There is a lot being said about the VT shooting, sympathy for those having gone through a horrid time, debates on gun control, criticism of VTs handling of the first shooting and information dissemination. I have very little to add.
But this post by Chris Clarke, whose perceptiveness rarely fails to amaze me, knocked me down. I've gotten so used to the language of reporting that I often don't catch the underlying currents.
4 comments:
Despite our referring to pathologically grasping, parasitic stalkers as “loners” — “he didn’t want to spend time with people, just women.”
Oh please. He didn't want to spend social time with women. If he did he wouldn't be called a loner. I read of at least one female student who "took a huge interest in him" and tried to reach out but couldn't. I assume most women can distinguish between a stalker and someone who wants to spend time with them.
He's right about the "domestic disputes" thing but I don't see how that's relevant to the VT shooting.
"He's right about the "domestic disputes" thing but I don't see how that's relevant to the VT shooting."
I think he's referring to the fact that the police didn't check the first incident seriously enough dismissing it as a 'domestic incident'. Somehow suggesting that someone violent in a 'domestic' context isn't really violent per se.
You may be right about the other thing...
Ah I see. Well, the police did take it seriously -- they pulled in the woman's boyfriend for questioning immediately, possibly thinking he's a suspect -- they just didn't realise that there's a psychopath on the loose who was likely to kill others soon.
well yes and no. yes the police did call him in and no, the unoversity did not let other students know until 2 hours later.
At any rate, I don't really blame them, there's little or no precendent to think that a double murder would lead to subsequent massacre. I think Chris Clarke is just talking about the language we employ about violent crime against women and how its suggested that is somehow a lesser problem.
You may disagree?
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