I'm serious. The entire company has blood on its hands, and not just because of this one incident. If anything, this is just the ultimate symptom of a sickness, a psychosis. Wal-Mart's low prices come at a great cost to society and the American way of life, and it's time to stop excusing the consumers for their complicity in this.

To be sure, but on a smaller scale, I still hope that the Nassau cops and DA will at least try to set this one right and prosecute the motherfuckers who broke down the door for manslaughter.

The whole incident is beyond disgusting--it shouldn't be necessary to staff additional cops to control people waiting for a damn TV sale. What's next? Should Wal-Mart greeters be armed with pitchforks?

Yes -- I don't see the point of blaming the cops for this. Wal-Mart management certainly did not handle the crowds well, and the store should be held liable. But ultimately the culprits are the shoppers themselves. The idea that a stupid sale could inspire a bloodthirsty mob mentality is horrifying.

The first time I saw anything like this was when 100 people were trampled and suffocated during a soccer game in England. That episode was blamed on "hooliganism". The behavior of human beings when they are in large uncontrolled crowds is as ammoral as a heard of bison. Though this Wal-mart incident is sad and shocking especially when juxataposed with the peaceful ideals of Christmas time, it is only really surprising to someone who has an idealistic view of humanity in general. Human beings will do any number of stupid, brutal and bloodthirsty things for any number of stupid reasons. Without the hope offered by Christ there would be no hope for any of us at all.

I love it when Jesus is presented as the anti-idealistic choice.

Not sure where to start, lubbesuh. With the many acts of hooliganism, amorality, stupidity, brutality, and bloodthirstiness that have been performed in the name of Christ? With your assertion that having faith in Christ means having no faith in humanity? That actual human beings aren't involved in your conception of "the peaceful ideals of Christmas time"? I thought the whole point of Christ is His love for humanity despite its flaws and the suffering He endured at its hands. What is "the hope offered by Christ" if not the hope for humanity itself? Would He have gone through all that if He had so little hope for us?

You sound like one of those people who lives alone with six cats and a parakeet, lavishing so much love and care upon your pets because you think they're more worthy creatures of God than humans are, when the real problem is that you don't know how to deal with other people. Jesus concerned Himself with people; He told the fishermen to become fishers of men. You don't turn to Christ because you've given up on humanity; you turn to Christ because you care deeply about humanity and want to devote your life in seeking out that which is good in us. It's when you give up on humanity that you put down your Bible and start shopping at Wal-Mart.

I'm not sure why I'm going on like this. I'm not a Christian. It just really upsets me when people who present themselves as Christians have so little love of humanity. It seems so un-Christlike.

You are so right. It's ludicrous that some Christians know less about Christ than non-Christians.