He Is about to Kill Lots of People...

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This guy was money focused. He believed in money in a way only very hardcore economists do anymore. His YouTube thingy was all about gold and silver, as though a group hallucination of the value of metal was important enough to destroy a (barely) functioning economy over.

Kat on January 10, 2011 at 10:51 AM

Well, he was mentally unstable. Did you miss that? Crazy people do strange things sometimes... that's sorta the point.

Urgutha Forka on January 10, 2011 at 10:54 AM

I read it as Loughner didn't have enough money to cover the fare, so the driver went in with him to ensure the driver got paid.

tjc on January 10, 2011 at 10:56 AM

@2 Yeah, crazy people are crazy. They go out and randomly shoot Democratic congresswomen targeted for death by major media personalities all the time. Randomly.

Fish Wrench Asteroid on January 10, 2011 at 11:01 AM

@4,
I'm not saying he wasn't also politically motivated. But I think it's fairly safe to say he was not entirely sane.

Urgutha Forka on January 10, 2011 at 11:06 AM

@ 4, UF didn't say that. Try reading for comprehension.

Matt from Denver on January 10, 2011 at 11:06 AM

I bet he didn't tip.

keshmeshi on January 10, 2011 at 11:08 AM

It might make a some sense if he had a bill big enough that the cabby couldn't change it. This is interesting though. Maybe he thought he'd make some sort of escape. Maybe only that one part of his life needed to be mad and there was no need for the rest of it to encroach

Sir Bitchalot on January 10, 2011 at 11:14 AM

Loughner probably had only a silver coin on him.

on January 10, 2011 at 11:17 AM

Dude thought he would not get caught. Plain & simple.

Keekee on January 10, 2011 at 11:26 AM

He probably didn't want to tip him too much. Can't be caught tipping too much. Just another reason 20-somethings are assholes.

Snappertuna on January 10, 2011 at 11:29 AM

what a typical lefty, counting his pennies so he could smoke more weed.

Max Solomon on January 10, 2011 at 11:30 AM

@10 Much of his writings seem to assume that he would not only get caught, but that he would die. All the myspace and other postings are in the past tense. That's what makes the change thing even weirder.

Allie on January 10, 2011 at 11:35 AM

@3 interesting point...wonder why they used the term "change" instead of "cash" though?
I am rarely short on "change" and always short on "cash".
Maybe the terms are synonymous in AZ.

Andy_Squirrel on January 10, 2011 at 11:49 AM

@5 I took you for one of the thousands of pundits that are making that exact claim. "This happened in a vacuum." "This guy is crazy so it has nothing to do with the fact we advocated for this persons murder.'

@6 I comprehended it perfectly, and it's a fairly logical jump to make.

Fish Wrench Asteroid on January 10, 2011 at 11:58 AM

@14 -- it's how I read it because it made the most sense in an utterly senseless situation. It's also possible Loughner only had a large bill (like a hundred) and they really did need change. I know _nothing_ about the cabbie -- so English might not be his first language. Reporters are notorious for making mistakes with quotes, as are law enforcement personnel, so I'm not willing to read too much into this specific word until (unless) it becomes something more.

tjc on January 10, 2011 at 12:05 PM

@14, change as in change for a large note. If his fare was five bucks and all he had was a fifty, it would have been very suspicious to just say "keep it".

Fnarf on January 10, 2011 at 12:07 PM

Maybe he had no cash at all, and the driver went into the store with him so he could visit an atm?

If not, it is weird, indeed. Although maybe he was crazy but not sloppy crazy, in which case @17 might be the answer. He didn't want the cabbie pointing him out to security -- that guy's kind of a nut over there! -- before he had a chance to approach the congress woman.

Eric from Boulder on January 10, 2011 at 12:33 PM

Cab drivers here in SF will sometimes tell you—drive in the city long enough, you'll inevitably have a one-way fare to the Golden Gate bridge. Not one of them has a story of a generous tip, and some have told me the would-be jumpers have skipped the fare altogether. I can only take them at their word.

Whether the guy was too stupid to break a large bill before getting in a cab, or too cheap to leave a large tip doesn't really matter. People are usually themselves, up until the very end.

Dougsf on January 10, 2011 at 12:35 PM

Presence of mind. He was thinking logically. This will be a plus for the prosecution.

Vince on January 10, 2011 at 2:46 PM

Not that weird. Remember, the 9/11 hijackers wired all their spare cash back to the UAE the day before the attack.

Toe Tag on January 10, 2011 at 3:16 PM

Clearly Mudede is missing the 'something' where you cannot apply human logic to any of Loughner's actions, statements, or beliefs.

Captain Wiggette on January 10, 2011 at 4:21 PM

Does no one consider that maybe he was nervous, and just buying a little extra time to get the courage to go through with what he'd planned? Also, he got to (presumably) case the scene of the crime on the way in, and approach it from behind on the way out.

ygduf on January 11, 2011 at 11:51 AM

He Is about to Kill Lots of People...

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