His son is dead and his life is falling apart. What did you have in mind?

ChrisMcK: What do YOU have in mind? Did the man commit a crime or not? His crime was premeditated and very intentional, and directed against innocent people. He's fallen on hard times - do you think that makes him immune to the law?

No. No one gets a free pass. But does this guy need punishment or rehabilitation?

Punishment, yes. Rehabilitation, maybe. Let the courts decide, once they (unlike us) hear all the evidence.

Be careful when you leave a man nothing left to lose - for he will have nothing left to lose.

Old Guy-1464523 wrote

"Be careful when you leave a man nothing left to lose - for he will have nothing left to lose."

I agree. Also be careful when 60 men plus 1 in Washington tend to control your destiny and your freedom of choice!

The man lost his son to war and the same government that took his son has the banking system so messed up that he most likely lost his job and now his property is being repo'd.

So the governments answer is to give him a competency test to see if he is sane and to send a mechanical machine in after him because they are afraid to face him.

Wait till you have a 1000 like him and they unite together and focus their attention on those that created all this mess.

With 10 million unemployed and foreclosures daily it's not hard to get to a 1000.

Was his actions wrong? In the eyes of the law yes. How many of you feel empathy for him? How many more times do you think something like this is going to play itself out in todays economic times?

I don't agree with his actions and I probably will not agree with the courts response as I also agree with "be careful when you leave a man nothing left to lose - for he will have nothing left to lose" but I am betting this will not be the last time we hear a story like this.

I wish this man and his family the best under the circumstances.

Spud,

Then they will have left us with nothing left to lose. Why should we be the ones who have to be careful.

Dissapointed,

Absolutely right.

Jerry,

You said it all and said it well. Sooner or later, they have to return to their districts and answer to the people there.

Another out of control wingnut who thinks the government has done him wrong. His son was not drafted, he joined the military. His pickup was being repossessed because he could not make the payments. He probably listened daily to Limbaugh, Hannity, and O'Reilly's insane ranting. And we wonder why these idiots keep appearing in hate filled episodes like this!

They have very good instructors on right wing TV and radio to tell them what they want to hear. They're already half way over the hill to insanity, the spin doctors on the right simply gives them the incentive to act out their misplaced anger and frustration. The Nazis perfected this indoctrination, and the American right adapted the process to suit their aims.

Jerry D and &quot,

Some day you are going to have to grow up, put on your grown-up pants and get over your juvenile fantasies of rebellion.

I really hope this does not become a trend. I heard on the radio that there are security issues at Social Services over people throwing chairs and having meltdowns after waiting for hours. The frustration level is very high right now.

There is a picture of Jim and his Mom in todays Roanoke Times if anyone is interested.

YUBA--- Uhhuh hang right in there sunshine, it's not going to be pretty

Awfton..... You seem to be forgetting who runs most of the media.

Good afternoon Edwin. No matter how far we are pushed, we are still responsible for our actions.

Tell that to the Democrats

C'mon Bartman. It's Wytheville. I've worked the area before, have you? Lot's of nice people who bleed red, white and blue. The guy was upset and sad.

Even law enforcement treated him with dignity, can't you?

Thank you, Carrie.

Bartman = liberal puss bag.

FTA:

"He was really down on the government," Oliver told The Associated Press on Thursday in an interview at his mother's floral shop. "About the government taking over the right to bear arms ... he was angry at the government over taxing us."

So yes. The guy was a right-wing gun nut who unquestionably committed domestic terrorism. It does not take a liberal to identify him as a textbook conservative. Pointing out that obvious fact is hardly justification for insults. If you must respond to post #4, why not show how it is in any way inaccurate? If it's not, why not just leave it alone?

So much for hearing all the evidence...

A terrorist would have killed people.

Again with the idiocy of assumption.

One old guy in a wheelchair, holds a few people for a few hours - and he's a TERRORIST??????

What about the muslim in the army who, with premeditation, MURDERS more than a dozen UNARMED military personel and wounds almost three dozen more - and no one dare call him TERRORIST?

Small wonder this country is in the crapper!

If he were Muslim you guys would be all over him right now. But hey, if you're a white man complaining about the government, you're just a good American down on his luck. Whatever, tell that to the people he held at gunpoint. He deserves all the prison time they can throw at him.

He shot at the postmaster for christ's sake! That's attempted murder. JP's right. Or if he was black or hispanic, imagine the shrill from you bleeding heart angry white people.

Should the a-hole that shot 4 cops in Pittsburgh who fantisized about Obama coming to take his guns be pitied too?

I've got pretty damn thick skin, but I'm appalled at the apoligist's posts on this so far. Law and order my a$$.

JPJohnson wrote

"He deserves all the prison time they can throw at him."

Just maybe that was his objective. Warm place and free meals! But perhaps he just had enough of not being heard!

One old guy in a wheelchair, holds a few people for a few hours - and he's a TERRORIST??????

Yep. that's what a terrorist is, a person that uses fear to make his point heard.

Hey, I feel for the guy, losing his son and maybe his property, but taking hostages just because you are ticked off just doesn't cut it.

Thanks Carrie Leigh, from those of us who are still here. More people move into this area than out of it. When I was younger, I thought that I would leave it. I soon changed my mind. We have fine, highly trained police departments. The largest part of our major crime originates on the two interstates that intersect here---it is not homegrown. And thank you for the assistance that you have provided in our times of need.

Um, what communist thinking?

Um, what communist thinking?

Watch one of Glenn Beck's shows so you can see what he's talking about. Take a look. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4FgeVOabSg

Laos Deo sounds like an American Al Qaeda. See why we compare Conservatives to the Taliban?

"We can not excuse the criminal behaviour." Yeah, Laos sounds like a real terrorist to me.

Thank you Laos Deo, these other idiots don't know the area. I do. Many of the finest Americans live in this area. I worked FEMA security during a flood there, and met people at their raw moments. Still kind, even when they had nothing but the clothes on their backs.

Do not appreciate the negative from Vine posters who don't know the area.

@Laos. I wondered how far down the postings I would have to go to find blame placed in the Democrats. His son died in Iraq. Who sent him there? Why?

Ad for the claims of gun ownership rights - please post links to any pending legislation that backs up your claim. And I don't mean youtube videos or links to newsmax of foxnoise.

@snake09. Glenn Beck is delusional. You might want to check the FACTS.

Glen Beck. Communism. Thanks for the holiday laugh.

Carrie Leigh

Thank you Laos Deo, these other idiots don't know the area. I do. Many of the finest Americans live in this area. I worked FEMA security during a flood there, and met people at their raw moments. Still kind, even when they had nothing but the clothes on their backs.

Do not appreciate the negative from Vine posters who don't know the area.

My people came from that area in the decades before the Civil War. They were riflemen; virile and sturdy stock. They had a tendency to be clannish but would share with a stranger what meager things they had. Their descendants believe that a man or a woman's word is his bond and his handshake is his word. You want them on your side in a street fight but don't ever do one wrong or you'll have the entire extended family to deal with.

Brad, you have true wisdom.

LOL. You guys have no credibility. If he were Muslim, Black, Latino, or from California or New York you'd be talking about how he country is going off the deep end. That man is a piece of trash, many people are down on their luck. That does not give you the right to hold people at gunpoint.

JPJohnson

LOL. You guys have no credibility.

Meaning of course that you do. LOL

LOL!

Snake09 and others actually believe Glenn Beck! I bet "Gator" did too.

I do believe the story he tells ad nauseam about the time he was on the floor crying and curled up in the fetal position because his life was out of control and he just lost it.

snake09 you talk communist.. What about your democrats.. and king czar Obama..

Everyone has a chance to vote in 2010, 2012 - no one needs to kill people. Anything that has been done can be undone. So everyone settle down and breath deeply.

There is no justification for violence.

There's a camp to get training in.

ah, a "terrorist training camp".

your point is made laos deo

waukone - tell that to our Founding Fathers.

Old Guy - our founding fathers thought and acted on - voting (with some corruption) to solve the problems of the nation, majority rules, only white males count, if you have money and power you get to do what you want (for a short time), no security, no protection. You have little faith and a sorry lack of history. The rhetoric we are hearing now was the same in WWI, WWII, Social Security, Civil Rights, etc. We have survived all of that, do you really think that this country is so fragile, lacks resilience, etc.

If you are praying and this is what is happening maybe this is what god wants? If your prayers to stop the change, are having no influence maybe we are exactly where we are supposed to be.

As I said before, if you can get more people to vote to stop the change then want the change, go for it, but being a sore loser when things aren't going your way isn't the American way.

Brad Melton,

You sirname is still common in the area. You have some insight into the demographics. We welcome newcomers constantly. They either adapt or have difficulty, because they won't be able to change long-held standards. If someone comes here looking for trouble, he will find it. But if he comes here to raise a family and make friends, he will find that too.

give it a rest, please, bls. Lots of people in pain without your sarcasm.

Doods give up on bls doods, cuase he jus be tokin da ganja mahn he don't mean nuttin by it doods.

Pfft, moron.

Figures the libnuts would come out and turn this into politics.

Edwin: By putting innocent people in fear for their lives because he has a problem with taxes and gun control, this guy kinda already "turned it into politics," don'tcha think?

Figured the righties would come out and defend this coward's little tantrum.

Dave, don't be cruel because you think you can hide behind your email address. This has nothing to do with right or left.

Check out the Roanoke Times and the New River Valley papers. Even the Judge is not treating him like crap. Jeez Louise.

Being sympathetic is not the same as defending his actions.

If these are desparate times, you better fasten your seat belt. What we're facing will make today look like an afternoon walk in the park. For those not psychologically grounded, the law-abiding citizen of today may just become the common criminal of tomorrow. It's what happens when we go into hock up to our necks and confuse "things" with safety, security and comfort as well as satisfaction and contentment.

His Social Security and Disability payments from the federal govornment were'nt enough to pay for his "beloved" truck. Poor guy.

That's just cruel, yuba2ooo. Merry Christmas, hope Jesus has mercy on your soul.

Carrie,

Your merciful Jesus called out hypocrisy as well. Any U.S. citizen in "Gator's" condition would qualify for federal assistance, or social welfare, the very thing that the angry white people rally around when they shriek about "taking back their country" from the democratically elected "socialist" government. It would be a safe bet to say this guy never sent any of those government checks back to that government that he hated so much. Instead he cruelly attempted to murder a civil servant and terrorize U.S. citizens. And how many posters here say they understand! Sorry, not me. I won't sell that soul of mine like that.

Off topic, pogodog1. He did not make any kind of racist statement. He's sad and in mourning. Don't go where there is zero info for you to make such a statement.

What are you suggesting Carrie? Turn him lose?

yeah! on you brad!lol!

rp123-1352647

yeah! on you brad!lol!

I'd invite hin to my home for a meal; listen to him; share some of my stories about my time on Active Duty "over there," then go about the business of trying to get him the help he needs. What would you do?

brad,maybe he needs a job

Or a purpose. The two may or may not be mutually exclusive.

Brad. of course not. He violated several laws and should be held for his actions. I'm not condoning his actions because he was in pain and suffered mental illness.

He probably knew the difference between right and wrong but was hurting so much he went to the only place he knew would stop and help him.

I live where VT nuts with the silver spoon inserted (well you know where)from affluent families who send their nut cases to school, dumping them on us..Thanks alot.

This man is nothing like this, he's not a nut looking to kill. He needed help and he got it from a law enforcement official who was a real man.

And a lesser man would have gone in with guns a-blazin' and a lot of innocent people might have been hurt. There are too few real men or women around these days; or at least of the character and caliber you allude to. Tough times bring out the best and the worst in people.

I politians have held guns to our heads for years . Why are they not going to jail?

Oh yeah, more power to someone who takes innocent people hostage. In most quarters we call that terrorism.

chrismck, You are welcome. Could not get to respond to you until now. I spent many hours in the area with people at the worst moments of their lives.

I will not stand by and allow these people who know nothing of the area to slam this poor, hurting soul. Jim is also a great man who deserves respect in dealing with the situation like an actual human.

I come from a similar area in Southwest Missouri called The Ozarks. We have a tradition of tightening our belts during lean times and assuming responsbility for our actions. If we go about the business of pulling a gun on someone, it's usually not innocents who had nothing to do with the choices we've made that got us where we are.

Or the choices the government made that made the situation to start with.

Jerry D Williamson

Or the choices the government made that made the situation to start with.

Blaming the government is one way of avoiding responsibility.

Actually, Brad, if you are from the Ozarks, you have a long and inglorious history of breaking the 'law', moonshining, and killing 'revenuers' (anyone else who finds the still).

All families who have lived here for at least three generations have one or two sociopaths among their ancestry. They're the most colorful characters of all. And the ones whose personal stories still livin' up a gathering all these many years later. : )

He was shot at 3 times and you state that he should have stood still. You make no sense.

cblr, my family was crushed by a 3rd time drunk driver. Do I get to kill everyone leaving a bar? What is your point? I dealt with the pain, some cannot.

My point was this: some, hopefully most of us, deal with grief and tragedy in a reasonable way. The family who lost their sons did. They didn't feel it necessary to go kill someone. I am afraid you completely misunderstood me. I am sorry about the loss in your family.

Those robots can gas and taze!

LOL...Yeah right. Knock it over on its side and pull a few wires out of 'em and see where that gets 'em. They have to be controlled and they have to have a camera for the controller to see what is going on. Get it yet? THEY are robots!!!!! Geeez!!!!!!!

F, I mean, Puck---

You are the one who does not get it.

LOL...@!$%#??? That Is stupid. Are you AFRAID to spell it out. What are you in grade school you moron? Grow up. You knock the @!$%#ing robot over, you yank it's camera off and bust a few wires...robot DISABLED. Then even though it can still run around it can't be controlled...WHY, you now ask? WOW!!! Because it can't think on it's own. UNDERSTAND NOW GOOFBALL!!! Geeez!!!!!!!!! Where do these idiots come from and why so many of them?

So, if we just ask God or the government for forgiveness, we should be set free? LOL

I said the guy needs incarceration! imprisioned! locked up! sent to jail! sent up the river!

Asking God gets you eternal foregiveness but you still have to pay the piper here on earth!

In other words, your Soul belongs to God but your ass belongs to Uncle Sam.

Always has Brad but don't confuse Uncle with the present administration or any other administration. They can go as fast as they came.

It's the American way; nothing lasts forever. Just look at the election of a little over a year ago which forever swept Neo-Conservatism into the dust bin where it belongs.

Brad

The neoconservatives may be out but the policies remain. When will people wake up to the left/right paradigm is just smoke and mirrors? On the issues that matter they both march to the same tune.

You talk about responsibility. We all must be responsible to understand that our monetary system is debt based and was purposely designed to be unsustainable.

This guy is just the beginning. During the 1930s people saw the financial downturn as a force of nature. Today there is enough information out that many people understand that our current situation is man made and on purpose.

We are living through a turning point in history. The outcome will determine humanity's freedom for centuries.

BRAD--- I'm sure that you get a warm, fuzzy feeling from that conviction.

I suspect, that, in the not too distant future you will have reason to rethink that.

When a large number of people begin to think, they can't get justice from the law and the government, it will become the matter of concern to a large number of people.

When a large number of people begin to think, they can't get justice from the law and the government, it will become the matter of concern to a large number of people.

Jerry, put that pistol away before you shoot yourself in the foot with it. And please come into the 21ST Century. He who lives in the past is destined to be left there.

TXAGGIE
We are living through a turning point in history. The outcome will determine humanity's freedom for centuries.

Sounds a lot like NWO conspiracy to me. Think FEMA has a concentration camp with a reservation for you in it? Have any idea when the alien space ship with Elvis and the two headed baby returns to planet earth?

The irony has to do with what happens when we get a fuller understanding of the situation. In the American legal system, we call that "extenuating circumstances." In terms of the human heart, we call it compassion.

I don't know that this man belongs in jail. It seems as if his actions were a cry for help. Knowing what little I do know about the case, it sounds like, first, he needs to be stabilized then helped with his financial circumstances. There are lot's of resources unless one is in hock tens of thousands of dollars.

Beyond that, one of the best "cures" for one's own afflictions is helping someone else. A judge with empathy or compassion might give him a heaping dose of community service; transporting Wounded Warriors and veterans to doctor's appointments comes to mind. But of course, I used that word empathy (*shudder). If we went strictly by the law, he'd get a heaping prison term at taxpayer's expense instead.

There's a lot of good in America. We're going to have our chance to demonstrate it; if we're up to the legacy our grandparents and their grandparents before them bequeathed us.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Brad,

I think you called it about what this guy needs. Obviously, he will have to be imprisioned, either in a prision or a mental facility but he should be able to get some help there. Even if he gets out, he will never be allowed legitimate access to a firearm again since he has proven himself unstable. This is the right thing to do for one who has been proven to be unfit to be armed. I don't think he's going to have to worry about his financial condition for a long time.

dem,

The guy would have been blown away if he hadn't surrendered. Nobody would have felt good about it, but it would have been done. No one ever feels good about a killing, no matter how necessary. You're quite right about the tinderbox but wrong about who is holding the torch and who has to dial it down and back off.

"There They Go Again"

You're quite right about the tinderbox but wrong about who is holding the torch

I'm sorry; but I do not hear anyone in our society at present advocating sedition and treason except the extreme right. I'd like to be proven otherwise in that assumption and would welcome some reputable sources.

William Ayers , Tom Hayden, Jane Fonda. Are they enough. We have long memories for treason in this country.

Shame you don't have a short-term memory instead. The last demi-decade has bred home-grown traitors by the thousands. Who has to dial it down & back off? The populists who want to make life better for us all? Merry Christmas to you anyway.

"There They Go Again"

William Ayers , Tom Hayden, Jane Fonda. Are they enough. We have long memories for treason in this country.

Unfortunate that your memory doesn't have a short term dial as well. The biggest threat to our security isn't some outside idiot wishing us harm. It's as a result of that unholy alliance between homegrown religious extremists and the ones they support in the Republican Party. Read recently about the terror they're about to unleash on the African Nation of Uganda? They'd love to commit the same act of terror right here.

By populists do you mean soviet style socialists who wish to rule everything? As far as the previous administration is concerned, I sure do have a short term memory for their misdeeds and an even shorter term one for the present one. You , obviously, have a memory that goes no farther back than 8 years. The trend among the Left Wing toward socialism has been going on since the 1960's and before. Hubert Humphrey and Robert Kennedy would be shocked by what you people have become, the very thing they were fighting against.

Strange, in my generation they were lobbing that name socialist at FDR and Truman. It never changes with the right wing of conservative politics. Hell, even Phyllis Shlafly still sees a communist behind every State Department desk and wants to give sainthood to Joe McCarthy.

Secession is neither sedition nor treason.

Gentlemen, we are easy, take your government, go away. Now that is not too much too ask, is it?

We don't want governmet to help us, we'll handle it.

The world will be fine. So, what is the problem?

The problem, appears to be, you are not content, with that.

We are perfectly willing to let the government do all things, for you. We just don't want to pay for it.

If you continue, we are going to think, that you are not concerned with being fair as long as we pay for it.

We are out of choices, you are prodding the government to take what we earn and give it to you. Tell me, what options, do we have. I fear, this is going to get very ugly. we are citizens whose government is forcing them to do things we don't want to do and feel that we are not getting justice.

I'm glad, tht I'm old, i don't want to see this.

There was a certain British Monarch, that was in control of the world's foremost military machine, he had reason to rethink, his position.

I fear, this is going to get very ugly. we are citizens whose government is forcing them to do things we don't want to do and feel that we are not getting justice.

Jerry, you aren't advocating sedition are you?

Please, let me know before you do...I want to make sure I am on that side of the saw.....

I'd love to see how y'all would make out without the conservatives in the heartland...like the folks that grow food, pay taxes, work for corporations that are for profit, not non profit....

Actually Carol, we out here in fly over country have been wishing for a long time that the San Andreas Fault would get busy and do it's thing. Then, all we'd have to deal with is the area from NYC to Washington. Less work for the saw. Still have to deal with Chicago though. Any suggestions?

Carol Ann, save your breath. The REAL REDNECKS of the world wear suits and ties and the entire amount of physical and (snort) mental exercise comes from checking the mail at home or letting the high priced dog sh@%on the street.

I love it when I get to interact with these elitist snobs. Pizza Hut is far more complicated than screwing their investors!!!

Carrie,

Agree 100% about the elitist snobs but please don't call them rednecks. You are using the term in a perjorative sense when it isn't. A redneck is someone who has to be outside working in all weather at an honest job so that his/her neck gets sunburned. It's something to be proud of. It does not mean stupid or devious and certainly not lazy.

No, no, no honey. Not talking about the ACTUAL. I worked for Public Works as a trash collector. Got my CDL and went to work for the Feds. Been there and done that, sweetheart. Not slamming the working class, I'm one of them!

Right you are but they are the real rednecks Carrie. There are other names for the elitist snobs although you would probably get banned for using words like that.

Dbrooks,

You will still have rampant crime (which you can keep at home). You must believe that milk comes from a spigot and hamburger is manufactured. And, you are going to need a major Naval station and military training colleges, because you are going to lose the Norfolk area and VMI. Better develop alternative fuel sources immediately. You will no longer be able to rely on oil or coal and you will lose a large portion of your water generated power. Better get on it. You have a lot of work to do.

Dear Hillbilly Bob,

I live in the the state that has the largest dairy industry in the nation, as well as the largest naval base on the west coast - and the largest Marine Corp base in the world.

VMI? Are you kidding. VMI is for Academy rejects - 2nd class, at best.

We don't have coal fired power plants, we outgrew that 10 years ago. My water power comes from West of the Rockies.

Face it, you're all a bunch of hillbilly's.

Many were from the USA.

Source?

I've met a couple of hillbilly's - good people, actually. Never had in-depth conversation with a redneck - I don't think they allow them in this part of the country.

real Nice, rp. Whenever I deal with people who should be thrown down stairs instead of taking the elevator I think of my Mom. Is this person a real threat or just an irate citizen who wants someone to listen?

I give them an option. I don't judge what they are, just how they are acting.

You can exit with me in the elevator, or I can kick you down 14 flights of stairs, but you are leaving this building. Your choice. That's called being a human. They always opt for the elevator.

My goodness, Brad. No comment? I'll mess you up in a heartbeat if you threaten a federal employee.

You did not GET anything I posted, did you? Do you hang with Dbrooks1440?

Dbrooks1440 Wrote

"I've met a couple of hillbilly's - good people, actually. Never had in-depth conversation with a redneck - I don't think they allow them in this part of the country."

Good hillbilly's do not carry on a conversations with A$$-holes!

Dbrooks1440 you must be an illegal. for red necks and what you call hillbilly's are all the people outside the city gettos you live in.. The ones who still think America is Free

excaliburgc

The ones who still think America is Free

Except for Blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, gays, Catholics, Jews, immigrants and anyone who doesn't attend their church.

Honest Spud,

As an Appalachian native, I just tell an a**hole that he is an a**hole and go on with my day.

Dear Banjo Pickin' fools,

Merry Christmas. How 'bout "ya'll" make a New Years Resolution to get out from under the rocks that you live in.

Possum for Christmas dinner, anyone?

BRAD MELTON/DBROOKS--- Gentlemen I have seen post from both of you several times.

I admire your courage to assume superiority over any person from a certain locality on the basis of that locality.

Those people that you feel superior too, are perfectly willing to earn their own way, without getting on their knees on a public forum and whining and begging for someone to give them something.

I don't know, where you gentlemen hail from and am not concerned, what I do see is that both of you are either, parasites, or enablers, of parasites, and as such are responsible for allowing these people to cintnue in the most base conditions of servitude. Gentlemen, i'm sorry, you are without merit.

what I do see is that both of you are either, parasites, or enablers, of parasites

LOL. Thanks for the laugh Jerry. Straight from the now-defunt Neo-Con Party of No and their extremist supporters among the religious right. These are folks of course who still think America is free except for Blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, gays, Catholics, Jews, immigrants and anyone who doesn't attend their church. Ya all do love to hate, now don't ya?

Jerry, Jerry, Jerry,

Don't be bitter. You should feel happy in knowing I pay enough taxes to support several members of your family. I'm working HARD so that YOU can experience a better life. Don't worry, your health insurance is on the way!