If you dare you can step into the mind of the killer. Here is his diary. [georgesodini.com]
November 5, 2008:
Planned to do this in the summer but figure to stick around to see the election outcome. This particular one got so much attention and I was just curious. Not like I give a flying fcuk who won, since this exit plan was already planned. Good luck to Obama! He will be successful. The liberal media LOVES him. Amerika has chosen The Black Man. Good! In light of this I got ideas outside of Obama's plans for the economy and such. Here it is: Every black man should get a young white girl hoe to hone up on. Kinda a reverse indentured servitude thing.
August 3, 2009:
I took off today, Monday, and tomorrow to practice my routine and make sure it is well polished. I need to work out every detail, there is only one shot. Also I need to be completely immersed into something before I can be successful. I haven't had a drink since Friday at about 2:30. Total effort needed. Tomorrow is the big day.
Unfortunately I talked to my neighbor today, who is very positive and upbeat. I need to remain focused and absorbed COMPLETELY. Last time I tried this, in January, I chickened out. Lets see how this new approach works.
Maybe soon, I will see God and Jesus. At least that is what I was told. Eternal life does NOT depend on works. If it did, we will all be in hell. Christ paid for EVERY sin, so how can I or you be judged BY GOD for a sin when the penalty was ALREADY paid. People judge but that does not matter. I was reading the Bible and The Integrity of God beginning yesterday, because soon I will see them.
@ElleL: I'm with you there. Apparently, he thinks it's all OK.
"Maybe soon, I will see God and Jesus. At least that is what I was told. Eternal life does NOT depend on works. If it did, we will all be in hell. Christ paid for EVERY sin, so how can I or you be judged BY GOD for a sin when the penalty was ALREADY paid. People judge but that does not matter. I was reading the Bible and The Integrity of God beginning yesterday, because soon I will see them."
Nice get out of jail free card there.
@meechybee: And women are only here to validate men. Apparently all 30m single women in the US ignore him, and we should feel bad for him.
I feel sick.
@squinko - Coming Soon: Maybe, but there's no doubt that the NRA's influence strenuously hinders society's efforts to make crazy folks' crack-ups less lethal. It seems axiomatic that not everyone should have access to force multipliers like automatic weapons -- but to a large section of the US populace which includes the NRA, such a conclusion is anathema regardless of its possible beneficial effects.
That's why people have a tough time taking the NRA's other (quite good) arguments seriously: Because it more closely resembles a Talibanesque death-cult of firepower rather than a group capable of balancing complex and sometimes contradictory societal interests.
@skahammer: I completely agree. I just think that gun control laws have gotten to the point where it's either all or nothing (which is what's happened to most political issues since the Bush Administration). If you say you like guns and want some allowed, you want children to be viciously murdered in their sleep. If you don't like guns and think some should be banned, you're just supporting terrorists who want to viciously murder children in their sleep. I think it'll take a few years of cooling politics down in general before we can have a smart discussion about something like gun control.
@squinko - Coming Soon: The gun control issue is like the abortion issue -- the vast majority of the population is supportive of a reasonable middle ground, but the extremists control the conversation. It's an unfortunate by-product of our modern political process that rabid one-issue groups have such a disproportionate influence.
Explain to me again why we don't have gun control in this country? Why the NRA is so adamant about not even IDing people who purchase guns? I get it, some people over 200 years ago wrote a document so that we can legally own AK47s today, it's just unreal. And a lot of these are the same people who go crazy about abortion. We don't kill the unborn we use our guns to kill innocent people. I don't mean to change the subject but Jesus Christ why can't people wake up about this shit.
The NRA are generally the first to release statements following these kinds of atrocities. But it isn't guns that are the problem.
@pmadi: We do have gun control laws? You can't legally own an AK47 anyway since they're a machine gun. IIRC, if you really want one, you have to buy a special permit from the Feds that costs thousands of dollars. Most of the crimes involving guns in this country aren't done by people who lawfully purchased their firearm(s) anyway.
@ellagood: Thank you! :)
A girl I went to college with was supposed to be IN the class, but was stalled and missed it. Her fiance was in the other side of the gym when it happened and made it out okay.
It's just horrifying. I'm still in shock.
not trying to take away from the dead and injured here, but this is exactly why i don't work out.
everyone always seems so pissed off that they are fat or pissed off that they have a great body but are still not seen as desirable.
no one ever seems happy at the gym. it's like the DMV.
One eyewitness just said that a short man with a sweatband on his head walked into the class with a duffle bag and shuffled stuff around in it for "a couple of minutes" before the lights went off and he started shooting. If he were somebody's ex-boyfriend, wouldn't she have reacted to his being there?
@mathnet: I read the article and there's no mention of an ex. Actually the article and diary says that he hasn't had sex since 1990 and the place hasn't been open for a year. so I think this was more of a blanket resentment and hatred of women.
I just drove by on my way home from a friend's and, not having heard about the murders, I assumed that the scene was a movie shoot. Eerie. Sirens everywhere, and helicopter sounds, but actually it felt still and quiet. Full moon.
@ElleL: Ugh! Her poor family. You know there's going to be bastards who'll blame the dead victim for all of this (and not just a few). Like, it's not enough for her to have left the sick fuck only to have him murder her and others.
I live in the South Hills of Pittsburgh, just 10 or so miles from this. I feel sick to my stomach. If anything I learned about Pittsburgh after the shooting of the three police officers a couple of months ago, this city bands together and shows a crazy amount of support.
Live in the area as well. They are reporting that the shooter was NOT a member of the gym, yet was able to walk in with a gun in a large bag. Five women are in critical condition at Mercy Hospital Trauma Unit, three are at Allegheny General Trauma Unit. It's chaos.
@Uncle_Billy_Slumming: Jilted dudes using their penis substitutes to kill women isn't new or particularly related to the age we live in. Shit happens always.
@Mediahohoho: I think it is. There is a lot of self-confidence out there built on a foundation of thin glass. Man loses job, girlfriend or wife leaves him, man snaps, sort of thing. And guess what -- a lot of men are losing their jobs, and many, many more are about to. Don't know the specifics of this guy's psychosis, but it doesn't matter.
@Uncle_Billy_Slumming: Personally, I'd like to see the statistics before I go there. Meanwhile, dudes shooting their exes -- and innocent bystanders -- on the sterling reasoning of "if I can't have her, no one can," is an old, tired refrain I can't remember not hearing a few times a year since I started paying attention.
I'll admit that hard times seem to exacerbate these tendencies. And I agree with you that the self esteem of men, hell everyone, is made of shaky stuff in a consumer society.
There's an excellent passage in James Ellroy's My Dark Places where he talks about why men kill women. There's no end to the excuses.
08/05/09
08/05/09
[georgesodini.com]
November 5, 2008:
Planned to do this in the summer but figure to stick around to see the election outcome. This particular one got so much attention and I was just curious. Not like I give a flying fcuk who won, since this exit plan was already planned. Good luck to Obama! He will be successful. The liberal media LOVES him. Amerika has chosen The Black Man. Good! In light of this I got ideas outside of Obama's plans for the economy and such. Here it is: Every black man should get a young white girl hoe to hone up on. Kinda a reverse indentured servitude thing.
August 3, 2009:
I took off today, Monday, and tomorrow to practice my routine and make sure it is well polished. I need to work out every detail, there is only one shot. Also I need to be completely immersed into something before I can be successful. I haven't had a drink since Friday at about 2:30. Total effort needed. Tomorrow is the big day.
Unfortunately I talked to my neighbor today, who is very positive and upbeat. I need to remain focused and absorbed COMPLETELY. Last time I tried this, in January, I chickened out. Lets see how this new approach works.
Maybe soon, I will see God and Jesus. At least that is what I was told. Eternal life does NOT depend on works. If it did, we will all be in hell. Christ paid for EVERY sin, so how can I or you be judged BY GOD for a sin when the penalty was ALREADY paid. People judge but that does not matter. I was reading the Bible and The Integrity of God beginning yesterday, because soon I will see them.
08/05/09
08/05/09
08/05/09
"Maybe soon, I will see God and Jesus. At least that is what I was told. Eternal life does NOT depend on works. If it did, we will all be in hell. Christ paid for EVERY sin, so how can I or you be judged BY GOD for a sin when the penalty was ALREADY paid. People judge but that does not matter. I was reading the Bible and The Integrity of God beginning yesterday, because soon I will see them."
Nice get out of jail free card there.
08/05/09
I feel sick.
08/05/09
08/05/09
08/05/09
08/05/09
08/05/09
That's why people have a tough time taking the NRA's other (quite good) arguments seriously: Because it more closely resembles a Talibanesque death-cult of firepower rather than a group capable of balancing complex and sometimes contradictory societal interests.
08/05/09
08/05/09
08/04/09
08/04/09
08/05/09
08/04/09
The NRA are generally the first to release statements following these kinds of atrocities. But it isn't guns that are the problem.
08/05/09
08/05/09
08/04/09
08/05/09
A girl I went to college with was supposed to be IN the class, but was stalled and missed it. Her fiance was in the other side of the gym when it happened and made it out okay.
It's just horrifying. I'm still in shock.
08/04/09
everyone always seems so pissed off that they are fat or pissed off that they have a great body but are still not seen as desirable.
no one ever seems happy at the gym. it's like the DMV.
08/04/09
08/04/09
08/05/09
08/04/09
08/04/09
08/04/09
08/04/09
08/04/09
08/05/09
08/05/09
08/05/09
Jesus Christ.
08/04/09
08/04/09
08/04/09
08/04/09
08/04/09
08/04/09
08/04/09
08/05/09
08/05/09
I'll admit that hard times seem to exacerbate these tendencies. And I agree with you that the self esteem of men, hell everyone, is made of shaky stuff in a consumer society.
There's an excellent passage in James Ellroy's My Dark Places where he talks about why men kill women. There's no end to the excuses.