Hail to the Vi…

May 23rd, 2021 at 1:40 AM ^

This will probably get deleted, but I’m hoping Keith finds peace at some point in his life. I know he’s really struggled since his time at MSU and I hope he recovers from whatever ails him.. wherever that may be.

victors2000

May 23rd, 2021 at 4:02 AM ^

We are all special in God's eyes. We are all imbued with a pure and divine spirit. Certainly it's tragic the man lost his life, but it is also tragic Keith's life spiraled in this direction. He is in a bad, bad, place and he needs our help and prayers too. I know it's tough to think that way, but don't let societies ills harden your heart.

Solecismic

May 23rd, 2021 at 10:14 AM ^

I was intentionally being vague. Justification is tricky in God's will discussions, but the implication is that free will is left only for a god to judge and therefore we must, from a philosophical sense, assume that everything happens for a reason (hence, justified).

But thanks for the lecture - one is correct if one wishes to be more specific in this case, although it would have required a rewrite to completely clarify who is doing the killing - though I think it's obvious in this case.

Don

May 23rd, 2021 at 11:24 AM ^

Certainly it's tragic the man lost his life,

It's tragic when a young person is cut down by incurable disease and loses his or her life. It's tragic when somebody is hit by lightning and loses their life. It's tragic when a plane goes down in terrible weather and passengers lose their lives. It's tragic when an elderly person with dementia sets their kitchen ablaze and they lose their life.

"Losing your life" is a passive phrase that implies the cause was not a willful, malevolent act of another person. When somebody is shot dead in cold blood by an asshole with a long record of being an asshole, they didn't "lose their life"—they were straight up murdered. 

Perkis-Size Me

May 23rd, 2021 at 7:20 AM ^

I do agree that if he’s convicted he should be in jail and for a long, long time. But denying him the help he’d need once he gets there isn’t good for anyone. 

This country has a serious mental health crisis that it for some reason refuses to collectively acknowledge, and regardless of your crimes, I do believe we need to try and help people through whatever personal demons they are facing. If nothing else, maybe it helps us notice the same trouble signs in the next individual so we can stop them before they commit a simile atrocity. 

Again, not saying Appling shouldn’t be spending a majority of the rest of his life in jail, if not all of it, if he’s convicted. You don’t escape justice, but clearly he is facing something terrible within himself and I don’t think he’s beyond getting that type of help. If he’s willing to embrace it. 

ERdocLSA2004

May 23rd, 2021 at 8:10 AM ^

There is a huge mental health crisis in this country.  The problem it’s part of everything we do every single day.  A lot of it is social media driven, a lot of it is kids growing up in crappy conditions to crappy parents.  These kids then become crappy parents themselves.  
 

On the other hand, it has also become acceptable to justify horrendous acts if someone has a “mental illness”.  I don’t really care what your mental illness is, if you are a dangerous person and aren’t safe to be around other people, you can try and rehab in prison.  It shouldn’t be a get out of jail free card.  Appling had his chance, he doesn’t deserve to be out in society with mine or anyone else’s loved ones where he could take another life.  

Perkis-Size Me

May 23rd, 2021 at 8:28 AM ^

Agreed. Appling should still have the opportunity to better himself and find some semblance of personal redemption, but it should be behind bars. The guy is clearly a danger to society right now, and I don’t know that he should ever have the opportunity to be free again. That’s for a judge and jury to decide.

But locking him up and just letting him rot alone and without help is not solving the root of the problem. It’s just putting a band aid on a broken leg. 

gremlin3

May 23rd, 2021 at 11:24 AM ^

If a mental illness crisis is driven largely by social media and crappy parents, then every country has a mental illness crisis. On the other hand, if you assume that the mental illness crisis in the US is stronger and/or unique, then those factors are irrelevant to the cause of our strong/unique problem. I personally believe it's our culture of consumption and the celebration of it.

LDNfan

May 23rd, 2021 at 8:50 AM ^

True...and that drives public policy and resources away from these areas.

Mental Health issues are very complicated and take highly specialised care. But I think this pandemic could be the spark to this growing powder keg. A growing mental health crisis plus all the easily accessible guns in the US is a recipe for disaster.  

Perkis-Size Me

May 23rd, 2021 at 9:41 AM ^

I hope you’re right but color me skeptical. When it comes to the two issues you brought up, there is a very vocal segment of our leadership and it’s constituents that do not view those issues as a priority, or even anything that need to be addressed aside from making sure the other side of the aisle doesn’t get to drive policies forward.

It’s at a point where I sit there and say “I don’t know what more evidence you need to see to be convinced there’s a problem.” 

 

Blue@LSU

May 23rd, 2021 at 10:58 AM ^

It’s at a point where I sit there and say “I don’t know what more evidence you need to see to be convinced there’s a problem.” 

It's not about evidence. Unfortunately, when confronted with the choice between individual gain and good (evidence based) public policy, many (most?) of our leaders will choose the former.  

shoes

May 23rd, 2021 at 10:31 AM ^

(Almost) no one thinks mental health issues are a myth. Justifiable concerns exist for those who worry that those explanations for behavior don't preempt accountability for actions and don't take into account the protection of all of us. Mental health issues are a significant component of the homeless population and few of our approaches to this seem to be working, so far.

Appling is a different case IMO. He was a superior athlete who felt entitled and that rules din't apply to him, because he was enabled and excused  from the time his special athletic talent was recognized.

blueheron

May 23rd, 2021 at 11:09 AM ^

"(Almost) no one thinks mental health issues are a myth."

I'd need a measure of almost.

Here's one example:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_and_psychiatry

Behavioral health has other natural enemies. Maybe look at it this way: Who stands to benefit (to varying degrees) if someone isn't feeling quite right psychologically? What might that person do in response to their feelings? Where might they turn? What might they not do and where might they not turn if successfully treated?

Perkis-Size Me

May 23rd, 2021 at 11:09 AM ^

Maybe using the word myth wasn’t the best choice, but I feel pretty darn confident in saying that there is a very sizable portion of the population in this country that doesn’t take mental health seriously as a crisis, and equates it more to being weak than to having a genuine affliction. 

Said people’s approach/solution to overcoming mental health problems is to tell the afflicted person to “suck it up,” or “be a man, not a wuss.” 

That, to me, is just as big of a problem as seeing mental health as a myth. 

dickdastardly

May 23rd, 2021 at 4:31 AM ^

He's going to find peace alright. Peace in 6' x 9' x 12' jail cell for murder.

He didn't have a father in his life and this is, yet, another example of the damage that can happen when you do not have that part of parenting in your life. 

I don't recall, but was Michigan a factor in his recruitment or was it pretty much all MSU from the get go?

 

 

 

bronxblue

May 23rd, 2021 at 10:29 AM ^

There are lots of violent offenders in this world who had a "stable" two-parent household.  I'd like to think by 2021 we'd have moved on from the tired, veiled jabs at "lack of a father's strong hand" line for the systemic discrimination and violence that exists in the US.  I mean, the crime rate in this country, both violent and property, have been decreasing for decades now and yet single-parent household rate has largely remained flat, with the vast majority still being helmed by moms.  Of course, incarceration rates for men, especially black men (for some reason BOP lists Hispanic men as "White"), is incredibly high, which helps to perpetuate the cycle of single-parent families.

To me, the far bigger point here is that Appling gave off a ton of warnings that he had demons to deal with and most people said "cool, he's 6' 2" and athletic, so let's use him to win basketball games" and when that was no longer true they discarded him.  He needs to be held accountable for his actions but blaming it on the destruction of the nuclear family in a vacuum isn't it.

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

May 23rd, 2021 at 8:51 AM ^

There's a dead man, and the first thought is, I hope his alleged killer finds peace?

I hope Appling, assuming he is the killer, finds no peace whatsoever.  You kill a man like that, it should torment you and not be something you easily live with.  If the family of the dead guy wants to forgive him, that's their right, and it would be really nice if Appling spent the next 25-years-to-life reforming himself so that if and when he returns to society, he's not a threat to it anymore.

Until then, I find it odd that a crime takes place and a man is killed, and anyone's first thought would be for the well-being of the killer.  There will be time for that after justice is served.