Shootings at Westroads Mall in Omaha

I live in Lincoln, Nebraska, about an hour's drive to the Westroads Mall in Omaha, where on December 5, 2007, someone killed several innocent people before he did the decent thing and ended his own life. A shame he didn't think to just end his own life first and spare the others.

I have read very little about the killer beyond the headlines that said he wanted to go out in style. Who the hell did he think he was, Dr. Strangelove? He was an asshole and he's dead. His death isn't worth tears: tears should be shed for the victims he made; it's really sad that he was so limited that he couldn't figure a way to just kill himself and not take others with him.

I suspect that others will use this to push for stricter gun laws rather than improve the enforcement of gun laws that are actually on the books. Oh well. It saddens me, because it means that I will have to depend on the authority of the government to protect me, and I learned as a teenager how worthless authority is at protecting the weak from bullies (But, for the record, presently I am not actually a gun owner). Probably time for me to learn Krav Maga, that Israeli martial arts which is all about ruthlessly neutralizing your opponent. (And from what I read about the Six Day War, boy, the Israelis truly made that into an art form.)

When Westroads reopens next week, I want to go there and buy items from at least 3 different stores and one item from the food court. Having worked in retail for over a decade, I know that this time of year can be 30%-40% of a store's annual income. Forget all the holier-than-thou crap that comes out of the smirking mouths of wealthy trust fund limousine liberals and from the pursed frowns of the religious right, whining how this season is just "too commercial": a Christmas season where people buy presents for the people they love also contributes to the livelihoods of the millions who work in stores, factories and in the trucking and shipping industries. Let's forget this asshole and let's flip off the Left ("This is how I redistribute wealth, Billary!") and the Right ("Hey, I'm the Decider for myself, Dubya!") and buy things for the people we love.

(This blog is an adaptation of comments posted at the All Things Bitter blog.)