Fred Thompson: Sometimes Making Choices is Easy
Fred Thompson, who is expected to announce his candidacy pretty soon, has a radio show at ABC Radio Networks called The Thompson Report “which contains [his] commentaries and opinons.” In the latest show, he dealt with the shooting at Virginia Tech, the response of the University, the (lack of) use of (the latest) technology, the war on terrorism, etc. The commentary also got published at the website of the show. Excerpt:
The response by Virginia Tech authorities to the shootings last week makes the point even more clearly. The proof is that, minutes after the shootings began, blogs started posting information sent by eyewitnesses who used “text messaging” cell phones and other mobile devices. Many students, however, didn’t learn about what was happening until hours later, and then through a less modern technology — the bullhorn. This was, sadly, a crisis response from the era of black and white movies, not the age of the Internet and IM.It’s not just about technology though. When the first two shootings took place earlier in the day, the university decided to go on with business as usual. After the fact, critics are saying there should have been a campus-wide lockdown. But that reasoning frames the administration’s decision in “top-down” terms — the authorities making decisions for the people instead of letting the people make decisions for themselves.
At the very least, everyone should have known that a double homicide had taken place and that the killer’s whereabouts were unknown, so that every individual could have decided what was the appropriate response to that kind of danger. There are various technologies that could have been used to get that information out, from mass e-mails and automated phone calls to instant messaging.
This lesson should be applied to homeland security, and now more than ever. Al Qaeda, intelligence sources are reporting, is intensifying efforts to strike Western targets. The West is going to be facing this problem for a long time to come.
He concludes: “it’s not just security technologies that need to change, but also the old black and white era attitudes of those who administer them.”
He has a good point, and it would certainly, so it seems to me, be worth looking into. In how far can these technologies be used in these cases? How much will it cost? What are the pros, what are the cons, etc.?
It seems to me, although I am far from a technology expert, that ‘we’ (meaning those who live in Western countries since those technologies are readily available in the West) could do this quite easily, no?
Cross posted at my own blog.
4 Responses to “Fred Thompson: Sometimes Making Choices is Easy”
Hail Mary!
One of the founders of Scholars and Rogues blog is a mobility expert. He describes how his company could have offered some of these very services to Virginia Tech over at the blog:
http://scholarsandrogues.wordpress.com/2007/04/17/could-more-lives-have-been-saved-at-virginia-tech/
It may also be that neither private firms nor government intervention will be required. It may just be that given the availability of cell phones, GPS’s etc, individuals and groups will start organizing themselves to provide this capability organically. Perhaps the most graphic examples are Flight 93, and the cell phone pix of 7/7.
They may do so through chat rooms, MySpace links, who knows …
A great president, Harry S. Truman, once said,
and it stands true in almost every emergency:
“The buck stops here,” meaning, of course,
responsibility begins and ends with the Offfice
of the One in Charge, in his case, the Presidency.
There was to be no “passing of the buck” not while
he was in office. Right or wrong, he would accept
credit or he would accept blame, either-or, for
he was the President of the United States.
Now, apply this long accepted adage
to the administrators at VA Tech,beginning
with the President down and including all those
in positions of power, responsible for the
welfare of all students on that campus.
They had approximately two hours of reaction
time to save the thirty students who died
during the second shooting spree. Two hours!!
If you will, imagine this scenario that played out
again and again on television:
Double homicide.
Killer on the loose.
In charge–Campus Law Enforcement:
Not to worry!
We’ve got it contained!
Just a stalker,
Just a lovesick, rejected boyfriend,
Just an irate student.
No bother!
All’s under control!
Resume your usual routine.
Have a cup of coffee.
Just two students dead.
Just one killer on the loose.
No sweat.
No really big deal.
Take another coffee break.
We’ll report back to you in a couple of hours.
No need to lock down.
No need to interrupt classes.
No need to frighten students.
No need to upset the peace and tranquility on campus.
As our Wise Senator from Tennessee surmised:
It appears that at VT, administrators and law
officials alike were reacting as demonstrated in old
“black and white” action movies.
And how quickly the Memorial speakers on campus
began playing the violins, covering themselves
with the blanket of Good Ole Virginia Techism,
or hiding behind the fig leaves of school loyalty
and enthusiasm, as heralded by the poet in resident
who called out passionately. “We are Virginia Tech!”
The time of mourning is over.
Now is the time to investigate, and investigate thoroughly
so that this will not happen on any other campus
in this country, and it must start with complete honesty!
We must begin now to learn from the mistakes made at
Virginia Tech.
Pull up the rug to reveal all the lies and deception, alibis
and excuses–big names and little names–and see clearly
what was done to cause the deaths of these students and what
should and could have been done to save them.
No less than a thorough & complete analysis of the facts will suffice.