A mere thirty one days ago, in the wake of a horrific terrorist attack (unlike The Megalomaniac in Chief and his gutless compatriots, I will say a white man is capable of committing acts of terrorism and should be called out as such) in Las Vegas wherein a lone gunman killed 59 people and injured nearly 600 in a matter of minutes, I said there would be another one.
Today, that other one, yet another terrorist attack on American soil, occurred in a church in a San Antonio suburb. I'd like to be outraged that this happened at a church. I'd like to be outraged that churches, which by their vary nature are sanctuaries of peace, are not exempt from such horror. I'd like to be outraged but we've accepted that elementary schools and the children within are fair targets and that the most super-effective solution is to arm teachers. I'd like to be outraged but we've decided that being massacred is one of the potential acceptable risks of going out to the movies. I'd like to be outraged but we've accepted that if you're out at the club with your friends, getting mowed down like an enemy combatant is just an unpleasant downside.
Our political leaders, and I use that term in the loosest possible way, have already come out wringing their hands and calling for prayers. They are also calling for calm and that this is certainly not the time to talk action or politicizing what has happened. Interestingly, just a few days ago when a brown man, a Muslim, ran down eight people in New York, these same leaders were screaming for extreme vetting and the death penalty before the first bodies had been removed from the scene. Double standards are fun, aren't they?
The fact that the twenty six (so far) people who were slaughtered this afternoon were in church praying when they were killed will change nothing. The NRA will continue to pay its blood money to politicians who will gladly accept it. Apparently that cushion of cash makes it easier for them to sleep once they utter their somber platitudes about thinking and praying about the victims.
The bottom line is that nothing will change. We are destroying ourselves and we have no one to blame but ourselves.
I don't make a habit of republishing old posts here in the Den. I do so with one exception and that is in honor of September 11th. So it's got to be something pretty momentous to get me to republish a post. I think that 58 people slaughtered by a lone terrorist (because that is EXACTLY what he was), carrying a multitude of automatic weapons worthy of an elite army assault team, seems pretty momentous to me.
I published the post below on 3rd October 2015 in response to yet another school shooting that left ten people dead. What gutted me earlier today when I reread the post is that I couldn't even remember where that shooting occurred. That's how common these shootings are and how desensitized we've become to them. Here we are, nearly two years later to the day, living the horror of the worst mass shooting in the United States, for now. There will be another one, a worse one because we will continue to tolerate this madness.
We can bang on all we want about when is the "right time" to talk about gun control. Once this country decided it was super cool with the slaughter of twenty children, some of whom were only a couple of years older than my grandson is today, then the gun control debate was over.
Our leaders will wring their hands, offer up their prayers, tweets and platitudes, and then do absolutely nothing. And soon enough, I'll republish this post, with more editorial comment in italics, with the occurrence of an event with an even higher body count. And nothing will change.
I'm sad. I'm angry. I'll let my legislators know where I stand on this. I will make my voice heard even though I fear that we are going to continue to choose to let these things happen.
3rd October 2015
Another day, another mass shooting here in the United States. Ten dead, including the perpetrator, in another senseless mass shooting at yet another school.
How many more of these incidents will we tolerate? Apparently our tolerance knows no bounds.
Another shooter who fits an all too familiar refrain. Loner, entrenched in the Internet and all that lurks within its infinite, murky well, fascinated by other similar murderous acts. And yet those that know these shooters all say, "I'm shocked." "Never saw it coming."
How many more of these incidents will we tolerate? See above.
Our elected representatives all follow the same script in the wake of this madness. They take to social media and declare their sympathy for the victims and their willingness to pray for those who have been lost. This is their 'action.' Kudos on your hollow actions. Thanks for taking the time to send a tweet. Call me crazy, but I don't see how a Tweet is an act of absolution for your collective cowardice and unwillingness to address this insanity.
How many more of these incidents will we tolerate? See above.
I guess it's easier to fixate on what a former child star turned epic skank is not going to wear when she hosts "Saturday Night Live" tonight than how we can address this madness. See the pregnancies of the Kardashian trollops.
I guess it's easier to play a parlor game of "What Will The Megalomaniac Donald Say Today" than to address the mental health crisis in our country that is a key driver of these killings. I. Can't. Even.
I guess it's easier to ignore the fact that our children are being taught how to survive a mass shooting from their earliest days in elementary school than it is to question why anyone should be allowed to have a full-on weapons depot in their basement.
How many more of these incidents will we tolerate? This is now a rhetorical question.
Given our track record, there seems to be no limit. When will we tire of it? Apparently never. When will we do something to make it stop? We'll see if the next one finally does it.
"This is a political choice that we make, to allow this to happen every few months in America." President Obama
If we were playing a game of "Three Lies and A Truth" and it was my turn, which of the four responses above would you choose as the truth? Stymied? Let me help you out.
The Zombie one is somewhat believable, as I've posted one of my high school senior portraits as proof of my latent puberty, Zombie-esque mien. The Werewolf one is somewhat believable too, especially if you've seen me after a day without shaving or even worse, sans a shirt. The Male War Bride is out of the question. I was too young to go to Vietnam and the only war being fought in my teenage years was Nancy Reagan's uber-successful war on drugs. Ladies and gentlemen, just say no.
And speaking of Mrs. Reagan, that leaves us with the Teenage Republican option, and if you chose that one, you chose wisely. In fact, in high school, I was a card-carrying member of the Maricopa County sect branch of the Teenage Republicans. So committed to the cause was I that I served as Treasurer (as I recall) of said organization. I was always interested in current events and politics as a youth, but I was even more interested in girls. What girl wouldn't want to date a dork kid interested in politics? By my count and experience in high school, none of them. Except for one girl, who was with her sister very active in the TAR organization. Suddenly, I was politically active. Here's what I learned: our club was affiliated with the College Republicans chapter at our nation's most respected and academically challenging university, ASU, and their sole purpose was to date the high school girls since they were not exactly BMOC material. I also got to see a little of the train wreck machinations of the state political machine and my disillusionment with the GOP, and political parties in general, was underway. It didn't help that a few years later my home state would elect an off-kilter slightly racist auto dealer as a governor and that I watched my fellow students at BYU lose their collective minds when a woman had the testicular fortitude to run for student body president. Did I mention that was in 1989? Not 1889. So is it any wonder I am where I am politically today? To my Mittite friends, I promise it does not make me the Anti-Christ.
I suppose it could have all turned out a little differently. Perhaps if there had been a more effective way to discuss all things political back in 1982, I'd have a different perspective on things? In 1982, the Internet wasn't a thing. Cable TV really wasn't much more than HBO and something creepy called ONTV. There was no public access cable to speak of, but that was soon to come. Without it, we'd never have met Wayne and Garth and been reminded of the glory of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." But today, thanks to the interwebs, there is no end to the options for a teenager or any maniac (I give you the flotsam that is the Kardashians) for that matter with an opinion, valid or otherwise. There's a lot of junk when it comes to the never-ending discussion of politics and current events, but I've stumbled onto a political discussion show that gives me hope. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Unnamed Political Podcast.
(Full Disclosure - I know one of the co-hosts, Clark, and his family well. Clark didn't tell me about this. I found out about his efforts through some other friends.)
These are two high school kids who actually know what they are talking about, especially if you lean uber-conversative (note the Bill O'Reilly - it just pains me to type that - book over the shoulder of one of the co-hosts). These guys have done their homework. They're savvy, placing themselves on the YouTube and the Instagrams. They are pumping this stuff out on a regular basis and it's pretty great. By and large, I don't agree with 95% of what they say but I can't get enough of this. For my conservative friends, you'll think you've died and gone to heaven. I'm telling you, these two could replace Joe and Mika on Morning Trump Joe tomorrow, but I think Fox News would be a little more welcoming environment. Also, I think after you've watched the clip included above, you'll agree with me that the "Chairman Mao" kid needs his own segment on every show. Seriously, these guys should make the leap!
It's so refreshing to see this level of engagement in politics, current and world events from a couple of high schoolers. Like I said earlier, it gives me a little hope for what lies ahead. Given how different their version of public access is from the aforementioned Wayne and Garth, I don't think we'll see the boys of the Unnamed Political Podcast doing this anytime soon:
