One point first: he addressed it to the mother, but sent it to the lawyer. So that makes it seem to me more of a publicity stunt than a personal attack.

Second point: I know nothing of Jack Thompson. He might be a right-wing nut job. I wrote a blog about a piece written by Ann Coulter once, not knowing her history, so I want to caveat this post by saying I know nothing about Jack.

That being said, he has a point, although he goes around it the wrong way (if you're looking for the decent way to do it. If you're looking for the most sensational way to do it, he hit it on the head).

In a perfect world, parents wouldn't let their kids play this type of game, or at least would sit down with them while they played it to underscore the fictional aspect of it. However, we don't live in a perfect world, and young children are playing this unsupervised. I don't think a normal child would confuse this with reality, but at what point does the chance that some child with a predilection for mental illness plays this and get the idea to shoot a cop outweigh the rights of people to make their own choices?

Never? After 10 occurrences? 100? 1000?

America is anal about sex, but violence seems to be okay. Then they wonder why YouTube videos of kids beating each other start spreading. Should Take-Two have the right to sell GTA-IV? Sure. But it should be hard as hell for anyone under 18 to play it. That includes both parents and retailers blocking efforts to obtain it. Just because some parents have abdicated their responsibilities to prevent (and protect) their kids from this type of game doesn't mean the retailers can just open the floodgates so they can reap the financial rewards.

Take Jack Thompson out of the picture. Suppose this letter had been written by the mother of a slain cop, or the girl who just got beat on YouTube, or even one of the many teachers here in Maryland who are getting attacked. If it was mother to mother, does that then justify the message?

I struggle with my belief that government shouldn't interfere with my right to make any choice that I want with the failure of parents to take an active part in raising their children with common decency. I just know that my child won't be playing GTA IV, V, or XXVI anytime soon. I just hope he never runs into the kid who does play it and can't make the distinction between game and reality.

My $.02
Weed