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Friday, January 14, 2011

The Damage Done

The blame game sparked by the murderous shooting spree on the part of Jared Lee Loughner is starting to fade at the same time that confirmed information about Loughner reaches the mainstream media.

Even more interesting to me, some of this confirmed information appears on the front page of print editions as shown in the following excerpt from the Thursday, January 13, 2011 edition of the Washington Post:

Friends, teachers tell of Loughner's descent into world of fantasy

He played late-night marathon games of Monopoly with his buddies. He went with friends on family vacations. He would hang with pals at IHOP on Fridays. He had a girlfriend. He laughed and he loved and he knew things - about jazz, cars, fantasy games.

And then Jared Loughner slipped into a world of fantasy that was no online game. Slowly but steadily, his intelligence warped into a distorted, disconnected series of obsessions. He developed an illogical fascination with logic. Math, grammar, logic - the systems civilization has developed to make sense of the world became the means through which he expressed the confusion and pain in his increasingly lost mind.

The first sketches of suspects in horrific killings are usually scattered images of hate - an almost superhuman anger trained at others. But as the portraits gain detail, they generally reveal some toxic combination of frustration, abuse, illness and loss. Loughner, those around him say, had the whole package.

A picture of Loughner gleaned from interviews with more than two dozen friends, classmates, teachers and neighbors, as well as from his own writing in online forums, shows no evidence that politics or government were among his defining or enduring obsessions.
Read the entire article HERE.

Many readers of print media do not bother to turn the page to read articles which continue deeper in a newspaper and draw their conclusions based on front-page information. Therefore, we can conclude that the Left's blame game is losing traction in the news media — some five days after the shootings in Tucson.

In my experience, most people reached their conclusions about the cause or causes of the Tucson shootings early on — when the blame game was running in high gear and without enough factual information upon which to base a valid conclusion. In the days immediately following the shootings, print and broadcast media disseminated baseless opinions and called for action before the facts about Lougher were available.

Furthermore, now that Obama has spoken at length on the topic, stories about the Tucson shootings will fade from discussion even as the political and social consequences continue. The inevitability of those consequences was sealed in the first few days following the shootings. And those people not directly affected by acts of violence do have short attention spans, after all.

When someone becomes physically ill, we know how to proceed: research the symptoms, use over-the-counter remedies, eat chicken soup, consult a doctor, call 911, and so forth.

But do we know how to proceed when someone shows clear and undeniable signs of the kind of mental illness that Loughner evidenced? And if we do know how to proceed, can we legally proceed to seek help for a loved one or a friend? It seems to me that those are the questions for which we should now be seeking answers with careful deliberation.

35 comments:

  1. That so called "memorial? was really a pep rally. These Progressive bloggers are not all the fools that we think they are, they know who's too blame, but they are also opportunists and want to take this event as an opportunity to bash and destroy the republican/conservatives.

    The Progressive SOCIALIST SLIME bloggers, the same ones that lost ALL their credibility are now on the bandwagon to discredit Sarah Palin and call her anti-Semitic for her use of the term "blood libel" in her video statement on the Arizona shootings.\Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and the Tea-party has been a thorn in their backsides for a long time now and here is their chance to destroy them all in one shot. They knew exactly what they were doing. But that shot has back-fired... didn't it!!!
    So now that that lying scheme has failed, they are going after Sarah Palin for being " anti-Semitic" what a crock!

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  2. Malcontent,
    That so called "memorial? was really a pep rally.

    Agreed.

    BHO is really in his element in such a venue -- as evidenced by his vocal cadences. If one listens to just the vocal tone and pitch, he sounds much like he sounded on the campaign trail.

    The "service" had too much applause for my taste.

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  3. I am posting on the memorial today. It was a pep rally.

    As far as the media, polls are showing that they may have fallen on their face this time and are only reaching the far left. These people will believe anything about Plain anyways.

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  4. Why was he not evaluated one of the many times that sheriff's office had contact with him?

    That sheriff let a crazy man run free and now people are dead. That's the conclusion I draw.

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  5. What to say about this from Pelosi?

    Remember, each of these people because, again, a tragic accident took lives...”

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  6. It has been the Progressives in the form of the ACLU who make it almost impossible to get a commitment. Even if one does, it usually is only for a couple of days, Our mental health system has been dismantled. Most all of the state hospitals for the mentally ill have been closed unless you are criminally insane. Thus the catch 22.. you have to do something first. Time for a great discussion in our country about this,but don't count on it.

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  7. Silverfiddle mentioned the sheriff.

    According to this:

    [Sheriff Duknik's] office knew about Loughner -- they KNEW -- and told the victims of these threats that Loughner was "being well managed by the mental health system."

    "Being well managed"? Hardly.

    Has anyone here heard anything about Loughner's getting mental-health care?

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  8. Bunkerville,
    Thank you for that comment!

    You mentioned:

    Thus the catch 22.. you have to do something first.

    And that is true in most states.

    I wonder what the mental health laws are in Arizona.

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  9. Bunkerville has an an excellent post about the memorial service held earlier this week.

    CHECK IT OUT!

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  10. at the risk of sounding uncivil....exactly what did the Democrats do to address any of the real issues facing our country this week?

    The National Debt continues to spin out of control, unemployment figures are up, inflation up...etc etc etc and meawhile the democrats are listening to fanfare to the common man...are is it fiddling while Rome burned????

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  11. blogginator said...
    at the risk of sounding uncivil....exactly what did the Democrats do to address any of the real issues facing our country this week?

    Answer: Not a dang thing except posture, finger point and use a tragedy to rev up for the re-election campaign trail.

    Since when have the Demonkkkrats ever been interested in any REAL ISSUES other than their own agenda.

    Yea, I'll go ahead and say it and tick some folks off but the religious far right is no dang different.

    If it's not on their agenda (of either bunch) it ain't important.

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  12. There IS NO EXCUSE for what we saw from Obama and what we saw was a *poser* that denigrated the memorial service for these good folks that were shot and killed...

    Looked like a damned political rally...

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  13. I understand that in Arizona the law is very open, almost anyone, any citizen, has the right to report someone they believe may need mental help, that "may" be a danger. I would hope that is true for any state in America. There was a discussion about this on Fox.

    The shooter was an adult at the time of the shooting, but it seems he had mental/emotional problems long before he became an adult. It is much harder to force an adult to seek help or to be placed in an institution that will help them.

    I'm sorry to admit, I am bad about not reading articles in their entirety at times. If the first page doesn't peek my interest enough I don't bother with the next 2, 3, etc. My bad.

    Debbie
    Right Truth
    http://www.righttruth.typepad.com

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  14. Texas Fred said:

    Obama...denigrated the memorial service...

    I completely agree.

    The "feel" of that service was that of a campaign event. Too much hooting and hollering from the audience -- not to mention Obama's uptilted chin and vocal cadences. Obama himself could have brought the crowd to a more appropriate attitude. He didn't. It's not difficult to figure out why he didn't.

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  15. Like the Paul Wellstone Memorial, this was just a big pep rally. Who cheers, whistles, claps, gives houts outs and boos (like they did Jan Brewer) and wears slogan T shirts at a memorial? It tells me it is not a memorial for the victims, it is a rally for the politcians.

    As for Pelosi's disjointed remarks, all I can say is that is what you get when ultra-Progressive Liberal meets senility.

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  16. I feel for the victims and thier families and the family of the shooter. The shooter is mentally ill and it is near imposible to force an adult to get care.

    As for lessons learned and all that blah, blah, both parties are to blame and both parties will suffer the ramifications of their actions from Obama's "political photo shoot" Wednesday evening to Palin's "scripted recourse."

    It is what it is.

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  17. I didn't watch the pep rally. I can hardly bring myself to watch the clips the next day on the news.

    Had BO tuned down the crowd and told them to keep the applause down, I might have looked at it more favorably, despite the tacky t-shirts. But he couldn't resist the applause and just lapped it up. This was the first salvo at BO's reelection campaign.

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  18. Layla,
    At this point, I feel more for the victims than for the shooter or his family.

    Now, if it comes out that Loughner's family did try to seek help, I'll have some sympathy for them. At this point, as far as I know, we have no evidence that Loughner's parents sought help for their son.

    Why do I sound so cold hearted? Because I had contact with one family that specifically covered up their son's mental illness by never seeking any help of any kind even though they full well knew what he was capable of -- to the point that the worst happened. The case of some years ago didn't get much media attention, but I won't say more online so as to protect my own identity.

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  19. The fact remains that certain types of mental illnesses are all but impossible to treat. Sure, there are medications, but often a schizophrenic will not regularly take those medications. Thus, sometimes the only solution for treating schizos can involve lifetime confinement in an institution.

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  20. Debbie mentioned:

    I am bad about not reading articles in their entirety at times. If the first page doesn't peek my interest enough I don't bother with the next 2, 3, etc.

    I'm guilty of the same thing at times.

    So, let me copy and paste the following section from the article in the WaPo:

    According to her first cousin Judy Wackt, some members of the extended family have had mental illness....

    Now, most families do have some kind of skeleton or scandal in the extended family. So, maybe the above means nothing. But I did want to point out that portion of the article.

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  21. The case to classify Jared Loughner as a leftist just got more compelling.

    Police have discovered the psycho took photos of himself wearing nothing but a G-string and pointing his 9mm pistol at his genitals and buttocks, dropping the film off at a local Walgreens to be developed.

    It's practically a Robert Mapplethorpe "art" exhibit Ducky would pay to see.

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  22. Beamish,
    Good grief!

    Pity that Loughner didn't act on that particular pose before he headed to the Safeway store.

    One thing to be grateful for: Loughner didn't reproduce.

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  23. AOW mentioned in one of her comments about how hard it is to treat mental illness. I know from personal experience how hard that is. One of my aunts was as nice a person as you would ever want to meet. She would do anything in the world for you and she had a wonderful relationship with my uncle. All of that, as long as she was taking her medication. When she stopped, which she often did, all bets were off and my uncle had to sleep with his door locked, for fear of his safety. A mentally ill person simply does not tick the way you and I do and it makes for some very unpleasant times.

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  24. Still waiting for the rest of the story? How did he get to the event? did someone drive him there? and I thought he didnt have any money? So who bought the gun?

    Let's see the Obama crowd says Obama needs a defining moment like oklahoma. and then suddenly a former republican turned democrat gets nearly gunned down.

    Who cares if I have no facts, I say the democrats planned this whole thing and coerced this jared guy into pulling the trigger. Lets repeat this conspriracy over and over again let the democrats do until its true.

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  25. I am convinced of one thing...that Palin has almost no chance to win the nomination. Not because of anything the Left has said but because of the responses here. Clearly conservatives do not want her.

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  26. Warren,
    That cartoon is an accurate depiction.

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  27. "In my experience, most people reached their conclusions about the cause or causes of the Tucson shootings early on — when the blame game was running in high gear and without enough factual information upon which to base a valid conclusion."

    I think that's how things go as well. I can tell you for sure that out here we only heard the smears and lies parroted by our useless media. The drive by media was long gone by the time the facts were played out or made available.

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  28. MK

    I agree that most people made up their minds early on and yes it is troubling we have so many weak minded folks in America that undoubtedly fell for the tripe that passes for news.

    However, there are also a large and growing group of folks that immediately saw through the media haze and surmised the reality of the situation. It is this group that has quelled the discussion.

    Its a week later and the discussion is over. We are on to gas prices and the hypocrisy of the left as just a few years ago they cried fowl or is it DUCK when prices were up under Bush.

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  29. I blame his parents, not for the murders, but for not taking appropriate action before he reached adulthood. They knew. The mother said he was incapable of getting a job. He spent 4 years in a Community College.

    Arizona laws enable many around him to find a way to do something. Putting up with his madness, on full display apparently, should not have been an option. What were Randy and Amy Loughner doing all those years?

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  30. Maggie,
    Exactly!

    Now, if Loughner's parents had made attempts to get help for their son, I'd be much less inclined to condemn them. As I mentioned in an earlier comment, families can cover up a problem in the family until the terrible explosion in which other people get killed. No excuse for allowing that to happen, IMO.

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  31. Its awfully hard to get an adult committed or even to get a mental evaluation done against their will. They pretty much have to commit a violet act or try to commit suicide.

    Most people that are Psychotic / Schizophrenic, do not pose a danger to anyone.

    I know three quite well. In all three cases, none of the symptoms were apparent until the person was over 18.

    Two of the individuals work and support their family. One is paranoid to such an extent that he is on disability and is frequently committed to mental hospitals when he has a complete break with reality.

    The two that do well are married to women that are dedicated to their well being and watch them closely for signs their medicine is working and make sure they take their medication as they are supposed to.

    The third has alienated his spouse and daughter and drinks as much alcohol as he can. He talks of "demons, princes and principalities". Its heart breaking to see someone descend into true madness and be unable to do anything about it.

    I don't know much about Loughner's parents but they may not have been able to do anything.

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  32. Warren,
    Most people that are Psychotic / Schizophrenic, do not pose a danger to anyone.

    True enough.

    I do wonder if Loughner's parents said something to him about Pima Community College's requirement of a mental evaluation before Loughner would be allowed to return to school. Possibly they told him to get out until he got help -- not that such a step makes much sense when dealing with the mentally ill.

    Most of Loughner's ravings on the recently-released video make zero sense, but he did mention something about the school making him homeless.

    I'm sure that more will come out about Loughner's parents down the line. I suspect that they've got an attorney telling them to keep mum so as to minimize civil suits.

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  33. "Therefore, we can conclude that the Left's blame game is losing traction in the news media."

    Unfortunately, even when the majority of the public, as evidenced in a CBS poll, says that the right was not to blame the damage was already done.

    The big lie does not have to be seen as true to succeed. It only has to sow doubt that will come into play later.

    Republican leaders interviewed afetr the shooting said they intended to tone down their attacks. This is exactly what the Democrats, who NEVER tone down THEIR attacks wanted.

    And as far as Sarah Palin is concerned, none of her followers will think less of her after this, but many Independents who might have considered her for high office will now think twice.

    The big lie worked! And the worst thing about it is that instead of talk about how to get treatment for the mentally ill out there who may be in a similar situation to Lougher all the oxygen was taken out of the room by the blame game.

    Meanwhile, there will be another shooting some day because we did not fully address the cause of this one. When that happens, we'll know who to blame.

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  34. Mike,
    Republican leaders interviewed afetr the shooting said they intended to tone down their attacks. This is exactly what the Democrats, who NEVER tone down THEIR attacks wanted.

    Among those Republican leaders who have suggested the toning down we find Newt Gingrich. I'm sure that the Democratic Party is snickering up their sleeves after Gingrich's urging.

    You make a good point about Independent voters. Yeah, they'll now think twice about any blunt-speaking Republican.

    ReplyDelete

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