A friend of mine, who is a juvenile court probation officer, noted the other day that one of her little probationers answered her question, “When I grow up, I want to become a sniper.”
A fruitful and worthwhile occupation, I guess.
What’s concerning to me is that a young child would look forward to something like this. Whatever happened to becoming star athletes, rock stars, or even sinfully rich?
Where does this come from?
Is it those “evil” video games? Violent movies? The crime on the young man’s street that he views? Or the internet with its easy access to all things twisted and violent?
Speaking to Wolf Blitzer during an interview, Former President Bill Clinton spoke of his concern that the “echo chamber” of the internet created an ominous opportunity for fringe people to get acquainted. Kind of like a cocktail party of violent nuts. He said,
“Some of them are serious,
Some of them are delirious.
Some of them are connected,
Some of them are unhinged.”
With the SUV that just about blew up in Times Square the other day, we’re reminded o fthe threats to Americans from foreign terrorists. The arrested person was originally from Pakistan and had become an American citizen.
But I’m equally concerned with the home-grown terrorists that may be lurking in our own backyard.
While Clinton assured people he believed in the right to protest and even offered to discuss some of the issues with fringe people, he warned that the leaders were responsible for keeping the conversation just that–talk without violence.
Remember the group arrested in Michigan who plotted to kill police? The scariest part for me was that during the officer’s funeral, the group planned to kill even more police.
Do you think we have anything to fear from militant groups, grown in this country? In our history, fringe groups have risen and fallen. Today, the political rhetoric seems to fuel even more violent talk. Will it lead to action?
There’s a famous Supreme Court case defining the limits of free speech. In it, the court posed the following question: If a person is in a crowded theater and yells “fire,” is that an example of free speech that is protected under the constitution? The court said there were limits to free speech, especially when the speech tended to incite dangerous situations.
Is some of the political rhetoric going too far today? When some politicians, in their zeal to defeat their opponents, urge their followers “not to retreat but to reload” and put bulls-eye targets over their pictures, is that “too much?”
Does it lead young people to want to become snipers?
