Jeez, guys, what a poor article you have pinned in the wake of the shooting in Colorado. Talk about spreading the blame -- I think you need to look a little deeper at what is going on inside a high school kid's head.
Especially a kid who worships Goth, has parents who don't give a damn what they do or where they go, or who they associate with. This is a kid who is totally focused on rejection among classmates, not the "commercial and geopolitical strivings" of his or her government.
Get a life. A 17 and 18 year old pair with sub-machine guns and explosives have planned to vent hatred against others for a long time. They have a network of suppliers who make sure their mission will be successful. They'll be back again, in some other place or time. Despite the loss of life and the agony, someone, somewhere out there is giving them an ovation. We all know there's more out there just like them. Quite frankly, that frightens the hell out of me, since I, too, have a kid in high school.
But we didn't see them storm into the school carrying banners or shouting about the Clinton administration or demanding the war in the Balkans must end. They weren't yelling about bombs falling in Belgrade. So stop blaming the government.
Instead, they adore swastikas, and yes, did this horrible thing on Hitler's birthday. Any surprise? Now we're getting closer to the truth. These aren't killing machines manufactured through reactionary policies. They are kids with different kinds of things in their heads than most of us give much thought to. They study this dark side and live it every day. Black coats, sunglasses, berets, bad-mouthing blacks and Hispanics, favoring animal torture and Satan and Hitler's philosophies... then they show anger because people treated them as outcasts? Duh... Reap what you sow.
They didn't come to Columbine High to protest the Clinton administration -- they came to wage war on the world -- their world.
One of the Colorado gang member's AOL personal quote is "Kill 'em AALLLL!!!!" Don't look now, but that sounds more like Milosevic than Clinton. Another group member had a list on the web of people he hated and how great violence was. They played battle games and made videos about their guns and bombs and how powerful they were. Still, not much in there about the Clinton administration. No, that sounds more like big kids playing dangerous games, living in an insensitive world with no one to help them see it differently.
They also move to the beat of a different drummer than the Timothy McVeighs and Eric Rudolphs. You're way off on this comparison.
The war in the Balkans is no doubt a terrible situation -- maybe a huge mistake, but no, these high school kids are getting this dehumanizing input from other sources than this. Next time, do your homework and look deeper in their misguided heads.
LC