South Carolina shooter's photos found on white supremacist website

[Badger]

Sorry but identifying the problem and shining a light on the underground of hate groups on the web in this country is not a bad thing to do. People need to be aware of the danger. Parents need to know that there are sites out there poisoning the minds of kids, some of whom may turn to violence. Pretending they dont exist and not talking about them wont make them go away.

And in this particular instance I think the connection to South Carolina's official embrace of the Confederate flag and this particular hate group is a salient point.

But you just published a part of a killer's manifesto. Can you not shine a light without furthering his goal of getting his message out?  

You hear pundits talking about how ISIS attracts followers in the West by convincing them they'll have greater opportunity and a better life if they join ISIS. Why can the same not be applied here? Clearly this man was radicalized by the bullsh*t talking points on Fox News about white persecution. Can we not have an open discussion about this growing problem in the United States?

We are dealing with sick minds who want attention.

When someone jumps off the Golden Gate Bridge there is no nationwide discussion (indeed, local papers give minimal coverage to the event) because it is known that this will only encourage copycats.

When a drunk runs onto a football/baseball field the cameras are immediately averted because it is known that showing these people will only encourage others.

Copycat killers are a known and studied phenomena. Have you not seen how many times one mass shooting follows another?

Some killers place their manifestos where they will later be found because they know they may not make it out alive to tell their story and that their acts will ensure their story receives the widest possible audience.

Surely we can have this conversation without publishing manifestos and giving these people what they so desperately want, what they kill to achieve, attention.

You are incorrect. The media reports all of these phenomenon , and yet we don't wind up with many copycats.

[Badger]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

That's just not true:

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/12/the-media-needs-to-stop-inspiring-copycat-murders-heres-how/266439/

that is a decidedly less than compellinng argument. that columbine, aurora, sandy hook, charleston, et al were all largely caused by extensive media coverage of the prior incidents? the Atlantic is a fine publication, but that doesn't mean they never allow someone to author a cluncker of an article now and again.

[Badger]

Those guidelines are not realistic in the modern era.

Why not? They are currently in force regarding teenage suicides and were developed in the modern era.

Let's cut to the chase: trying to blame this tragedy even in part to media coverage of Columbine and its predecessors is litterally severe-head-trauma-level stupid. End of discussion.

[Badger]

Those guidelines are not realistic in the modern era.

Why not? They are currently in force regarding teenage suicides and were developed in the modern era.

Let's cut to the chase: trying to blame this tragedy even in part to media coverage of Columbine and its predecessors is litterally severe-head-trauma-level stupid. End of discussion.

You didn't read the article in the link...did you?

Sure did. But i was referring more to your ill-based implicit argument here.

[Badger]

I am well aware of that, let's see how many of his GOP colleagues join him. So far both GOP Senators (one of whom is running for prez), the GOP governor and GOP representative Mark Sanford have all declined opportunities to back him up, generally endorsing the current 'compromise' leaving the battle flag at the memorial. At this point he seems to be alone within SC GOP. Also GOP presidential candidates Cruz, Huckabee, and Santorum have all said they take no position, refusing to back him up and saying it is up to the state (as if a Presidential candidate can't take any position on something being decided within a state). The only one who has come close is Bush who noted that Florida stopped flying the flag.

Mitt Romney is standing out as a shining beacon at this point, but perhaps that is because he will never have to try to get votes in the South again.

FWIW, Jeb Bush also condemned it, and the state senator who's putting forth the bill said that several of his Republican colleagues offered to co-sponsor it.

and as noted in an aad thread, Ben Carson stood up against the flag even harder than Bush.