aren't very accurate, even at close range. I shoot mine all the time at the range, and I still can't hit squat. I doubt this guy was any better than I am. And even if hit, a .22 needs to find something important to do real damage—your chances aren't bad."

First off, a handgun doesn't need to be very accurate at close range. It just needs to hit the victim. Second, the fact that Derbyshire can't hit shit on a range, under controlled circumstances tells us nothing but that Derbyshire sucks. There are 32 bodies on slabs that would argue that the killer was indeed much better with his weapons than Derbyshire is with his. Third, I invite Mr. Derbyshire to face a .22 wielding shooter to prove out his theory that it isn't that bad. Hell, for safety's sake, instruct the shooter to aim for the legs. Then Derbyshire can tell us all about how it isn't so bad having a shattered knee, how the gouts of blood from a severed artery are just kid stuff, after all it was only a .22.

Here's a hypothetical or two:

- Shooter opens the door steps inside and opens fire. People scream and seek cover. It's a classroom, there are desks and backpacks and a clutter of chairs to contend with. As friends and peers fall wounded and bleeding a hero emerges from the crowd and charges toward the shooter, tackles him, disarms him and subdues him. There is much cheering and rejoicing.

- Shooter enters the room and opens fire. The unbelievable shock of just the deafening report of a firearm in an enclosed space disorients the students as they seek cover. Should a person rise to charge the shooter they have to cover perhaps only six or ten feet. The floor is covered with a chaotic mix of bodies either hit or hiding, overturned chairs, jackets, books and bags, to say nothing of the slick blood spilled by those closest to the shooter and most likely to have been struck by the first rounds. Upon rising, the would be hero presents the largest target in the room, the closer the hero gets, the larger that target becomes. Noble dead hero get an extra moment of prayer at the memorial.

- Shooter moves from room to room wreaking havoc. Pistol packing hero no. 2 steps out of another class, down the hall, to end the spree, fires on the shooter and takes him down. At the same time, a gun toting professor springs into action, steps into the hall, sees a body (the shooter) on the ground and another young person with a gun in their hand. No time for questions, hero down. Police arrive, see two young people bleeding out on the floor, the professor turns toward the police, gun in hand. Bye-bye tenure.

- All kinds of people on campus are packing. Shooter arrives and opens fire, all the guns come into play and we have crossfire. Forensic investigators spend days checking ballistics to figure out just who managed to shoot who. Stray bullets rip through doors, windows and people moving erratically in the confusion and panic. Yeah, that's the fucking answer then, more guns.

Given the bizarre passion that America has for firearms, it is unlikely that even the strictest of gun control legislation will have much effect. There are hundreds of thousands of guns of every description on the streets and in homes across that great nation. With the enormous political and economic clout of the gun lobby, there is virtually no likelihood of strict gun control measures being passed. Perhaps if America spent a fraction of it's personal weaponry budget on mental health care and education, a few of these incidents might be avoided. While stricter laws might prevent new weapons from hitting the market, there is little to prevent the guns already on the streets from falling into wrong hands. Prohibition just drives the price up and creates a lethal black market.

None of these speculations will do anything to assuage the grief of the families, friends and peers of the victims of this latest rampage. And the vulgar ravings of creatures like John Derbyshire and Nathaniel Blake are a slap in the face to those grieving and a vile fucking insult to the memories of young people, whose lives were snuffed out by a psychotic young man.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks, psa, for saying what I've been thinking.
It also occurred to me that if people were allowed weapons on campus there would be a number of shooting deaths every year. Probably wouldn't take long to get to 32.
Sadly, no one would notice, outside of a small circle of friends.

Weasel said...

Pardon my language here, but Christ on a fucking crutch! These two jackasses are total wastes of flesh! They've just proven the saying, "It's better to remain silent and thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."

Ed said...

I can't help but wonder if thet say such things knowing full well how shock inducing they are. Not unlike Coulter, Marilyn Manson and Eminem.

M@ said...

Ed -- I hardly think they qualify to compete with the intellects of Marilyn Manson and Eminem.

Coulter, yeah, I'm with ya.

Rev.Paperboy said...

As I've written on my blog, arming college students to ensure their safety on campus is like planting landmines on a golf course to keep the deer off the greens.

thwap said...

Well, as many have pointed out about the younger of these two cretins:

"If the time came, could I prove my courage and nobility?"

"Uh, Blake (Derbyshire/whatever), you support the war in Iraq, and the US military is dangerously overstretched, here's your chance to show ..."

"Quiet! I'm posting about new WMD discoveries now!"

The sick thing is, we're supposed to care when these assholes get together, because they actually elect politicians!

Anonymous said...

Does my heart good to see Blake getting his ass handed to him.

Serves him right for being such a sanctimonious little shitwit. How demented to blame the victims, when we couldn't possibly know what it was like to be caught between hails of gunfire.

I suppose if one or two of the female victims had been raped before (or even directly after) their murders THAT would have somehow been their faults too for not resisting enough. Or the faults of the young men lying around them, bleeding out from their bullet wounds.

Not manly enough indeed.

Conservatives sicken me.

Anonymous said...

I've seen pics of both Derb and Blake. I doubt either of them could fight their way out of a wet paper bag.

¢rÄbG®äŠŠ said...

Anonymous said... "I've seen pics of both Derb and Blake. I doubt either of them could fight their way out of a wet paper bag."

Okay. I have an idea.

Anonymous said...

Oh boo hoo. What kinds of people allow a seventy-year-old to die in their place? That's right, "cowards."

Lindsay Stewart said...

speaking of cowards, what kind of chicken shit bastard makes such a crass statement while hiding behind the anonymous curtain? at least derbyshire and blake posted their bloody minded ignorance under their own names. it is so convenient to cast aspersions against the victims with the blanket assumption that none of the young people, under fire, did anything. yet we know that is not the case. some of those young men and women did act, blocking doors with tables and preventing the shooter from entering, thus saving lives.

go look at the accounts of the survivors of the attack and you will see that you are not only a callous prick but that you are also wrong. in the mean time, fuck off.

Glyn (Zaphod) Evans said...

I think they are simply afraid of losign their small shiny additions to their manhood.

Anonymous said...

"Pretty Shaved Ape," on the other hand is brave, since he uses his real name.

Brave, brave ape.

A different anonymous

Lindsay Stewart said...

actually anonymous, my name is lindsay stewart. i stand behind what i've written here. the nom de plume is merely for fun. others choose to write with a pseudonym for employment reasons, personal reasons or what have you. you however, are an ignorant coward and you haven't the courage to stand behind your sanctimonious, snotty attitude. you fail to open your mind or your heart to the victims of this tragedy. perhaps one day you will feel the shame you deserve.

you can sit in casual, anonymous judgement, as though you have some magical knowledge of what transpired in the halls and classrooms of virginia tech. you join the chorus of mean minded bastards that seek some sick self affirmation by spitting into the blood of the fallen. you ignore the accounts of the survivors that detail the small acts of heroism that kept the body count from climbing even higher.

i'm not claiming to be brave. i don't know what i would do should i find myself in such a terrifying situation. i grew up around guns and i have a very healthy respect for the power and danger they represent. and for the record, your claim of being "another anonymous" strikes me as being a falsehood. but then it is easy to lie when one is "anonymous". but if indeed you are a new trolling pig hiding in the mists of the net, allow me to encourage you to fuck off as well.