# Multiple Shootings At Fort Hood **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 5, 2009, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-shootings-at-fort-hood/516472 "2009-11-05T21:09:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-shootings-at-fort-hood/516472/361 "2026-10-10T14:12:38Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > What does executing him publically accomplish except for making the US look barbaric and getting useful idiots to feel sympathy for the vile murderous terrorist? I’m fine with him being executed, but there’s no reason to make it a spectacle As far as I can tell, some people would like to be allowed to see him get executed; if I say “no, I don’t think you should be allowed to see that,” and they ask why not, I’m going to say, “well, that’s a really good question, and I don’t actually have an answer.” And if you step in to say it’s because idiots who might not otherwise sympathize with him might sympathize with him, I’m going to say “okay, first, I’m not sure we should be basing this on whether idiots will sympathize” — and, before I even _get_ to second, someone else could say “but publicly executing him might _discourage_ idiots from following his example,” at which point I’d say, “again, it seems to me to be a fool’s errand to guess at how idiots will feel if they’re allowed to see stuff: the question isn’t whether it accomplishes anything: it seems like the default should be _allowing this,_ and I need to hear a better reason than ‘but idiots’ to justify _not allowing this.”_ ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-shootings-at-fort-hood/516472/362 "2026-10-10T14:22:24Z")
You’ve been given additional, and arguably better, reason multiple times in this thread. Please re-read your replies. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-shootings-at-fort-hood/516472/363 "2026-10-10T14:22:54Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > As far as I can tell, some people would like to be allowed to see him get executed; if I say “no, I don’t think you should be allowed to see that,” and they ask why not, I’m going to say, “well, that’s a really good question, and I don’t actually have an answer.” The last public execution in the United States was in 1936, so you could be forgiven for not being up to speed on the discourse around no longer making executions public. But this has been a settled question for 90 years. That last public execution happened in Kentucky, and 20,000 people showed up to celebrate. Kentucky state officials were so embarrassed they decided to ban public executions. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-shootings-at-fort-hood/516472/364 "2026-10-10T14:34:22Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > You’ve been given additional, and arguably better, reason multiple times in this thread. Please re-read your replies There’s no _there_ there. “Public executions as spectator sport is beneath us.” The reply seemed too obvious to bother making: that, no, you don’t get to just _declare_ that; whether it’s currently beneath us isn’t a settled matter; it’s being decided right now. “I think the Trump Administration presenting an execution as entertainment is… odious, to say the least.” Again, the reply seemed too obvious to bother with: “oh, you do? Well, other people _don’t_ think it’s dot dot dot odious; you do, and they don’t, and it isn’t a settled matter.” And so on. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-shootings-at-fort-hood/516472/365 "2026-10-10T14:36:40Z")
I predict that it will not be a “clean” death, He will writhe and moan for an uncomfortably long time before finally dying. Some people will bask in the brutality. More will be horrified. It will engender a bunch of talk about the death penalty in the news. This guy will be a martyr for whatever cause he associated with. None of it will play out according to Hegseth’s plan. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-shootings-at-fort-hood/516472/366 "2026-10-10T14:38:52Z")
@The_Other_Waldo_Pepper: Are you telling me that you think executions should be a spectator sport, and further that you don’t understand why anybody thinks that they shouldn’t? If so, I don’t think I can reply further to that in this forum. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-shootings-at-fort-hood/516472/367 "2026-10-10T14:45:14Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Are you telling me that you think executions should be a spectator sport, and further that you don’t understand why anybody thinks that they shouldn’t? I’m telling you that, if some people don’t want to watch, I understand and I default to figuring it’s their call to make: and, if other people do want to watch, I understand and I default to figuring it’s their call to make — and if any of those people tell me that my default isn’t good enough because they’d like to impose their views on the group that sees things the other way, then _I don’t think I’ve heard a good enough reason for that yet._ ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-shootings-at-fort-hood/516472/368 "2026-10-10T14:50:16Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Again, the reply seemed too obvious to bother with: “oh, you do? Well, other people _don’t_ think it’s dot dot dot odious; you do, and they don’t, and it isn’t a settled matter.” That’s true of literally everything. “Oh, you think that killing and eating people is wrong? Well, Jeffrey Dahmer disagrees, it isn’t a settled matter.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-shootings-at-fort-hood/516472/369 "2026-10-10T14:59:04Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > That’s true of literally everything. “Oh, you think that killing and eating people is wrong? Well, Jeffrey Dahmer disagrees, it isn’t a settled matter.” But you’re reaching for that comparison _because you know it doesn’t work._ If I say, “hey, everybody, let’s take a vote: should we change the law so it’s okay for people like Dahmer to murder innocents and eat their bodies? No? Yeah, I also voted ‘no.’ But: sometimes we _do_ vote to change a law, right? Not, like, the Dahmer thing — it was silly of me to propose that one, we don’t actually want that — but sometimes we vote in favor of a change, because there’s nothing special about the status quo.” ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-shootings-at-fort-hood/516472/370 "2026-10-10T15:26:51Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > then _I don’t think I’ve heard a good enough reason for that yet._ Do you think that feeding people’s bloodlust is a justifiable endeavor? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-shootings-at-fort-hood/516472/371 "2026-10-10T15:58:33Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Do you think that feeding people’s bloodlust is a justifiable endeavor? I feel that _stopping_ people from viewing something is the endeavor that needs to be justified. Stopping someone from breaking an innocent man’s leg? To my mind, _that’s_ a justifiable endeavor. Stopping someone from picking an innocent man’s pocket? Likewise. Stopping an innocent man from witnessing a public execution? What, like, he’s just standing there, minding his business, and someone who’s talking about bloodlust _tries to stop him?_ I don’t see that the innocent man would need to justify himself, or that I would; I figure the person looking to stop him would. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-shootings-at-fort-hood/516472/372 "2026-10-10T16:10:33Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Stopping an innocent man from witnessing a public execution? This presumes that there is in fact a public execution. If we don’t have one, then we don’t have to stop anyone from viewing it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-shootings-at-fort-hood/516472/373 "2026-10-10T16:17:24Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > This presumes that there is in fact a public execution. If we don’t have one, then we don’t have to stop anyone from viewing it. Well, yes; as far as I can tell, what’s being discussed is making _this_ execution one that members of the public will be allowed to choose whether to view: if one person tells me they choose to view it, and another tells me they choose not to, I’ll shrug in both cases and say I figure it’s their call — and if a third person tells me they disagree, and wants to forbid viewing it or make viewing it mandatory, then I’ll say, “wait, what? I don’t think they need to justify themselves, but I think you do.” ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-shootings-at-fort-hood/516472/374 "2026-10-10T16:25:10Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Well, yes; as far as I can tell, what’s being discussed is making _this_ execution one that members of the public will be allowed to choose whether to view: if one person tells me they choose to view it, and another tells me they choose not to, I’ll shrug in both cases and say I figure it’s their call — and if a third person tells me they disagree, and wants to forbid viewing it or make viewing it mandatory, then I’ll say, “wait, what? I don’t think they need to justify themselves, but I think you do.”. You are right, I don’t think that we should make this a public execution and then ban people from watching it. What I question is the wisdom of making this execution public in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-shootings-at-fort-hood/516472/375 "2026-10-10T16:27:36Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > What I question is the wisdom of making this execution public in the first place. What I question is the wisdom of making it private in the first place. If people want to witness it, who am I to tell them no? What right do I have to stop them? ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-shootings-at-fort-hood/516472/376 "2026-10-10T16:37:04Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > So — what the hell am I missing, here? Why wouldn’t it be a matter of indifference to me? 1. Offering this up as entertainment opens America up to all sorts of disgusting motivations and consequences that threaten social cohesion. Entertainment is, in this as in many cases, synonymous with “profit center”. 2. Maybe a more subjective answer, but joy at watching a captured human be killed, no matter how ‘deserving’, is not something it is healthy to feel, and more importantly is not something it’s healthy for a society to encourage people to feel. We are worse off as families, spouses, neighbors, and communities when we start living in a world where “It sure felt good to watch that guy get killed” is part of the conversation around the dinner table. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-shootings-at-fort-hood/516472/377 "2026-10-10T16:54:56Z")
And if one is a libertarian at heart none of those IMO very important considerations outweigh the right of any given libertarian to exercise his freedom. No matter how freedumb it might be. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-shootings-at-fort-hood/516472/378 "2026-10-10T17:26:15Z")
Well, yeah; the alternative is, what, _not_ letting people exercise their rights unless you approve of how they think? If they’re not harming anyone — and you don’t want to let them decide what to do while they keep not harming anyone — why _wouldn’t_ I default to siding with them? After all, I’d sure want them to default to siding with me, if anyone ever declared that what I was up to involved a “freedumb” to be taken away from me. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-shootings-at-fort-hood/516472/379 "2026-10-10T17:34:42Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > What I question is the wisdom of making it private in the first place. Why? > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > If people want to witness it, who am I to tell them no? If people want to witness your next prostate exam, who am I to tell them no? ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-shootings-at-fort-hood/516472/380 "2026-10-10T17:57:25Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > And if one is a libertarian at heart none of those IMO very important considerations outweigh the right of any given libertarian to exercise his freedom. No matter how freedumb it might be. Even from a libertarian perspective, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. The court sentenced this man to death. This means that they took away his right to life in exactly one circumstance: when the government is putting him to death. It doesn’t strip him of every other right in every other context and declare upon season on him. If someone waited until he was being led to the firing squad before jumping out from behind a bush and stabbing him to death, that person would be guilty of murder. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-shootings-at-fort-hood/516472.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-shootings-at-fort-hood/516472.md?page=20)