I know its not your intention, but its not wise to post rumors and opinions at this stage....

I respectfully disagree. Schlussel has an agenda ("Pakis"?), until people can tell all us furriners apart, it directly impacts us. We have a right to know. I think your comment belongs more on her blog, but I wouldn't recommend wasting your time... :(

very tragic. if we can all take a moment of silence.

Even if it does not turn out that the shooter is Muslim, this is a demonstration to Muslim jihadists all over that it is extremely easy to shoot and kill multiple American college students.

what kind of fucked up shit is that? what is this comment based on? stereotypes? bombings and school shootings are in the same category now? was the last school shootings done by brown kids? also was mr. tim mcveigh muslim? what is the muslim civilian casualty up to now in the middle east?

My thoughts and prayers go out to VT. How horrific.

I'm sorry ANNA, but you can go onto DU-type blogs and find people blaming Bush and the Iraq war for this: I know, because some of the right wing blogs are linking to them, saying: look, look what this says about the left. The better ones offer their thoughts and prayers, and caution patience, and not to jump to any conclusions.

Debbie Schlussel is a wannabe media whore ala Ann Coulter. She will use ANY incident to claim muslim/arabs are behind it; Anything she's says or writes is suspect.

I've been trying to catch the updates all day. It's very disturbing and I really can't see myself getting involved in a speculative dialog so early on. I'll get my guns out for when the identity of the shooter is known.

I'm just incredibly disappointed.

Not to mention that "Paki" is a racial slur equivalent to "ch*nk." She needs to be held accountable for saying this shit. I'm contacting mediamatters.org right now.

I left a comment on Shlussel's page regarding "Pakis"...how ignorant is she...

Oh good grief! I would not expect to find anything less from a hardcore right wing blog.

The right wing is on their knees now praying to God that the killer is a Muslim!
Ohhh...I can just sense their collective angst as the authorities have not yet disclosed the identity of the killa'

This is a sad sad event. I am still sitting here in shock.

I wonder what Schlussel will have to say if I proposed a theory that some one was trying to take out the brown people on campus, given the high percentage of "homegrown terrorists" there.

DU-type blogs

What is a DU-type blog?

I went to VT 1993-1997 and it is just tragic to read about what happened at my school.

MD is talking about this site:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/

And she is partially correct. There is always people on both sides that bring out the worst.

PS: Could you link those websites MD? Be curious to see what threads are being as being representative.

I don't understand why people feel the need to attack the media, government, etc. at a time like this. The shooter is dead. Possibly his identity is not being released so that a)the shooters family can be contacted b)the shooter's identity and, therefore, his nationality is still unknown or c)that information will not bring back the students who died today.

I read Miss Schlussel's blog. Its so hurtful to lash out at the messengers instead of mourning and sending prayers to the family's of those lost. Also, no one has confirmed that the shooter is even a student, so the make-up of the student body is fairly irrelevant. I found it interesting that she felt this tragedy showed how easy it is to gun down American students. As though the shooter is acting as a terrorist by encouraging terrorists--even if the attack was not motivated by terror.

That's a stretch. She's spreading hate. It is unfortunate.

My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims, those injured and the Va Tech community.

Even if it does not turn out that the shooter is Muslim, this is a demonstration to Muslim jihadists all over that it is extremely easy to shoot and kill multiple American college students.

I never understood this logic, like Muslim jihadists can't figure out by themselves to run into a public area and shoot people?? These f'ing people spend every waking moment of their lives figuring out how to end other life. Don't you think "run into an area and just shoot" would've crossed their mind already?

To be honest, this sort of event does have crazy white cracker written all over it, but so did the beltway sniper thing. So I've stopped trying to guess nationality. But it seems somewhat outside the jihadi M.O.

I'm sorry ANNA, but you can go onto DU-type blogs and find people blaming Bush and the Iraq war for this

The right wing is on their knees now praying to God that the killer is a Muslim! Ohhh...I can just sense their collective angst as the authorities have not yet disclosed the identity of the killa

yeah, its completely disgusting; don't worry, even if its not a muslim/brown person, they will use their highly developed logical faculties to draw rarefied and exceedingly subtle (as a sledgehammer, that is) implications

At least one first-hand witness -- who was himself shot in the arm -- has described the shooter as "Asian," which in the U.S. usually means East Asian: link

Several sites have indicated a girlfriend connection.

At the end of the day, if the right-wing gun lobbyists of America weren't so powerful, shit like this wouldn't happen in the first place. I hope you desi yanks put that bitch Shlussel in her place. I live in London and the anti-Islam here is pretty horrendous, but if I were in the US, I'd be a very angry young woman. I remember working with the most right-wing self-righteous redneck from Illinois who used www.jihadwatch.com as his main source of news. I'd be flipping out like ANNA too!

The identity of the perpetrator is now supposed to be James Jay Kim. He committed suicide inside Norris Hall by a self-inflicted shot to the head.[5] He was believed to have used either two 9 mm. caliber handguns or a 9 mm. caliber handgun and a .22 caliber handgun.[11] Authorities said that the gunman carried no identification,[13] but that investigators were trying to trace purchase records for the guns found near the body.[5] A student speaking to TIMES NOW said that the first gunshots were heard when classes were in progress. "We heard about 30 gunshots in the morning. The gunman appeared to be Asian and was looking for his girlfriend," the student said.[14] The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives believe the gunman, described as a young Asian male, used two handguns in the shootings before taking his own life. One official added that the gunman was "heavily armed and wearing a vest."

From wikipedia

Btw, Norris Hall is the Engineering bldg. Given the higher percentages of desis and Asians in general in fields like Engineering, one would wonder this shooter was out to get Asians/brown folks.

What galls me (aside from the ridiculous logical leap required to go from "shooter" to "Muslim jihadist") is that Schlussel is either so ignorant or so disingenuous that she actually responded to someone's comment referencing her use of "Pakis" with "YOUR BELIEF SYSTEM IS FLAWED. EITHER TERM IS CORRECT. WHAT IS THIS--THE IMUS THOUGHT POLICE?".

and there is one commenter on Schlussel's blog who finds it 'shocking' that a large number of students at VT are from China and India. I am waiting for some hater to pick up on that comment and run with it.

Is the only way some people know to mourn is to hate?

Very sad. Doesn't look like terrorism and I don't think Bush has a girlfriend.

It's pointless to write on Schlussel's blog or email. She loves the attention. I've read tons on her and nothing in her history shows that she cares about a different view point, or even, to care when she's wrong to actually say that. For example, she went after a junior republican senator from California - Darrell Issa because he went on a trip to the mid-east and his ethnic background is Lebanese. She claimed without any proof that he met with Arafat - even though there were other senior senator's there and there was nothing else anywhere to corroborate this -- she went on a tirade about how he was working with terrorists. The result of this was that an extremist Jewish group tried to blow up his offices, but were caught before they could. Schlussel claimed that her article never said anything about committing violence but didn't exactly show her proof that he did anything either.

I suppose people in the USA media don't realise that 'Paki' is like using the N word?

Really sad and horrifying news. And this e-mail ANNA quotes actually makes my spine chill.

Commiserations Americans, really sad and almost unthinkable occurence.

Yeah, the ignorance of it all sends chills down my spine. It's a deranged Star Wars mentality when it comes to the likes of her. She should be sued for her comment.

and I don't think Bush has a girlfriend.

.....that was hilarious!

To be honest, this sort of event does have crazy white cracker written all over it, but so did the beltway sniper thing. So I've stopped trying to guess nationality. But it seems somewhat outside the jihadi M.O.

You don't need "white" when you write "cracker".

I really do wish people would wait until all the facts were in before jumping to conclusions. This applies more to Debbie Shlutskie's blog than SM.

And you know? I'm really starting to loathe certain parts of America with a deepseated vehemence, because this kind of thing is popping up ALL THE TIME these days. Her comment about the "Imus Thought Police" is especially ironic, since that would be just another example of the kind of intolerance that's made it uncomfortable for me to go to movies, ride a plane, or make eye-contact with a random stranger because they might THINK I WAS A TERRORIST.

When oh when will the country swing left again? Please, when?

Shouldn't the anger of the readers here be at the shooter who took over 30 young lives, more then Schlussel personal blog.

Looking at the images here, it looks like the police were rounding up Asian student(s) after some info on the shooter's race.

http://www.roanoke.com/photography/slideshows/galleries/vaTechShootings041607/gallery.html

http://www.roanoke.com/photography/slideshows/galleries/vaTechShootings041607/images/image4.jpg

http://www.roanoke.com/photography/slideshows/galleries/vaTechShootings041607/images/image6.jpg

If you listen to the eyewitness account on washingtonpost.com, you'll hear a student, who was in the room at the time of the shooting, describe the shooting. When the reporter asks the student to describe how the shooter looked, he simply says "serious." My guess is that if the shooter looked like he might possibly be Arab or Muslim, eyewitness accounts would most definitely note that right away.

more rumors from angryasianman:

According to unconfirmed rumors available to The Reference Frame, the killer was a 6-foot tall male Asian student between 20 and 25 years from Radford University whose girlfriend from Virginia Tech left him. He had two guns and wore a vest with too much ammunition.

In the morning, he went to her dormitory. She was not there so he shot her roommate and some staff of the dormitory. They didn't shut down the university, so he continued and tried to find the girlfriend in the classroom. He didn't know the exact location, so he has shot a couple of classes and then himself.

@34 - Brownfob

If your a police officer and you just got the word that a the suspect is Asian, specifically Chinese, etc. What would you do? They are probably doing the safe thing both for themselves and the rest of the campus. At least they are not shooting first and asking questions later.

I am a student at William and Mary in Virginia and we consider V. Tech to be a sister college. I nor any of my classmates can describe the shock and the heartache we have for what happened in Virgina Tech. Many of our friends from Northern Virginia attended V. Tech. Right now, we are frantically contacting our friends in facebook. Fortunetely, my friends are safe. But this is a opportunity for mourning, not for pointing blame. The shooter might be Indian/ Pakistani. He might be Asian. But now is not the time for pointing fingers.

I am disappointed at what Schlussel is saying. Most of us don't even know the identities of the people who are shot. Now is not the time to push an agenda.

I hope everyone has the virtue of mourning the victims of this unfortunate tragedy.

Shouldn't the anger of the readers here be at the shooter who took over 30 young lives, more then Schlussel personal blog.

Analyzing Schlusser's writing to point out the kind of hate it is attempting to fan against an entire community (with the hundreds of potential deaths that might result from such hate-politics in the US/world arena) is just as important as sadness and anger at the shooter.

Thanks, Anna for that sadly illuminating post. It is important for us to be alert to how language gets used to make veiled (or come to think of it not so veiled) insinuations and planting seeds of hate and suspicion.

brownout:

If your a police officer and you just got the word that a the suspect is Asian, specifically Chinese, etc. What would you do? They are probably doing the safe thing both for themselves and the rest of the campus. At least they are not shooting first and asking questions later.

I'm not pointing fingers here. Officers did the right thing.
My post was to provide some 'facts' (slim) in the wake of the rumors that have been floating around.

Also, I don't think any of the students care about what rightwingers or leftwingers blog. Most of us are just horrified that this would happen at a university like V. Tech. We are just facebooking each other to ensure we are safe.

AVi,

I am sorry for what you and your friends are going through - I pray for the best for you all.

AVi is right, and we shouldn't allow people like Schlussel to get to us like this. That way they win.

...listening to the stream right now-- they're interviewing a sophomore who was saying that it was so windy, helicopters couldn't medevac victims. :( It was unbelievably windy in DC; mailboxes blowing over, etc. Didn't even occur to me to connect the two.

Take care Avi, thoughts are with you.

that blog was sickening.

regardless of the ethnicity of the shooter-- he was clearly extremely disturbed to resort to such inhumane violence. i seriously believe we need to put an emphasis on mental health and well-being in the US. perhaps some tragedies like this could be prevented if screenings were more routine and mandatory.

also, the systems in place to purchase firearms both legally and illegally in the US are far too simple. gun violence plagues our nation in many ways. i really wonder how many tragedies in every type of community need to take place before our nation stops cowering behind the NRA and an outdated constitutional right.

According to unconfirmed rumors available to The Reference Frame, the killer was a 6-foot tall male Asian student between 20 and 25 years from Radford University whose girlfriend from Virginia Tech left him. He had two guns and wore a vest with too much ammunition.

Um...what?

The shooter might be Indian/ Pakistani. He might be Asian.

In America, unlike the UK, the word "asian" applies to east asians not south asians. The shooter has been described as asian by a number of sources. You can therefore rest assured he is east asian. The Korean guy named is the most likely perpetrator at this point. Koreans are the most hot-headed and macho of east asians. They are also sick and tired of losing their korean girlfriends to white men with an asian fetish.

Clueless (#33):

Shouldn't the anger of the readers here be at the shooter who took over 30 young lives, more then Schlussel personal blog.

No.

That guy was messed up, sure. But I don't really see what being angry at him would accomplish. I'm fairly certain he was unhappy and probably mentally ill, since he allegedly took his own life.

On the other hand, I think it's very appropriate and useful to be angry at someone who uses a tragic incident like this to fan the flames of racial hatred purely so she can get an extra 5 minutes of fame in her otherwise stupid and meaningless life.

The Korean guy named is the most likely perpetrator at this point. Koreans are the most hot-headed and macho of east asians. They are also sick and tired of losing their korean girlfriends to white men with an asian fetish.

Way to lower the level. Dumb generalizations about ethnic groups are NOT welcome here. Desist or be gone. Thank you.

Koreans are the most hot-headed and macho of east asians.

Ummm, let us be careful of not committing Schlusserisms here...

Koreans are the most hot-headed and macho of east asians. They are also sick and tired of losing their korean girlfriends to white men with an asian fetish.

For shame.

This entire post decried stereotyping, and look at what you wrote about Koreans. My thoughts are with anxious students facebooking each other, heartbroken family members and everyone else affected by this tragedy. How can yours even go there?

In America, unlike the UK, the word "asian" applies to east asians not south asians. The shooter has been described as asian by a number of sources. You can therefore rest assured he is east asian. The Korean guy named is the most likely perpetrator at this point. Koreans are the most hot-headed and macho of east asians. They are also sick and tired of losing their korean girlfriends to white men with an asian fetish.

UM. WHAT?!

Seriously, what the hell is wrong here?

Avi, thoughts and hugs. Take care.

All generalizations have a kernel of truth in them; Prema's statements are stupid but having known many Koreans, they are not all together untrue, in terms of Koreans being hotheaded.

All generalizations have a kernel of truth in them

Yes, but Schlussel's blog post is a demonstration of just how dangerous/insensitive it is to generalize based on "a kernel of truth." I think we should avoid doing the same, while simultaneously castigating Schlussel.

in terms of Koreans being hotheaded.

Seriously, stop being idiots. We ban for bullshit like this.

From the Washington Post:

Trey Perkins, who was sitting in room 207 in Norris Hall, said the gunman barged into the room at about 9:50 a.m. and opened fire for about a minute and a half. "Some 30 shots in all," said Perkins, who was seated in the back of the room.

It was a German class, Perkins said, and there were about 15 students in the room. The gunman, who was holding two pistols, Perkins said, first shot the professor in the head and kept on shooting at the students. Perkins said the student was of Asian descent, "around 19," and had "very serious but very calm look on his face."

"Everyone hit the floor at that moment," said Perkins, 20, of Yorktown, Va., a sophomore studying mechanical engineering, who sounded shaken on the phone. "And the shots seemed like it lasted forever."

The man in the photo brown_fob linked to where police are arresting an asian looking man was a reporter, who was left later.

Mass murders like these always get smoke & mirrored to death. It's the youth culture, jihadists, Asians, martians -- but never the guns.

Avi, our thoughts and prayers are with you, your friends and their families.

In America, unlike the UK, the word "asian" applies to east asians not south asians. The shooter has been described as asian by a number of sources. You can therefore rest assured he is east asian.

I agree with this statement, but the rest seems stereotypical regarding Koreans. If the shooter was Indian/Pakistani, they would definitely be describing him as Indian or Middle Eastern looking. The whole event is so tragic and shame on those people who are trying to use this situation to spread hate.

Prema #47, you forgot to mention that Koreans are nappy-headed hos (what, there are Koreans named Ho) ruled by a 5 foot tyrant with a bouffant hairstyle and an Elvis fixation. (We'll ignore the success story of South Korea for the purposes of this discussion). Also, next time, for 10 points, try to work Kimchee into your comment.

And, Salil #46, I feel you. There is no such thing as too much ammunition, especially when dealing with a large state school like this.

In all seriousness, Debbie Schlussel has a history of nutjobbery, so can we just ignore her and avoid giving her airtime? I also love how she's proposing the second shooter theory. Hey, wait, I know a famous assassination where they never found him either. Must've been Paki, the devious bugger! Debbie, how about this "The shooter had 2 guns. We all know from John Woo movies that Hong Kong heroes always have 2 guns and come flying into buildings shooting from both hands in slo-mo and with great acrobatic flair. So, the shooter must be from Hong Kong."

Tragic. Apparently this is the worst of such incidents.

this will undoubtedly sound insensitive, but i am echoing the sentiments of many south asians by stating i hope the rumours of the shooter being east-asian is a 'relief' regardless, its a barbaric and cowardly attack

That was in response to Schlussel's baseless conjecture (that many posters here are worried might be true) that the shooter might be desi. She knows full well (and so should all of you) that desis are not described as "asian" looking in America. She is just being dishonest.

The reports say that the shooter was asian and was reacting to losing his girlfriend.

NRA won't say anything until all the "facts are known".

Isn't this their stand always..shooting or no shooting.

Shodan: well said.

Would someone please delete the 'proud pakistani' remark!

Avi, our thoughts are with you, and the students and professors and all else whose lives have been cut down in this senseless way. Their families must be going through hell.

Would someone please delete the 'proud pakistani' remark!

Deleted and BANNED. Wtf.

Regardless, of his ethnicity (the point is its irrelevant if a loon is a loon), people should complain like Naina said she would. The Bengali kid from East London who stabbed a pregnant woman with a heroin needle to comatize her before mugging her, didn't do it because he was a 'paki' or a 'jihadist', he did it because he was fucked in the head. These ignorant, right-wing media bods are too malicious. Calling someone a Paki is the same as calling someone a Nigger. IT ISN"T RIGHT. Lets be calm and work with the system to bring these muthafuckas down; send complaints, write letters to the editors, write artlicles, but always stay calm. I often get angry and I can let it show on this blog as with close friends and family, but I make a point of never appearing angry about such things among white people, a few of whom will gladly use it to make us look like the crazy, angry, difficult freaks who don't don't want to fit in with the rest of society..

In this time of tragedy the worst thing that we can do is indulge in hate-mongering - in this space least of all.

So please no "cracker" comments (# 17 ) Isn't is as offensive a term as the N-word or Paki?
And definitely no hateful stereotyping of Asians whether east Asians or South Asians ( # 54,# 47)

The reports say that the shooter was asian and was reacting to losing his girlfriend.

yeah, but you should have quit while you were ahead; as so many people pointed out above, we don't need more debbie'isms

In this time of tragedy the worst thing that we can do is indulge in hate-mongering - in this space least of all.

Well said, Runa. Thank you.

I have yet to see a picture of peace or counselling. All I is see is uniforms and guns and more guns.

So please no "cracker" comments (# 17 ) Isn't is as offensive a term as the N-word or Paki?

It would seem so, here.

but I make a point of never appearing angry about such things among white people, a few of whom will gladly use it to make us look like the crazy, angry, difficult freaks who don't don't want to fit in with the rest of society..

What is it about this well-meant post that is bringing out everyones inner Schlusser!!!

Yes Baljit, stereotyping white people is WAY better than stereotyping brown people...NOT.

Can we instead focus on discussing support systems for young people that leave them with more options than killing, the violence that cultures that worship guns breed, the constant reiterating in our movies of 'strength' and 'bravery' of an action-based kind?

I always get amazed when desis, who are often victims of demonisation in the current climate, can essentialise and demonise other minorities. I shudder to think of how hurt an East Asian would be to read some of these comments.

Clueless, when Indira Gandhi was assassinated, an out of control media played a significant part in demonising innocent Sikhs and contributed to the dark atmosphere that followed. I think it's not a bad thing to keep an eye on any kind of collective culpability rhetoric and demonisation and hate mongering following events like this.

Ms. FinkNottle#75, I think it is because all South Asians are quick to stereotype.

Red Snapper the out of control media in India is alot more powerful after Indira death, then Ms.Debbie blog.

Also let not forger that over 3000 sikh's died after the death of 1 women in India. Now compare that to the death of 3000 people on 9/11 and the backlash against brown/desi looking people, last time I checked there were not 3000 dead brown/desi in the week after 9/11.

Ms

. FinkNottle#75, I think it is because all South Asians are quick to stereotype.

thank you red snapper for your comments (#76). tragedy is due to a lone psychotic gunman, not a whole ethnic group of people.

Red Snapper and Clueless, both of you are making good points. No need to compare tragedies, when every single one is awful.

Purush#79, I present to you sarchasm.

Since my views are in the center unlike those on the far left or far right I don't have anything to gain from this sad day.

But you can bet tommorow on the view Rosie O'Donnell will go off another left wing rant about gun control and just like some hardcore right winger will have some rant of there own tommorow.

Purush#79, I present to you sarchasm.

Clueless, that doesnt really stack up with why notice should be taken of this lady's blog. I think you missed my point. It's a reason to be vigilant against the dissemination of this kind of thinking. Surely, you will agree, that demonisation like this is dangerous after an event of this type? In the context of 2007 it's not a bad thing to be aware and counter this, is it? Surely you don't think there's anything wrong with that, do you? Surely you're not saying that because things are not as bad as they were in Delhi 1984, nobody here and now should talk about or challenge this thinking? Sorry clueless, but that's not an argument.

No need to compare tragedies, when every single one is awful.

Honestly, I wasnt comparing, I was just using an example of what can happen when demonisation shading into assertions of collective culpability takes place unchallenged in the aftermath of a horrific and violent act, and why it's not a bad thing to take notice and assert that it's wrong to do that, in response to Clueless's assertion that it should be ignored.

Honestly, I wasnt comparing,

I know. And I know both of you have good intentions. I was just trying to steer things away from...well, you know. News like this always leaves us all raw, doesn't it? :(

over at feministe, jill makes a fair point:

it’s worth noting the theme of misogyny that permeates so many of these shootings

i mean, no one had to point out it was a male. it was just understood.

This shooting was on April 16, Columbnine was on April 20, I think Waco was April 19 as was the Okalhoma City bombing were on April 19 also.

The middle of April is bad time of year. Plus the sad deaths of Nirvana Kurt Cobain and Alice In Chains Layne Staley were also in April.

I'm off to see Modest Mouse live tonight to get my mind off this for a few hours so I can't comment any more, but I hope the other people post that comment here don't forget that over 30 young people have died.

#88 -

I don't know that it was understood by default, there were only mentions of 'gunman' and 'shooter' most everywhere I read, until some news report mentioned that the gunman was male.

I hope the other people post that comment here don't forget that over 30 young people have died

Honey, I think that aspect of it is rather unforgettable. It's almost impossible to contemplate continuously, it's so horrifying; it's not that people are willfully ignoring it (IMO). Even if things end up a bit too heavy...hope you do get your mind "off this".

News like this always leaves us all raw, doesn't it? :(

Yes, peace.

Idiot Schlussel. Why would anyone think it's a good idea to foster paranoia about a terrorist attack? And, the CYA move only reinforces the paranoia (and in the extreme case gives hypothetical future terrorists ideas). Is she more interested in feeling powerful and being right than the truth? [note: rhetorical question]

#89: April/Spring is a bad time because students are stressed out by then. Which is one of the reasons Spring Breaks were created. I guess some people handle stress poorly.

I think people are over-hyping this terrorism stuff, anytime anything goes wrong, especially in the USA, they get scared about terrorist attacks. I guess you're a traumatized country since 9/11. "If they could get into my house once, what says they can't do it twice." Which is something the students are gonna go through in this situation too, because it's the second time there's a shooter scare on campus (or so I read online.) Good luck dealing with that, be strong! Students worldwide support you, don't let ONE person ruin YOUR campus for you.

I agree with the lady on one point: why did they not release further information? I remember on Sept 13th 2006, the media had released a lot of info on Kimveer Gill (although it was wrong information, for instance they assumed he was Caucasian at first.) Maybe it IS a Brown person at VT, and they don't want to scare the population or give incentive to racists to talk more smack.

wow, incredible how Schlussel is trying to spin this tragedy for some political end.

Schlussel, if you're reading this--do you really think the masses are really that ignorant and racist to find your brand of hate appealing?

it's funny--with all that talk of national security and "united we stand!" brand of patriotism, that looks down on any sort of crticial thinking, it's histrionic blame-the-other reactions that are so endemic to pundits like schlussel and bill o'reilly that are the most divisive of all.

I was in Virginia today, just north of where the shootings happened...taking my MCATs. I had no knowledge of this while I was trapped in a testing room, but when I came out...the entire state seemed to have gone quiet. Families are sitting at home, praying their children pick up their phones or a stranger doesn't call them to tell them their child was killed. This is a horrific tragedy, not the time to point blame towards any race, any stereotyper or racist pathetically running towards their biases to justify an event that was born out of hate and will only grow into the other aspects of our lives if we place this on where the killer came from. I'm still shaking, just watching and hearing the trembling voices of parents who could only hear "33 have died"...not if it was their child...panicking if they're not picking up the phone...worried sick...losing all faith in an academic institution...fearing every moment that it can happen again somewhere else. I hope they release the information of the killer soon, not whether he was Korean or not Pakistani, but what happened to him, what events led up to this, how he had such easy access to 9 mm automatics, what we can do to prevent someone we never speak to on campus or at work from deciding to permanently change and destroy the lives of innocents.

So please no "cracker" comments (# 17 ) Isn't is as offensive a term as the N-word or Paki?

No, it's absolutely not. A quick proof: You calling the N-word the N-word instead of typing it out, why do that if the words are equivalent? I could go further, but this isn't the right place, so I wont.

A middle-eastern sounding VT student is on CNN right now. He took a video on his cellphone which is being shown all over.

His name is Jamal Albargouti. I wonder what Schlussel thinks of that.

When a mass murder comes up the pro-gun and anti-gun people always bring up their argument. In high school we had a cross-country meet the week after there was a mass murder in Killeen, TX where a guy drove his truck into a Luby's Cafeteria and started killing people. You may remember the media tried to blame the movie The Fisher King as his motivation since apparently he saw that movie before he died.

Pro-Gun: Well if people were allowed to carry guns then someone could have killed this guy sooner.
Anti-Gun: If guns were illegal there would be less shootings.
Pro-Gun: Well if guns are illegal then only the criminals will have guns. They will just get their guns illegally. If people are armed then people will think twice before using their gun.

I see some logic to both sides but personally I have a hard time seeing the logic of degenerating to the Wild Wild West, where everyone can settle an argument with the gun. Plus I think the pro-gun logic is flawed to a certain degree since most of these mass murderers seem to already have accepted that they are going to die and simply want to take revenge by claiming as many innocent lives as possible.

I want to believe in the goodness of humanity but events like this make it hard. Was Twain right about the Damned Human Race?

Ms Fink Nottle,

I never stereotyped anyone. I said a 'a few' white people among the white majority we live among. This is not the first time that I've heard of negative stereotyping of blacks, South Asians, Iranians, Jews, Arabs by certain backward, outrageous and callous commentators who use use and misuse the media.

I am entitled to my view that I don't feel entirely comfortable about venting my anger in public, because I did spend a lot of my youth feeling like a victim and getting angry would often backfire. I was actually thinking of Socrates and his approach in challenging what he felt was injustice, to reason with the misinformed - 'Why do you believe that etc..' rather than 'Fuck you bitch' (which would be my instinct).

All I was saying is that we need to fight the misrepresentations of whoever with a cool head. So calm yoirself down quick and embrace the idea that some f us aren't too happy about how we are being (mis)represented in the media. And no, that doesn't make me a Schussler or a hater of white people, thank you ver much.

He is from west bank, lived his entire life in Saudi Arabia. He is now talking about what he went through before he came here to the USA.

Was Twain right about the Damned Human Race?

No, just the Awful German Language...

This news was very depressing for those of us who are teachers here in Virginia. We practice for these sorts of situations about once a month and it's always harrowing to hear about something tragic like this happening at a school. Or anyplace, at anytime.

Their poor parents and siblings.

HMF(# 97)

I did hesitate before typing it .I don't use that word and don't see it being used in the media so I don't know what the "acceptable" format of it is- if there is one.If I had said "C-word" I am pretty sure it would have been confused with another vulgar term .#74 Filmiholic confirmed that it was as offensive as I believed.

I wonder, what if in the rush to condemn racism against us, we gang up and create a new kind of racism against some other group? Stereotyping hurts -and we know that through personal experience.How can we of all people- as a minority - justify stereotyping and using unacceptable terms against anyone?

Anyway , as you said , this isn't the time and the place.

Its been a very bad day for so many people .Adding fuel to the fires already raging in hearts will not help.

Schlussel, if you're reading this--do you really think the masses are really that ignorant and racist to find your brand of hate appealing?

Sadly, I do think this is true - the ignorance of the masses. That's why outlets such as Fox News not only survive, but thrive.

it's histrionic blame-the-other reactions that are so endemic to pundits like schlussel and bill o'reilly that are the most divisive of all.

it's funny how extremists beget other extremists who claim not to be extremists, and vice versa. Which extremist came first?

I agree with ANNA on this opportunity to castigate an entire group of people and bring up the violent tendencies of a small portion of that group, while this behavior is common TO US ALL. Forget this Schlussel woman, CNN did almost the exact same thing. As I wrote on First Draft this morning,

The shooter has tentatively been identified as a young Asian or Asian-American male. The moment that tidbit hit the ticker, CNN's female anchor of the moment launched into a list of shootings conducted by "foreigners or people of foreign descent" at college campuses, including an Asian, Algerian and Indian, and wondered out loud if these gunmen felt a sense of alienation that drove them to their crimes.

A Safe Schools Initiative study conducted by the Secret Service in 2002 shows that there is no one profile for school killers. In fact, "the students who carried out the attacks differed from one another in numerous ways. However, almost every attacker had engaged in behavior before the shooting that seriously concerned at least one adult - and for many had concerned three or more different adults."

Never mind that the deadliest campus shooting until now was conducted at UT-Austin by one Charles Joseph Whitman. Does he not qualify for alienation, as don't Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold? Furthermore, are some people of Asian, Algerian and Indian descent disallowed from being just plain psycho?

Mental health is seriously underrated all over the world and neglected even more recently by funding cuts from the federal to local level. With mental illness increasingly overlooked as a national health issue, I predict more of these terrible incidents. My biggest fear, however, is retaliation killings that occur in the wake of large crimes conducted by anyone not white. "Horrific" would not begin to describe the taking of more innocent lives to protest the initial killings. Let's hope that kindness and cool heads prevail, although such stupidity hath no limits.

Now that they've (sorta) identified the man as a Chinese national here on a temporary student visa, I really hope this situation doesn't explode at the hands of vigilantes.

Mental health is seriously underrated all over the world and neglected even more recently by funding cuts from the federal to local level. With mental illness increasingly overlooked as a national health issue, I predict more of these terrible incidents.

You are quite correct in this statement, IMHO. I just happened to have renewed my pathetic and paltry health care policy this week and noted that any mental health issues (even due to pregnancy, trauma, etc) are NOT covered. And, I'm on the "more benefits" plan. Go figure. I wonder if any insurance companies have been sued for denying coverage to the perpetrator when something like this (mass shootings, etc) has taken place.

Now that they've (sorta) identified the man as a Chinese national here on a temporary student visa, I really hope this situation doesn't explode at the hands of vigilantes.

Well you can't completely disreguard what she says as racist. It's not like it's a completely random guess, afterall people of pakistani descent are unproportionally inclined toward terrorism and violence (in comparison to people of any other Asian nation be it Indian, Irani, Chinese, etc). It's an undeniable fact, but at the same time it's too early to say that it MUST be a pakistani. But once again, the chances are higher that it's a pakistani than any other nationality....

It's not like it's a completely random guess, afterall people of pakistani descent are unproportionally inclined toward terrorism and violence (in comparison to people of any other Asian nation be it Indian, Irani, Chinese, etc). It's an undeniable fact

For the love of whatever deity you prefer, STOP IT. What utter garbage. Spew more like it and we ban.

It's an undeniable fact, but at the same time it's too early to say that it MUST be a pakistani. But once again, the chances are higher that it's a pakistani than any other nationality....

I am pretty sure it would have been confused with another vulgar term .#74 Filmiholic confirmed that it was as offensive as I believed.

Yes. I saw the "confirmation", via urban_dictionary , a user edited joke of a site to prove a sociological point is like using a cracker jack toy to pick steel titanium reinforced lock. Look, terms like cracker and honkey are caricatures, the site had a picture of Indiana Jones for crying out loud. They don't carry the same historical weight. Racism is an institution, needing years of socialization, indoctrination, etc.. so there's no way we can fight racism with our own racism. Any form we come up with will simply pale in comparison.

It's offensive, in a satirical way.. it's just not as offensive.

Shouldn't the anger of the readers here be at the shooter who took over 30 young lives, more then Schlussel personal blog.

Uh, since this is a S. Asian blog, I'm sure the bloggers feel some responsibility to address the naked hatred perpetraded on our community for not other reason than our skin color, country of origin, or historical identity.

Schlussel's only agenda is to spread hatred of Muslims especially in the context of them hating Jews, Israel, Christians and Americans. There is nothing she won't use to try an undermine any attempt at moderation from the Muslim community because it interferes with her message that Jews=good, Muslims=bad. The purpose of her message is little more than an elementary school popularity contest. The woman has serious self hatred issues that manifest themselves as hatred of Muslims. Instead of relying on the great contributions of the Jewish diaspora and Israel to the greater good of the world, she needs to demonize Muslims, believing that their demonization results in elevating the status is Jews in the eyes of other Americans. The vitriol she, and others spread, leads to excessive suffering and the promulgation of hate crimes. Addressing her vile hatred and bigotry is just as important as any grief that everyone around the country feels for these pointless murders. The issues aren't related so stop trying to pretend feelings aren't possible to be expressed at the same time.

ok, i just have to say this. please do not make unsubstantiated comments. if you have a source, please cite it.

Since you're so big on media comments and sources, the unconfirmed identification of the shooter as a Chinese man here on a temp student visa is on Keith Olbermann's Countdown and every other mainstream source right now. Turn on the TV.

As for my hope that this doesn't get out of hand, that's my hope and I don't have to cite a damned thing.

I'm surprised Schlussel still has a job anywhere. I remember during 9/11, she wrote (when she was on townhall.com) something about how she was trying to blame 9/11 on Spike Lee and Malcolm X, and how their "anti-semitism was justified" to link it to Johnny Taliban, the white American turncoat who joined the Taliban, months before 9/11.

I was so furious that I told her that "First of all, Malcolm and his family was denied freedom since birth. His father was lynched by the Klan-like terrorists. Johnny "Taliban" Lindh was given his freedom and his citizenship on a silver platter and threw it away. No one lynched his family or thought of him as subhuman.

"If you can blame Malcolm X and Spike Lee for Johnny Lindh for joining the Taliban, then I can blame Barbara Eden from I Dream of Jeannie for setting back fashion for Middle Eastern women 1000 years. And before you talk about someone who is anti-Semitic, you better check your fellow townhall.com brethren Pat Buchanan on his anti-Semitism."

Schlussel never been back on townhall.com since.

Schlussel is just unbelievable. To comments on her use of "Paki", she responds with:

"UH, ACTUALLY IT ISN'T A RACIAL SLUR. AND WHERE WERE YOU WHEN DICK CHENEY AND NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR FRAN TOWNSEND CALLED THEM PAKIS?"

Is this woman really this misinformed, or is she just this twisted? Even Don Imus had the sense to know that he'd said something offensive in the recent kerfuffle.

Also, now that reports suggest the shooter might have been Chinese, she says only "The shooter has now been identified as a Chinese national here on a student visa. Lovely. Yet another reason to stop letting in so many foreign students." Not even a backhanded attempt at some kind of retraction.

It's this sort of complete intellectual dishonesty that really turns me off the political blogosphere.

I am from Virginia Tech and at this point I find this article in very poor taste. Perhaps, one actually needs to be in the building during the shootings to know fear of death. And to think I checked SM for a decent writeup.

Personally, I don't think anyone should be looking for any angle on this tragedy. Unless evidence comes out that this was somehow racially inspired/motivated, identity politics really need to be set aside so we can all mourn properly.

I am from Virginia Tech and at this point I find this article in very poor taste. Perhaps, one actually needs to be in the building during the shootings to know fear of death. And to think I checked SM for a decent writeup.

a) Your IP address suggests otherwise. You are not from VT.

b) The only thing about this "article" (it's called a "post") which is in poor taste is the inflammatory pandering which inspired it; take it up with Schlussel.

c) If you had checked SM for "a decent writeup", you would presumably have read us in the past; that would mean you would be aware that this is EXACTLY what we would post.

d) It is beyond reprehensible that you would use this tragedy as an opportunity to troll here. Shame on you.

I'm surprised that Ms. Schlussel's blog hasn't been referenced earlier on this site. If you browse through even a few day's worth of posts you'll see this woman's obsession with linking all crime, politics and world events with Muslim terrorist motivations. Howard Stern has her on his show regularly, and while he poke jokes at her, calling her work a game of "six degrees of separation to al qaeda", her horniness to "expose" every public figure in the US associated in some way with Islam as some sort of closet terrorist has gotten hotter and more ludicrous every weeks since 9/11. A case of a pair of Indian graduate students trespassing in Cowpoke, Oklahoma, will show up on her site, speculating that "Vivek Patel" and "Kiran Krishnaswami" could possibly be Muslims scoping out a terrorist attack. She regularly fills her hourly prolific impassioned posts with phrases such as "moderate muslims (oxymoron)". What's surprising in days like these with the