Leaving "hate" aside for a moment, consider the word "crime." What does it take to commit one?
Stripped to the gumshoe basics: motive, means and opportunity. From what prosecutors tell us, Buford O. Furrow had the hat trick. Motive: He detests (partial list) Jews, nonwhites and federal employees. Means: He had plenty of weapons, though the judge who put him on probation allowed him exactly none. Opportunity: He scouted the Museum of Tolerance, the Skirball Cultural Center and the University of Judaism, finding security stifling. He then stumbled upon a Jewish Community Center and, later, a Filipino-American letter carrier. Opportunity knocked. Twice.
Senseless crimes. Yet crimes that make sense when viewed through the conventional prism: motive, means and opportunity. Crimes that make sense because of who we are -- and who we are not. Buford O. Furrow himself provided insight. From the AP: In a statement to investigators, Furrow said he believed the postal employee, Joseph Santos Ileto, 39, was a good "target of opportunity."
Target of opportunity. Not just Mr. Ileto. Not just the Jewish community center, Columbine High, the Oklahoma City federal building or Riverside City Hall. The target of opportunity is Anywhere, USA.
Motive, means, opportunity.
Of the three, motive seems furthest beyond our control. It is frequently hidden and all over the map. Hate. Revenge. Money. Jealousy. Motive confounds us because we often don't know why until there are casualties. Whether they wear trenchcoats, swastikas, baggy pants or pressed cotton shirts, it's hard to get into people's minds to divine a motive.
Means are more apparent. Means can be bought, sold, cannibalized, reassembled and traced. Means are usually firearms because firearms are usually the most efficient way to convert a motive into a mission. Means are usually available. Supply satisfies demand. Quickly.
Means is a touchy subject in America. Whenever it is raised, public discourse becomes gridlocked by the predictable. Control the means, say some. Means aren't the problem, say others, enforcement is. Take away our means and you take away our freedom. If everyone had means, they could protect themselves!
There is little rational discussion of means in America because most who engage in it A) cruise on automatic pilot, and B) distrust those who disagree with them. (There is good reason for B. The reason is A.)
Occasionally, a new voice raises a compelling question: "Why is it so difficult to find language that would prohibit the use of these weapons to hunt and butcher our children?" wrote LA Police Chief Bernard Parks. We know why. With no rational discussion, with no trust and aided by convenient cruise control, there will always be means in America. Senseless crimes will always make a certain amount of sense in Anywhere, USA.
Opportunity. We are protected by the Bill of Rights, immune from unlawful search and seizure. Yet, when the airport security officer asks us to open our bag we do -- and expect others to do the same. Though ours is the land of opportunity, we have determined it is in our interest to narrow that opportunity. Unlike our deadlocked and shameful struggle over means, we willingly surrender a slice of what, by rights, is inalienably ours.
But how far do we go? Fortify every Jewish community center, Bible school, town hall, suburban mall, theater, restaurant, beach and mail route?
We can't. We won't. Maybe other societies do. Not us. It is not in our constitution -- written or personal. We will take precautions, but we refuse to live in a bubble. And we recognize the tradeoff: The highly motivated, means-equipped cowards might well discover an opportunity.
Senseless crimes. But doesn't it make sense that they occur in Anywhere, USA? You bet it does. Our very worst lights (distrust and close-mindedness) blend with our very best (our refusal to descend into the bunker). By providing means and opportunity, we leave ourselves exposed to the darkest motives of the desperate and the cowardly. We gamble. Every day.
Sometimes, tragically, we lose.
To reach Dan Bernstein: Call (909) 782-7532. FAX (909) 782-7572. Write: Box 792, Riverside 92502. E-mail D.Bernstein@pe.net
Published 8/15/1999