2008 Polls National Iowa New Hampshire General Election GOP | Dem GOP | Dem GOP | Dem Head-to-Head

---

April 21, 2007

Hot Story: The Virginia Tech Aftermath

Beltway Boys

MORT KONDRACKE, "ROLL CALL": I'm Mort Kondracke.

FRED BARNES, "THE BELTWAY BOYS": And I'm Fred Barnes, and we're "The Beltway Boys."

The "Hot Story": "The Aftermath." We're talking, of course, about the aftermath of the massacre of the - of the innocents at Virginia Tech on Monday. Thirty-two students and professors killed, one killer who killed himself. And I think this is one of the saddest weeks I've experienced in America. Certainly one of the saddest in my life. I know lots of people who are associated with Virginia Tech, students who have gone there. There - a lot of them are from my neck of the woods in Northern Virginia, where I've lived my life.

You know, this is a school that's really come on strong in recent years as a - as a - as a really great university. And I think most people - I think you would, too, Mort - think of Blacksburg, Va., as sort of this idyllic, rural college community. And - and - of course, all that's been shattered.

Now this week's rampage has raised a lot of issues. Here's just a few:

First, the role of colleges as parents, especially when it comes to troubled kids.

KONDRACKE: Yes. Not only that, but the whole - the whole - the role of the whole mental health care system. There was lots and lots of warnings that there - that Cho - Cho Seung-Hui, who was a troubled, mentally disturbed kid, and - and he was a danger to himself and - and to - and to other people. There were faculty and students who tried to bring him - him to the attention - the - of the authorities. There was even a judge who ordered that he - that he seek mental health treatment. But he fell between all the - the cracks, because the law required that in order to involuntarily commit him to a mental hospital, you have to be an imminent threat of - to - to somebody. And he - and they couldn't prove that he was an imminent threat.

They couldn't suspend him from school for mental health reasons. That's against the law. And the police couldn't take any action because no one would file charges.

Here's the - the head of the Virginia Tech mental health counseling center, and also the head of the Virginia Tech, demonstrate - making the point. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. CHRISTOPHER FLYNN, COOK COUNSELING CENTER: One of the issues that just came up is that there are specific rules for - under HIPA, about how hospitals can share information and to whom they can share information. And much of that is dependent on what the client is willing to agree to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF WENDELL FLINCHUM, VIRGINIA TECH POLICE: From the police department perspective, it was not a criminal matter. We had taken it as far as the police department could take it. We notified the university administrator on call. After that, I do not know what - what happened to the case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNES: Yes, and they - and they call the students "the client." Well, that's - that's who they are.

Look, the truth is that colleges now have separated students from their own parents. You know, you can't - you can't get the grades - I have a son in college - I can't get his grades unless he says `OK,' I think in writing. And - and you can't get medical residence. You know, it ought to be the parents who are the client; but no, it's - it's the students who are the client.

In Virginia, the legislature passed legislation unanimously that would bar colleges from suspending or expelling students that are clearly troubled, even if they've tried to commit suicide - they can't do that. In used to be, in our day to some extent, that colleges acted in loco parentis. In other words, they acted like parents; they looked out for students. But now, colleges have become - campuses have become almost lawless frontiers. I know that's a bit of a - an exaggeration, but not completely an exaggeration.

KONDRACKE: Well - well, as you said, I think quite - quite correctively, a permissive environment - a totally permissive environment does not lead to compassionate results, as in this case.

BARNES: All right. Number two, the second issue, noticeably absent in the aftermath of this week's horrific tragedy - a substantive debate on gun control. Well, one of the reasons, of course, is that the usual suspects who would jump in here demanding more gun control are Democrats, and they've realized that this is an issue that's - just hasn't helped them politically, so they've laid off. And I think that's right.

But not all of them. Jim Moran, from the Virginia - who happens to be my congressman - blamed the Republicans and the NRA and Bush and so on. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JIM MORAN (D), VIRGINIA: If you are a criminal or mentally deranged or simply emotionally upset, virtually anyone can go to a store, even a retail department store, and buy a weapon of mass destruction. That is what has happened here, and will happen again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNES: Now the question is whether tighter gun laws would have prevented this massacre. I don't think so. Actually, the public doesn't think so. There is a poll on this, Mort, you'll be happy to know. The latest FOX poll shows 71 percent think tougher gun laws would not have stopped the Virginia Tech massacre because - quote - "people will always find guns." And even this gun shop owner in Roanoke, Virginia, who sold Cho one of his guns agrees with that.

Watch.

KONDRACKE: Especially this guy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MARKELL, OWNER, ROANOKE FIREARM: The truth is, there is no law that would have prevented this. There is no law. I don't care what kind of law you pass - he broke how many laws to kill 30 people? Laws are not the answer in this case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KONDRACKE: Well.

BARNES: Of course, he did nothing wrong.

KONDRACKE: Well - well, of course.

(CROSSTALK)

KONDRACKE: Yes, OK, it's a legitimate business. But the good news is that a Democratic congressman, John Dingell from Michigan, a former board member of the National Rifle Association, is actually trying to get the NRA to bless a tightening up of the laws so that more mental health information would be included in the national background check that every gun dealer is supposed to perform before giving him a gun.

Now if - it's conceivable that had the - depending on how the law was written, that Cho might have been actually caught in such a - in - in such an event.

Now the.

BARNES: The NRA is for that.

KONDRACKE: Well, it's not - it hasn't blessed it yet, according to - according to Dingell.

Now the most disappointing reactions that I have heard this week were from John McCain and Rudy Giuliani. John McCain used to be in favor of expanding the background-check requirement to - to gun-show sales. Now he says that he's against all gun control. Rudy Giuliani, you know, used to be in favor of actually registering all firearms and firearms owner. And he's now, you know, sort of defending the - the - the - the Second Amendment.

You know, these guys are - are joining the right-wing pander brigade, led by Mitt Romney, who's already well in advance of them.

BARNES: Well - well, as you left, Mort, the call for gun control. So at least there's that.

All right, the third main issue raised this week, the press and the blame game.

You know, the press, the first thing they did when they go to Virginia Tech after this massacre was to start judging rather than reporting. Almost instantly they attacked Virginia Tech officials for not shutting down the campus after the first two murders in a dorm, which were two hours before the other murders in - in the various classrooms there. And - and blame - but look, I mean, there was all blame going - blame going on. It's not clear that it was unreasonable for Virginia Tech officials not to shut down the campus, lock it down. And even if they had, would that have prevented the killing of a lot of students and - and professors? I - I don't think that's clear.

The truth is, Mort, that the press made the ordeal for the students and professors and others in the Virginia Tech community worse than it already was. And, you know - and - and it - one telling sign was when there was a convocation, I think the day after the shootings, when Virginia Tech students got a chance to register an opinion, and Virginia Tech President Charles Steger stood up to talk - they gave him a standing ovation.

KONDRACKE: Right.

Well, I think there was a - there was vast overkill as far as the media was concerned. I mean, this was a very big story, and it had to be covered, and - and so on. But the amount of coverage, and the - I mean, it practically wiped out every other news story - Iraq, Gonzales hearings, all the rest - all - all week long, it was - it was nonstop Virginia Tech.

And what I - what I'm afraid of is that encourages potential copycats to try to exceed Cho in - in - in - in murder. Not good.

---

Sponsored Links

About Us | Contact | Advertise | Privacy Policy         © RealClearPolitics 2006