John Bedell, Pentagon shooter, a real mommy’s boy

By Joseph L. Giacalone / joe@theklaxon.com / 03.05.2010

Updated on: 03.05.10 at 6:19 pm

As a child, everyone knew they were in trouble when their mother called them by their entire name. Lately, the media has joined mothers everywhere. Whether it is Joseph Andrew Stack or, now, John Patrick Bedell, the only thing that they haven’t done is show a photo of them in their graduation cap and gown.

This time, it doesn’t appear that Bedell was some “right wing loon” that targeted the government, but a “left wing loon” that targeted the government. The Associated Press reports that Bedell was connected with a social networking page that believed the government was responsible for Sept. 11, 2001. Is he a “terrorist?” will be the next media issue. Terrorism is so difficult to define because it depends on what side one is on and who is doing the defining. Got it?

The family told the police their son was unstable and reported him missing. Pundits and second guessers will be harping on this for a long time. “Why didn’t the police do this?” or “Why didn’t the police do that?” But, what if anything, would you expect the police to do?

An officer stopped Bedell and was keenly aware that something was wrong. So he went above and beyond what he had to do and called Bedell’s mother. The AP reported that she mysteriously replied that her son was fine. The officer issued him a warning and Bedell was sent away to wreak havoc, ironically, on other police officers.

Thousands of families have similar problems with their children; it must be heart wrenching. In this case, the system worked and the family failed. The police found a missing person, only for the mother to let him loose, which is not an uncommon problem.

What is even more outrageous, however, is the mother failed to tell the officer that her son may be in possession of a firearm. All of this could have been avoided, but an ulterior motive for her not mentioning it existed, keeping her son out of jail. That did a lot of good. A selfish move on her part could have cost the lives of at least two officers.

Unfortunately, a lot of people in society need mental health care, but it is not the job of the police to make sure they get it. Most people either do not have an insurance plan that covers it or the state they live in refuses to pay for it. Either way, the individual winds up in the street, sometimes hurting others.

It’s a conundrum.