Evidently Republicans see the cost - children's lives - to be less than the cost of pissing off the gun lobby and MAGA gun nuts. And they're not going to budge. They WILL, however, agree to at least send "thoughts and prayers" when this happens again. Bless their corrupt little hearts.
Maryann, the statement: "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely", needs an addendum. I propose: Powerful money can kill when used absolutely.
Yep ... and here's the quote: “It’s worth it. I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational."
The legacy we as a nation are leaving our children consists of Kevlar back packs, ACTIVE SHOOTER DRILLS, and the ULTIMATE indication that we have failed them...B O D Y B A G S!
My daughter was in a school shooting in September (the same day Charlie Kirk was killed - so the shooting didn't get much press) and we're still traumatized. She still won't talk about it. We know she saw things and was trapped in the library for over an hour - hearing gunshots and the shooter and other kids, trapped in the hallway, trying to get in. Two heroic kids were substantially injured and the shooter killed himself. Thank goodness he only had a pistol. They've just started letting the kids have backpacks again and they have a dog that sniffs everyone for gunpowder residue now. The teachers are soldiering on, but they show signs of stress and some have left. This is finals week and the amount of stress everyone is under is palpable. Not only is it finals, but they've had to speed up the learning schedule to make up for the 3 wks they were out of school. My daughter has 3 tests tomorrow and none of those are finals - those are happening later in the week. I get horrible memories of not knowing if she was dead, alive, hurt, terrified for over an hour - and being utterly helpless to do anything. And the unforgettable feeling of having my entire existence being balanced on having the phone ring and hearing her voice on the other end. Now all I can do is tell her I love her every day when I drop her off. We had a holiday gathering of moms a few days ago and I cried talking to another mother (it came out of nowhere) and I saw other moms crying, too. We're all messed up but trying to hold it together. She didn't ask for any of this - she just wanted to get an education and go to college. But these people in power don't care because they get piles of money from the gun lobby. The 2nd amendment folks won't do anything until it directly impacts them either. They all continue to send thoughts and prayers then return to their breakfast while we try to put the pieces back together.
What to say to you but thanks for writing such a beautiful, and cogent note about “taunts and pears” in the aftermath of these shootings?
I’ve long thought the best way of getting sensible gun control laws is to show the aftermath of a school shooting. Show the blood spattered walls and floors of an elementary school room a few days before the start of Xmas vacation. Show the torn apart bodies of sweet 7 year olds. Yes, show the carnage racked up by an AR 15.
But if you won’t show the actual physical carnage, at least show the classrooms, after the bodies are removed. The walls, the floors, the crayons spilled on the desks…. The image possibilities are endless
The only time the MAGA (Morons Are Governing America) folks have spoken out against gun violence is after the assassination attempt against the f***ing moron occupying the oval office and the successful attempt taking the life of Charlie Kirk. Even then, their only concern was their own distorted values. Abortion, they consider murder; the murder of school children, they consider the price this nation must pay to protect the sacred right of gun ownership.
You have summed it all up very well today, John. I’m deeply sad that you even had to consider making this post today. Truly “every allegiance has a cost”. Gun lust is just a checked box in the GOP Gaslighting Project. Right next to Lust for Cruelty.
We are NOT silent - but what TF else are we supposed to do? We talk, we write, we protest, we support bigger efforts (like Gabby Giffords), we vote - and NOTHING changes. Well.... actually something does - it keeps getting worse. What are we supposed to do? What do we do with nearly half the country who love their guns more than they love their children?
Oh, I should think so! If the issues were ISSUES and not financial compensation.... yeah.... then there would be a greater likelihood of having them considered objectively and from the standpoint of the good of the people rather than personal gain.
According to the gun loving and arms bearing, Second Amendment-obsessed, right wingnuts, their freedom to shoot their firearms trumps other people's right to life. There are almost 400 million firearms of all kinds in their possession, enough to overwhelm police and National Guard if they decide to mount (another) insurrectionist Civil War. Once again, the fate of our children and other innocent people has been determined by spineless politicians who won't offend the gun lobby, NRA or deer hunting "good ol' boys". However, the real culprit is the SCOTUS decisions that misinterpreted the Second Amendment and diluted States' attempt at meaningful gun control. In the meantime we will continue to have more gun related homicides and suicides annually that outpace the number of people killed each year in car accidents. If that is not a definition of a sick society, I don't know what is!
The first school shooting that I recall was Kent State. National Guard shooting students, to me, is a school shooting.
The second school shooting would be January 19th 1989 here in Stockton, CA where I live. The Cleveland School shooting. Five children were shot and killed. The shooter took his own life.
I had 17 years of fear & panic waiting for the next school shooting to affect one of my children. I was one of the fortunate parents who always had kids come home safe & sound.
Horrible that we continue to live in a country that sends it's children into into an "unknown battle field" each school day. Shame on us.
What is also awful after each horror is seeing the gun nuts flock like clockwork to Facebook pages such as March for Our Lives (founded by survivors of the Parkland shooting) just so they can talk about how owning guns is more important than anything else. I'm sure they visited Sandy Hook memorial pages today as well to express their views.
They fit in perfectly with the current fascist regime that not only advocates and encourages violence but indulges in the cruelty of telling the survivors of violence that they matter less than guns.
Evidently Republicans see the cost - children's lives - to be less than the cost of pissing off the gun lobby and MAGA gun nuts. And they're not going to budge. They WILL, however, agree to at least send "thoughts and prayers" when this happens again. Bless their corrupt little hearts.
Maryann, the statement: "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely", needs an addendum. I propose: Powerful money can kill when used absolutely.
Money is power in tangible form.
Yes. And money can be used for good or ill.
Adding that the late Charlie Kirk, before his death, said something about a few deaths were the price we pay for the Second Amendment.
Yep ... and here's the quote: “It’s worth it. I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational."
During a town hall that aired last night, his wife Erika had the audacity to say that this comment was taken out of context...unfreaking incredible :(
I sometimes wonder if Erika Kirk and her supporters live in an alternate reality.
Yeah, as long as they aren't his family or anyone he knows.
Yes. Empathy appears to be an almost unknown virtue.
I have said this before in a previous post...
The legacy we as a nation are leaving our children consists of Kevlar back packs, ACTIVE SHOOTER DRILLS, and the ULTIMATE indication that we have failed them...B O D Y B A G S!
My daughter was in a school shooting in September (the same day Charlie Kirk was killed - so the shooting didn't get much press) and we're still traumatized. She still won't talk about it. We know she saw things and was trapped in the library for over an hour - hearing gunshots and the shooter and other kids, trapped in the hallway, trying to get in. Two heroic kids were substantially injured and the shooter killed himself. Thank goodness he only had a pistol. They've just started letting the kids have backpacks again and they have a dog that sniffs everyone for gunpowder residue now. The teachers are soldiering on, but they show signs of stress and some have left. This is finals week and the amount of stress everyone is under is palpable. Not only is it finals, but they've had to speed up the learning schedule to make up for the 3 wks they were out of school. My daughter has 3 tests tomorrow and none of those are finals - those are happening later in the week. I get horrible memories of not knowing if she was dead, alive, hurt, terrified for over an hour - and being utterly helpless to do anything. And the unforgettable feeling of having my entire existence being balanced on having the phone ring and hearing her voice on the other end. Now all I can do is tell her I love her every day when I drop her off. We had a holiday gathering of moms a few days ago and I cried talking to another mother (it came out of nowhere) and I saw other moms crying, too. We're all messed up but trying to hold it together. She didn't ask for any of this - she just wanted to get an education and go to college. But these people in power don't care because they get piles of money from the gun lobby. The 2nd amendment folks won't do anything until it directly impacts them either. They all continue to send thoughts and prayers then return to their breakfast while we try to put the pieces back together.
Yours is a powerful statement. If only those in power would listen.
💔💔💔
This retired educator sends hugs to you & yours...our "greatest" status is on life support:(
What to say to you but thanks for writing such a beautiful, and cogent note about “taunts and pears” in the aftermath of these shootings?
I’ve long thought the best way of getting sensible gun control laws is to show the aftermath of a school shooting. Show the blood spattered walls and floors of an elementary school room a few days before the start of Xmas vacation. Show the torn apart bodies of sweet 7 year olds. Yes, show the carnage racked up by an AR 15.
But if you won’t show the actual physical carnage, at least show the classrooms, after the bodies are removed. The walls, the floors, the crayons spilled on the desks…. The image possibilities are endless
But show the carnage!
A picture is truly worth a thousand words, in this case, we need them to jar the sleeping giant of denial in millions of Americans.
That’s what it took to stop the Vietnam War.
Extremely good example. Once America lost Cronkite, they lost the war.
The only time the MAGA (Morons Are Governing America) folks have spoken out against gun violence is after the assassination attempt against the f***ing moron occupying the oval office and the successful attempt taking the life of Charlie Kirk. Even then, their only concern was their own distorted values. Abortion, they consider murder; the murder of school children, they consider the price this nation must pay to protect the sacred right of gun ownership.
You have summed it all up very well today, John. I’m deeply sad that you even had to consider making this post today. Truly “every allegiance has a cost”. Gun lust is just a checked box in the GOP Gaslighting Project. Right next to Lust for Cruelty.
We are NOT silent - but what TF else are we supposed to do? We talk, we write, we protest, we support bigger efforts (like Gabby Giffords), we vote - and NOTHING changes. Well.... actually something does - it keeps getting worse. What are we supposed to do? What do we do with nearly half the country who love their guns more than they love their children?
Vote as if lives depend on it?
I already do. As do most people who understand that this is a problem and it's killing us - literally.
If we were to take money out of politics, I think reasonable gun control legislation would follow. Thoughts anyone?
Oh, I should think so! If the issues were ISSUES and not financial compensation.... yeah.... then there would be a greater likelihood of having them considered objectively and from the standpoint of the good of the people rather than personal gain.
Thank you. If Congress worked on "issues... not financial compensation"... it would, I think, change our nation's trajectory.
😱 (me screaming)🙀
According to the gun loving and arms bearing, Second Amendment-obsessed, right wingnuts, their freedom to shoot their firearms trumps other people's right to life. There are almost 400 million firearms of all kinds in their possession, enough to overwhelm police and National Guard if they decide to mount (another) insurrectionist Civil War. Once again, the fate of our children and other innocent people has been determined by spineless politicians who won't offend the gun lobby, NRA or deer hunting "good ol' boys". However, the real culprit is the SCOTUS decisions that misinterpreted the Second Amendment and diluted States' attempt at meaningful gun control. In the meantime we will continue to have more gun related homicides and suicides annually that outpace the number of people killed each year in car accidents. If that is not a definition of a sick society, I don't know what is!
The first school shooting that I recall was Kent State. National Guard shooting students, to me, is a school shooting.
The second school shooting would be January 19th 1989 here in Stockton, CA where I live. The Cleveland School shooting. Five children were shot and killed. The shooter took his own life.
Since then, I have lost count.
I wrote this after the Parkland shooting and I have had to post it again far too many times since…
*******
Can you hear them?
Can you hear the children?
Can you hear them screaming?
Screaming over the roar of the rifle
Screaming as they run for their lives
Screaming as they watch their friends
Fall lifeless to the ground
Can you hear them?
Can you hear the children?
Can you hear them crying?
Crying as the pain sears through them
From the white hot bullet
Crying as they lay their friends in the ground
Crying as they wake from the nightmares
Can you hear them?
Can you hear the children?
Can you hear them begging?
Begging for their lives
Begging for those who are meant to protect them
To stand up and do it
Begging for change
So no one else will feel their pain
Can you hear them?
Can you hear the children?
Or have your ears gone deaf
Has your heart turned to stone
Have money and power
Corrupted your soul
Please listen.
Please listen to the children.
Don't let one more die.
Don't let one more cry.
Don't make one more beg.
Please listen.
~wjc 2\14\18
We, as a nation, don't listen. The sound of coins is blocking the children's screams.
Amen
I had 17 years of fear & panic waiting for the next school shooting to affect one of my children. I was one of the fortunate parents who always had kids come home safe & sound.
Horrible that we continue to live in a country that sends it's children into into an "unknown battle field" each school day. Shame on us.
Ah, the beauty of our plain-speaking President who summarizes it all. Well, "sometimes things happen."
What is also awful after each horror is seeing the gun nuts flock like clockwork to Facebook pages such as March for Our Lives (founded by survivors of the Parkland shooting) just so they can talk about how owning guns is more important than anything else. I'm sure they visited Sandy Hook memorial pages today as well to express their views.
They fit in perfectly with the current fascist regime that not only advocates and encourages violence but indulges in the cruelty of telling the survivors of violence that they matter less than guns.
Mass shootings are killings, they are murders.
Call it what it is.
And stop with the idiotic "thoughts and prayers"!