A Complete Waste of Space

Pudfark wrote:[What are the proximate cause(s)?
A discerning person could ask/say things like this:
Mental Illness?
Depression?
Drugs?
Government Failure of some sort?
Terrorist Act?
Domestic Homicide Bomber?
Folks that were inteviewed, seemed to indicate that the behaviour exhibited by Stack prior to his act was "normal".
What set him off?
What could set other "copy cats" off?
Will this incident be ignored by the govt. and citizens?
What are the reasonable things that can be done to prevent this in the future...is it preventable?

So, Slick...it is a hell of lot more than the black or the white of it...the right or the wrong of it....and to accept that violent act as just that...is to bury one's head in the sand.........

sorry, but I don't agree. What set him off?? Irrational arrogance about his value to society, coupled with a feeling that the rules don't apply to him.
What could set other 'copy cats' off? Similar, and throw in the urge to make the news, and you have a likely scenario.
Will the incident be ignored by the govt and citizens? No, but it probably should be.
What can be done to prevent it? Nothing, really. These sorts of nuts are pretty common. It doesn't matter,like I said, whether what 'sets you off' is a warped religious ideal, some perceived slight, financial problems, hate or distrust of the government, whatever. If your response is along the lines of 'I'm gonna commit suicide and take a lot of unknowing innocent folks along with me", then you are irrational. Is it mental illness? Maybe, but that's such a shaky thing to define. Some folks are just less rational than others, which is pretty much why we have terrorists(domestic or international) in most societies. Hell, it's why we have folks that play the lottery, smoke cigarettes and find curling watchable(it's just that those activities prove less dangerous to those other that the irrational individual). Fretting about stuff you're never going to have a chance to control is simply going to raise your blood pressure, so don't sweat it, Pud. Yes, more stuff will happen, some similar, some completely unforseen. C'est la vie!

Ya know Slick...part of me wants to really disagree with you...It just seems from what has been told about this fellow and his interaction with others, prior to this incident....he wasn't a bad guy.....It seems to me that he blamed the government...mainly because he targeted it......or at least a symbol of it. I still think that people are tired of being pissed on by the government....and I do think that they are getting pissed off....So, I wonder? Do we fix the people? or Do we fix the government? I don't suggest this because of the actions of one person...I just wonder how many more out there are working up to the same irrational rage?

Old Pudfark sez: " Maybe Robert Gibbs has an explanation "