November 9, 2023

"I don’t need to read a single word this shooter wrote to know that there are no answers to be found."

Said a parent of one of the murdered schoolchildren, quoted in "Who should see a shooter’s journal? In Nashville, a leak heightens debate" (WaPo).

The right question is not Who should see? — it's Who should have the power to suppress?

Anyone who doesn't "need to read a single word" to know what to think can refrain from reading. As for everyone else, we are entitled to freedom of information, and that should not depend on our motives or what questions we have or how likely it is that we will find answers. One question, which some may find distasteful, is whether the killer was transgender and whether that had anything to do with the shooting spree. The leaked writing seems to make it less likely that transgenderism motivated the murder. It looked as though the motivation was hatred of affluent white people. There may be no absolute answer to be found, but it sheds some light.

Maybe some people feel that caring about the mind of a murderer is wrong and that you ought to shut yourself off entirely from whatever poisonous thoughts lead to murder. I would say make that argument to your fellow citizens. Tell us to turn off our "true crime" podcasts and Dahmer biopics and all the perverse titillation of murder stories: Turn to the light, to what is wholesome and lifegiving. Don't censor.

65 comments:

Joe Smith said...

"One question, which some may find distasteful, is whether the killer was transgender and whether that had anything to do with the shooting spree. The leaked writing seems to make it less likely that transgenderism motivated the murder."

Some have speculated that high doses of testosterone may have played a role, so not distasteful at all, but a way to possibly explain the behavior...

But I agree. Nobody 'has' to read it, but it should be available.

Sebastian said...

"The right question is not Who should see? — it's Who should have the power to suppress?"

Progs who effectively exploit women's feelings to suppress information that might reflect badly on their pet causes.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

I'm fine with suppressing all manifestos from murderers. Media attention drives violence.

But that means all, not some.

If some, then all. It's dishonest otherwise.

RideSpaceMountain said...

I knew before the shooting that the same people who are demanding you accept and tolerate their lifestyle passionately hate you for yours and are relentlessly seeking to destroy it.

I didn't need to read the manifesto to reinforce what I already know, but if you need to, you won't find anything in there you didn't already know either.

They hate you.
They want your children dead.
They want your family dead.
They want everything you have.
Act accordingly.

n.n said...

Not just transgender, but of the crossover type. The gender (i.e. sex-correlated attributes) affirmation treatment is suspect. Diversity (i.e. class bigotry or hate) is not only a plausible but probable motivation. Demos-cracy dies... is aborted at the twilight fringe.

Eric Rathmann said...

Everyone should probably read it. One should read the definitions of racism and ask if the widespread public acceptance of the concept of white privilege did not contribute to increased hatred against white people and to this specific event. The shooter lost the ability to see people as individuals but only as part of a group identity.

Dave Begley said...

Althouse, "The leaked writing seems to make it less likely that transgenderism motivated the murder. It looked as though the motivation was hatred of affluent white people. There may be no absolute answer to be found, but it sheds some light."

The role of the drugs she may have been given is important.

If she had been taking testosterone that may have made her super aggressive and crazy.

Many of these trans people are crazy to begin with and the drugs put them over the edge.

RideSpaceMountain said...

“What I see around me would drive me insane if I did not know that no matter what happens, God will have the last word.”

– Saint Paisios of Athos

Not a day goes by I don't think about that. The assaults on logical sensibility are almost daily. Probably within my lifetime they will become hourly. I wait and watch for the signs of the dam breaking...when people have finally had enough. Hopefully it doesn't happen so late my boys must take up the vigil. I'd prefer they get to enjoy the world as it could be rather than the one that it is.

CrankyProfessor said...

And if the shooter was a graduate of the same school, is it hatred of the rich or hatred of the people from whom the shooter had come??

loudogblog said...

"I don't need to read a single word this shooter wrote to know that there are no answers to be found."

Boy, talk about putting blinders on to avoid knowing something that you don't want to know.

It reminds me of Zaphod Beeblebrox's sunglasses that totally black out his vision right before anything unpleasant happens to prevent him from seeing it and getting stressed out.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

It only counts if you can blame Sarah Palin, the tea party or anyone not properly leftist.

Mason G said...

Kids spend a lot of time in government schools. Taxpayers have every right to evaluate for themselves the sorts of things kids are having their heads filled with.

Oligonicella said...

To anyone telling me what I should or can see piss off.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe:
I'm fine with suppressing all manifestos from murderers. Media attention drives violence.

Lack of attention allows it to flourish.

Rusty said...

The right question is not Who should see? — it's Who should have the power to suppress?
No one.

cassandra lite said...

If we don't let surviving loved ones determine whether to charge a murder, why do surviving loved ones get a vote about whether to release a manifesto?

(Yes, surviving loved ones' feelings might be taken into account re death penalty.)

DanTheMan said...

Allow me to summarize:

Crazy people
Do crazy things
For crazy reasons.

There is no understanding to be had.

Michael said...

I hope the shooters family is made to read it.

gspencer said...

"Maybe some people feel that caring about the mind of a murderer is wrong and that you ought to shut yourself off entirely from whatever poisonous thoughts lead to murder."

Every murder has some motive behind it. It's essential that we know.

Muslims are motivated by their religion. If their Allah says to "kill the kafir [the infidel, the non-Islamic person]," when should know that to know where we must focus our attention.

Sebastian said...

Pending release of the full "manifesto," my working hypothesis is: identity politics kills.

Prove me wrong.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Indeed. Don’t censor.

n.n said...

Mein Kampf, Mein trans... divergence, Mein climate, Mein dream, Mein "burden", etc. How many people will be triggered to protest, let alone to take affirmative action, who are not already cuckoo?

Jake said...

I don't need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.

Iman said...

This incident didn’t promote any of the Left’s approved narratives, so i
Information had to be suppressed.

Fuck these people.

Paddy O said...

No answers can be found for people who already control what questions can be asked and what answers already fit their political goals.

rhhardin said...

The narrative of victimization is ultimately at fault.

Leland said...

+100! Althouse. Spot on. I know I couldn't have written it better myself. I'm nowhere as talented. You captured my thoughts exactly.

I feel the same about the raw video from Oct. 7th. I personally don't think I need to see it, but I take issue from those who think it should be censored. Some people need to see depravity in order to have any understanding of it.

Jupiter said...

"The leaked writing seems to make it less likely that transgenderism motivated the murder. It looked as though the motivation was hatred of affluent white people."

Yeah, right. Althouse, we realize that you have a big, wet, soft spot in your heart for sexual perverts, of whatever ilk. But this particular sexual pervert was probably taking testosterone, prescribed by a perversion-encouragement specialist. And that would go a long, long, long, long ways towards explaining why she went violently insane and killed a bunch of people.

Michael K said...

What is more interesting than the thoughts of this nut is the thinking of those who want to hide it. Why are you hiding this?

The Vault Dweller said...

Blogger Michael said...
I hope the shooters family is made to read it.


That is usually the exact opposite feeling I have when I hear about a mass murder situations like this. I can understand that mentality if the parents of the murderer were out there trying to justify the shootings or blame individuals or society at large but as far I know they aren't. The parents had a daughter and then at some point realized their daughter had troubles. They didn't know what to do, so they did what they thought best, probably influenced by popular messaging in media, probably influenced by 'professionals' with a history of treatment in the field. They were probably incredibly anxious and hoped for the best. Then they found out terrible news. And they knew their daughter had done something terrible and unforgiveable. But she was still their daughter. And now they are in a position because of the enormity of what their daughter did that they probably can't get any support or sympathy in their grieving.

n.n said...

We need to know what the loony Levines are doing that confirms the findings from Johns Hopkins decades earlier. Also, the consequences of the social dissonance normalized by the Social Indoctrination Complex (SIC) in order to mitigate its, there progress.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

And I'm fine with turning off the True Crime horror show, too. Obscenity is not constitutionally protected under the First Amendment and never has been. You can argue about what is obscene, but I think graphic torture and murder is obscene if anything is. "Obscene" is not limited to "icky sex that I don't like." There's plenty of originalist history and practice to back this up.

Note that we don't have to pass laws governing obscenity, but we could and it would be constitutional. It's not quite the same thing.

I do think that there should be a uniform legal standard, which is what I think Althouse is getting at. If some content is available, all should be. Otherwise, it's being used as selective propaganda and whatever redeeming value it has is lost.

Not everything needs a law. Media outlets must choose what to cover every day (because they can't show everything that happens everywhere) and they consistently choose to spend their time showing us mass murder. That's a choice news organizations do not have to make. They censor themselves all the time, and it's hard for them to justify their coverage of mass murderers when we know that notoriety is a motivation for the crime.

I don't think that it's a hard sell in this comments section that media coverage has a political agenda with regard to the coverage of mass shootings that extends far beyond a desire to save lives. If media wanted to save lives, they have the power to do that themselves by not giving free worldwide coverage to every asshole who murders people for attention.

Finally, consider refusing to read publications that push murder and horror as a business model. If what bleeds, ledes, maybe choose not to be part of that.

Rocco said...

"’I don’t need to read a single word this shooter wrote to know that there are no answers to be found.’ Said a parent of one of the murdered schoolchildren….”

It’s WaPo so I can’t see, but do they name the parent? We know from the previous thread that parent Brent Leatherwood has been vocal against releasing the manifesto. But have any of the other parents said anything publicly? Or, is it just Brent being quoted over and over again?

tommyesq said...

Now do the Las Vegas shooter...

n.n said...

Was there a "location" icon painted on them to identify targets... placement? Were the victims disarmed in order to fulfill a fantasy of mitigating domestic violence? Were any one of diverse SUVs involved in criminal prosecution? Is a statue an image that is one degree removed from representing its human object? #NoJudgment #NoLabels #HateLovesAbortion

tommyesq said...

I feel the same about the raw video from Oct. 7th. I personally don't think I need to see it, but I take issue from those who think it should be censored. Some people need to see depravity in order to have any understanding of it.

In many ways, I think we would do the country and world a lot of good by mandating that video be shown on national television, and in every single college in the nation. No reading can equal what those images will do to shape people's opinion, and it is the rawest, most unspun presentation of what transpired.

Sheridan said...

I wonder how close the government is to creating the "Precrime" unit described in P.K. Dick's novella, "Minority Report"? The government could release the Manifesto, et al and wait for those highly titillated readers to make known their innermost thoughts. I'm sure that the feds already have available folks who are actual clairvoyents. People like Jennifer Granholm who just knows we don't need gas furnaces or John Kerry who knows what's best for everybody.

Lloyd W. Robertson said...

1. Is there such a thing as words amounting to stochastic violence--making violence more likely in a way that can be shown statistically?
2. Do American movies make people more likely to use guns on themselves and each other, whereas French movies make them more likely to fuck and then lie around languidly, smoking and thinking about fucking?
3. Why did Americans fight the Nazis and Japan so much more aggressively than the French fought the Nazis? Did Americans think both that it is right to stick up for one's rights, and that violence in some cases can do a lot of good?
4. Even given strategic bombing, the Holocaust, and other kinds of extreme violence in WW II: why did the Americans drop two A-bombs on Japanese cities? The first to persuade Japan to surrender, the second? To keep the Soviets out of Japan? To let the world know who the #1 power was? To let the techies see how both bombs worked, since they were actually different? Did the words and texts in people's lives affect their thinking and decision-making?
5. Did Hitchcock's Psycho establish a trend toward focussing on the details of a serial killer's life, inspiring many killers to try to get famous? There were of course gangster movies before, but there was at least some sense of public policy--Prohibition was a bad idea--and a gesture toward saying crime doesn't pay.

Two-eyed Jack said...

I had a friend whose psychology lab was burned out by a man who thought the oscilloscopes were being used to control his mind. This "hatred of white people" seems every bit as well-considered.

Deranged people have their own deranged reasons.

On the other hand, deranged reasons often come around to a small set of targets and ambient cultural derogation can place groups of people in danger.

Kevin said...

Many don't need to see the atrocities perpetrated by Hamas to understand the evils committed.

More people probably need to see them.

And many will argue they shouldn't be allowed.

Narr said...

How do you know there are no answers to be found, if you don't look?

If it affects the public, the public has a right to know about it.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Sheridan,

We aren't close to Dick's "Precrime," which is "we know you are going to do this." But we are very close to "You said this, and now someone is going to do this," which is what the whole "stochastic terrorism" thing is about. (Interesting: "terrorism" is OK in the vicinity of "stochastic," but not in the vicinity of Hamas.)

I don't know why "stochastic" has taken off in such a big way, btw. I've known it since I was in my early teens, but then I am a techie. But "It's one-a them SAT words, isn't it?" Not for long.

Richard said...

Hate needs an object. It can't be some massive, gauzy thing which slips through the fingers when grasped to look at closely. For one reason or another, the school became the object of the hate, but not necessarily the cause.

Sydney said...

Cranky Professor said, “And if the shooter was a graduate of the same school, is it hatred of the rich or hatred of the people from whom the shooter had come??”
It’s hatred of the people from whom she came. It’s all a part of hatred of oneself. Hatred of her body, enough to switch genders; hatred of her community, enough to want to kill its innocent members. Some people’s self-hatred manifests as despair, and they kill themselves. For some others it manifests as anger, and they kill other people.

wild chicken said...

"Kids spend a lot of time in government schools"

Wasn't this a private Christian school?

Breezy said...

People who suppress public information are apparently very immature and arrogant. Suppression exacerbates the craving to know, and the arrogance excites the flee or fight reflex. Try honesty. That’s all we want. Good old fashioned truthiness. Quit trying to control what we can know. Thats basically a fascist behavior.

iowan2 said...

.The right question is not Who should see? — it's Who should have the power to suppress?Anyone who doesn't "need to read a single word" to know what to think can refrain from reading. As for everyone else, we are entitled to freedom of information,

The is the best analysis of the situtation. And a question the authorities must provide an answer. But the media is hyper-focused on getting the narrative set.

"who should have the power to suppress?"
Leads to the discussion, from where does the power originate?

Leo said...

Hmm, from what I've read, two A-bombs was about right to get Hirohito to surrender, his admin was determined to fight to the last.

JaimeRoberto said...

Transgenderism may not have motivated the shooter, but the insanity that lead to the shooting probably also lead to the transgenderism.

walter said...

Well...the flaunting of sports backpacks IS annoying...

Narayanan said...

Manifesto release

Posthumous v Prehumous

Discuss

Gospace said...

So besides this- what else are we, the people, prohibited from knowing...

Hmm...

The Las Vegas shooter- his motivations and connections. Can't tell me the FBI and other 3 letter agencies don't know anything. But we know nothing.

The Epstein Client list. And why can't we have that? Oh, wait, I know the answer to that. It would show what an absolutely immoral and disgusting ruling class we have.

And now for something new yet related to that, and the headline is: High-end brothels serviced elected officials, tech and pharma execs, military brass: Feds Run by some Chinese name sounding fellas... First thing- the feds HAVE the client list- or they wouldn't know it included elected officials, tech and pharma execs, and military brass. First, every security clearance for every one of them should be immediately pulled, the public should know the names of every client, and every single military member should be court martialed. Brass means officers, and conduct unbecoming most certainly covers their using this service. And other charges as needed. Any of them married? Ah- there's adultery- still a federal crime for military members. Link to article: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/08/high-end-brothels-serviced-elected-officials-tech-and-pharma-execs-military-officials-and-more-feds.html

And I'm certain others here have their own favorite cover up they can come up with. Heck, we don't even have the full story behind 9/11. Or TWA Flight 800. I used to believe the official story. But not so much any more, since it appears the government has lied about so many other things.

Oh- the official story on the USS Scorpion is utter hogwash. And the Navy knew it was sunk before it failed to check-in. That much has come out. Although it's still denied.

The Crack Emcee said...

"Turn to the light, to what is wholesome and lifegiving."

And you'll end up a stupid post-RussiaGate pastor in the homeopathy aisle at Whole Foods, admiring Hillary Clinton's latest thoughts on the "election" of Adolf Hitler, as she promotes the killing of Palestinian children on The View.

Turn to drugs - they're the only things in this entire dishonest world that actually work.

mikee said...

My wife, a pediatrician, says crime shows have given her insight into abnormal ways of thinking, allowing her to better understand some of her teen patients and some of their very odd parents, although admittedly very few of them are murderers. I say that having a wife who falls asleep at night watching different ways to kill people is a wife with whom I argue very carefully.

Bruce Hayden said...

"One question, which some may find distasteful, is whether the killer was transgender and whether that had anything to do with the shooting spree. The leaked writing seems to make it less likely that transgenderism motivated the murder."

“Some have speculated that high doses of testosterone may have played a role, so not distasteful at all, but a way to possibly explain the behavior...”

She/he isn’t the first trans mass shooter. Indeed, F2M transgendered seem to be grossly over represented in that class over the last several years, as compared to their number in the general population. Something like 2 or 3 out of the last 5 or 6 mass shooters like this were apparently trans or non binary, who may constitute may 1/1,000 (.1%) of the Population. You may not like it, but there is plenty of evidence that there are very likely serious problems with loading up people with female wired brains with large doses of testosterone. T produces aggression. That’s a reality that we all know and live with. Male brains are wired to mostly deal with it. Female brains, not having evolved to deal with the problem (internally) aren’t nearly as good at it. Pretending that this isn’t happening is just idiotic, and going to get more people killed. But then again, the same people who support this, are very often the same people who support not jailing violent criminals, and then are surprised when they are carjacked by them.

Someone suggested tat the family could have stepped in. Yes, they might have had the mass shooter incarcerated as any for a time. But, given the current political, and unfortunately also then diagnostic, background, they very likely could not have gotten her off T. Any other drug, sure. But T is critical to their identity. And their identity (as trans) is more important to the left than the danger they pose to society. And, at 28, the parents had minimal legal authority to do much of anything.

Kevin said...

So it wasn’t transgenderism but DEI that motivated the killer.

I can see why that scares the progressives even more.

wendybar said...



Drake told the Nashville Scene in 2021 that he openly supported Black Lives Matter:

So I view the movement, not the riots, as what was needed. But I view the movement as something that was needed to get the attention of law enforcement around the country and to seek the necessary reforms. I feel there are some police departments that don’t have policy and procedure that’s as up to date as ours is, and I think that spurred that movement, to have more agencies have up-to-date policies and procedures and training methods. And we’ve even looked at ours too. We’ve updated ours to be even better than what we were. From a law enforcement executive [perspective], I view it as something that was needed. Something that was long overdue. But I think in the future it is going to help us go a long way.

He also said in the same interview:

I try to promote, every opportunity I can, any minority or woman within the police department.



When he got the job in late 2020, he told local media that his top priority was increasing diversity. He soon created a “chief diversity officer” and kicked white males out of leadership roles."

https://revolver.news/2023/11/nashville-diversity-obsessed-black-police-chief-hid-trans-shooter-anti-white-manifesto/

Rocco said...

Lloyd W. Robertson said...
"Even given strategic bombing, the Holocaust, and other kinds of extreme violence in WW II: why did the Americans drop two A-bombs on Japanese cities?"

The Germans surrendered on 7 May 1945. The atomic bomb was years in the making, but the first test - the (in)famous Trinity test did not take place until 16 Jul 1945.

Germany had been almost completely overrun by Allied forces before surrendering. The Japanese controlled vast areas of mainland Asia and the home islands. And the intensity of the Battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa - the latter ongoing until Japan surrendered - showed that the Japanese were still fiercely fighting. And the Japanese were still killing people by thr thousands (mainly Chinese) every day on the Asian mainland.

"The first to persuade Japan to surrender, the second?"

The second was to show to Japan that they had more than one, and would use them. Even after being nuked, the Japanese army nearly instituted a coop to depose the Emporer because he wanted to surrender and the Army wanted to continue fighting.


"To keep the Soviets out of Japan?"

The Soviets declared war on Japan the day before the second bomb was dropped. The decision to drop it had been made by then.

"To let the world know who the #1 power was?"

No, it was to force Japan to surrender; a Japan that very nearly did not.

"To let the techies see how both bombs worked, since they were actually different?"

No.

"Did the words and texts in people's lives affect their thinking and decision-making?"

Yes. That's how life works generally.

boatbuilder said...

If the thoughts and motivations of the murderer are censored, then those who make assumptions about those thoughts and motivations, based on what is publicly known, have no basis on which to conclude otherwise. Depending upon your preconceptions, or your political agenda, the murders become another data point to confirm your belief.

Which is probably incorrect, because insane murderers are generally insane.

Hiding the insanity doesn't provide answers; it just promotes bad answers.

Aggie said...

Of course the commenter should not have to read the 'manifesto' if they don't want to, or feel they need to.

Of course anybody else should be able to read the 'manifesto' if they are curious, or want to explore the matter further. They are trying to make sense of a violent and unnecessary tragedy.

Of course censorship is wrong, and not just wrong and indefensible from a moral perspective, but wrong and repugnant from a societal one, in a free society.

I say, 'of course'. But then, the meaning of this common phrase has become diluted by its idiomatic usage. It means, 'as a matter of course', which means that time-after-time, across the coast of human history, similar events have played out endless times, and humanity has reached an understanding that the overwhelming odds of the outcomes dictates the course that should be followed when similar choices present themselves. 'Of course' represents the anecdotal wisdom of the elders that passed before us. Ignore it at your youthful peril.

All of these things are a matter of course. We have eroded our common sense, and as we have seen over the past 60 years, a lot of it has been encouraged.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

CrankyProfessor said, "And if the shooter was a graduate of the same school, is it hatred of the rich or hatred of the people from whom the shooter had come??"

I'm not sure what you are concluding from her going to the same elementary school that she shot up. After that she went to Nashville School of the Arts and she ran track for Martin Luther King High School. From there she graduated from the Nossi College of Art & Design in 2022. There were a lot of inputs to this troubled person after she left elementary school and I doubt the Christian school is where she learned to hate white people so much.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

wild chicken said...
"Kids spend a lot of time in government schools"

Wasn't this a private Christian school?


Yes it's a Christian ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. She was 28 and attended two other schools and ran track for MLK High. I find people trying to find a link to Covenant like that pretty weird.

Rusty said...

Rocco said...
Lloyd W. Robertson said...
A very good concise explanation. And another example of why people need to stop using Howard Zinn as source material. You can just hear the 'dialectical materialism' oozing from, Lloyds text.

Bender said...

Regardless of the shooter's motivations, the quoted parent's motivations in turning a blind eye to the shooter's writings is pretty clearly related to deflecting blame from transgenders. The parent's ideology overcomes the desire for truth and justice for their own child.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

Is your position that any information that comes into the possession of the police should enter the public domain? That’s not what the Freedom of Information Act says, and would be highly problematic for a number of reasons. The families wanted their day in court on those questions, but by leaking the information some police officer has deprived them of that opportunity.

jg said...

This desperate denial of anti-white hate that often results in the mentally disadvantaged, as a result of the elite-down competitive anti-white scapegoating, really is something.