Dumb article. Sometimes American Thinker is pretty weak on the editorial staff.

No one is trying to sanitize the guy. I have seen both pictures in pretty much equal measure. Probably the first ones the press could lay their hands on.

#1 said it best.

I dunno...I´ve seen both picture repeatedly all over tv and print media.

FTA: ´´Apart from the fact that it would scare the hell out of Hannibal Lector, this shot leaves no doubt as to "why he did it": because he was as crazy as they come.´´

Pot calling the kettle black.

Yes, the photo referred to is of a stressed-out, strange-looking kid who is thin enough for the skull to be evident.

Without the 20-20 hindsight of past atrocity, you would just think that the kid needs some help.

Although I am not thrilled with the article, I do believe there will be an effort to sanitize the killer in order to shift blame to guns. Count on it.

We say it is not guns, it is poeple like this who have the propensity for violence. If this is the case, expect the MSM and the miserabe politician come out blaming guns, and demonizing the mother, something that has started already.

You can also count on an unimaginative hollwood to push out the screenplay ´oh, he wasn´t that bad, it was the mother, and his sickness, and the bad guns. The next step is to find an a sympathetic actor to play him.

J. R. Dun is taking advantage here and blaming the media where no blame is due!
The media has run this frightening picture more than the other. The media for once is not molly-coddling this killer. Their coverage has been rather fair and balanced except where they have already started calling for gun control, as they always knee-jerk do in these cases. Plenty of time left for the media to go liberal batshit crazy and they no doubt will but so far, so good.

#6. I fault the media. They rushed information out time and time again, only to be forced to back track and correct it later.
Running an old picture for what reason?
They are baying hounds believing if it bleeds it leads. Trying to interview small children right after the incident.
Look at some of the headlines "blazing guns" ?
Next thing will be headlines banning forks because they cause obesity.

I am also faulting the media, they continue to overplay this, does that not give some mentally deranged person an idea to get their picture on TV if they do some crazy thing like this?

Actually it´s crazy to say that looking at a black and white photograph of someone you can tell the person is crazy. This writer had a serious judgment lapse.

I agree the author is forcing a weak argument to make his point here. The second photo does disturb me a little. He has "buggy" eyes with the whites showing below the pupils. This is often an early sign of Graves disease or hyperthyroidism(look up exopthalmos) which untreated can lead to psychotic behavior. Just a thought.

Hollywood plays as big a role as any group. Out of Hollywood has come some of the most violent, horrific movies with murder, rape, you name it. People sit in front of the violence rolling past their faces. If the mind is already faltering then they get the idea they can replay the violence they have seen in the movies and the video games. So, if we proceed like the mouths of Hollywood started spouting hours after this horrific event then I guess we need to not only take guns from people but let us also silence Hollywood and require them to produce morally sound films. Oops! Now everyone knows violent morally corrupt movies sell. There is blame everywhere. There evidently was a mental illness going on here untreated or not taken seriously, put that with violent movies (which by the way involve guns) violent video games where you kill and kill and kill and sleep and get up the next day and the same images you killed yesterday are back! No consequence for killing with a video game...the sick mind then moves to the the next level.

Yet if these children had been aborted in the womb, the media would have been in praise that they had been eliminated.

I have yet to hear the media say it was an evil act or an immoral one.

Adam Lanza represents the second generation of children who grew up without God in school. This is part of what I learned in elementary school:
"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Phillippians 4:8
The Bible´s wisdom is far-reaching. Adam could have benefitted by a mind disciplined with love and goodness. Video games that teach violence and revenge are destroying our youngsters.

That second photo is beyond creepy. He looks like some kind of Spielberg alien. At the very least he appears to have had an eating disorder, which is a form of mental illness.

If you think about it,what are he liberals for in a situation like this? People to be sitting ducks since they despise CC as an option.Liberals are knee jerk about everything else,why not just say ban guns as a solution.Who care if shootings, burglaries,murders,rapes and robberies go through the roof?

I understand exactly what the author is saying. The media is on a mission to separate gun violence from mental illness. It is a relentless enemy of the Second Amendment.

We first see the face of a guileless looking youngster. If he reminds us of a favorite nephew, or the polite young man next door, so much the better. We draw the desired first impression. Why, this makes no sense! The shooter looks like a regular kid...he just snapped with no warning.

But of course, this is not true. Within a day or two, another photo turns up, and then we know. Another dangerous, mentally ill male has been walking the streets and plotting revenge against the real and imagined enemies living in his head. And the "meaningful action" proposed is always the same. Separate law abiding citizens from their rights.

It will be interesting to learn if the school reported his altercation from the day before the massacre. If the police were called, what happened next? He had a troubled history. Was he detained and evaluated by mental health professionals? Or were there legal hurdles, focused on protecting him instead of the majority?

Well said, #14. Thank you.

God will not be the one you see breaking into the schoolhouse. He has departed.

This particular analysis notwithstanding, the old media narrative will be "Why did society fail?" and "Why didn´t the government do more to prevent this?".

Dunn is reading a lot into a fuzzy picture, you can get ten worse than that out of any Jay Leno audience.

The barber who cut the guy´s hair should probably be in some kind of involuntary lockup and reeducation camp.

We used to lock up the mentally defective in America, until the libs turned them all out into the streets in the name of compassion.

Perhaps, if the media are manipulating images as they almost ALWAYS do, for political and ratings purposes (often one and the same), if you have the image of a skinny, pathetic youngster in your mind´s eye mind when you ponder the crime, you´ll end up blaming the weapon.

On the other hand, when you look into the wide open eyes of a lost person, one contemplating murder with some --one must guess with some sense... of satisfaction?-- with some pleasure... the images of millions of victims of tyrants speed through my mind... these sadistic murderers derived enjoyment from the incalculable suffering inflicted... there really are human beings like this among us.

Compare the second photo of Lanza with photos of James Holmes and Jared Loughner. As a matter of fact, think of Charles Manson, and any number of other similar perpetrators. They look exactly the same.

I think drugs are probably the main culprit, legal or illegal, i don´t know. But throw those into the mix, into the toxic waste dump which our culture has become, and you´re bound to end up with weak, tortured souls just totally incapable OR unwilling to articulate a call for help.

This brings us back to the media, where the toxic waste is churned and mixed and spewed out day in and day out.

I am weary of all this speculation. Can´t we just wait for facts?

#5: I agree. I have seen both pictures, but I don´t even understand why they keep using the first. It´s a picture 2005 or something! Useless. I think they are using that so that they can shift the blame to guns. When you see the guy as an adult you give him more responsibility. When you see him as a kid you give him less and look elsewhere for something to blame.

was this murderer from a democrat home? Was he reared to believe that all people are ´special ´ and that everyone deserves (and gets ) a trophy? Why is no one talking about these Goth freaks and their underworld?? Why is no one willing to discuss keeping us safe from psychotic whack jobs ?????

Plus, the little effer had enough presence of mind to dress in all-black clothing and wear body armor. Do NOT sanitize him.

It was the Left that deinstitutionalized the lunatics, and put them on our streets and in our attics.

I think the author makes a valid point. The ´crazy´ picture is showing up, but not with the same frequency as the outdated picture. I was also reminded of Trayvon Martin.

He was batshit crazy.

BUT, the problem remains the drugs and our culture. Our culture has become a toxic breeding grounds for all sorts of pernicious pathology. We´ve abandoned a Christian social order for "the will of the people." How could it end otherwise.