1 Isn't this tragedy horrific enough without subjecting us to the human disasters over at huffpo??

Have mercy, Bluto!

2 And not a word from the Liberal dunces in the media about the fact that the guy was on anti-depressant drugs which are known to cause suicide and mania.  Libs won't touch that because modern psychiatry is second only to academia as a Liberal bastion.

3 Anti-depressants? Countdown to the $cientologists entering the fray....

4 "If this is the kind of thought that comes from an Ivy League Ph.D., state universities are looking pretty good."

Hell if that's the case, 96 Student HS I went to looks pretty good.

5 I was waiting for that shoe to drop and now it has. I wanted to believe that these leftist freaks would have more sense and good taste than that at least but I never really did.

Full disclosure: I am on anti-depressants for some time after going untreated for a long time. That being said I feel that anti-depressants need to be used with caution. Depression can have profound effects on mood, rational thought and other aspects of life but there can also be a significant danger when going off the drug suddenly. Patients need to recognize that if they go off due to cash shortage for a while there can be effects that are more sudden and more profound that the symptoms of depression alone.  Also, not all meds work or even work the same way for all patients which is why monitoring and patient self-awareness must be emphatically encouraged.

Both serotonin and norepinephrine (re-uptake systems of which are the targets of modern anti-depression medications) are profoundly important neurotransmitters and  the lack of them can provoke symptoms that are far more troubling than a case of the blues. Memory, concentration, motivation, reasoning, emotional evaluation, adaption to stress, sleeping and eating cycles and, in extreme instances, psychomotor effects can significantly reduce functionality. I also experienced peripheral visual anomalies but that could have been due to unnoticed eye muscle activity.

The fact that this guy went off late in a school year is far more indicative that his mentality was a result of his underlying mental illness, which is almost always aggravated by stress, than a result of a medication. Saying that anti-depressants are "known" to cause suicidal and violent thoughts is problematic because:

A) It is one of those "barely there" statistical findings the likes of which paranormal researchers are fond of.
B) Studies saying something are not proof but evidence - often preliminary evidence.
C) The people who are on the drugs are, nearly by definition, mentally ill (the drugs do not cure but allow normal function) Otherwise it would require giving the medication to people who do not have the condition for which the medication is being prescribed. That would be analogous to giving non diabetics shots of insulin and then commenting on the negative effects displayed.     

There are also many common traits of these types of people, regardless of whether medications is taken. He will be found to be a loner who has problems socializing either due to an environment which stunted his social development or a psychopathic inability to feel empathy for people and deal with life.

But then it is easier for people with a political ax to grind against modern "Western" medicine or video games or guns to ignore little things like preexisting insanity when sizing up an event.

6 "But Joseph, you haven't established that they have yet done that; you simply suggested that they will."

As much as it sickens me to actually defend a Kosist's statement, these video game and music arguments always follow these events. Always. Certain bipartisan elements in society seriously tried to blame Columbine on the fact that some of the criminals made their own DOOM video game levels. (This was the original DOOM and it was old back then.) Just as I knew their shoe (Bush did it) would drop, everyone on both sides of the political swamp is ready to make this tragedy into their own personal resource. He is just worried that the Conservatives will have the "good taste" to wait and use this in the culture war at a less inappropriate time in case he might miss the opportunity to say "told ya so". I would be astounded if activists from all interest groups were not desperately trying to find out his favorite music and political beliefs.

7 Sorry, not "Kosist". Huffian.