As we know from past experience, now is “too soon” to
discuss the consistent gun massacres in schools, the thought being that
emotions are too raw. We missed
that brief window between the last one and this one when talking about guns
would have been acceptable. What
no one is saying is that because of the routine of these shootings, it is
becoming harder and harder to muster any legitimate emotions. The Public becomes immune to the story
after hearing it enough times.
Remember a couple of years ago when the population was flipping out
because the President of the United States was telling lies? Now it is just a known quantity and is
essentially accepted as The Way Things Are. School shootings have become the same.
I hardly even glanced at the headline when it scrolled
across. School shooting reported
in Texas. Yawn. I knew the basic story line. Quiet kid showed up at school with
guns, shot a bunch of classmates and probably killed himself. Interviews with crying teenagers. Whatever. My brain is now able to shove that in the same place as
“Mexican Earthquake Claims 17 Lives” and “Tragic Plane Crash In Cuba”. School shootings are just part of the
daily mosaic of the news cycle. It's a concept and not a real thing. I
feel much more outrage when I see the castrated politicians offer up their empty
promises and false grief.
Trump immediately said the administration would do
“everything in our power” to protect schools and keep guns away from those who
should not have them. Even if a
moment of righteousness somehow flickered across that man’s brain, by this
weekend the NRA will have him in line with their talking points. I predict “a pivot” into suggesting
this is a mental health issue, not a gun issue, and we need to do more to
combat mental health issues. As
mental health issues are mostly undetectable, this is essentially vowing to
protect a town from floods by offering to combat the rain.
“We are with you in this tragic hour and we will be with you
forever…” was offered up on the President’s Twitter feed. I can translate this into “This is the
gesture of empathy that the office dictates I make, and I am hoping this blows
over by Tuesday as I have already forgotten about it as have most other
Americans”. Fore! I barely glanced at the story, as I
already know how it ends. The
bottom line is that not enough people care. We have decided that thousands of shooting victims are an
acceptable trade for gun enthusiasts to maintain their fantasies of vigilante
justice where they are cast as heroes. Come and take it. Ka-pow!
Wal Mart Nation has the steering wheel in this country right
now. America is becoming greater
every day. It’s pre-facism with a
redneck fashion streak. Self-delusion
and ignorance rule the day. There
is no reason to believe this gun violence problem will be addressed because we
have decided that no problem exists.
The same old rhetoric will get tossed back and forth next week with no
movement in any direction. The gun
manufacturers will stick to their playbook of letting things cool down so the
simpleminded populace will back burner the issue. If the gun companies get lucky they might convince the
lunatics in office to spend millions on guns for schools, turning lemons into
lemonade if you will. Score!
This weekend they will bury ten kids in Texas. Crying parents will vow to fight for
change. Politicians will
hide. Cable news will devolve into
pointless side squabbles about gun categorization, the false beliefs
surrounding the Second Amendment, various smoke screens, and NRA spokespeople dropping their flimsy talking points into the
stew. We’ve seen this before. Yawn. Change the channel.
It’s just The Way Things Are.
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