December 5, 2001
11:07 PM   Subscribe

 
Eric: "Sometime in April me and V will get revenge and will kick natural selection up a few notches..."
Eric's Mom: "That's nice dear. Dinner's at seven."

Do we really need to look into this dead guy's head? He was a jerk. When I was a kid we got bullied all the time. We didn't respond by giving people lead poisoning. We took it. And we had to walk through six feet of snow to and from school. Uphill. Both ways! And we were thankful.
posted by ZachsMind at 11:37 PM on December 5, 2001


We said things like flibledeeflee.
posted by crasspastor at 11:49 PM on December 5, 2001


this is fascinatingly creepy. interesting read. great link.
posted by manero at 12:02 AM on December 6, 2001


(on possibly surviving and escaping their school attack): "...then we will hijack a hell of a lot of bombs and crash a plane into NYC with us inside iring away as we go down. just something to cause more devistation." [image]
posted by gluechunk at 12:21 AM on December 6, 2001


Zach, I knew you had it easy! We had to build our own school, so far from home that by the time we had walked there it was closed, and when we got home it was time to leave for school. These two assholes came from the shallow end of the gene pool; in Israel the army would have destroyed their parents homes, but that's grist for another mill.
posted by Mack Twain at 1:00 AM on December 6, 2001


Mack, you were able to build your own school? You were lucky. We had to dig a hole in the ground and pull a tarp over it to keep out the rain. Our school was so far from home we had to leave the night before just to be tardy. And we liked it.
posted by ZachsMind at 5:52 AM on December 6, 2001


"Right now I'm trying to get fucked and trying to finish off these time bombs."

That dosn't sound like a good idea...
posted by delmoi at 6:01 AM on December 6, 2001


luxury,
in my day we 'ad to go to school at bottom o' frozen lake every day o't week, and pay fo't privilege. and that was after working a full day at pit, 8 - 10, for tuppence a year.
once we got to school, all't staff would take turns to beat us wi' rusty gateposts until we learned us lesson. then all't big kids would have a go at medium kids, and medium kids'd beat-up little-uns until it was time to go home.
when we got home, us parents'd chop us up into little bits using wood axe, and then dance on us graves singing 'hallelujah'.
posted by asok at 6:44 AM on December 6, 2001


I question his notion of "kicking natural selection up a notch," unless he felt, like some of us might, that by removing himself from the gene pool he was doing the species a favor. That would be my take on it, anyway.
posted by SteveS at 6:44 AM on December 6, 2001


Do we really need to look into this dead guy's head?

Yes we do. We've seen what happens when you ignore things like this.

I am still constantly amazed at the level of planning that went into these killings. If they'd have put as much energy into something positive as they did into the planning of this...
posted by ColdChef at 6:58 AM on December 6, 2001


No we don't.

They already achieved their goal. They wanted to kill a lot of people and be remembered for it. We are giving these ghosts more than the reward they were hoping for. The focus should be looking into the heads of young people still alive, and find out why some would arrive at similar extremes. Giving attention to those two bastards will not bring back the people they killed, and it will not help us with the living.

I'd rather we focus on how this happens. A young soul and mind who has suffered more than Eric Harris ever did, yet has somehow managed despite the pain and frustration to see life as a gift. Paying more attention to the positives and dissing the negatives would encourage more aspiration and less depravation.
posted by ZachsMind at 7:33 AM on December 6, 2001


"Right now I'm trying to get fucked..."

I bet this asshole's sex life consisted solely of Playboy until he died a virgin -- he was suck a sick fuck, he couldn't have related to girls at all.
posted by alumshubby at 7:48 AM on December 6, 2001


Thanks for that link, Zach. Kids like him should be given more limelight.
posted by Modem Ovary at 7:56 AM on December 6, 2001


Playing Doom? Was it that long ago?
posted by spinifex at 7:56 AM on December 6, 2001


They already achieved their goal. They wanted to kill a lot of people and be remembered for it. We are giving these ghosts more than the reward they were hoping for. The focus should be looking into the heads of young people still alive, and find out why some would arrive at similar extremes. Giving attention to those two bastards will not bring back the people they killed, and it will not help us with the living.

and don't you think we'd better understand the young people still alive with thoughts and motivations that are similar to harris' and klebold's if we analyzed the way harris and klebold thought? i don't understand your frustration at giving the two attention; why don't you think it will help us with the living?
posted by moz at 8:13 AM on December 6, 2001


Forget all that, what I want to know is what the hell did he need crickets for? And why such a precise number? I was unaware that crickets are aggressive enough to use in an attack.
posted by kindall at 8:33 AM on December 6, 2001


Yes -- I wondered about those fighting crickets myself...

But more importantly, yes, I do think it is important to look inside these creeps' heads. And then take a look at ourselves and those around us. All of this planning and activity went on right under the noses of a lot of people.... people who could have seen it and stopped it if they knew what to look for or paid any attention at all. There are more of them out there, pretending they don't exist doesn't make them go away. A lot of parents have their heads in the ground -- some of 'em don't even notice when their kids run off and join the Taleban!
posted by spilon at 8:54 AM on December 6, 2001


This just makes me think again:

See what happens when morons get guns?
posted by trioperative at 9:04 AM on December 6, 2001


Exactly, trioperative. That is why we must ban morons immediately.
posted by kindall at 10:00 AM on December 6, 2001


I agree with you, Moz. This reminds me of a great piece in Salon on Eminem.

But if there's a problem here, it's us. The people with the reason, education and humanity to fix the problems that Eminem writes about are more interested in fixing him. Rather than concentrate on devastating income gaps and a shoddy educational system, his critics -- on both the left and the right -- would prefer he tone down the darkness that is essential to the effectiveness of his work, or shut up altogether.

This is the America we don't talk about.
posted by ColdChef at 10:32 AM on December 6, 2001


Don't forget that this shooting happened mere months before Mohammed Atta came to the US and began organizing his crew of 19 hijackers. I'll always wonder whether he only entertained his plan seriously after reading about Klebold and Harris.
posted by dhartung at 1:25 PM on December 6, 2001


On this subject, I'll say the same thing I said about the Unabomber- to wit, if he wasn't a complete sociopathic homicidal maniac nutball he'd be a very interesting guy.
posted by jonmc at 2:26 PM on December 6, 2001


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