Tucson shooter - "I define terrorist."

[cbdo2007]

from CNN:

A sampling of the Arizona shooting suspect's social-media postings

YouTube

December 15, 2010:
If I define terrorist then a terrorist is a person who employs terror or terrorism, especially as a political weapon.
I define terrorist.
Thus a terrorist is a person who employs terror or terrorism, especially as a political weapon.
If you call me a terrorist then the argument to call me a terrorist is Ad hominem.
You call me a terrorist.
Thus the argument to call me a terrorist is Ad hominem.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/01/08/arizona.shootings.suspect.social/index.html?hpt=T1

[Robb]

1. ...

[Systematic Chaos]

2. More like, defines REDUNDANCY.

Sheesh!

[TBF]

3. No kidding. nt

[elocs]

4. His posting also define "mentally ill". Perhaps those parts went over your head? n/t

[cbdo2007]

5. "mental illness" is no excuse for killing 6 people.

"Mental illness" can also have different interpretations based on the person defining it.

[elocs]

8. No, it's not an excuse but it is an explanation.

Mental illness has a specific definition and it is an actual disease. We have learned that it is the Republicans who like to define words as they see fit rather than use the accepted definition.

[bettyellen]

6. Context:, his brand of illness passes for normal in AZ these days.

someone should do an edit of his rantings mixed in with the madness spewed by that of dozens of other Tea Baggers and see if they could actuaally pick him out of the bunch as especially dangerous. Because part of the problem is, he blends in pretty well. Why get a sicko like him help when you agree with the much of his irrtional hateful rantigs?

[NightWatcher]

7. Mentally ill my ass. He had the Mens Rea plus the Actus Rea

And now he's claimed his 5th Amendment right to silence.

[elocs]

9. In all the endless speculation nobody knows for sure if the shooter was mentally ill

or the degree of his mental illness if he is sick. Certainly nobody here. Much of his writings, words, and actions do point to mental illness.

Also, just because someone is mentally ill does not mean they are stupid or not intelligent or completely unaware of their rights. The mentally ill are far, far more often the victims of crime than criminals and escaping imprisonment on an insanity plea is also very rare.

It is apparent that many so dearly want the shooter to be a clear headed and thinking teabagger who was inspired by the hate of the right, also he may have been pushed by the hate words it clearly seems that this man was night in his right mind and has not been for some time.

[justiceischeap]

10. Even if he is mentally ill and not in his right mind

Doesn't mean that hate words couldn't have affected his instability. It is MORE likely that he would be susceptible to those words than not. In other news, he could totally NOT be mentally ill but whacked out on drugs. Went to high school with a kid who was on the honor society, blah, blah, blah... he went to college, dropped some acid and came out of it believing he was Jesus and though after a time stopped believing he was the big white cloud in the sky, was never quite the same again. I've had other friends that when they drink they sound like incoherent nut jobs but once sober, quite literate, intelligent people.

I guess my point is, that until we have a diagnosis from someone whose actually talked to the guy, and said, "yeah, he's mentally ill" or "nope, just weird" we shouldn't jump to one conclusion or the other. One thing we can know for certain right now is this...

He shot 19 people, killing 5.
He asked for Rep. Giffords showing this wasn't a random act (it's also been reported that he was trying to reload when he was tackled)
He said goodbye to friends and family either on of his YT vids or his MySpace page (means he planned this and probably expected suicide by cop)

Dude had a plan and went through with it.

[elocs]

11. If there are indications he is mentally ill (and there are) why jump to the conclusion

that he is totally sane?

Don't believe for a second that just because someone is mentally ill that they are stupid or not intelligent and are incapable of intelligent or deliberative actions. It's just that they do not have the control over those actions that those who are not mentally ill have.

Those who are mentally ill are certainly more susceptible to being affected by the words, the hate words, of others. The talking heads who spew the subtle and not so subtle hate messages are never going to do anything remotely like what happened themselves. They push others to do it and then deny any culpability in what happens.

[justiceischeap]

12. I guess my point, is why make him sound like he didn't know what he was doing

If he is mentally ill. That's what a lot of people automatically think, he didn't know what he was doing because he was mentally ill. He had a definite plan. He targeted her. It was politically motivated because he targeted a POLITICAL figure. I'm not suggesting that mentally ill people aren't intelligent but to say he didn't have control? There are tons of mentally ill people who don't plan to shoot a politician in the head at point blank range.

There's more to this story than his mental illness. He had a political reason for doing what he did, even if it doesn't make sense to the rest of us. IMO, anyone who lets their personal beliefs get so out of control that they feel they must shoot and kill someone to make their point isn't sane but it doesn't mean they aren't deliberate.

[elocs]

13. My guess is that you don't know about mental illness,

but you desperately want this tragedy to be politically motivated.

There are millions of people in this country who are mentally ill, some much worse than others. The mentally ill are far, far more likely to be the victims of crime than criminals, but out of those millions there will be some who will commit very violent acts.

[justiceischeap]

14. When you shoot a politician, doesn't that inherently make it political?

And no, I know nothing about mental illness, other than battling clinical depression all my life. My point is that just because this guy may be mentally ill, doesn't mean it couldn't be politically motivated. It seems to me you're the one that doesn't want to see that shooting a politician could be political.

[elocs]

15. If you shoot a priest, does that make it religious?

I don't believe the shooting was politically motivated by the shooter, but that he was influenced and affected by others.

[justiceischeap]

16. Yes, IMO, if you plan to shoot a priest, it's religiously motivated

Reports are now stating he was associated with an anti-semite group. If that's indeed true, that's political. It's all in how you view politics.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x150285

[elocs]

18. Not necessarily. A paranoid schizophrenic shot and killed a priest

and 2 lay people in a church in my community 2 decades ago. He did it because the voices in his head were telling him to do it and he personally had no religious motivation to commit the crime. He spent 20+ years in a state mental hospital and was recently released because he is compliant with his medications and has proven not to be a danger to himself or others.

[Statistical]

17. He speech pattern is classic schizophrenia.

The combination of repetitive statements that don't really say anything and the random jumbling of unrelated topics.

In his mind this "logic" and "conclusions" are profound. Like a memorable quote from a great classic fiction. It is the delusion at work.

For some insight people should watch (or rewatch) "A Beautiful mind". Sadly unlike the movie most schizophrenics are violent especially without therapy and drugs. When reality and their delusions collide it doesn't end well. schizophrenics need medication and regular access to mental health professionals.

Sadly in this country we have a mental health crisis. Our physical health care system is rainbows and unicorns compared to the abomination we call mental health. This isn't an attack on the people in the system (my wife is one of them) however there simply isn't enough funding, and there are enough procsses and systems in place to make it comprehensive. We could triple public mental health funding (not exagurating triple it) and it would only put a dent in the problem.