A bunch of people have sent me this story (via Drudge) revealing that the University of Alabama shooter was a leftwinger. A few, at times contradictory, reactions: First: So what? It’s hard to figure out how her political attitudes figure into her motives for murdering these people. Second, and here’s a partial answer to the so-what question, if she had been a right-wing extremist, that would be much bigger news. Third, if she been a rightwinger, she probably wouldn’t have been so shocked about not getting tenure.

More seriously, I think this story is fascinating and, obviously, tragic for the victims and their families. I think Steve Hayward’s effort to find a political angle is more persuasive, but pretty speculative. But one of the things I take away from this is that there are a lot of crazy people in academia. There’s something about the tolerant atmosphere of campus life, plus the way really, really, odd or dysfunctional people can get by, that makes them havens for the maladjusted. Obviously, the vast, vast majority of these oddballs are harmless and decent people. But the few dangerous ones don’t stick out as much as they might elsewhere.

I can already expect protests from people pointing out that most killing sprees like this are by non-academic workers, postal employees, etc. That’s fair enough. But it seems like like a big chunk of those people simply “snap.” This Bishop woman seems to have been very weird from the start.

Update: From a reader:

Hi Jonah,
You should be a bit kinder toward academics. Remember, you have several very good ones writing for you and a great deal of conservative economics has been advanced by academics!

Me: I think the reader is misreading me. I didn’t say that all or most academics are crazy, merely that academia tolerates weirdness in ways most other sphere don’t (government bureaucracies come close). I’ve had this conversation with a lot of professional academics, and I’ve never met one who really disagrees with me. Walk through through the stacks in a college library sometime, some of those carrels are homes to some truly Tolkienesque creatures.

Update II: From a reader:

The same should be said of Seung-Hui Cho at Virginia Tech.
“Based on emerging accounts of his behavior before his deadly attack at Virginia Tech, Cho exhibited three characteristics that the experts say are common among school shooters:
He didn’t “just snap” but instead acquired the weapons weeks earlier.”
“He was considered a threat by others, even though he didn’t make any explicit threats.”
“Fellow students and teachers raised concerns about his behavior.”