Maybe he was just a horribly disturbed individual

I haven't watched the video made by the Virginia Tech killer because I do not see how it could enlighten me in any way. I have read enough coverage of it to understand that it represents the ranting of a seriously disturbed individual. There have been millions of words devoted to the perpetrator of the incident across the internets since the tragedy occurred, many of them nonsensical or disturbing in their own right. There are two areas that many on the opposite side of the political spectrum from me are focusing on which I find curious at best.

The first thing that they keep referring to the man as a "Korean" or an "alien" or a "foreigner" as if this somehow explains his crime. Irrespective of his immigration status, which as far as I understand was a legal alien, he had lived in America from the age of eight. To whatever extent formative influences may help to explain his state of mind those influences would be American and not "Korean", "alien" or "foreign". He was, to mine and my country's shame, clearly a product of the United States.

The second element that seems to fascinate, and mislead, many is that both his writings and the video make reference to an "Ismail ax" (there are several permutations of this) and that he also had the phrase written on his arm. Many seem to believe that this reflect the "Islamic" variant spelling of Ishmael who is a figure in the Talmud, the Bible and the Qur'an and that therefore this horrible incident is somehow part of the great Islamist conspiracy against God's chosen country, the United States.

Perhaps investigating some samples might prove helpful. Shall we start with our perennial favourite Pammie who sees the fact that it took nearly twenty four hours to release Cho's identity and that some in the media have found "Ismail Ax" to be a reference to James Fennimore Cooper's novel The Prairie as signs of a clear official conspiracy to suppress the obvious, to Pam, truth of the involvement of Islamofasiterrorism. She seems to believe somehow that Cho, whose father may or may not have worked in Saudi Arabia at one time, was some sort of junior Manchurian candidate when he arrived on American shore at the age of seven or eight. It must be terribly difficult for Pammie to live inside that crowded head of hers!

Over at Infidels are Cool, a site I'd not stumbled on before day, the blogger at first seems certain that the killer was a Muslim and sees shades of Pammie's conspiracy in the fact that the damned liberal main stream media isn't "following up" on the Ismail Ax lead for fear of "what they will find". Later when the tape reveals Cho ranting about Jesus and crucifixion he (or she) decides that the killer probably didn't have a religion. At least is his mind Cho certainly wasn't Christian.

And on a subject as important as this to all American and indeed all the world would the Freepers disappoint us? No they would not. A few choice snippets:

"I wonder if he was in contact with any jihadist influences? With a name such as that it sure sounds that way."

"NBC had a news 'exclusive' they held until their evening broadcast...They all want a 'scoop' and are playing this for ratings. Wonder if any of them will sit on a bombshell until May sweeps."

"KEY POINT: God's covenant was made with Abraham and extended through Isaac, not Ishmael."

"Or as Al Sharpton would say: What did Ishmael Aks?"

"Interesting, isn’t the the twisting they put the logic through to avoid saying Ismail was traditionally the father of the Moslems by leaving the false impression Ismail was the father of the Jews. The father of the Jews was Abraham’s second son, Isaac...'The angel of the LORD said to her further, 'Behold, you are with child, and you will bear a son; and you shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has given heed to your affliction.'...'He will be a wild donkey of a man, his hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him; and he will live to the east of all his brothers.'

"The crew on Brit’s show tonight were quick to cut Charles Krauthammer off tonight when he pointed out the similarity of the killer’s video to the videos that the jihadis always film to be played after they blow themselves up. And his disparaging remarks about Christianity certainly would fit the scenario of jihadi influence."
I am glad that someone said this.

And I have to include this one, not because it is interesting but because it is linguistically challanged:

"God promiced(sic) Abraham and Sarah that they would have a son. They begin to get old and they feared thier(sic) chances of having a child was(sic) passing. Instead of having faith in Gods(sic) promice(sic), they decided to take matters in thier(sic) own hands. Sarah brought thier(sic) 'handmaiden' for Abraham to be with, so she could bare(sic) them a son. She had Abrahams(sic) son and they named him Ishmael. Then Sarah got pregnant even though she was old. Sarah and Abraham decided to cast Ishmeal(sic) and his Mother out. His Mother was arab. God gave all the promices(sic) to Issac(sic), not Ishmael. Issac(sic) is Jewish. Ishmael is arab. Issac is the true son that God promiced(sic) to Abraham and Sarah...To this day this is why the arabs are jealous of the Jews. Its the reason for the everlasting hatred they have for the Jews. They both claim Abraham as thiersic) Father. Even though Ishmael is from Abraham, God gave all the promices(sic) to Issac not Ishmael.

Elsewhere Cassandra sees the same conspiracy of silence in the media as the others.

The American Thinker seems to think that Cho was driven to kill by Nikki Giovanni or perhaps by the "Lesbian love stories of Professor Matthew Vollmer" or even Karl Marx or the US Civil Rights Commission or someone who speaks Spanish and let us not forget the post-Modernists! (Somehow he seems to have missed Moby Dick out. I am sure he will amend this oversight eventually.)

And there's lots more sensible thinking out there so, kiddos, get searching!