NPR's Daniel Schorr Blames The Internet For Ft. Hood Shootings
from the maybe-time-to-hang-up-the-microphone dept
I recognize that NPR news analyst Daniel Schorr is well into his tenth decade of life, and plays the role of the "senior statesman of journalism" on NPR at times, but as a bunch of folks have sent in, he seems to have totally lost it with his recent piece suggesting the internet should share some of the blame for the Ft. Hood shootings done by Maj. Nidal Hasan. The reason? Hasan apparently communicated via email with an "extremist cleric" whom he had met years ago (in person) at a mosque in Northern Virginia. One wonders if they had corresponded by telephone, if Schorr would be questioning if AT&T was to blame. Or, if by pen and paper, if Bic was at fault. Of course, Schorr doesn't even know what was in the emails sent between the two, so his speculation is based on even less than nothing. However, even if his worst fears are true, and the cleric somehow pushed Hasan to carry out his attack, the fault remains with Hasan, and potentially the cleric. Not the internet.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: blame, daniel schorr, ft. hood, internet, nidal hasan, shooting
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Right, so cut the guy some slack. Had he been in his 70's or even 80's, but c'mon Mike....jeezus.
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Put the blame where it belongs...
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Re: Put the blame where it belongs...
Henceforth, we shall strip lawbreakers of their ability to use language in any form whatsoever... that'll fix 'em.
: P
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Re: Put the blame where it belongs...
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Re: Re: Put the blame where it belongs...
Ha! Me too! I just learned how to fashion a razor-sharp edged projectiles for my next mass-murder. Pack 200 of these babies into a vest-bomb, head to the nearest Supermall and Kablooey! Instant Body Count!
Take that, Infidels! Your "internet" will be your undoing, you capitalist christian dogs.
How'd I do, Mr. Schorr?
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...
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LOGIC.
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Fig?
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he's sort of right
Sure, it's great when entrepreneurs in underdeveloped countries can use the Internet to get micro-loans or gender-confused teens in small, close-minded towns can actually find acceptance and not sink into a shame spiral that ends in suicide.
But, the Internet also makes it possible for people filled with hate to learn new and better ways to propagate hate and to act on their hate. These people also can find acceptance. These people also can find funding. None of that is as possible without the Internet.
Obviously, the Internet isn't solely to blame or even mostly, but like the telephone and the automobile, the Internet has transformed our culture and society. Some for the good, but some for the bad too.
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I wouldn't say he's exactly blaming the internet
Here's the link to the story (which you should have provided).
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120545573&ft=3&f=2101143
However, he does ask the question if it should share some of the responsibility. He doesn't flat out blame the internet but he does leave a suggestion. It's silly since you should never blame the tool but blame who is actually responsible.
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Re: I wouldn't say he's exactly blaming the internet
Um, we did provide it. It's the blue highlighted stuff in the post...
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Re: Re: I wouldn't say he's exactly blaming the internet
In reference to a document I had submitted for approval, I once had a boss ask me why I had text that was underlined and blue highlighted throughout my document. I laughed because I was sure he was joking.
He was not joking.
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Nobody squeezed the trigger for him.
This is all just a very lame excuse from someone who has no concept of personal responsibility.
When I was much younger, I got conned into going into a church of scientology. They started their crap with me and
I had to literally fight my way out of there.
I don't blame my friend for 'turning me on to it' nor do I blame the scientologists that I had to fist fight.
I blame myself for not doing any homework on these people, their methods, philosophies, conduct, etc. so forth and so on.
I take responsibility for my actions and the world would be a much better place if everyone else took responsibility for theirs.
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Wait, wait...
Hypocrites?
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Yet fails to put the blame where it belongs. On the guy that did the shooting and the political correctness of American society that allowed this human filth to continue to work amongst our men and women in the military.
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He shouts "Allahu Ahkbar" while killing people
Ignoring the elephant in the room.
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Hmmm...
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Wtf?
How do I know this? I have had quite a few friends stationed there over the years, and I've visited on many an occasion. Anybody from the Kileen area who says they were surprised by this event is lying.
And, no, it wasn't caused by the Internet.
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Re: Wtf?
And, no, it wasn't caused by the Internet.
"""
Unless you want to make a case that internet-juice is leaking out of the wires and infecting the soldiers with evil thoughts?
In all seriousness though, I'm shocked that this information has not been examined, at least not through any media outlet I use. How many incidents are we talking about?
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Re: Re: Wtf?
Anyway, I certainly couldn't count the total number of incidents (I live near Ft. Sill, not Ft. Hood), but I know of at least half a dozen with serious injury in the last eight years, not counting incidents involving vehicles. It's frequently enough that the soldiers stationed there don't think anything of it and won't sleep by the windows in the barracks.
Remember, though, that Ft. Hood has the main in/out processing center for overseas tours, though and we all know how great the military is about making sure that our soldiers are mentally sound. (That adjective was sarcastic, of course.)
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Blaming the ISP would be closest to blaming AT&T or blaming ... the US Postal Service.
Closest to blaming the Internet would be blaming the telephone network itself or the concept of a postal service.
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The predetermined area of the massacre was a gun free zone and thus, the victims were UNARMED. It was a 5' female Police Officer (armed) that took Hassan down. But I digress, it's just the same old song - let's blame the internet, let's blame the video game, let's blame the gun. *** Blame the finger, not the trigger!
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If We Make Plumbing Illegal, only criminals will have plumbing!
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dumb people
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