On the Subject of Our "Gun Culture"

In the wake of the tragedy that befell Virginia Tech this week, much has been made of the method Cho Seung-Hui employed - guns. Even one of our staunchest allies, Australian Prime Minister John Howard blasted the United State's "gun culture."

But the Trekmedic respectfully disagrees with the Prime Minister and instead pushes the blame on something more sinister and close to home, especially for us Philadelphians - "thug culture."

And the leading purveyor of "thug culture" comes down to the simple letters:

M....T....V

Folks, lets face it: our American culture is one of the dominant cultures exported throughout the world.

In many parts of the world, people's only exposure to the United States is through our music videos. MTV has franchises in just about every corner of the world.

Over the past decade, real music videos on MTV have been supplanted by videos by Radio Air Polluters (RAPpers).

Gone are the heady days of wonder, watching Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer," or Genesis, with the help of comedy troupe Spitting Image, skewering the Reagan Administration on "Land of Confusion."

Gone too are the simple, Southern Gothic images of REM's "Losing my Religion," the comic soap opera of the Alicia Silverstone-starring Aerosmith videos, or the distilled rage of Pearl Jam's "Jeremy," which presaged the carnage at Columbine High School.

Instead, MTV now runs a steady stream of Radio Air Polluters as they promulgate a culture that can be easily defined as:

• Forget education: dealing drugs and engaging in other illegal activities are the keys to the kingdom.
• The one with the most toys wins.
• Women are objects: another "toy" to collect, abuse, and discard at their whim.
• American society is the enemy.
• GUNS SOLVE EVERYTHING - including eliminating your competition.

Now some readers will think the TrekMedic is painting the "hip-hop" culture with a broad brush. So be it. Many are falling over themselves to blame guns for the carnage at Virginia Tech.

But make no mistake about it: those 22 long-rifle and 9mm pistols didn't jump into Cho's hands and start firing by themselves. Cho Seung-Hui was a sick, twisted individual. He could have just as easily stolen a car and plowed it into a crowd of students, perhaps killing even more than 32. He had access to chemicals in the school's laboratories. A quick perusal of "The Anarchist Cookbook," or several similar tomes could have lead to an explosive device that could have killed hundreds.

Stop pointing your leftist fingers at the guns and start looking at some other root causes for these problems!

**That's My Opinion and You're Entitled to It!**