10th Anniversary of Columbine

Today is the ten-year anniversary of the day two seniors at Columbine High School near Littleton, Colorado, went on a homicidal rampage, killing 15 people (including themselves) and injuring 24 others. Despite all the possible motives the media and political interest groups threw around, there is no rational reason for what they did. Eric Harris was a clear psychopath and Dylan Klebold was depressed and just plain hated the world. They wanted to kill and destroy whoever and whatever they could, as their journals indicated. The boys had big visions of destruction, claiming in their writing they would outdo the Oklahoma City bombing, the Waco Siege, the 1992 Los Angeles riots, and other similar events as well as "Duke and Doom put together." They mentioned how they would like to leave a lasting impression on the world with this kind of violence and that they were sure they would have followers in the future. They planned not just to shoot people, but to blow up the entire school. Harris mentioned, in his journal, his admiration for natural selection (his own twisted version of it) and wrote that he would like to put everyone in a "super Doom game" and see to it that the weak die and the strong live. That is not natural selection, that is genocide. During the massacre, he even wore a white T-shirt with the words "NATURAL SELECTION" imprinted in black, while Klebold had a black shirt with the word "WRATH" imprinted in red.

The pair belonged to a group of outcasts called the Trenchcoat Mafia, who were originally a group of gamers who hung out together and started wearing trenchcoats after one of the members received a cowboy duster for Christmas. They adopted the name "Trenchcoat Mafia" after some of the jocks began to call them that. There was speculation that they did it because they were bullied--a theory subsequently disproven. In fact, they actually bullied younger students and gay kids.

There was so much speculation for reasons behind the killings, so much blame thrown around, just none of it at the killers themselves. When it comes to things like Columbine or the '92 L.A. riots, people blamed damn near everything else--be it free market economics, racial profiling, gun rights, science education (e.g., the teaching of evolution), violent video games, rock 'n' roll and rap music--except for the actual perpetrators themselves. Who was truly to blame for the riots? Opportunistic thugs solely responsible for their own conduct. Who was truly to blame for the Columbine shooting? Destruction-obsessed sociopaths, again, responsible for their own conduct. They had been diagnosed with mental illnesses prior to the massacre. Someone should have seen it coming.

It pisses me off when political and religious groups use such tragedies to push their own agendas. It's wrong and it's the pinnacle of selfishness.

This post is dedicated to the victims of
the massacre at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999.

May you always be remembered and cherished
for what you were and what you could have been.


Cassie Rene Bernall - Born November 6, 1981 - Aged 18
Stood up for her beliefs in the face of evil

Steven "Steve" Robert Curnow - Born August 28, 1984 - Aged 14
Dreamed of being a Navy top gun pilot

Corey Tyler DePooter - Born March 3, 1982 - Aged 17
Hard-working outdoorsman passionate about golf and fishing

Kelly Ann Fleming - Born January 6, 1983 - Aged 16
Creative author and aspiring songwriter

Matthew Joseph Kechter - Born February 19, 1983 - Aged 16
All-American athlete and straight-A student

Daniel Conner Mauser - Born June 25, 1983 - Aged 15
Life-loving over-achiever who wasn't ashamed to hug his parents in public

Daniel Lee Rohrbough - Born March 2, 1984 - Aged 15
The fun, family-oriented "boy who held the door open"

Rachel Joy Scott - Born August 5, 1981 - Aged 17
Vibrant and spiritual; aspiring actress and writer

Isaiah Eamon Shoels - Born August 4, 1980 - Aged 18
Overcame severe disability to play football; dreamed of being a comedian

John Robert Tomlin - Born September 1, 1982 - Aged 16
Loved weightlifting and Chevy trucks; once drove to Mexico to help build a house for a poor family

Lauren Dawn Townsend - Born January 17, 1981 - Aged 18
Talented sketch artist and candidate for valedictorian

Kyle Albert Velasquez - Born May 5, 1982 - Aged 16
Passionately loved his family; dreamed of joining the Navy and later becoming a firefighter like his dad

Coach William 'Dave' Sounders - Born October 22, 1951 - Aged 47
A friend, a mentor, and inspiration. Helped get over 100 students out of harm's way, saving untold numbers of lives