My Brother-I.L. works on the space shuttles main engines.

“close” call. (!)

Exactly right. From beginning to end the Waco incident, regardless of how anyone feels about Koresh, was a major-league CF. It was mishandled so badly at every turn that everyone in the chain of command, from the on-scene managers to Janet Sterno, should have been fired.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they were promoted. It is true within Law Enforcement, as in every Gov’t bureaucracy, that people tend to be promoted to their highest level of incompetence. That’s why years after Columbine we still have local LE looking like the Keystone cops every time one of these school shootings occurs.

How could our domestic police force screw up so badly, not just once, but twice..well actually 3 times if you add Elian Gonzales? Was it really just Reno, or are we in that much trouble with the agencies we have?

A friend and I looked at what happened with Koresh and decided that the people who went after him were utter idiots. If you have someone that you want to arrest who jogs religiously every morning, why raid a house full of armed people who may not want to give him up when you can simply snatch him off the roadside with a stun gun and a pair of handcuffs? If you wanted to search the house after arresting Koresh, you’d simply have to walk up to the house and knock on the door. Until the ATF agents assaulted the house and fired on the dogs inside, noone inside had put up any resistance. I don’t care who you are, you come busting into my house and firing on my dog, I’m likely to throw a few rounds back at you myself.

That’s the same thing that happened at Ruby Ridge. The two US Marshals snuck onto the Weaver property and when Randy Weaver’s 14 yr old son and a family friend took the dog for a walk, the Marshals fired on the dog. A firefight erupted that left the dog, a US Marshal, and a 14 yr old dead. The family friend and Randy Weaver were BOTH charged with murder in the death of the US Marshal and BOTH were acquitted since there was more than enough evidence that the Marshal’s fired first. While the US Government admitted to no wrongdoing in the deaths of Vicki Weaver (shot by an FBI “sniper” while holding her infant daughter) or her 14 yr old son, they did settle out of court with Randy Weaver for millions of dollars.

NBC or anyone else wants to do something irresponsible wants to do for ratings, hey it’s free speech, but the cost of the consequences should be the cost of doing business.

The decision by NBC to air those tapes is one of those amoral corporate decisions referred to in another thread.

NBC should just go all game shows and soap operas.

NBC~ I just am appalled…all over the country this week…people think they will get famous by doing copycat crimes..

With this week seeming to be some sort of colosal cosmic meeting point of all things tragic (Columbine, VaTech, NASA, Hitler’s Birthday and a few other things I can’t remeber at this time). The swchool was locked down and the Sheriff was called out.

I just have to sit here and think that the fact that NBC made the ratings decision to air Cho’s Manifesto went a long way towards encouraging that behaviour,