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Murder at Virginia Tech
How did this awful thing happen? The media and the blogosphere are full of all sorts of variation of this question.It happened for two reasons. A young man chose to commit murder. And it happened because dozens, if not hundreds, of people chose not to defend themselves. Just who did they think was going to save them? In the time that it took for this murderer to roam the halls and shoot nearly 50 people, was there not time to formulate a plan, take action and end the rampage? Were there not objects in every room that could be used as weapons? Was there no one larger, stronger, faster than this murderer? How many of the victims were shot in the back? Shot running away? As we learn more, there will be stories of courage and self-sacrifice that will emerge, just as they did in the Columbine story. Will there be any stories about people fighting back? Virginia Tech has a Corps of Cadets, 732 members strong. Where were they and what did those future officers in our military do? We were all inspired by the tale of Flight 93 on September 11. There is a lessons in that story that many seem to have neglected to learn. That same lessons was demonstrated by the firefighters of New York City as they ran into the burning towers, and the men and women of our military at the Pentagon. When you are in danger, sometimes the morally correct thing to do is to run towards that danger, and try to make a difference. During the time that the murderer was shooting people, the police were coming. By the time that they were in position and confronting him, he had killed about 30 and wounded over a dozen. Just who did they think was going to save them? Is it too much to expect, since this is twenty-first century America, that Americans will defend themselves? Is it too much to expect that young men and women, smart and healthy, some with military training, would act to preserve their own lives as well as those around them? Is the courage of Flight 93 so "last century"? Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2007-04-17 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=186033 |