This post is not going to make me any friends. I wasn’t going to blog on this subject but I read the first paragraph of this nonsense and I’m not going to let it stand:
What made Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi jump off of a bridge to his death?
With all due respect to his grieving family nothing made Tyler Clementi jump off a bridge but Tyler Clementi.
He was a talented young man going to a prestigious university in the greatest country in the world. Worldwide he was easily part of the 1% of winners in life’s lottery.
Yet with all his advantages when someone played a nasty prank on him he was so insecure that all despite he had going for him he decided to throw it away because he was embarrassed? Are you kidding me?
The world is a rough place and an unfair place. Tyler Clementi, wasn’t beaten like some who fall in the hands of the Taliban, He wasn’t starved like some children in Africa, he wasn’t a victim of the slave trade, subject to discrimination or stricken with an incurable disease. Like many young men his age he didn’t go to war and face the risks and horror of it and didn’t have to flee a country controlled by drug wars to come to America. He had no reason to fear for his life.
Yet one embarrassment was enough for him to throw it all away and you expect me to feel sorry for him and beat my breast? Give me a break!
It stinks that this man killed himself, he threw away a gift given to him by God. As the father of a young man in college the same age I can certainly relate to his parent’s pain but the idea that right now advocacy groups and pols are about to use a weak guy’s stupid decision to fund raise, appear holier than thou and advance their causes disgusts me.
They are using this man worse than the fools who filmed him did. Those people were college kids, what is the excuse of those advocacy groups full of adults?
It’s a tough thing to say but it is what it is. The person responsible for Tyler Clementi’s death is himself.
memorandum thread here.
Update: Cripes do Robert Stacy and I have the same brain or what?
Da Techguy's (no longer backup) Blog 
I agree, however responsibility for putting hidden camera’s in boys room needs to be addressed..2 seperate issues..Allways question someone fundrainsing off a tragic situation..Oh Lordy..what a mess..
He wasn’t embarrassed. Embarrassed is what you feel when someone catches you picking your nose. He was (appropriately) ashamed. Poor guy just didn’t know what to do with himself and acted impulsively. It’s a heartbreaking story, and his roommate ought to be extremely ashamed of what *he* did. If I were him, I’d probably be contemplating jumping off a bridge myself at this moment. (Not that I think he *should*, of course.)
He isn’t directly responsible for it. You’re right about that. The boy who killed himself did that to himself. But the roommate did a really horrible thing to him, and should have known better. I’m praying for all involved. There’s some serious sickness in a guy who would videotape someone in that situation.
That is of course true, if any laws are broken the DA certainly has the right to go after the kids, but in the end it was a prank, not attempted murder. Like you said two different things.
I guess it’s not called “videotaping” anymore, huh? What the heck is a tape?
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Kurt Schlichter, Peter Ingemi. Peter Ingemi said: This post is likely going to make me extremely unpopular but I'm sorry I have no more patience for this: http://wp.me/pnQZ0-5kL #clementi […]
It is very sad, but what is going to be done with this case will be almost as sad.
I guess I’m showing my age
Well congratulations datechguy, you’ve found a unique way of exploiting the situation!
Can you enlighten us with a complete rundown on all the breaking points the young man had in him or do are you only completely sure of this particular “embarrassed to be recorded having a gay encounter’ issue?
With respect, how am I “exploiting” this issue by giving my opinion?
I don’t know what his “breaking points” and we will never know, but in a society whose media celebrates homosexuality it would seem odd to kill yourself over it. A couple of centuries ago, or if he lived in Iran (where the government would do it for you) the cultural pressure might be great but here and now? Forget it.
It’s a sad thing all around but the only thing it tells us about in particular is this young man was weak and unstable. It’s sad.
The fact that his corpse will be used to advance the cause of the day and to fund-raise for groups looking for a buck like Jenkins Ear, that’s sadder.