This Jared Loughner guy is some piece of shit. This phenomenon is something that seems to happen all too often. But who's at fault?
Police? Not really. You can't expect them to keep an eye on every single person alive - scouring profiles, internet posts, articles; interviewing friends, classmates, acquaintances. It's not realistic.
The guy? Probably. His parents? Unless they're legally blind in both eyes, then yes. They're just as much a part of this mess as their son.
I am not waxing poetic about what it takes to be a parent (Lord knows I have no idea, but I'll let you know come April). But this is your son, your flesh and blood. You can't tell me they don't speak or communicate with him. I know it's wrong to judge a book by the cover, but this guy looks the part of a killer. He's looks like a cold, deviant, psychopath.
He kept articles on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in a safe. What do you keep in a safe? Money? Jewelry? Family heirlooms? Chocolate even. But the things you generally associate with being kept in a safe are things that hold some value to you. I never had a safe. If I had, I probably would have put my Frank Thomas (The Big Hurt) baseball card collection in there - instead, I stuffed them into shoe boxes.
Communicate. I am 29 years-old and speak with my parents regularly. He was what, twenty-two? As parents, you have got to see something wrong, abnormal, off with your son. All it takes it communication. When I was twenty-two, I spoke with my parents regularly. Maybe this guy's family was a pack of jackasses, or maybe they were just too dumb to see what a monster they had raised. Were they embarrassed? Afraid of him? Ignorant? Blind? I'm going with all of the above.
What happened was a tragedy. Are there more people like this loser running around out there in the US? Yes. Are we gonna stop them all? No. Just make yourself aware of the people you surround yourself with. If someone looks shady, chances are they are. If you hear them talking about creepy shit, walk the other way and/or tell the police. Be safe friends, family, co-workers, Blog Army!
On a lighter note (for some), sports. As you already know, #1 Duke lost in Tallahassee last night to the unranked Seminoles. There was no inside game for Duke, the shooting was horrid, and they made this Derwin Kitchens guy look like Michael Jordan. Miles Plumlee is soft which directly related to their lack of an inside presence. Five points and five rebounds a game? You're 6'10" tall. Act the part. Thirty-one percent shooting? 35 three-point field goals attempts? 15 turnovers to 9 assists? It seems like every time they play down there, they lose (it's actually only the third time in 9 years). Derwin Kitchens? 10.2 PPG on the year and he goes off for 22 points? Put a hand in his face, the guy was 9-13. Anyway, it was a good run as #1, we'll see how far they fall from here. Back to Cameron Indoor for a game against the Virginia Cavaliers on Saturday. (I'll be stuck at Draddy for a Manhattan game).
NBA basketball sucks. Except when the Clippers (13-24) beat the Heat (30-10) and LeBron James gets hurt, all in one night. I don't wish ill upon anyone, but this guy just runs his mouth left and right. Blake Griffin is a BEAST (24 pts./14 rebs. - 30th double-double this season). LeBron only sprained his ankle, so he probably won't be out for long, but he tweeted about karma the other day when the Lakers pumped the Cavs by 55. Soon after, karma bit back.
Time to get busy!
3 comments:
I'm sitting in a mtg and I still gotta get my WRT's fix! Great post, I can't really argue w/ your comment...I'm a dad of 2 grown kids, they live far away one of 'em has kids of her own and I still know what's going on w/them...shit its not that hard. I'm pretyy sure that neither one of them is on the verge of a violant rampage! Duke. Hell it's aboutime they lost..remember I'm a boilermaker fan. But Coach K will take this loss and use it to improve. I doubt they lose again until ACC Tourney at least . Purdue recruited Plumlee, I expected him to be a force..he needss to grow a pair! OK I suppose I should listen to some of this crap..I'd much rather talk sports!
Raising children is a difficult thing, we have four, the oldest in college. We don't talk to him as often as we would like. I think sometimes it is easier for parents to make excuses and ask for forgiveness later! But your right a young man like this had to have shown all kinds of signs of going off the deep end! Makes me want to grab all of my kids today and just tell them "I love you!"
As for Lebron, I wish the guy would just shut his pie hole and stick to playing basketball! The NBA is just crappy basketball anyways.
The Clover Bottle Cap
"NBA basketball sucks. Except when..." I agree. :) It was a great night for NBA basketball last night!
Rock Chalk.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110113/ap_on_re_us/us_congresswoman_shot <---article on Mr. Loughner's issues. His parents knew. I'm not sure they knew what to do...or even if they cared. No one (even parents of the troubled) can predict what he did and some would say they probably couldn't have stopped it. Then again...maybe if they were more involved in his life - SOMETHING could have been done. You just never know.
As President Obama stated last night: "Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let us use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together." Hopefully if we all start being more careful as you stated and truly looking around and caring about those around us - these situations will start happening less and less. It is a long shot - but even if one life is changed because someone reached out to them and cared enough about their issues...then we have done something good for the world we live in.
End of rant.
Post a Comment