Blaming the Victims ... Because They're Total Wusses

Why does anyone read this Douchebag? Untill someone's pointing a gun in his face, he has no way of knowing what he would do. Well, other than piss his pants.

There is a special place in hell reserved for John Derbyshire.

That guy is disgusting. If he's so brave, he should be fighting in Iraq rather than bragging on some website. What a loser.

Did this fella complain about the passengers in the planes that hit the Twin Towers?

I also doubt that anyone could see that one of the pistols was a .22 - once they heard the 9mm fire all thoughts to caliber had to have gone out the window.

Too bad Derbyshire wasn't there to run into some 9mm bullets.

You'd think the guy would have at least read the accounts of the witnesses. Kids in one classroom hear some boom sounds. They don't know they're gunshots...yet. Then the guy bursts into their classroom. Guess they should have been counting those booms while listening to their prof lecture, even though they had no idea what they were.

And if I was in the classroom, though I'm sure Derbyshire would say this was my fault, counting wouldn't help me because I have no idea how many bullets a particular gun can shoot before reloading is required. Is it the same for all guns and magazines (or whatever they're called)?

My husband is a high school teacher and my children high school students in a district that had two school shootings in past years. It's come very close to me. I've thought about it a lot. Derbyshire, obviously, has not, if he's imagining a college freshman is going to count bullets one spring morning when caught completely unawares. Oh, that's right. It's not about what really happened to real young people, but what he would do--in his mind making himself into a hero. Please. Is this person a grown-up?

God help us all, Derbyshire is a nut.

Good catch, Ana.

San Diego Mom: "I have no idea how many bullets a particular gun can shoot before reloading is required. Is it the same for all guns and magazines (or whatever they're called)?"

No. not all gun magazines are the same. It depends on the type and manufacturer. Plus, you can get "after market" extended ones as well.

I've actually practiced self defense techniques for a gun-armed opponent. Lesson learned; unarmed against a gun you WILL lose...unless your opponent is very close to you and very slow, while you are very fast, very lucky, know exactly what to do and have practiced it until it is reflexive.

The guy had at least two semi-automatic pistols; he could sustain a rate of fire that makes "rushing him while he was reloading" impossible for a group of students attacked with no warning. These weren't Marines he was shooting at.

And the idea that more post-adolescents walking around a crowded campus during a stress filled exam time would make anyone safer is ludicrous on its face.

Derb's another toughtalking wingnut who's never been in a real fight in his life, I'd wager. What a pinhead.

I can only suppose that John Derbyshire's penis is very small and that this is his way of compensating for deep feelings of inadequacies.

Or maybe, he is just a completely horrible person.

What a tool. I've never known anyone who talked that tough that you couldn't make cry in under two minutes.

Newborns have a larger penis

Ana please challenge Derb to a fist-fight.

I'm convinced you'd win.

Wow....where do I begin?

For one...most people won't know the magazine capacity of either gun. So counting the shots means squat. It's not as if it's a western and everyone has a trusty six-shooter.

Secondly...how would people have known he JUST had the two guns? For all anyone knew, he couldh have had more. Worse, he might not have been the only one.

Thirdly...It's a GUN. Many people have issues about self preservation, and it's hard to go barehanded against someone who can down you in one shot, even theoretically. So what if a gun isn't accurate? One shot is all it takes to send someone down, if not for good. So most people are going to be scared out of their wits, simply because of the gun.

Finally...my god, did he HAVE to invoke 9/11 for this? What a hack. Lets not forget, on Fight 93, the hijackers had boxcutters, not guns. And secondly, it was a nice, confined space. Less room for movement, etc. In those cases, the power of numbers is increased. NOt to mention the necessarily restriction of movements the seating and aisles created.

So...yeah, sorry Mr. Derbyshire, but all you've proven is that you can talk tough without acknowledging the realities of a situation. Fantasize all you want about your own personal heroism, but don't act like just becaues you can dream about being a big bad hero that you can denigrate the victims of a tragedy for not being as brave as you insist you'd be in their shoes.

JD said it all when he said he takes his gun to the range and can't hit squat. A fitting epitaph for this super keyboard hero. At least when you get a driver's license you have to prove that you can drive.

Maybe these tough guys should get the kind of training that anyone working at a bank gets, or does he have a plan to contradict the experts.

Or better yet, we could start the Bush Youth, similar to gang survival training with martial arts. Then reinstate the draft, totally mandatory of course, so that before entering college all of our kids have SEAL training.

What a colossal jerk of the f*rt blossom variety.

Derbyshire should be on his way to Iraq to show his brilliance in fighting techniques.

From Mr. I Would Show Great Bravery Against a Nut With a Gun's latest post.
After an elderly woman, the recently late Mrs Buckley snapped at him for his talking smack about the Mississippi river.
"Mrs. B. slapped me down briskly. "Nothing wrong with the Mississippi. It's a beautiful river." I sank into the sofa cushions & spent the rest of the session trying not to be seen."

How can any news organization continue to support someone who says something like this?

Oh, Ana, honey, we have known for quite a while that NRO's John Derbyshire is seriously, seriously impaired. He proved that to us when he went after Chelsea just for being a Clinton.

The sad part of this is that he is married with children and has passed on all his defective genes
to another generation.

Anyone as delusional as Derbyshire is always Superman in their own dreams, capable of leaping high buildings and protecting themselves and all others in harm's way, UNTIL ACTUALLY PUT INTO A REAL-LIFE SITUATION that might require some quick thinking, and then they discover as most others--they are as fearful as the next person.

It is a shame that some of these so-called "journalists" and/or "pundits" are NEVER taught that sometimes it is best to keep your mouth shut than to expose your ignorance to all the world.

Thanks Paul (no, not that one), for spanning that impressive gulf between fantasy and reality.
I wonder if you could provide a link, so that we could post it on Mr. Gung-Ho's blog site?

Paul- never mind! The shameless twit apparently posted it on his own site, less than two hours after expounding on how he'd bowl-over a would-be campus shooter. Amazing.

Anon, here's the link for the heroic Derb being slapped down briskly by Mrs. Buckley as mentioned by Paul:

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OGNiMWM4NjAyNTIwNmRlZTJjMjUyYjg0NDc4NDZjNmI=

I wonder if it ever crosses his mind how incredibly idiotic he sounds. I really wonder.

Anon it's at the Corner. Being a winger web site there are, of course, no comments.
http://tinyurl.com/234kon

The one thing I will say in Derb's favor is that he is honest about what he thinks (or so it seems to me). Sometimes one may wish he papered over what he really believes, but there you have it.

If he's brave enough to rush the guy, why isn't he brave enough to permit comments?

Sorry to triple-post, but this guy is just too much. Here's the link Paul was quoting from: http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OGNiMWM4NjAyNTIwNmRlZTJjMjUyYjg0NDc4NDZjNmI=

And here's how Ramboshire faces down a stern old woman at a dinner party: "When at last I summoned the courage to speak up on something else, she expressed friendly agreement." I guess he hopes a shooter would do likewise.

"-but didn't the heroes of Flight 93 teach us anything?"

Well, their loss taught me that real sacrifice is real sacrifice and pretending to sacrifice is just pretending.

Apparently, to John Derbyshire, seeing the first 20 minutes of 'Saving Private Ryan' (and daydreaming about how he would have won TWO Congressional Medals of Honor if he'd been there) is the same thing as actually storming the beaches at Normandy on D-Day and facing real danger.

The perfect metaphor for the video game playing rightwingers who cheerlead for conflicts like the Iraq war, but who would never under any circumstances fight in them.

"I am daydreaming the war here so I don't have to risk my life there."

John Derbyshire needs to be beaten with a rubber dildo.

The entire Corner is a bunch of Trekkies. Major sci-fi geeks from way back. Some days half the posts are debates about Battlestar Galactica. The Corner has little connection to the real world. I read it purely for entertainment.

Oh, dear, sounds like it's time for another Keyboard Kommandos Komics starring Key Kommando Derbyshire. I suspect that big diaper he wears is going to get a bit dirty.

Since he has written some popular books on Mathematics, I used to think that Derbyshire does not fit the pattern of the other legacies, assorted GOP asskissers, wannabe General Dyers, and other horrible excuses for human beings at the corner.

Was I wrong!

I'd like to think that, given an evil bad guy who just dropped a nuclear bomb from an airplane at 10,000 feet, I'd have to the technical knowhow to rocket through the sky, land on it, disarm it, and then land safely.

I'd think that, given an insane tribe of 1,000 violent pygmies, I'd fight them off one-handed, and gain their trust, and become the leader of their tribe.

I hope that, if confronted by an insane pundit raving and frothing at the mouth, I'd have the good sense not to punch him in the mouth over and over again.

I doubt the last one though.

The most bravery John Derbyshire has ever shown was when he valiantly confronted T. pallidum pallidum during his last heroic sex tour of Thailand.

Coming soon: The Derb action figure! Point a gun at it, and it craps its pants.

Note on Ryan Clark: He tried to rush the shooter during the first attack in the dorm, and was shot dead by the assailant.

Note on professors: Many of them tried to guard the classroom doors, letting students use the time to escape from windows. A number were killed while attempting to prevent the shooter from entry into the classes.

That being said, the lack of prudent firepower available to the otherwise peaceful faculty and students does need to be re-considered, all across the country.

As our history has shown, the best defense is often a ready offense.

Thanks, Anonymous, about the fact that not all gun magazines carry the same number of bullets and about the extended ones. If Derbyshire is so familiar with guns, why doesn't he take this into account in his little play?

Grrr.

Remember, an armed society is a polite society. Just look at Iraq and Somolia.

I'm guessing tough talker Derbyshire would never have a fraction of this man's courage:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/17/vtech.shooting.victims/index.html

Liviu Librescu, 76, was a Holocaust survivor, who his son said, will be remembered as a hero. He "blocked the doorway with his body and asked the students to flee," Joe Librescu told AP. "Students started opening windows and jumping out." The elder Librescu, a professor at Virginia Tech, was recognized internationally for his research in aeronautical engineering, the head of the Engineering Science and Mechanics Department at Virginia Tech told AP. He was born and received his advanced degrees in Romania.

Do remember that Mr. Derbyshire has said repeatedly with his bare face hanging out that women are only really attractive between the ages of 14 or 15 and 20. After that they lose their youthful status as easy victims or something like that. He has a mail order bride from China and he's about Tom Cruise size.

This plus the "I could take a campus gunman" rhetoric? Methinks someone has potency issues.

Remember, an armed society is a polite society. Just look at Iraq and Somolia.

Posted by Dr. Wu
April 17, 2007
Coming soon: The Derb action figure! Point a gun at it, and it craps its pants.
******
If GWB is President Pissypants, then is John Derbyshire, Professor Crappypants?

Like my 5-year-old nephew, Derbyshire is a legend in his own mind. Always the fearless hero of imaginary situations. But unlike Derbyshire, my 5-year-old nephew is going to grow up someday.

It's not just a lack of self-awareness; of how he'd behave in a similar situation, it's also a lack of empathy. The idea that these students would be stunned and afraid, doesn't even register. That perhaps their reactions were entirely normal reactions for people in this situation doesn't even occur to him. There is a reason the military must train recruits to tamp down their instincts.

I'm sure he has plenty of empathy for his own kids, but someone else's kids? Not so much. How else can you be so cavalier about waging war? How else could you write something as shameful as the "Spirit of Self-Defense"?

You all make a persuasive case, but I want to hear from our local "Impeach Hillary" wingnut on this. I'm sure that he or she or they or it will have something useful to contribute.

I'd pay $1,000 to hear the Derb explain this to the families of the VTU victims, preferably with a lot of baseball bats and two-by-fours lying around.

Then, he can go to the local VFW post and explain that our soldiers in Iraq are dying because they're cowards.

Why in the world is anyone still paying this raving idiot to dazzle us with his ignorance?

A campus full of students packing. Who also binge drink and party all hours of the day and night. And conservatives wonder why liberals laugh at them.

The Heroes of Flight 93 had several minutes to get their wits about them, talk the situation over, come up with a plan, and get their courage up.

I like totally would have taken him out with a spinning jumping roundhouse kick to the jaw that would have caused him to fall into a conveniently parked ice cream truck. Then I'd have said something clever like "Why don't you chill?" in an austrian accent.

"Since he has written some popular books on Mathematics, I used to think that Derbyshire does not fit the pattern of the other legacies,..."

Seriously? I find that amazing considering his lack of basic logic in the postings of his that I've read, which I readily admit are few in number.

I took Tae Kwon Do when I was growing up, and many of the lessons involved self defense against an armed opponent. My teacher-- a third degree black belt with several decades of experience-- always emphasized that unless there was absolutely no alternative, the best (and only) option should always be "run". And this was against knives and sticks.

This is by far the stupidest line in the entire piece:

"Handguns aren't very accurate, even at close range. I shoot mine all the time at the range, and I still can't hit squat. I doubt this guy was any better than I am."

Uh, if this guy couldn't "hit squat" our body count would be 0. What a tool.

if you bunny hop, the enemy can't shoot you.

Didn't those brave folks on Flight 93 have something like 2 hours to prepare their assault on the hijackers? What were those kids and professors supposed to do in mere minutes or seconds? Especially considering they weren't aware there was anything wrong before the guy burst into their classroom.

The Derb made me physically ill with this one.

Michel Smerconish was subbing for Glenn beck yesterday. He had a woman ID'ed as a profiler. The profiler felt that the solution is to
1) Stop spreading via videos, movies, games., etc
2) Allow people to carry handguns so that crazed shooters would think twice about entering any building to do harm, since someone there might have a gun.
As an aside she also mentioned that she had home-schooled her children because she felt the his local school was a center for juvenile delinquents.
A psychologist pointed out that a child was more more likely to die from not wearing a seat belt or a bike helmet than due to school violence.
A police Lt. from another state who was a guest on the program mentioned that police would have difficulty separating the good guys from the bad guys if they encountered a situation with bodies on the ground and multiple people with weapons.
It was clear that the profiler couldn't see the irony in arming her children with a real gun while protecting them from the imaginary world of video gasmes. Neither the profiler or Smerconish seemed daunted by the police Lt's words.

Wingnuts live in a world of constant fear. This is why Cheney is so comforting. He is willing to fight (correction send other people to fight). It doesn't matter if the battle is against the least likely of foes.

Liviu Librescu, 76, was a Holocaust survivor, who his son said, will be remembered as a hero. He "blocked the doorway with his body and asked the students to flee,"

THAT's the kind of courage from which heroes are made.

Would Derbyshire have had the same guts--to stand before a gunman and die to protect his students? Or would he only exhibit the courage of his fantasy, the one in which he lives and gets accolades from the fawning crowd?

Valiant Professor Librescu.

Any way to contact this douchebag? I'd love to tell him what I think of him.

'Designated' chickehawk? I thought they all qualified!

Is this guy making policy recommendations for an actual existing country, like the USA, or is he trying to come up with the ending to an episode of 'Walker, Texas Ranger'?

I'm surprised he's not already saying that we need to fight the South Koreans 'over there' so that we don't have to fight them 'over here'.

A .22 is the preferred weapon for Mossad agents and often Mafia hitmen.

Someone who knows out to use a .22 is very lethal.

A 9mm bullet tends to go through you. A soft jacketed 22 tends to bounce around inside you doing more damage.

C'mon. This is the guy who called, in great and loving detail, for Chelsea Clinton's murder -- in much the same style as shown in his latest rant.

And yet the GOP/Media Complex Drudge/RNC-worshiping goons of TheNote and The Politico think him and Don Imus much more respectable than, say, Scott Lemieux or Glenn Greenwald.

I'll say one thing for Derbyshire: He's apparently got his editor, or his producer, or whoever the hell it is that's supposed to make sure his bilge adheres to some kind of standard, even for bilge, afraid to say a word.

And if Derbyshire finds that some of the victims *did* "rush" the gunman, and died doing so, will he forgive them for being less manly than he is--or as he presumably *would* be, given the chance to do something more strenuous than typing?

Good God, what an idiot. Does he think that the Rambo movies were documentaries?

I know this isn't the most popular sentiment here, but I do think it is amazing/disturbing that this guy killed 32 people with a handgun. Derbyshire has a point. I'm not saying there weren't brave people who faced this gunman, but something seems funny about this incident.

Having actually had a gun held to my head, during a robbery of a store I was shopping in, I'd like Mr. Derbyshire to know that it has a remarkable inhibiting effect on one's ability to think clearly. Something about the rush of hormones triggered in an actual life-threatening situation. Had he ever been in one, he'd probably know about it.

Posted by Susan23
April 17, 2007
I can only suppose that John Derbyshire's penis is very small and that this is his way of compensating for deep feelings of inadequacies.

Or maybe, he is just a completely horrible person.
=====

The more you read the neo conservatives, the more you realize that their world view does indeed originate from personal inadequacie, impotency and paranoia. Every one is out to tget them, yet they are really tough if anyone ever actually came after them. It's the standard meme. These are deeply profoundly damaged people living off their own delusions.

Michelle Malkin was a scholar whose work was rejected by her peers as ludicrous, she's had a persecution complex ever since, these are basically neurotics with bullhorns.

Allow people to carry handguns so that crazed shooters would think twice about entering any building to do harm, since someone there might have a gun.

Considering that the crazed shooter killed himself (as many of them do), I have a feeling that it wouldn't have been much of a deterrent. Like the guy's going to think, "Okay, I'm going to shoot a bunch of people and then kill myself, but the whole thing's off if they shoot back!"

You'd think that a supposed profiler would have heard of, say, "Suicide by cop."

"Derbyshire has a point."

Yes, and an incredibly bizarre one: "I'm a horrible shot with my pistol so therefore pistols aren't really all that dangerous".

What an utterly pathetic little man. Basing his column on totally hypothetical after-action bluster, based upon his personal wanklosophy of "John Derbyshire, Smiter of All Evil!".

Derb, if you really think that your wanklosophy has any merit whatsoever, get out from behind that keyboard, hitch up your y-fronts, grab a mitt and get into the game.

Sadly, guys like you never do. You remain quite content to sit idly by and point out the flaws in the actions of others, especially in high-stress situations like this was. The most stress Derb has ever confronted is choosing between the pate' and cocktail weenies at a reception.

The Derb: The Walter Mitty of Words.

Mr. Derbyshire - even his name is sort of fey and dapper, isn't it? - is obviously a weenie who would indeed pee himself if confronted with real live gunfire. I guess that's why he writes about being in support of the Iraq War from the States instead of, you know, signing up and actually fighting for what he believes in.

Better to fight them over...uh, here...err, there, ummm...never mind.

Right Mr. Doucheshire?

I totally would have run around the corner to the Quad damage and then up the stairs to the invulnerability.

Then i would totally snuck up behind him and fragged the guy. Because i'm so tough. And i totally could pwn that d00d.

Or i would have froze. Like i actually did when someone pulled a gun on me. And that makes people who had the good sense to run away more brave than i am.

"I know this isn't the most popular sentiment here, but I do think it is amazing/disturbing that this guy killed 32 people with a handgun. Derbyshire has a point. I'm not saying there weren't brave people who faced this gunman, but something seems funny about this incident."

Uh, no. It's actually VERY normal for people who can't run away to fail to rush the shooter, or to be shot dead as they are rushing him. Seriously, any account of anybody swooping in on totally unprepared people with a gun ends the same way. The only variable is how many people are able to run away, or if somebody else with a gun (who actually knows how to use it) shows up.

It only ends differently in the goddam MOVIES.

It's Red Dawn Syndrome. Derbyshire is still hiding in his attic armed to the teeth waiting for those Russkies to come marching down the street of this subdivision.

Well, really... couldn't one of those chickens in the twin towers at least have thrown a paperweight or something at the airplanes? I mean, if they are going to die anyway, it would have been worth a try.

Anyone who thinks that Derbs is simply an Aqualungian coward with a loud mouth should read his tale of bravery on today's Corner:

"My own recollection of first meeting Pat Buckley was pure Boswell-Johnson. It was at a drinks-and-chat session in the Buckleys' drawing-room prior to my first editorial dinner. I passed a remark about the Mississippi River, to the effect that on first seeing it, down in the lower reaches by Natchez, I'd been disappointed to find it nothing like as wide as I'd thought.

"Mrs. B. slapped me down briskly. 'Nothing wrong with the Mississippi. It's a beautiful river.' I sank into the sofa cushions & spent the rest of the session trying not to be seen...."

If Derb can't find his conjones in an encounter with a dimwitted social x-ray, he's hardly going to confront a man with a gun.

"these are basically neurotics with bullhorns."

That was fabulous.

If handguns aren't very accurate, why are all those people dead?

"2) Allow people to carry handguns so that crazed shooters would think twice about entering any building to do harm, since someone there might have a gun."

does anyone else see the inherent contradiction between "crazed shooters" and "thinking twice"?

"something seems funny about this incident."

A nation mourns. Derbyshire laughs.

OMG! 96 Tears

Derbyshire graduated from University College London, where he studied mathematics. His wife is originally from China and they have two children. While raised an Anglican, he no longer considers himself a Christian but rather a Mysterian.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mysterianism

That's our Derb - always showing courage and a cool head under fire in his imagination. Too bad he didn't get a chance to demonstrate that amazing courage and valor in Vietnam!

That guy desperately needs a boot up his a-ss. I'd bet a lot of money that Mr. Tuff Talker has never been on the winning side of a fight in his life.

Mr. Derbyshire, I hereby volunteer to give you the a-ss kicking you're crying out for. I'm dead serious. I'll meet you any time, any place.

It's not too surprising coming from the same moron who once said that all the Democratic women who still supported Clinton despite impeachment did so because they had rape fantasies about him.

Simply stunning. Thanks for pointing this one out.

A lone gunman hit 50-60 victims (killed and wounded) in two locations 1/2 mile apart. Perhaps he fired 120-200 rounds. The shooting took place over about a 2-hour time span.

Derbyshire expressed things badly, but the facts are pretty amazing. I wonder if the shooter was a video game expert, or a pistol expert, or both.

I take the D blurb not as a critique of the victims, but as an admonition to those (including Derbyshire) in the future who may be challenged by crazed gunmen.

Lessons learned - try not to get locked in - jump out windows promptly.

The heroism of the teachers and students who did try to stop or hinder the shooter is moving. Praise to their god(s) or muses!

A normal person doesn't sit down and publicly indict the victims of such a tragedy upon hearing about it. Derbyshire has something wrong with him. Make a note of it.

What? No one has brought up the fact that Derbyshire was in Bruce Lee's "Return of the Dragon" and had his butt kicked by Lee himself on screen? That guy has mad skillz . . . and would have disarmed the shooter with a "judooo chop"!

>I hope, however, that if I thought I was going to die anyway, I'd at least take a run at the guy.<

Luckily for him, The Derb knows how the rest of the movie plays out. He saw the trailer. He takes out the guy after counting shots and wins the girl in the end.

Does this hack really write for a national publication?

I'm surprised he just didn't use his heat vision and melt the guns, if he had been there of course.......

Don't forget, this is the same clown who was mocking the captured British sailors a few weeks ago because they didn't fight back in their inflatable boarding raft against the Iranian gunships surrounding them.

Posted by ? and the Mysterians
April 17, 2007
OMG! 96 Tears

Derbyshire graduated from University College London, where he studied mathematics. His wife is originally from China and they have two children. While raised an Anglican, he no longer considers himself a Christian but rather a Mysterian.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mysterianism
*********
Hmmmmmmmm
Is he an Mericun? Native born or naturalized?

I'm having some other thoughts too--that are NOT very pleasant--about people such as this guy and Mark Steyn and that Blankety Blank guy. How in the hell do these guys get away with telling us what we should be thinking and how we should be acting?

Have we been infected with some latter-day Brits trying to recapture American thoughts and actions?

Oh, Ana Marie, that isn't even the most lunatic reaction from the NRO folks. Please join Carol Iannone as she blames the shooting on...coed dorms and English majors!

http://phibetacons.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YTU2NmNiYTM0ZjVlNjcxYWYxY2ZkOGU2NGEwNWY5OWI=

Derbyshire as Mighty Mouse: "Heeeeeeer I come to save the daaaaaaay!!!!!

This guy is classic, It's amazing to me how these Wing Nuts and Chicken Hawks on the right have this gun toting John Wayne imagery in their heads and yet when it comes to signing up and going to war and fight for the country they claim to so patriotically love they are Missing In Action. When it all comes down to it there is just a lot of tough talk of heroism but these cowards just hide behind verbal apron strings.

I have corresponded with John Derbyshire after his remark on the cowardice of the British sailors in Iran. I asked him to name one -- just one -- instance where he had demonstrated physical courage. He responded not with an example, with a mere complaint that I had labeled him a chickenhawk.

The man is a coward.

Unlike everyone else, if I had been there I would have jumped up, swung from a ceiling fixture, spun myself through the air and landed smack dab right on the gunmen, knocking him to the ground. Pinning him down, I would have proceeded to slap him silly until he started crying for his mommy, thus saving everyone. I am very brave.

Had John ever played Team Fortress, he would know you just get your Engineer to build an autocannon and then upgrade it to include the rockets. You can also build an ammo dispencer in front of the door and use it block out the bad guy.

In police shootings, about one shot in three hits the intended target. This is trained police officers. The guy at VT shot sixty people, and WaPo quotes a surgeon as saying that not one of the people he saw had less than three gunshot wounds. That is a LOT of ammuntion - conservatively, probably 200+ rounds fired and maybe many more. A bare minimum of ten reloads. No one but the shooter is at fault here, but it is horrific and, yes, surprising that no one was able to stop him.

To John Derbyshire, from a retired soldier with 32 years of service, some in places like Lebanon and Bosnia, and who is a good pistol shooter.
1. If you have never faced a combat situation or an armed opponent in real life (no, video games don't count), then don't even try to pretend how you would act on your first time under fire.
2. Pistols come into a wide variety of makes and types. Some have magazine capacities of 7 bullets, other can have as many as 17 (20 if you consider the FN 5-7). Go try to identify the exact type of handgun held in the hand of someone shooting at you (good luck!).
3. Pistols can be VERY accurate at ranges up to 25-30 yards or more. Just go watch an IPSC combat pistol match competition and tell me afterwards how inaccurate pistols are.
4. Talk is cheap. Courage is not.
I just can't understand how any media could employ such a blustering, ignorant idiot as you.

John Derbyshire: Poster Child for the American Right.

Good God. How did these pathetic cowards get into power? What happened to this country? As a Reagan Democrat and Bush '92 voter, I honestly cannot believe that the current pundit class has any following, whatsoever. They are completely bankrupt of morals, judgement, and sanity.

PS, (this should go without saying, but it is worth reiterating anyway) Derbyshire is an idiot.

Hey Ana

Maybe you and your BFF Imus could discuss this the next time you are on his show.... Oh.... wait

never mind

If you haven't already, check out the link to the Carol Iannone piece (of garbage). As anon said, she lays blame on the co-ed dorms and English majors. This guy wreaked more death in the classrooms, so her blame game should be on co-ed schools too, I guess.

And English majors! We all know how dangerous their reputation is. Maybe I should put my degree away in a drawer before I scare small children.

Do you think they really believe this kind of silly talk? Do they not hear themselves? Or is this merely to appeal to their audience?

For a culture that rails against Hollywood so much (Republicans), Derb sure does seem to live in his own personal Chuck Norris flick...starring him as Chuck Norris.

What a tool.

I'd prefer to use my telekinetic powers to freeze him in place, and then use a psychic bolt to knock him cold, personally.

Derbyshire, Stuttaford, Blankeley are all Brits. England became uncomfortable and inhospitable for their right-wing rants. The welome mat to rightwingistan beckoned and, yo, they crossed the pond.

There are Stuttafords and Derbyshires who made a name for themselves in South Africa in the apartheid days. They complemented the Afrikaner nationalists nicely by adding an English component to justifications for racial segregation.

Is there a connection?

With remarks like these, Derby's sure to get a CNN show just like Glenn Beck.

"The Heroes of Flight 93 had several minutes to get their wits about them, talk the situation over, come up with a plan, and get their courage up."

Come now, let's not allow reality to interfere with Derb's personal "Life is a Chuck Norris Movie" fantasy world.

Derbyshire has a habit of being a bit blunt, but I agreed with him on the Iranian hostages, and I do think he has a point here, if not tactfully written.

If someone had me lined up against a wall and was shooting people one by one execution style, I'd like to think I would rather get killed trying to run away or attempting to stop the shooter rather than going out like that.

If I were actually in that situation, what would I do? I honestly can't say. But I'd much rather be killed fighting back than execution style.

Per NPR's FBI reporter: the guy was using extended clips, able to shoot roughly 20 shots in less than 15 seconds per (I can't say if this is in the realm of possibility of my own knowledge); and that he had multiple clips. 1) Probably didn't need incredible accuracy, firing at that rate into groups of people; and 2) approximately nobody, including superheroshire, is gonna figure out charging into something like that. The man is despicable.

Derbyshire,

You, sir, are a coward. We are all now dumber for what you have said here today. May God have mercy upon your soul.

Bryan from Houston

Mike M is my new favorite:

I like totally would have taken him out with a spinning jumping roundhouse kick to the jaw that would have caused him to fall into a conveniently parked ice cream truck. Then I'd have said something clever like "Why don't you chill?" in an austrian accent.

Unfortunately what he has suggested does have a smidgen of light shining through a small crack in its shell of stupidity.
Also unfortunately or fortunately whichever you prefer, all your genes want is to be reproduced and thusly every essence of your being faced with such a situation says run, hide, and live for another day. The smart thing to do, most of the time.
It is only in hind sight that one can say "Well maybe if someone would have rushed the guy"? Well maybe yes but then again it’s a moot point.
The only good that could possibly come from these words by the derb is that someday somewhere when the inevitable happens again, maybe someone will choose to take the hero's path and save the day. It just gives you something to think about in the light of so many that died while trying to just survive and see another day. For myself I would hope that if I ever face a situation like this, I can find the courage and ability to possibly make that hero's choice.
That said, no one did anything wrong yesterday, no one that is except the piece of chicken sh*t with the gun. May the souls of the lost forever live in those that remain behind.

For some reason, I have no difficulty believing The Derb when he tells us "I can't hit squat" when shooting his handgun at the range.

Yet, he still insists he'd at least try to take down a mass murderer all by himself. Uh-huh. Suuuuure. My money's on the "I'd be crying for my mother in the corner" scenario when it comes to Derb.

Wait. If someone who regularly shoots pistols at a range can't hit squat, and someone armed with 2 pistols still isn't much of a threat, how would an armed student body effectively protect themselves, and thwart such an attack? Wouldn't they theoretically have just as good a chance of shooting, missing, and inadvertantly hitting an innocent bystander on the other side?
I'm so confused. Is the argument that guns are so innefective that we shouldn't be threatened by them, or guns deter equally (or superiorly) armed criminals? So hard to keep up...

"Would Derbyshire have had the same guts--to stand before a gunman and die to protect his students?"

Christ, twenty bucks says not only would the Derb have fled in horror with everyone else, but he probably would shoved students out of the way and climbed over others to jump out the window to save himself. That's how all these armchair, cardboard Rambos react in a real-world, life and death situation.

I'm just glad I wasn't in the same room when he wrote this nonsense because, as one poster said above, it would be impossible not to keep punching him in the mouth, over and over.

So handguns aren't acurate...even at close range cuz this douche can't shoot for shiat? What a dumbass. That his limp wrist is too weak to support the weight of a handgun and therefore can not hit a target does not mean that hand guns are inacurrate at CLOSE range. They're close range weapons...afterall.

"The Heroes of Flight 93 had several minutes to get their wits about them, talk the situation over, come up with a plan, and get their courage up."

Of course the Flight 93 passengers weren't getting shot at, either. In fact, the hijackers didn't even have guns. And if the movie is accurate the passengers only decided to rush the hijackers after learning via cell phone about the WTC and the Pentagon. If that hadn't been the case, they probably would have stayed quietly in their seats hoping for the best until the instant the plane hit the Capitol Building.

In other words, most human beings don't behave like attack-trained Rottweilers in situations like that, and anyone who thinks they do has a very dim grasp of human nature.

gxnmvw7e@gmail.com

email him and tell him what you think

And how does Derb know that some kids didn't try to rush the shooter. For all we know, they did rush the shooter, and they got killed in the process.

Ah.... but Derb would have been sucessful in his attempt to "rush the shooter". Not only is Derb brave, but he's also Jesus.

In their honor: You start out from a place of strength and end in the depth of dishonor.

Offense is working well from Iraq and points East-West, where offense has become offensive. The lack of a gun totin' vendetta society allows for the pursuit of knowledge and time to both celebrate and to mourn.

Oops, now we are finding out that the shooter in the classroom building seems to have a history of mental problems. Warning signs were noted but action against him was hesitant and he was able to legally by the deadly weapons. Instead of more guns, we seem to be getting more evidence that mental health care needs to be that which is increased.

It seems to me that, in reality, Derbyshire and the shooter are the same type of person: lonely losers who fantasize about gunplay as if it would make them worthwhile people by "showing everyone." The difference: this murderer was resolute enough to follow through with his insane plans, while Derbyshire stays behind to masterbate furiously, dreams in his eyes, about how he "would've handled it." If I weren't a more compassionate person, I'd say "Shame on all of those pathetic basement-dwelling Rambos."

Speaking about math, most of the comments here are isomorphic. Does Time really intend to turn their site into a Wonkette knock-off?

This is the real face of 'tough guy' conservatism folks! Faster, please. Heh. Indeed. All of it.

From HumanEventsOnline via Think Progress:

http://thinkprogress.org/

"Conservative Nathaniel Blake at Human Events Online links positively to John Derbyshire’s post, then writes that the students at Virginia Tech should feel “heartily ashamed” for not acting more bravely:

College classrooms have scads of young men who are at their physical peak, and none of them seems to have done anything beyond ducking, running, and holding doors shut. Meanwhile, an old man hurled his body at the shooter to save others.

Something is clearly wrong with the men in our culture. Among the first rules of manliness are fighting bad guys and protecting others: in a word, courage. And not a one of the healthy young fellows in the classrooms seems to have done that. …

Like Derb, I don’t know if I would live up to this myself, but I know that I should be heartily ashamed of myself if I didn’t. Am I noble, courageous and self-sacrificing? I don’t know; but I should hope to be so when necessary."

Shorter wingnutese:

"There is something wrong with the men in our culture that makes them all cowards, if by 'men in our culture' you mean 'John Derbyshire and me'".

This culture is saturated with images of good guys fighting bad guys, from action movies to video games to the Decider in a flight suit parading around the deck of an aircraft carrier. In fact, there's probably more of that now than there was, say, 40 years ago.
If the students didn't behave like Ahnold or Chuck Norris or Sly Stallone or 007 or the Transporter(can't remember his name), it's not the culture that's to blame.

I commend John Derbyshire for his theoretical heroism regarding the Virginia Tech massacre.

"At the very least, count the shots and jump him reloading or changing hands."

Brilliant! I've seen that technique used in cowboy pictures starring Dean Martin or Joel McCrea. The hero hides behind a rock, counts the shots and makes a dash for the craven, stubble-jowled gunman.

I kind of thought that, put in a sudden campus massacre situation, where your early morning class suddenly explodes in gunfire, and your terrified classmates are screaming and shouting and piling into you to get to the furthest corner or window from the shooting and desks are upending and blood is spattering and there is generally instant chaos and horror that a groggy student hadn't time to rehearse for - well I kind of figured that maybe counting the shots would be beyond the scope of most people's cognitive abilities.

I thank Mr. Derbyshire for his sober analysis. I will always keep his advice in mind.

I only wish there was some way he could put his skills as a tactician to use. Maybe he can go on tour and lecture college students or train SWAT teams or, as has no doubt been suggested, go to Iraq or Afghanistan to lead the troops to victory after victory.

The nation is sorely in need of his brand of hypothetical bravery.

Thank you.

Beautifully said, J. Pollack.

"The hero hides behind a rock, counts the shots and makes a dash for the craven, stubble-jowled gunman."

And then the bad guy throws the gun at Joel or Deano and of course misses.

Whereupon the director yells "Cut!" and everyone heads for the studio canteen for lunch.

That's otherwise known as Entertainment, not to be confused with Reality...

And Ana Marie would have declined to appear on Imus if, you know, she weren't so mesmerized by the glamor.

Oh, Christ, it's a Phoenix Woman sighting. If Kerry had been elected, this never would have happened.

what a fucktard. I will spend my next birthday wish on this guy having an accident while cleaning his .22 and staring into the barrel.

I heard Bush is planning to attack Oxford next so we can fight crazed college gunmen over there instead of here at home.

Derbyshire's claim fails even as a matter of theory. The passengers on Flight 93 acted together once they believed they had absolutely nothing to lose, and, more important, once they were certain that the other passengers believed that they, too, had nothing to lose. Then, and only then, could they attack as a group, because only then could each individual count on the others to participate. This improved the odds ("they can't kill all of us") and, more important, the chance of success, that made the gamble worthwhile.

The VT victims couldn't possibly have been certain they'd die without cooperative action. Each would be aware of the small but positive chances that: he could escape, the cops would come, he wouldn't get shot, if shot he would only be wounded. Rushing the shooter en masse would offer better odds of survival, but no individual could be sure that the others would join the mass. So, he'd view it as likely he'd be rushing alone, with minuscule chances of survival and worse chances of success. Better to stay back and trust luck.

A coward of the lowest order.

Swine like Derbs should be running patrols in Carbala, Iraq on a daily basis.

There's something to be said for the presence of mind and courage of those on board United Flight 93. I wonder what the difference was between those men and these. But that's a question better asked later, once emotions have subsided.

Derbyshire would have soiled his pants and fallen to his knees begging for his life. If he had had the chance he would have knocked women and kids aside as he scrambled for the door.

At some point, maybe when or if shame creeps into John Derbyshire's conscience, he, like Don Imus, would be able to declare he is "a good person who said a bad thing" about the young VT students.

Hey, Ana,
I don't know if anyone has linked this wonderful essay regarding the Imus debacle, but you really, really should read it. It is from a Southerner who has fled to the NE.

http://philnugentexperience.blogspot.com/2007/04/making-carefully-nuanced-distinctions.html
Making Carefully Nuanced Distinctions Regarding the Totally Unacceptable

After viewing the wingnut female profiler I mentioned aboove, I later clicked upon (I surf the channels a lot) Retardo, I mean Geraldo who was opining in hindsight that given the fatalistic nature of the shooter, the initial law enforcement officers on scene would have had nothing to lose by just rushing the building to try to put a swift end to the slaughter. Geraldo quoted his vast experience as a reporter in military combat situations. He did admit he had less, but still a considerable amount of experience in law enforcement. He offered Napolean as an example of a general who sometimes when into battle before all his reinforcemants had arrived.
Mark Fuhrman (The LAPD crash test dummy of OJ fame) who was the police expert paired with Geraldo, suggested that it is always wise to try to get a feel for what you're headed into before rushing a building that is under seige.
I'm not going to make jokes about Geraldo drawing lines in the sand to aid the enemy in pinpointing his military companions positon during the initial days in Iraq, but it is fascinating how much testosterone flows through the blood of wingnut media talking heads.

Sure, ama, and the women at Feministing and Pandagon will apologize for the things they said about the Duke lacrosse folks.

I'm sure the dead take much solace knowing that handguns are inaccurate at close range.

And fortunately, their deaths won't be meaningless, if they can be employed to advance the agenda of the anti-gun lobby. I'm sure that brings them great solace, too.

Dan, sorry, but I don't know Feministing and Pandagon, nor do I know what they said about the Duke lacrosse folks. I really didn't pay much attention to the Duke lacrosse case. I'm NOT much interested in frat boys who hire strippers.
Thank you very much.

I hardly think the VT kids can be compared to the Duke lacrosse frat boys.

Really? So it wouldn't have mattered if they were immured for 30 years?

The point is, whose bad judgment and bad faith demands an apology, which, apparently, is a matter of whose ox is gored.

And fortunately, their deaths won't be meaningless, if they can be employed to advance the agenda of the anti-gun lobby. I'm sure that brings them great solace, too.
**********
I'm NOT anti-gun since my spouse has a small arsenal, but I am against assault weapons and armor piercing bullets and against lunatics being able to purchase weapons.

I know! I know! If they can't get them legally, then they'll get them illegally, but that was NOT the case for the VT shootings.

immured for 30 years?
************
Huh? I speak English and Southern, but I don't know "immured"!

ama--First, I suppose Poe was kind of Southern, since he was from Baltimore, and famously wrote about immurement, and
Second, the guy used a 9mm handgun and a .22. That part wasn't at all directed at you.

Oh Ana. Just look at this linked picture. You will see the zenith of American manhood. Is there any question that he would have quickly disarmed and subdued that little gook?

http://www.olimu.com/

"Handguns aren't very accurate, even at close range. I shoot mine all the time at the range, and I still can't hit squat. I doubt this guy was any better than I am."
The proof of this falsehood would be 30+ dead. Too bad he wasn't there to try out his theory.

Isn't Derbyshire English? He sounds English.

Dan, you are funny!

How many Southerners do you personally know? We 'uns down here don't call going to prison as being "immured"! We say sent up the river or sent to the big house.

I am familiar with Poe, but I don't recall him having famously written about immurement until you are talking about "The Cask of Amantilado."

No, the particular instruments of destructive in this case were NOT addressed by me because this guy was clearly disturbed and my point about NOT allowing mentally disturbed people to obtain weapons did address the issue. We might seriously want to look at not allowing people on visas to be able to purchase weapons too.

I used to write for Marvel Comics, including Captain America a numbe of times. We always used to joke about 'bad guy bullets' that the villains used to mistakenly pick up at the store. ("You idiot! Did you even look at the side of the box?")

I've also had a gun pointed in my face. I gave the guy my wallet, and laid down on the sidewalk.

John Derbyshire's post is the definition of dishonoring the dead. Psychological aberrations aside, he is a man without honor himself.

When the folks who currently run Marvel decided to kill off Captain America with a sniper's bullet, I was upset.

In view of the Virginia Tech incident and Derbyshire's execrable comments, maybe they've provided a useful image.

There are no bad guy bullets.

Why doesn't he enlist for service in Iraq to prove his man-hood?

In any case, Mr. Derbyshire seems to be wrong about the bravery of those present. According to a Newsday account, one professor barred the door to his classroom while his students escaped - and seems to have paid for it with his life:

"Junior Richard Mallalieu said he and about 20 classmates instantly dropped to the floor, ducking under and behind desks for what sounded like the first 10 shots.

...

Mallalieu said his professor held the door shut while students darted to the windows. Some climbed on desks, ledges and a radiator cover to pull down the screens and kick at the metal-framed glass, Mallalieu said. Three windows easily gave way and swung open on hinges as the gunshots got louder.

...

But then the sound of gunfire filled their classroom, sending all who had escaped toward nearby Patton Hall, he said.

Mallalieu said he never saw Librescu escape. "I don't think my teacher got out."

Would Mr. Derbyshire have acted so selflessly? I'm sure HE'D like to think so. But he doesn't even have the selflessness to give victims the benefit of the doubt. I expect he would have been like George Costanza, trampling young people in his eagerness to save his oh-so-special hide.

John Derbyshire is ten feet tall, weighs two-tons, breathes fire, and could eat a hammer and take a shotgun blast standing.

A blue sign with a wheelchair image does not signify that this spot is for handicapped people. It is actually in fact a warning, that the spot belongs to John Derbyshire and that you will be handicapped if you park there.

Once a grizzly bear threatened to eat John Derbyshire. John showed the bear his fist and the bear proceeded to eat himself, because it would be the less painful way to die.

I don't recall how Costanza voted.

I refuse to believe that anyone who looks and sounds like a lobotomized leprechaun, with the absurd name "Derbyshire", is an actual person.

But on the off-chance that he is real, I suggest he put his imaginary heroism to the test by submitting his next post from Al-Anbar province,

Well, at least he cops to being "NRO's designated chickhawk". The a volume of bovine byproducts involved with Derbyshire's post is such that it's broken my BS detector. Several points to be made, some of which have already been made in other comments.....

1. Even with training and if EXPECTING something bad to happen, charging someone armed with a handgun, particularly a high capacity semiautomatic, while you are unarmed is nothing more than a fast way to die. Newsflash to Derbyshire: frontal assault against SINGLE SHOT weapons kind of went out with the Civil War, let alone against high capacity repeating weapons. It doesn't matter if the person is a lousy shot: if he just keeps pulling the trigger and spraying, bound to hit somebody, maybe more than once. That's the whole reason even armed, trained police and military personnel seek cover when fired upon...or did I miss something?

2. Fired in enclosed spaces and without ear protection, firearms are LOUD - you can't underestimate the shock at the sheer noise level. (To the point of ear damage - that's why you have to wear those ear protector thingies while at the range, huh John?) Loud noises without warning do tend to have a paralyzing effect. That's not even to mention the shock at the very idea of sitting in a classroom and having some fruitcake walk in to blow up the whole class.

3. Related to 2....the only effective defense if unarmed (unless you don't care if you live or die or you're a member of the NRO chairborne commando brigade) is to barricade yourself in, which students and faculty tried to do. If someone walked into Derbyshire's office without warning, or cubicle, or chicken coop - whatever - and started shooting at him, his reaction would be that of any untrained, unarmed and unexpecting person (me, for example) - to sit in shock with or without peeing his pants.

4. There are people - untrained civilians - who have done what Derbyshire says people on that campus should have done....put themselves in the line of fire to protect the lives of others unrelated to them in moments of shock, terror and earsplitting noise.
Now, put in words so simple I truly hope they can't be mistaken -

Those men and women are called heroes.
They are very rare.
That's why they're called heroes.
No one - even the hero - knows if he or she is one until he or she is one.
Most people are not heroes.
Odds are the Derb is not a hero either, to put it mildly.