Former Bush Undersecretary of Commerce Kills his son and himself.

[NNadir]

More from the family values crowd:

Ex-Bush Aide Fatally Shoots Son, Himself
Gunfire at McLean Home Followed Fight With Wife

By Tom Jackman and Stephanie McCrummen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, July 15, 2006; Page B01

A former Bush administration official, after arguing violently with his wife Thursday night, shot and killed his 12-year-old son inside their McLean home, then turned a shotgun on himself and committed suicide, Fairfax County police said.

William H. Lash III, 45, was an assistant secretary of commerce from 2001 until last year, then returned to teach at George Mason University Law School in Arlington, where he had begun as a professor in 1994. His wife, Sharon K. Zackula, fled the house before the shootings, and police said yesterday they were not sure what ignited the murder-suicide in a first-floor bedroom.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/14/AR2006071400502.html

[Poll_Blind]

1. Who shoots their 12-year old son after an argument? A NeoCon. n/t

PB

[TheMadMonk]

8. Excuse me! That's remarkably close to making political hay...

from another's tragedy.

Political affiliation has nothing to do with it.

A parent who murders their children and then kills themself, does it for the purpose of making their (ex)partner suffer in the worst possible way.

[PA Democrat]

2. I wouldn't want to live with the guilt of fleeing, leaving my child

behind to be murdered. How incredibly sad.

[hang a left]

3. And wasn't a former Secretary of Commerce

killed when he supposedly when boating alone about a month ago??

[cynatnite]

4. So tragic...

no family deserves such horror. :(

[NNadir]

6. The wife is the only survivor. It's terrible to be sure.

Except for being a Bushie, the guy seemed to have a sterling resume:

Lash's résumé was long and quintessential of the Washington elite -- an Ivy League pedigree, high-powered law firms, a presidential appointment, think tanks, boards of directors, guest spots on television news programs, and prestigious university positions.

He had an undergraduate degree from Yale University, a law degree from Harvard University. He clerked for a New Jersey Supreme Court justice. He served as counsel to the chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission during the Reagan years, worked for the law firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson and served on the boards of directors of private and publicly traded corporations. In 1994, he found a place in academia on the GMU law faculty.

He specialized in the arcana of business law there and earned a reputation as a generous and jovial cigar-smoking colleague, an approachable professor and a sharp-minded and willing debater of ideology

It would seem that there was a huge difference between his external and internal life. One cannot imagine what was going through his brain, but one also wonders how a very smart man can be a Republican in the first case.

I'm sure that even as a murderer he will have fawning obituaries, just like another famous dead Repuke, Ken Lay. Maybe a member of the Bush family will attend the funeral.

[cynatnite]

9. People aways remember the good of a deceased person...

It doesn't matter the bad, they'll be exalted anyway. Happens every day.

Political persuasion means little to me in these kinds of tragedies. Whatever was wrong with this man went way beyond what party he belonged to.

[NNadir]

10. He killed a 12 year old.

It would be one thing to kill himself, another to kill his 12 year old son.

The fact is the man is a murderer. It's tragic for his wife, who survives, but the guy was a creep.

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

11. Well said. n/t

[RagingInMiami]

5. Family values at its best

[biscotti]

7. He also worked for the * administration

He lead the reconstruction of Iraq

The Summit Keynote Speaker is Assistant Secretary of Commerce
William Lash, Chairman of the U.S. Iraq Reconstruction Task Force


Get the latest and most accurate information on the multi-billion-dollar rebuilding of Iraq by attending the premier Washington reconstruction event this year. Confirmed speakers include:

February 9 OPENING ADDRESS
H.E. Rend Rahim Francke
Ambassador-Designate of Iraq
to the United States


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

February 10 OPENING ADDRESS
H.E. Karim Kawar
Ambassador of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to the United States

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMIT KEYNOTE ADDRESS
The Honorable William Lash III
Assistant Secretary of Commerce
Chairman, U.S. Task Force on Iraq Reconstruction

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.rec-dev.com/conferences/conferences/past/irs/feb10_04/index.asp

[DistressedAmerican]

12. I Find Some Replies On this Thread Disturbing.

Like some are actually gloating over the fact that a Bushie went crazy killed his son and himself. Maybe it is just me. But, that is the tone I get reading through the comments.

This is a tragic event. None of us knew this guy or the problems he had. Yet, I see a lot of assertions about his motives.

Repugs are some messed up folks. They deserve much of the misery that comes ther way. But, I can't take any pleasure in seeing something like this happen. Not in any way.

Disturbing.

[JohnnyLib2]

13. Thank you

An understated part of that story is the "autistic child."

"until you have walked a mile in his moccasins...."

[Divernan]

15. Having worked with many families with autistic children,

when I read this story, I thought about a common pattern in which parents were able to keep autistic children living at home and going to local schools until said children reached the teenage years. Then, particularly for boys, with the sudden spurt in adolescent hormone levels, behaviors changed and a lot of physical aggression might be displayed toward siblings, parents, classmates, etc. It was at that stage that parents, often out of concern for other children in the household, and because of the increased level of constant supervision required, reluctantly decided to place their autistic children in state institutions or group homes.

This father was described by friends and neighbors as having an extremely warm and close relationship with his autistic son, playing in the yard with him, taking him to professional baseball games, etc.

Perhaps there was a disagreement, or an ultimatum from one spouse to the other about keeping the son at home, in which case perhaps one of the parents would have to give up a career to become a full-time caregiver. I saw many couples get divorced because one parent wanted to send the child out of the home, and the other refused.

From the published reports, the father loved the son. The son's autism is a tragedy the family lived with for 12 years. It wouldn't be the first time a parent killed a child in the belief he was saving the child from "a fate worse than death". I'm not endorsing the father's actions, but I am pointing out that none of us begin to know the facts of this case, so let's put the attack dogs back in the kennel.

[JohnnyLib2]

16. Thank you for the insightful comment

I have similar experience which leads me to take this story a little differently from other crash-and-burn stories involving Bush associates.

[DistressedAmerican]

19. Well Said. Thanks.

I have some experience in that area as well, with an ausistic boy of abouyt the same age. He was very difficult for the family at that age. He was strong as an ox and used all his strength for all actions. He would run you right down if you were in his way, he would lash out at his siblings and he beat his own head bloody onthe walls whenever he could get away from others long enough to do so. It was very difficult for them. They stuck it out because they loved him. But, as a new parent of a beautiful and healthy baby, I am more and more amazed at what they were able to do for their son. It is hard enough when there are no other issues.

Thanks for adding this.

I hope that some folks are taking a different view of this story after the more recent comments.

[Divernan]

25. Congratulations on your new baby.

My kids were grown by the time I started working with the autistic and their families. I tell you I was having nightmares about some of the situations I saw, and thanking god that my 3 kids were "normal" and bright and happy.

[niyad]

23. the only thing with which I disagree is your comment that one or the other

parent might have to give up a career to be a caregiver. from what I read of his resume, there would be enough money to hire full-time care.

[Divernan]

24. That could well be true,

But (and again, we don't know the facts, so this is speculation upon speculation), in cases where you have to be able to physically restrain a teenage boy 24/7, that means finding and hiring 3 strong men with training in caring for the autistic (and then some other people part time to cover weekends, holidays, vacations/illnesses of those 3 - because they're going to put in a 40 hour work week, with benefits) You're looking at something like $100,000 a year. If you throw in health insurance/retirement- plan for these skilled employees-now stay with me here and don't go haring off on whether a republican would provide those to an employee- the economic costs climb another 30%. These costs would not likely end during the parents' lifetime, because autistic people have normal life expectancies, so the child will outlive the parents by a generation. It is an absolutely horrible problem for the parents who know that when they die, even if the money has not run out, there will be no one to oversee care and protection of their adult child.

So you would realistically need enough invested capitol to return $100,000 to 130,000 per year for the projected normal life expectancy of another 60 years for this 12 year old. I think the father was currently working as a law professor at George Mason University Law School. I have a former colleague on the faculty there, and I also used to teach at a law school. I would estimate that if the man was a full professor, he'd make maybe $100,000 a year. With his Harvard law degree and connections, he could have made a lot more at a law firm, but that would have meant putting in 70 hour weeks. As a law professor, he had a lot more free time to spend with his son, and that may be why he chose that job.

Even if the parents could afford the financial costs, the emotional costs of a lifetime spent living in the same household with a potentially violent teenager/adult autistic person, plus their caregivers, demand a psychological strength and a sacrifice of personal privacy and normal social interactions with non-family members that some people just don't have. For example, if there were other children in the household, those kids could never invite friends over to play. All it takes is one violent explosion for neighbors to ostracize a family.

I well know there are different degrees of autism, and I am presenting the worst case scenario above. But I saw literally hundreds of such worst case scenarios within my home state. I was in awe of the parents who were able to cope with the challenges - and in the cases I saw, the parents had very little outside help - perhaps a day program for six or eight hours a day, five days a week. They were desperate for some kind of respite care program to give them a break from their caregiving duties so they could do things together, such as to attend a family wedding or graduation, or take a very well deserved week off from the constant vigilance. The bottom line was that the couple could never do anything as a couple anymore, because one of them always had to remain with their autistic child. There were no respite care programs available. The autistic family member was not welcome at restaurants or movie theaters - they wouldn't dare take him/her to even the mildest movie because something in a preview or another member of the audience's actions might set them off. These are things I never thought about until I started working with these families.

Again, I don't know what the circumstances in this case were, but this seemed a good opportunity to point out to the majority of people who have no experience in the area, what a daunting level of physical and emotional strength is demanded of parents under such circumstances, 24/7, for a lifetime. I can understand how a parent would crack under the strain.

[checkmate1947]

14. You'll find

Just as many moonbats liberals, as you will Repugs,

[New Government]

17. Mental Illness

Mental illness knows no political affiliation as some posts above suggest.
In fact, mental illness is the great medical scourge of 21st century humanity.

-----------------------

[NNadir]

29. We have no idea whether he was mentally ill.

Maybe he was just a vicious controlling freak trying to hurt his wife to the maximum.

Not all criminals are insane.

[Neecy]

18. If this had happened during the Clinton administration...

They would have demanded a special prosecuter to make sure the Clenis wasn't the shooter. And Rush would have been on-air within seconds claiming that Hillary had something to do with it.

Oh, wait, that actually happened.

[DistressedAmerican]

20. Are You Arguing That We Should Behave Like That Here?

Do we really need to become the enemy we despise?

My apologies in advance if that is not the point you are making. But, it sounds like it to me.

[Neecy]

21. Of course not.

I'm merely illustrating that Republicans have a very different standard on how they handle a personal tragedy - they make it political. Imagine being Vince Foster's wife and having to hear that trash for years.

I think this should be handled as the Foster suicide should have been handled - with sympathy and compassion, things totally lacking in the far right.

[DistressedAmerican]

22. That is why I Pre-offered My Apologies. I Was Not Sure.

I am glad that is not what I thought I was reading. You are right that they would handle this in a repulsive manner. They have the track record to show that.

Sorry for the misunderstanding. Just wanted to check.

[ComerPerro]

33. This reeks of the Clintons. I am sure Hillary killed that guy and his son

[formercia]

26. This guy knew too much

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/14/AR2006071400502.html


Ex-Bush Aide Fatally Shoots Son, Himself
Gunfire at McLean Home Followed Fight With Wife

By Tom Jackman and Stephanie McCrummen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, July 15, 2006; Page B01

A former Bush administration official, after arguing violently with his wife Thursday night, shot and killed his 12-year-old son inside their McLean home, then turned a shotgun on himself and committed suicide, Fairfax County police said.

--snip--


Among his duties at the Commerce Department, Lash headed a task force on the reconstruction of Iraq, in which he dealt with businesses seeking contracts.



This guy knew who the players were and where the bodies are buried.

[itzamirakul]

31. Most important...he probably knew where the missing 6 billion dollars

ended up...the money trail....was he going to be caught? Wasn't that missing money earmarked for Reconstruction of Iraq?

[deutsey]

27. He was also Chairman of the US Iraq Reconstruction Task Force

http://www.rec-dev.com/conferences/conferences/past/irs/feb10_04/index.asp

[arwalden]

28. ~

Tragic.

[Divernan]

30. Part of father's statement before the US Senate - "a turtle in a tree"

According to this, the man came from a poor background, growing up in the inner city. He thanks his mother and teachers, but does not mention his own father. I mention this because some assume he came from great wealth because he has an undergrad degree from Yale and a law degree from Harvard.

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM H. LASH, III
BEFORE THE UNITED STATES SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE
JUNE 21, 2001
Chairman Baucus, Ranking Member Grassley, I am honored and humbled to come before you as
President Bush's nominee for Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Market Access and
Compliance. I know the committee has a hectic schedule this week, and I appreciate the
opportunity to appear before you today.

. . . . . . .
This hearing room is a long way from the streets of my youth in Jersey City, New Jersey. They
say when if you see a turtle in a tree, you do not know how he got there but you can be sure he
had help. I would like to thank the people who have helped me in my American journey. My
mother Vivian Lash who instilled a sense of confidence, values, love and who stressed the
importance of education in the difficult surroundings of the inner city; the nuns at Sacred Heart
School in Jersey City who would never accepted anything but my best; and Justice Alan Handler.
of the New Jersey Supreme Court who taught me that both sides should be always be heard in a
quest for justice. But most importantly, I would like to thank my wife Sharon Zackula, and my
son Will for reminding me everyday what is most important life.

Although I am a law professor by profession, I have served as a lawyer for and corporate director
of several companies. Indeed, my first assignment after graduation from law school was assisting
a U.S. firm exporting into Europe. As a corporate director, the firms I have served have all grown
by exports. Indeed, one of these firms is totally dependent on exports and on the ability to invest
in foreign markets. I have witnessed first hand the challenges of small and medium-sized
exporters and am particularly sensitive to the impact foreign trade barriers have on U.S. exporters
and investors.

[ComerPerro]

32. Guns don't kill people. Members of BushCo do.