Always The Quiet Ones...

Cho Seung-Hui... the Virginia Tech student who murdered his way to international fame was apparently a loner -- with severe emotional problems. Apparently nobody, save for one of his English professors saw the carnage and brutality of his rampage yesterday coming.

He was apparently a playwright... channeling his anger and frustration into vitriolic prose for the stage. You can read his violent, one-act play here

There is a certain morbid curiosity that bubbles up inside those of us who weren't directly affected by Seung-Hui's violent curtain call. As the days and weeks progress, we'll learn more about this twisted soul and try to discern what it was that drove him from his quiet isolation to explode so violently in front of so many.

And while pundits and politicians scramble to politicize and alter policy in a knee-jerk reaction to such violence, maybe there is something to be learned.

Seung-Hui, according to the Chicago Tribune, "left an invective-filled note in his dorm room that included a rambling list of grievances and died with the words "Ismail Ax" in red ink on the inside of one of his arms."

Conspiracisy buffs and scholars have jumped all over this little detail, pointing to possible links to Islam. (Because in America, if it's a senseless act of violence, it's got to be tied to Islam... )

Says one blogger:

"He may have been trying to write the name "Ishmael." Wikipedia notes: "The name has come to symbolize orphans, exiles, and social outcasts."

From Mission Islam:

"He left his father after he lost hope to convert him to the right path, and directed his efforts towards the people of the town, but they rejected his call and threatened him. By Allah, he said, I shall plot a plan to destroy their idols. He knew that a big celebration was coming soon, where everybody would leave town for a big feast on the riverbank. After making sure that nobody was left in town, Ibrahim went towards the temple armed with an ax. Statues of all shapes and sizes were sitting there adorned with decorations. Plates of food were offered to them, but the food was untouched. "Well, why don't you eat? The food is getting cold." He said to the statues, joking; then with his axe he destroyed all the statues except one, the biggest of them. He hung the ax around its neck and left. "

What was Seung-Hui trying to say? We'll never know. His inner turmoil forever silenced along with the lives and spirits of 33 innocents.

It's always the quiet ones.