Nurse the Hate: Another Shooting

Yawn.  Another mass shooting.  The good news is that this time we have become so desensitized to these events that breaking news coverage didn’t interrupt any of the football games on TV.  My social media feeds are almost completely devoid of discussion of the event.  Twenty something people got shot up in a church?  Really?  I didn’t hear about that.  Hey, do you think the Eagles will cover?  The NRA and Gun Lobby have proven themselves to be the winners.  They had a plan.  They stuck to the plan.  A place called "Fin Feather and Fur" has a big gun sale going on today thanks to the ad I saw in the newspaper.  Business rolls on.

As expected, the public outrage over Las Vegas quickly settled down a few days after the event.  The Gun Business hid in the weeds until things quieted down.  Our government officials hid behind such ludicrous statements as “the time isn’t right to discuss gun control” and “we shouldn’t politicize this terrible tragedy” as they want no part in tangling with the gun lobby.  If one of those assholes that refused to discuss making changes to gun laws after Vegas offers “their prayers during this difficult time” today, they should be tarred and feathered.  Is that still a thing?  Where can we even get that many feathers?  One of the things they never discuss in history class is “prominent feather supply outlet stores in colonial New England”.  Maybe “Fin Feather and Fur” carries feathers as well as the guns they advertise.  I’ve never been in there.  I should check it out.

It would be refreshing to hear a Republican Congressman walk in front of a microphone and say, “Look.  I’m not wild about guns either, but if I suggest we discuss even the smallest change, those NRA kooks will get me voted out of office.  Do you have any idea how great this gig is?  You think I can swagger around like this if I have to go back home to my crummy little law office?  You all just need to get used to the fact that at any time your environment can become the Tet Offensive.  We aren’t changing anything.  We don’t care about you.  You are collateral damage.  It’s about me.  Fuck off.”  Then he can drop the mic and do The Robot.  It would be a bit startling for some, but at least it would be honest.

If we really want to make changes in our society, we can.  Remember that loser shoe bomber terrorist that thought he could blow up a plane with a poorly constructed explosive in his shoe?  Twenty minutes later every single person has to take their shoes off while going through airport security.  The entire planet is standing around in their socks because of one guy.  Conversely, a guy has 20+ machine guns firing down on people at a concert in Vegas?  We can’t talk about the situation as it is “too soon”.  A few weeks later 26 people get shot and killed sitting in church.  Nope.  Nothing we can do.

The people that run the gun companies will do anything to maximize their profits.  They make the cigarette companies seem quaint by comparison.  The gun companies have found a perfect system to paralyze common sense and make money.  It cannot be more apparent that what we are doing now isn't working.  Yet, the prevailing belief is that we can't do anything about dozens of people getting shot in a church.  The gun industry has the nation bamboozled into thinking it is impossible to have public debate.  They are banking on everyone forgetting about this latest shooting in a few days just like we forget about Vegas.  And Orlando.  And San Bernardino.  And Roseburg Oregon.  And Charleston.  And Sandy Hook.  Shhhhh….  Mass shootings are normal.  Go back under the hut.  Go to sleep.