Tyler_Mason, I'm going to assume (against all logic) that you seriously advocate allowing college students to keep guns in their dorm rooms, in the belief it would make them safer in some real way.

Let's see now, hmmm, what things do we stereotypically associate with the phrase "college students" these days? Several words pop up right away: "party", "alcohol" and "drugs".

Oh yes, by ALL means, let's see what we can do to bring guns into situations that are far too often soaked in booze and other drugs, both legal and illegal. (And NO, I realize all students don't party hardy all the time -- but the stereotype DOES have a significant basis in reality.)

I bet you're also in favor of another grand idea: Storing cans of gasoline beside open flames.

THANKS for posting this item -- it made me laugh, even after reading stories of the developing horror today from Virginia Tech.

You didn't point out the most ironic part of this particular article, wysiwyg -- the fact that DICK CHENEY actually administered the oath of office to those being sworn in. Yes, Vice President Cheney, that paragon of humility and civility!

THAT'S truly a case of the blackest pot of all warning the kettle against becoming black!

My son just returned home after nearly 3 months as an "exchange student" at a French university. In this business school program, he was the only American among a much larger group of students from Germany, China, Sweden and other countries.

He was obviously full of stories about his experiences, including comparing and contrasting the U.S. with other countries during late night discussions with his new friends. One issue that reportedly enjoyed unanimity among his foreign friends was complete bewilderment at gun "worship" among many Americans.

I share that bewilderment. It simply doesn't compute in MY poor American brain. While the mantra is always "Guns don't kill, people do", it is indisputable that today's deranged killer wouldn't have been able to murder as many at Virginia Tech with ANY other weapon but a gun.

This is same old, same old -- just a continuation of the same bogeyman tactic used for YEARS by conservatives. For decades, their mailings have been marked by overheated rhetoric about how the LIBERALS are comin' ta get ya! They want to take your guns, force your pregnant women into involuntary abortions, and mandate that you must allow gay marriage ceremonies IN THE BACKYARD OF YOUR VERY OWN HOME!

The right needs to pump up a scary image in the weak minds of susceptible people, in order to maintain and build support for their own agenda. The left shouldn't fall prey to this by even dignifying this ludicrous spectre of conservatives being forced off the airwaves.

If anyone doubts this bogeyman tactic (who could, really?), a quick visit to the FCC website makes you realize they are STILL fending off the ridiculous assertion that the long-dead Madalyn Murray O'Hair's followers are actively trying to ban religious broadcasters from the air. The right is STILL beating THAT dead horse!

This new "dead horse" is just as dead, but if it works to stir up the yahoos, the right will go for it. Don't give them the satisfaction by falling into their trap.

If F. Scott Fitzgerald was right in saying:

"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function."

...then Sec. Gates and everyone associated with this Iraq war are all complete and utter geniuses. Of course, the fly in that ointment is the last phrase: "...still retain the ability to function." THAT remains to be seen. Not much sign of real functioning at the moment!

Why, indeed, do Cheney and his cronies wield so much power in the so-called "Bush Administration"?

I've always subscribed to the concept of Occam's Razor -- when there are competing explanations for a phenomenon, the simplest one is almost always correct. While you can't prove it, the simplest and only sensible theory here is good, old fashioned BLACKMAIL.

Cheney et al. KNOW SOMETHING about Dubya and assorted others who SEEM to be in power. That SOMETHING is so deep, dark and scandalous that they cannot refuse a single important thing to Vice President Vader.

Some think of Dubya as a "useful idiot" or Cheney's "cat's paw" -- I sometimes wonder if any President could actually be as dumb or clueless as many of us usually portray Bush (you almost doubt he could be!). But whether he's dumb or coerced by blackmail (or both), he's the wrong man in the wrong job at the wrong time, and so is Cheney.