repubgazette4-23-07defendingbaldwincapitothompson

By Gary Abernathy

Media attention in the Virginia Tech massacre has turned now to real and psuedo psychoanalysis of Cho Seoung-hui and endless attempts to explain why he did what he did.

What most media analysts cannot -- will not -- conclude is the obvious: he was a monster.

There is evil in the world, and more times than not it manifests itself disconnected from any logical explanation.

He was a loner. He was shunned. He was upset at a girlfriend. He was unable to fit in. He was mentally ill. He was red-flagged by instructors who recognized his writings as troubled.

All that may be true, but it is true of hundreds if not thousands of people around the world. The great majority of them -- even the mentally ill ones -- do not decide to randomly kill as many innocent people as they can before killing themselves.

In 1967, a young film apprentice named Peter Bogdanovich -- later famous for directing "The Last Picture Show" and many other renowned films -- was afforded a unique opportunity to direct his first film. Working as an assistant to famed low-budget cult director Roger Corman, Bogdanovich was presented with a challenge.

Corman had just completed a film with an aging Boris Karloff, but Karloff contractually still owed Corman two days' work. Corman told Bogdanovich that if he could craft a quick film and get it shot in a handful of days, he could use Karloff as his star.

Bogdanovich jumped at the chance, and the result was a film called "Targets." The film tells the story of a young man who is unhappy with his life in general -- with his wife, his job, his home, etc. -- and then, with no other provocation, takes a rifle and begins a series of sniper-style shootings, killing one innocent person after another.

Karloff, meanwhile, plays a thinly disguised version of himself, an aging horror star named "Byron Orlock" who is contemplating retirement because the classic old monsters

have lost their ability to frighten, given the violent horrors of modern life.

In the end, the storylines of Orlock and the sniper converge at a drive-in theater, with Orlock disarming the sniper in a dramatic confrontation played out as a Byron Orlock film flickers on the giant screen behind them.

One of the film's obvious messages was that the Karloff character was right -- real-life monsters had replaced the fantasy monsters created by the likes of Karloff, Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney Jr. But the sniper's lack of motivation in deciding to go on a killing rampage made him just as much of a mindless monster as anything ever conceived by a Hollywood studio.

(The film, little seen after its original release in 1968, was hailed by The New York Times as "a most auspicious feature debut for young Peter Bogdanovich, a former film writer and historian, who has now taken the plunge, camera in hand. He should never let go." The film has recently been released on DVD with a commentary by Bogdanovich.)

Bogdanovich reportedly made the film in part as a plea for stronger gun control laws. But thankfully, that heavy-handed message never quite comes through, as noted by the Times and other reviewers. Instead -- and what makes it a much more powerful film -- viewers are struck by how senseless and random the killings are, and how unmotivated they and their perpetrator appear to be. The sniper is simply unhappy, and bored with his life.

With all the reasons the experts may come up with to explain Cho Seoung-hui's decision to mow down the innocent students and faculty members at Virginia Tech, they will still not explain why everyone who fits that profile does not engage in the same violent behavior, any more than Jeffrey Dahmer's horrific deeds can ever be understood.

Evil exists in the world. Most people resist evil inclinations, but others choose to succumb to them. There is no explaining it, no understanding it, no accurately predicting it.

Sometimes, a monster is just a monster.

politician who ever lived, from President Bush to former Congressman Henry Hyde, who Baldwin once said should be stoned to death.

But no matter how hard I try -- and trust me, I have tried -- I can't get too exorcised over Baldwin's irate cell phone message to his 11-year-old daughter, whose parents named her Ireland in typically pretentious Hollywood style.

As a divorced father myself, I have been fortunate to avoid the kind of extremely bitter, hate-filled marriage breakup in which Baldwin and his ex, Kim Basinger, have apparently been engaged. But over the years, there have been moments -- those moments when you show up to pick up your kids, but they aren't there, despite an agreed-upon time and place, or not being told about a school event, etc.

I can't imagine ever calling one of my children a "pig," as Baldwin did, but hey, maybe Ireland is extremely sloppy or something. What would actually be a more accurate sign of a bad father is if Baldwin was not placing a phone call to his daughter when he was supposed to. Instead, Baldwin is obviously going out of his way to call his daughter at a pre-arranged time, only to be met once again with her phone turned off. Yes, he loses it, but the frustation I hear in his voice is that of a father who has been jerked around endlessly and has reached his boiling point. The key is to remember not to take it out on the child, who is often just being manipulated by one parent or the other.

It's very possible -- even likely -- that Baldwin has also done his share of jerking around his ex-wife and maybe even his daughter. But even in his phone message tirade, Baldwin makes no threats of bodily harm, as Sean Hannity tried to imply last week. No, he says he's going to get on a plane and "straighten you out." What parent has not made that promise to a wayward child?

Alec Baldwin can be a world-class jerk. But in this case, a lot of divorced dads can feel his pain.

As reported by The Washington Post, Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito was among about 50 members of Congress who attended an appearance by former Sen. Fred Thompson last week at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington.

The Post column by Dana Milbank noted that "the conservative lawmakers who came to hear the actor cum senator cum actor were of one voice when they spoke of Thompson as a possible white knight. To hear them tell it, the current crop of Republican presidential candidates has left them variably famished, parched and suffocating."

Milbank quoted Capito as saying afterward, "He wants to put forward solutions that he thinks we need... Not everybody watches his show (Law & Order), but certainly you hear that voice and you know you've heard it. It's almost like James Earl Jones."

Capito's presence was short of an endorsement, but along with her colleagues demonstrated she is likely still in the "hoping for someone else" stage.

The organizer of the appearance, Tennessee Congressman Zach Wamp, said of Thompson, "He thinks the man and times are lining up. The man who came to see us today is preparing to run for president."

News & Notes

The Berkeley County Republican Party has announced the lineup for its May 4th Lincoln Day Dinner, which will feature House Minority Leader Tim Armstead, along with updates from local Senators and Delegates. Call 263-1808 for more information...

...The Charleston Gazette's Tom Searls wrote an informative piece over the weekend about both the state Republican and Democrat parties' plans for choosing presidential delegates next year...

...I am sometimes asked by readers why I don't allow people to post responses or comments on this site. I do. You just have to have the courage to put your name and contact info with it for publication, which really cuts down on the responses...

...Several news articles lately claim that Washington Democrats are touting Sen. John Unger as the man to defeat Shelley Moore Capito. An Unger-Capito race would be the surest way possible to demonstrate Shelley's popularity.