DKW 86 7,975 Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 http://www.nypost.com/seven/04292007/tv/di...il_mushnick.htm DID 'DATELINE' PUSH CHO TOO FAR? April 29, 2007 -- The following are facts. Make of them what you choose. On Sunday night, April 15th, 12 hours before Cho Seung-Hui began his killing spree on the Virginia Tech campus, "Dateline NBC" devoted its entire show to telling the story of psychotic murderer Robert Hyde. Hyde was a bright young man from Albuquerque who began to suffer a steady mental deterioration until, one day, in 2005, at different locations, he shot and killed five people. Beyond the murders, the NBC show stressed that Hyde was a time bomb who was released from police custody and hospital care despite frightening episodes and warnings from many, including his family, that eventually there would be hell to pay, that eventually he would kill. Hyde's story, it turned out, was roughly the same as Cho's life story, except for the killing part. Cho hadn't killed anyone, not yet. The morning after NBC's show aired, Cho, described by schoolmates as an all-night TV watcher, shot and killed two people. He then returned to his dormitory to mail a parcel to NBC. It included a note from Cho that began, "You forced me into a corner." Then he traveled to a different section of the Virginia Tech campus, where he shot and murdered 30 more people. Surely, Cho's diseased mind was prepped and primed to commit mass murder, at some point. But did NBC's show, the night before, serve as his prompt? In his afflicted state, did that "Dateline" installment push him over the edge? It's unlikely that we'll ever know. Yet, the numerous similarities between the Hyde and Cho stories are inescapable. So is the timing. Cho's rampage began fewer than 12 hours after NBC's episode about Hyde ended. And Cho interrupted his rampage only to send NBC a you-pushed-me-to-do-this missive. But even if it's all just a matter of bizarre, chilling coincidences, those coincidences seem too great to ignore or dismiss. They're worthy of your attention. * * * The media response to Alec Bladwin's taped and distributed phone rant to his 11-year-old daughter seemed, in some ways, odder than the rant itself. On NBC's "Today" show, for example, Matt Lauer, after the tape played, called it, "disturbing." I may be summoned by a child welfare agency after this, but Baldwin, to me, sounded exactly as fathers who are thoroughly fed up with the behavior of their children normally sound. That in the process he threw in a few expletives was unfortunate but, again, understandable. The most disturbing part is that someone released this tape, apparently in an effort to embarrass Baldwin. To that end, it may have backfired. If it came from ex-wife Kim Basinger's confederates, they have to do a better job than exploiting the child to create public rooting interests in what's none of our business. After all, Baldwin sounded like a ticked-off dad, no better or worse - or less caring - than millions of other ticked-off dads. Another disturbing part was making the nation the third party to such a tape. No one likes to be in the same room when a dad screams at his kid. But that doesn't mean that the outburst wasn't justified. I don't know what kind of father Baldwin is, but in this case, he sounded like a typical one. :clap: * * * This is what happens when the left hand doesn't listen to the right hand: CNN, last Sunday, told the story of Venus Ramey, the 83-year-old 1944 Miss America who, from her walker, shot out the tires of a car driven by an intruder. She'd recently been the victim of a theft at her Kentucky farm. The report couldn't have been any clearer - the episode occurred on her Waynesburg, Kentucky farm. And throughout the report, CNN kept displaying a map, a map pinpointing Waynesburg - Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. See what's free at AOL.com. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasTiger 14,606 Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 The guy had obviously been planning this thing for a while. I suspect this is just coincidence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKW 86 7,975 Posted April 30, 2007 Author Share Posted April 30, 2007 The guy had obviously been planning this thing for a while. I suspect this is just coincidence. To me, the only chilling thing is the unexplained "You forced me to do this" line that Cho used. And why just NBC? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasTiger 14,606 Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 The guy had obviously been planning this thing for a while. I suspect this is just coincidence. To me, the only chilling thing is the unexplained "You forced me to do this" line that Cho used. And why just NBC? He was psycho. His rant was illogical and incoherent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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