# The tree of liberty needs to be watered with the blood of school children **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 15, 2018, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-of-liberty-needs-to-be-watered-with-the-blood-of-school-children/808854 "2018-02-15T02:32:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 28
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-of-liberty-needs-to-be-watered-with-the-blood-of-school-children/808854/541 "2018-02-23T22:43:46Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > [Coral Springs police upset at some Broward deputies for not entering school](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/sources-coral-springs-police-upset-at-some-broward-deputies-for-not-entering-school/ar-BBJvA3b?li=BBnb7Kz) > > So, 4 \*trained law enforcement professionals \*hid by their cars instead of pursuing the shooter. That brings to the total of adults who were…_reluctant_…to enter the building to how many now? > > I think that settles the ‘if teachers had guns, they’d of kicked some ass!’ argument. [Demolition Man](https://youtu.be/dlyMZNURdmc?t=84) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-of-liberty-needs-to-be-watered-with-the-blood-of-school-children/808854/542 "2018-02-23T22:52:03Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > I think that settles the ‘if teachers had guns, they’d of kicked some ass!’ argument. “I think that settles the ‘if teachers had guns, [DEL]they’d of[/DEL] kicked some ass!’ argument.” _they would have_ (On behalf of the teachers who were victims of this and previous school shootings.) ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-of-liberty-needs-to-be-watered-with-the-blood-of-school-children/808854/543 "2018-02-23T23:17:26Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > … > I think that settles the ‘if teachers had guns, they’d of kicked some ass!’ argument. And also settles the “Good guy with a gun” bullshit single syllable bumper sticker bullshit slogan the NRA pushes. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-of-liberty-needs-to-be-watered-with-the-blood-of-school-children/808854/544 "2018-02-24T00:00:04Z")
[Transcript of call to FBI](https://apnews.com/ffbf69208b8040ba9e6b3d91e6bad5ce/Caller-told-FBI-Florida-shooting-suspect-'going-to-explode'); this is gonna break people’s hearts (and prolly cause a bunch of people to lose their jobs and possibly for law enforcement to re-think their shit. > [@](#): > > A woman close to the man charged with killing 17 people at a Florida high school warned the FBI in chilling detail that he had a growing collection of guns and a temper so uncontrollable she worried about him “getting into as school and just shooting the place up.” > > The Associated Press on Friday obtained a transcript of the Jan. 5 tip to the FBI’s call center. The FBI acknowledged it failed to investigate the tip about 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, but the transcript provides the fullest glimpse yet into the seriousness of the woman’s concerns. > > “I know he’s going to explode,” she told the call-taker. > [@](#): > > During the phone call, which spanned more than 13 minutes, the woman described a teenager prone to anger with the “mental capacity of a 12 to 14 year old” that deteriorated after his mother died last year. She pointed the FBI to several Instagram accounts where Cruz had posted photos of sliced-up animals and rifles and ammunition he apparently purchased with money from his mother’s life insurance policy. > > “It’s alarming to see these pictures and know what he is capable of doing and what could happen,” the caller said. “He’s thrown out of all these schools because he would pick up a chair and just throw it at somebody, a teacher or a student, because he didn’t like the way they were talking to him.” > > The woman said she called the local police in Parkland, Florida, after Cruz began posting online that he wanted to kill himself. Then, she said, the threat changed to “I want to kill people.” She said he had killed animals and once held his mother at rifle-point. > > “I just want to, you know, get it off my chest in case something does happen,” the woman said. “And I do believe something’s going to happen.” The FBI were also alerted to a video on YouTube; pay attention to the details here: > [@](#): > > The FBI briefed congressional staff Friday about its failure to act on the alarming tip, as well as why it did not delve into a September 2017 YouTube comment posted by a “Nikolas Cruz” that said, “Im going to be a professional school shooter.” The FBI linked the January call to the report of the YouTube comment, but an FBI intake specialist and a supervisor at the call center took no further action, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley’s office said Friday. > > Google, which owns YouTube, also briefed congressional staffers. One reason the FBI didn’t investigate the YouTube video further? They didn’t actually, ya know, _try_: > [@](#): > > As for the YouTube post, Grassley’s office said the FBI opened a counterterrorism lead but closed it less than a month later because agents were unable to identify the person behind it. Google told congressional staff it could have helped, if the FBI had asked last year. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-of-liberty-needs-to-be-watered-with-the-blood-of-school-children/808854/545 "2018-02-24T02:19:39Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > [Transcript of call to FBI](https://apnews.com/ffbf69208b8040ba9e6b3d91e6bad5ce/Caller-told-FBI-Florida-shooting-suspect-'going-to-explode'); this is gonna break people’s hearts (and prolly cause a bunch of people to lose their jobs and possibly for law enforcement to re-think their shit.The FBI were also alerted to a video on YouTube; pay attention to the details here:One reason the FBI didn’t investigate the YouTube video further? They didn’t actually, ya know, _try_::rolleyes: But once again, suppose the FBI and the local police both had their eye on this guy? Under what authority would they have either locked him up, or taken his guns away? They weren’t going to have someone on him 24/7, and until he actually started to shoot people, it doesn’t seem like there was a damned thing they could do. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-of-liberty-needs-to-be-watered-with-the-blood-of-school-children/808854/546 "2018-02-24T02:48:00Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > But once again, suppose the FBI and the local police both had their eye on this guy? Under what authority would they have either locked him up, or taken his guns away? They weren’t going to have someone on him 24/7, and until he actually started to shoot people, it doesn’t seem like there was a damned thing they could do. And before I come down on them, I’d also want to know how many calls they got each week from people alarmed by the words and/or actions of their neighbors and coworkers. There are a lot of people out there who behave in an aggressive manner and say crazy things that alarm the people around them. And the large majority of them don’t become mass shooters. I really don’t know what law enforcement could’ve done when there were no laws being broken - ( I know there was a domestic incident but his foster family didn’t file a complaint ). Technically, he was a law abiding citizen up until the day he wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-of-liberty-needs-to-be-watered-with-the-blood-of-school-children/808854/547 "2018-02-24T03:26:47Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > But once again, suppose the FBI and the local police both had their eye on this guy? Under what authority would they have either locked him up, or taken his guns away? They weren’t going to have someone on him 24/7, and until he actually started to shoot people, it doesn’t seem like there was a damned thing they could do. Which is a very interesting point. Last year, there were Democratic proposals to prohibit the sale of guns to people on the no-fly list and Social Security recipients who have delegated their financial affairs to someone else (often but not always because of increasing cognitive difficulty). The NRA totally rejected both proposals as serious infringments on the Second Amendment. If gun rights advocates are okay to gun sales to people on the no fly list, are alarming statements on YouTube somehow better evidence of malign intent by an individual? I’m not saying that the FBI didn’t drop the ball. I’m just not sure what they should have done with the ball had they managed to hold onto it, given that the NRA and it’s membership see withholding firearms as a bigger threat to this country than the risk of acting with what I would see as prudence and caution when lives could be at risk. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-of-liberty-needs-to-be-watered-with-the-blood-of-school-children/808854/548 "2018-02-24T03:32:34Z")
In a better country, there might have been interviews with the kid and a recognition that his circumstances sucked ass and that yes, he did have a problem with anger issues and some counseling or mentoring might have been found to help guide him until he was able to navigate the world on is own. If we lived in a society that, ya know, actually gave a fuck about the people living in it and not just about the people lording it over the rest of us. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-of-liberty-needs-to-be-watered-with-the-blood-of-school-children/808854/549 "2018-02-24T07:27:00Z")
Hard to know which countries you’re speaking of as you people seem to think _everyone_ is better than America, but I’m assuming you would count Norway as among those enlightened countries who ‘give a fuck’ about their residents. Why then did they not simply counsel or mentor [this asshole](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/23/world/europe/23oslo.html) into not killing five times as many people as Cruz? On the plus side though he got only 20 years, so clearly they give a fuck about their murderers and who knows, he might even become a ‘productive citizen’ some day and able to carry on like nothing happened. And won’t the family and friends of the 80 people he killed be grateful for that? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-of-liberty-needs-to-be-watered-with-the-blood-of-school-children/808854/550 "2018-02-24T07:34:40Z")
No message. I’ll let someone more eloquent take your ass down a few pegs. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-of-liberty-needs-to-be-watered-with-the-blood-of-school-children/808854/551 "2018-02-24T07:39:36Z")
You decided that ‘mewling quim’ lacked the je ne se quoi you were going for, did you? ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-of-liberty-needs-to-be-watered-with-the-blood-of-school-children/808854/552 "2018-02-24T07:44:51Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > You decided that calling me a ‘mewling quim’ lacked that certain je ne said quoi you were going for, did you? It had too many syllables for you to actually understand it. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-of-liberty-needs-to-be-watered-with-the-blood-of-school-children/808854/553 "2018-02-24T07:49:47Z")
Well, that was certainly a snappy comeback. Inconsistent though. Which was it, you decided to await the arrival of someone more eloquent than you to take me down, or you were sparing me too many syllables? You really need to keep your bullshit straight to avoid showing yourself to be some sort of…mewling quim. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-of-liberty-needs-to-be-watered-with-the-blood-of-school-children/808854/554 "2018-02-24T07:58:03Z")
I have a tendency to be overly verbose; I tend to say in 50 words what someone else can condense into 5. So I’ll wait for someone more eloquent to distill it all down into **Starving Artist** -appropriate nuggets. Much like how some people cut up the food of the elderly for them so they don’t choke to death on something too big for them. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-of-liberty-needs-to-be-watered-with-the-blood-of-school-children/808854/555 "2018-02-24T08:16:26Z")
Oh, come now. You merely called me a mewling quim. You should have stuck with wanting to opt for someone more eloquent. Pretending you edited out your comments due to verbosity is both silly, dishonest and transparent. Your own words give you away. When come back, bring brain. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-of-liberty-needs-to-be-watered-with-the-blood-of-school-children/808854/556 "2018-02-24T08:31:34Z")
The two aren’t mutually exclusive. My reasons for editing my comment was true, irrespective of if you believe it. But someone’s feisty tonight. Extra Geritol at dinner? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-of-liberty-needs-to-be-watered-with-the-blood-of-school-children/808854/557 "2018-02-24T09:10:07Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Oh, come now. You merely called me a mewling quim. You should have stuck with wanting to opt for someone more eloquent. Pretending you edited out your comments due to verbosity is both silly, dishonest and transparent. Your own words give you away. When come back, bring brain. I agree: Why should he edit his comments when you’ll just edit them for him? ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-of-liberty-needs-to-be-watered-with-the-blood-of-school-children/808854/558 "2018-02-24T09:39:39Z")
you know a Israeli chick I used to play EQ with said the other day mass shootings in the us is getting to be like what a suicide bombing is there … so common that at some point well just shake our heads regret the fact people died and other than making sure it isn’t you and yours just go on accepting it as inevitable part of daily life ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-of-liberty-needs-to-be-watered-with-the-blood-of-school-children/808854/559 "2018-02-24T09:52:35Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > But someone’s feisty tonight. Extra Geritol at dinner? I’m feisty all the time, homes. And ain’t no Geritol for me. No Viagra either. > [@Derleth](#): > > I agree: Why should he edit his comments when you’ll just edit them for him? Don’t know why you’d say that. I have been instructed not to do even what I did, therefore I shan’t. (That last word is a contraction of the words “shall” and “not”, for the benefit of those of you schooled since the sixties.) > [@nightshadea](#): > > you know a Israeli chick I used to play EQ with said the other day mass shootings in the us is getting to be like what a suicide bombing is there … so common that at some point well just shake our heads regret the fact people died and other than making sure it isn’t you and yours just go on accepting it as inevitable part of daily life Yep, same will happen with terrorism too. There’s alway something threatening our health, safety and well-being. It’s just the way the world is wired. Used to be rampaging armies and disease. Then the threat of nuclear war. Now terrorism. Fifty or a hundred years from now it’ll be something else. (Right now a lot of really smart people who ought to know are saying it will be AI.) And then something after that and something else after that. It’s really just threats and peril all the way down. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-of-liberty-needs-to-be-watered-with-the-blood-of-school-children/808854/560 "2018-02-24T11:49:11Z")
I blame the people who blame other people. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-of-liberty-needs-to-be-watered-with-the-blood-of-school-children/808854.md?page=27) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tree-of-liberty-needs-to-be-watered-with-the-blood-of-school-children/808854.md?page=29)