My Own Side

As the ashes of the Kirkland home of Leonid and Olga Milkin and their two young boys cools, bleeding heart liberals writing news stories have to decide what angle to put on this horrible crime. It is sickening but predictable that they would chew up columns at a furious pace trying to excuse the creep who slashed the throats of Andrew (3 years old), Justin (5 years old), their mother Olga and her sister Lyuba.

We now know far more than any of us care to about his MySpace musings, his divorced parents, his disgust at his alcoholic dad and his inner turmoil. We know his hobbies are aquariums, playing pool, reading, cooking, video games and talking to people one-on-one. Unfortunately they have to mention somewhere in the story that his hobbies also included binge drinking and drugs, but they want to get all the other stuff mentioned first. Just in case you might be tempted to think that something was wrong with him.

After all, friends and former employers say that he is a caring young man, introspective, a nice guy and a gentleman.

Conner Schierman said he woke up in the Milkin’s home, covered in blood, gashed on the face (apparently from when Olga or Lyuba tried to fight him off) and surrounded by dead bodies. He took a shower (in their bathroom), changed into spare clothes (probably belonging to the father), spread gas around the house in several places and then burnt it to the ground trying to cover everything up.

Sorry, but nice guys don’t slash the throats of little children. It’s time for another angle.

Leonid Milkin, a 29 year old sergeant in the Washington National Guard stationed in Iraq, was told Monday that his wife, two young children and sister-in-law had been killed in a fire that destroyed their Kirkland, Washington home. Soon after, he had to be told that they had been murdered. This is only a few minutes away from where I live, and here are some pictures that I took today.

Even days later, there was a steady stream of people coming by to leave flowers at a makeshift memorial outside the home.

Justin was five. Andrew was only three.

The house itself was destroyed, inside and out.

The good guys are on the scene. They aren’t releasing a lot of information yet, but that’s ok with me. I want them to get it right and put this creep away for a long time, or preferably put him down altogether.

Across the street is the duplex where the perp was living.

The alleged murderer drug-addled scum set the fire deliberately trying to cover up the crime. He told police that he must have been drinking too much because he just woke up inside their house all covered in blood. He had better get a good lawyer with a brilliant excuse like that. Of course, the liberals at the Seattle papers are already writing sympathetic articles paving the way for his “blackout” defense. Try counting how many things they throw into their articles about the poor guy’s troubles. If I could just get the pictures of little Justin and Andrew out of my mind, I could almost be amused at the antics of a liberal simultaneously reporting horrifying facts, while desperately trying to humanize and excuse the perp.

Conner Schierman is expected to be charged with four counts of aggravated 1st degree murder on Monday. Until then he is cooling his heels unless he can come up with 4 million he hasn’t spent on booze and drugs yet.

You can find more local coverage here:

Seattle Times Friday Thursday Wednesday Wednesday Tuesday

Seattle Post Intelligencer Friday Thursday Thursday Thursday Thursday Wednesday Wednesday Wednesday Wednesday Tuesday

King County Journal Thursday Thursday Wednesday Tuesday

Michelle Malkin has more here on the response of the unhinged left to this tragedy.

You can make a donation for the family at any US Bank branch by mentioning the “Kirkland House Fire Victims”.

A few more pictures are in my gallery here.

UPDATE:

Seattle Times Saturday

Seattle Post Intelligencer Saturday Saturday

King County Journal Friday Friday

UPDATE:

Olga Milkin would have turned 29 Saturday. A very good Seattle Times Obituary by Lisa Chiu.

Nothing else in the Seattle Times or Seattle Post Intelligence for Sunday, except a mention in an opinion piece that’s not worthwhile.

King County Journal for Sunday has the defense lawyers and psychiatrists giving the odds for the inevitable “Blackout Defense”.

UPDATE: 

King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng has filed four counts of aggravated first degree murder and one count of first degree arson against Conner Schierman today. He also announced that they have surveillance video of him filling two gas containers at a nearby gas station. For those of who still buying the “blackout” defense, stay tuned. Without elaborating at this time, the prosecutor said “There is compelling evidence of premeditation.”

Seattle Times Monday, and article on the funeral service on Sunday.

Seattle Post Intelligencer Monday, and their article on the funeral service on Sunday.

At a recent protest I saw the following sign:

Hate Speech is Not Free Speech. I don’t remember seeing this one before. It seemed to me that across the political spectrum the right to free speech is seen as nearly absolute. And especially to the left, who have such a love affair with protesting, not having much luck lately with either winning elections or swaying popular opinion.

Since this particular sign was protesting against a Nazi rally, it is certainly easy to understand the feeling. But there’s still one thing that bothers me about fully accepting the concept.

Who defines what hate speech is?

If hate speech is not 1st Amendment protected free speech, it seems that whoever gets to define “hate speech” has it made. If you successfully manage to define hate speech as whatever positions you disagree with, you have effectively muzzled your opponents. It is easy to agree that Nazi supremacist rantings are disgusting and over the line, but what about other positions? How about those who disagree with abortion?

At the same rally there were several pro-life activists with large signs. They were being followed around constantly by liberals who deliberately held their own signs in front of the pro-life activist’s signs.

As they would turn around or move, the tolerant lefties would run back around in front of them again, often shouting abuse at them. Some used poles with bed sheets on them to cover up their signs.

Having accepted that hate speech is not free speech, and having defined a pro-life stance as being hate speech, you are therefore perfectly justified in muzzling another persons right to free speech. Clear?

And just in case they don’t get the message, you can always do like this guy was doing:

Just repeatedly bash a bucket with a drumstick in the ear of someone you don’t agree with from the rear while your friends cover up his sign from the front.

True liberal tolerance and diversity on display. Sometimes it makes my head hurt.