How Twisted Minds Find Validation

(CBS)  It happens with increasing frequency now - a person with a twisted mind and a complaint against the government goes to a government building and tries to kill people.

Last week it was a shooting at the door of the Pentagon. Two weeks before it was a man who crashed his plane into a Texas IRS headquarters.

Any society will always include a small number of the deranged who pose a danger to the rest of us, but here is the difference: In this age of the Internet, such people can find one another, talk to one another and - no matter how twisted their view - find those who agree and sympathize with them.

As it was last week at the Pentagon, last month in Austin and last year at the Holocaust museum and after that at Fort Hood, men with guns found encouragement - even validation - on the Internet where there is no accountability, no editor.

I would be the last person to restrict freedom of speech, but responsible people recognize there are limits. They were outlined in the landmark case in which Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote that free speech did not include the right to falsely shout 'Fire!' in a theater and cause panic.

Yet there are no such limits on the Internet, where 'Fire!' is not only shouted but encouraged, and as we saw again last week, by some, taken to heart.

I don't know the answer to this, but we must start begin to think about the question.

[voice34]

first of all, im a christian, i dont believe in volience, you can check my home. whatever i do whatever i say, i ask myself and then pray, jesus what would you do or say about the situation in the world today, and then because of freedom of speech after much prayer, i say what the lord wants me to say without viloince for a few months i knew the lord wanted me to speak out but i was afraid, i told the lord, i am a simple man, but a peace came over me and a still small voice said i will be with you, be not afaird of man that can kill the body but not the soul, the world needs to here, you are the watchman to sound the alarm to wake people up to repent and return to the lord, before it is to late

[6591Hou]

Mr. Schieffer - The government outlawing inflammatory speech is a very slippery slope, and not a slope to be trod on lightly - outlawing language that is deemed by the government to be dangerous, provocative, or inflammatory could ultimately render us all mute.

[prometheus9]

Bob,,, let me tell you something; we didn't start the fire. Wake up and smell the coffee Bob, like the Coffee Party and the Tea Party and the Goooh Party. There is a revolution brewing and you don't get it. You are stuck in a corrupt establishment type mind and you can't see beyond the end of your own nose. People like Joe Stack and John Bedell are martyrs of American Freedom. Those men will be remembered by historians as significant players in the revolt coming against corrupt political powers in the world, while journalists like Bob Schieffer will be remembered only obscurely as pupppet speakers of a corrupt and insane bureaucracy that didn't serve the interests of the majority and was ultimately destroyed.

[sandy19731]

Journalists are going to have to first sanction their own. Fox news is crossing the line, professional journalists must have an organization that can speak to this.

[sjc_1]

That is a good idea, but it is like sharks swimming in the same water..."professional courtesy".

[6591Hou]

Fox didn't invent yellow journalism or slanted their reporting based on political ideology.

[stychokiller]

With the Govt. continuing to exhibit a total lack of sanity, is it any wonder sane people start believing just about ANY conspiracy theory that looks to explain Govt. behavior?
I'm surprised more people aren't wearing tin-foil beanies in public!

[zephermarla]

He isn't talking about these incidents as much as using them to illustrate what incorrect information going viral can do. This hit home with me. I am constantly getting emails from people with pictures that have been photoshopped, videos that have been doctored and statements attributed to one person when they were written by or about another. They are used to intentionally put someone or something in a bad light. These are malicious and we are all responsibile if we forward them. If it is important enough to share we all need to take a moment to be check them out. If we can't validate it from multiple sources or put our name on it as the author it should not be shared. If we do we are as responsible as the person who created the email and didn't have the courage/intelligence to write a thoughtful email backed up by facts. I agree with Bob and I for one am tired of people hiding behind emails.

[rwsmith29456]

Any nutjob can find allies to validate them on the web.

[thejoker12]

twisted minds applies to all people. Paranoia has a grip on everyone.

[quapawsix]

You know the description twisted minds find validation could apply to a lot of people in Washington.(GW, Dick, Rummy, or you pick) Oh and lets not forget our liberal buddies who control Washington they don't seem to be doing any better than when the Republicans were in charge.

[tensai13]

Most of these wackjobs seek and find validation for their murderous actions in their religious delusions.

[RCC_Soldaten]

...Political delusions...sexual delusions...whatever.