A list of who/what was to blame for the Newtown massacre.

[friendly_iconoclast]

I've seen every single one of these in the media or online

And damn near every person that has offered up their 'cause' is sure that theirs
is correct, dammit, and that anyone that disagrees might just as well have killed those poor kids themselves:

The NRA
Wayne LaPierre
Every gun owner in the US
Gun Nuts
Guntards
The Second Amendment
Anybody who doesn't support immediate repeal of the Second Amendment
Assault Rifles
Assault Weapons
Extended magazines
Detachable magazines
AR-15s
Scary-looking guns
Video games
Violent video games
Popular culture
Violent media
Doomsday preppers
The shooter's mother
Lack of male role models
Feminized culture
Lack of prayer in schools
Lack of God in schools
Karma: http://www.democraticunderground.com/12311649
Lack of armed teachers
The US healthcare system in general
The US mental healthcare system in particular
Psychotropic drugs
Big Pharma

That's all I can think of at the moment- If you've run across any others,
please include a link to same in the comments

[randome]

1. All the weapons-related items can be folded into one.

I see four that we can do anything about.

* Easy availability of guns.
* A reverence for violence (Torture porn movies like Saw, immersive video games where the more eviscerated guts are shown, the better.)
* Inadequate monitoring of drug usage.
* Lack of adequate mental health resources.

[friendly_iconoclast]

2. Found another 'cause': Atheists

http://www.newsrake.org/index.php/topic,9688.0.html?PHPSESSID=2683908480380d3880774d9616f0bad2

[friendly_iconoclast]

3. Oops, forgot the Big Guy: God

At least according to that well-known 'theologist' Fred Phelps:

https://twitter.com/DearShirley/status/279953994124783618

[Initech]

39. Or complete lack of, according to Mike Huckabee.

[riderinthestorm]

4. James Dobson theorized it was legal abortion. A DUer complained it was Special Ed deficiencies nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

21. That thread was one of the worst.

So much misinformation.

[friendly_iconoclast]

28. Special ed was at fault? The guy was 20, FFS- you can't keep adults in SE against their will

Got a link to this idiocy? I have a strong stomach...

[proud2BlibKansan]

35. Here ya go

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2015990

[friendly_iconoclast]

37. SE may be guilty of any number of sins, but hanging Sandy Hook on it is OTT.

[slackmaster]

5. Everyone on Earth except the guy who did it

[friendly_iconoclast]

6. Thank you. I'd wondered how long it would take for someone to twig on that...

[slackmaster]

7. If this wasn't DU I'd be surprised that nobody mentioned it before I did

But this is DU.

[letemrot]

10. I was wondering..n/t

[The Link]

8. Fan of Ronald Reagan?

Sounds like it.

[friendly_iconoclast]

11. Not at all-actually, one would think he'd be more popular with you lot.

After all he did sign two major gun control laws into effect:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulford_Act

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearm_Owners_Protection_Act#Machine_Gun_Ban


Willful ignorance is not a virtue.

[undeterred]

9. You forgot homosexuals

and the homosexual agenda. There's a mandatory blame clause, but I'm sure somebody said it.

[customerserviceguy]

12. That dickhead Dobson said it. n/t

[HooptieWagon]

13. How about physical security at the school?

I'm not referring to armed teachers/staff. I'm referring to how easily the gunman was able to force his way into the school, and enter unlocked classrooms. I think improvements can be made there, without taking on the "persona" of being a fortress.

[LeftInTX]

14. Hippies, the Black Panthers, Symbionese Liberation Army, Patty Hearst

[LiberalArkie]

15. I think you might have to include CT for making it difficult to commit an adult to a mental hospital

[Iggy]

16. The US mental healthcare system in particular

This one has credibility-- and this can be traced right back to the conservative god: ronald reagan.

Almost ten years after Ronald Reagan left office as president, the legacy of his administration continues to be studied. What is almost indisputable is that the changes in public policy that were implemented during the 1980s were sweeping and marked a turning point in American domestic policy. Faced with increasing competition from overseas, American business found it necessary to alter the social contract. This would require a realignment of the political economy so as to weaken labor unions and the social safety net. In Reagan, the Right found a spokesman capable of aligning conservatives, centrists, and working class whites. With this coalition, Reagan was able to bring about a number of reactionary changes in public policy (Alford, 1988).

This paper provides an illustration of this co-optation by examining the policies regarding involuntary commitment of the mentally ill. The shifts in such policies were not the result of overt attempts at change, but rather part of an overall effort to realign the political economy to be more profitable for business. The overall result was that political discourse shifted from a focus on social policy to a focus on fiscal policy. As such, social programs that necessitated financial outlays on the part of the federal government were overlooked in favour of policies that seemed less costly.

Still, the administration did not, and perhaps could not, act in isolation and without public support. But they didn't have to. By the middle of the 1970s, there was a consensus among interested groups that reform of the Mental Health Care System was necessary. Lobbying on the part of special interest groups and a commitment on the part of President Jimmy Carter led to passage of the Mental Health Systems Act.

Along with this utter stupidity is the lack of interest of the deadbeats in congress on infrastructure spending-- to the point we now have major bridges collapsing and killing people-- the I-35 bridge in Minneaspolis.

So here we are-- over 300 MILLION people in our nation, and no real, significant mental health care program. We "can't afford it"... what a load of crap.


http://sociology.org/content/vol003.004/thomas_d.html

[XemaSab]

17. Repeal of the death penalty for children disrespecting their parents

coupled with SIN.

[99Forever]

18. Lots of responsible parties on that list...

.. but the actual reason it could happen wasn't listed. (you do understand the difference between having responsibility and taking the blame, right?

The ready availability of weapons to virtually anyone who decides to obtain one or many and use them to commit mass murder.

Imagine that.

[friendly_iconoclast]

23. That *was* covered- look at the first seven entries again:

The NRA
Wayne LaPierre
Every gun owner in the US
Gun Nuts
Guntards
The Second Amendment
Anybody who doesn't support immediate repeal of the Second Amendment

There are plenty of people, here at DU and elsewhere, who blame one, several, or ALL of the
above for just that.

I suppose we should have been blaming the 'ready availability' of assault boxcutters for 9/11 all this time...

[99Forever]

38. Ya can always tell when ya strike a nerve...

... they do a silly snarky jump.

[yardwork]

19. You left out gay marriage and abortion.

Both have been blamed by several religious spokespeople who appear regularly as "expert guests" on mainstream media talk shows.

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. Teachers and their unions

A bunch of right wingers have blamed them.

[arthritisR_US]

22. I have two

Teachers without guns
Students who failed to rush/storm the shooter

[friendly_iconoclast]

24. Partly covered- "Lack of armed teachers" was near the bottom of the OP

[aikoaiko]

27. but original a DUer blamed a teacher with guns

Based on misinformation and his rush to judgment about the mother being a teacher at the school.

[arthritisR_US]

29. Good point, sorry.

[reformist2]

25. Looks like I'm the first to mention Adam Lanza...

[aikoaiko]

26. Don't forget his mama.

[friendly_iconoclast]

33. Covered- "The shooter's mother"

[The Straight Story]

30. Hmmm everyone/thing except for him (nt)

[sendero]

31. Does someone have to be..

... to blame? I don't think so. The shooter was clearly mentally ill and can only be blamed for this to a certain extent. All of the rest of it such as how the guns were secured and what role meds might have had is nothing but pure speculation.

[ErikJ]

32. Marijuana

[Autumn Colors]

34. Don't forget CT legalizing gay marriage (nt)

[friendly_iconoclast]

36. The 1968 Democratic National Convention

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324461604578189411325231422.html?mod=hp_opinion