"This American carnage stops right here and right now." Remember those words? They were among the many lowlights of Trump's "some weird shit" Inaugural Address. Among other things, it referenced the nation's "young and beautiful" students whose potential was being crushed by gangs and drugs and crime and stuff.
That speech was a manifesto for an administration that operates as if Opposite Day Is Every Day. Everything in it, and the 13 months that have followed, has been at odds with promised intents. Keeping students safe would necessarily mean that students wouldn't be safe.
Watching the unfolding TV news of the Parkland Massacre, I wondered what a pre-Columbine time-traveler from 20 years ago would think upon "apparating" next to me watching the traumatic events. Gawking at the awful scenes of high school students running with hands up while heavily armored police prepare to enter buildings. Listening to commentary that this is just the latest of assault-weapon-ized mass shootings as graphics appear that depict recent slaughters.
And on the bottom, the "tickler" banner runs along with news of the President's lawyer paying a porn star $130,000 to keep quiet about having had sex with the POTUS, the same President who is under criminal investigation for cooperating with a hostile foreign power in order to win the presidential election. The same President who seems to have an on-going secret relationship with this hostile foreign power. The same President who is actively dismantling the power and influence of the United States. The same President who is being protected by the Republican party in Congress.
Our time-traveler would think we've all gone bat guano crazy, and disapparate back to the time of Bill Clinton's impeachment, when things were more rational...
He wouldn't be wrong. Einstein supposedly said that Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. If so, this country is certifiable. Check out what the Onion says every goddam time we suffer another of these traumas:
https://www.theonion.com/no-way-to-prevent-this-says-only-nation-where-this-r-1823016659
Marvin Gaye despondently sang of wanting to holler and throw up both his hands. Yes. But then there is hope in the form of Generation Z, personified by one of the Parkland students who survived the massacre. This guy should become the next Governor of Florida, starting tomorrow:
One obvious player that emerges into this latest act of American Carnage is the shooter himself. He has described himself as a Trump supporter, a real MAGA monster. He posted a disturbing photo of himself, adorned with Trumpian gear, along with his arsenal of legally procured weapons.
He was also someone who had trained in combat with a charming local White Supremacist militia group called "Republic of Florida". This is a neo-Nazi outfit that seeks to establish a "white separatist ethno-state". They seem nice. And if you can stand it, here is an interview one of their leaders gave yesterday:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/nikolas-cruz-trained-with-florida-white-supremacist-group-leader-says
Our Sleazebag-in-Chief offered up a typical bundle of "thoughts and prayers" for the victims, while calling for the creation of a culture that promotes a "dignity of life", while answering hate with love and cruelty with reason. Again, this is "Opposite Day Is Every Day" for him, all day every day.
What would we be hearing/reading/seeing right now if the shooter had been radicalized by ISIS instead of White Supremacists? There would be no end to the outrage! The flow of Trump Tweets would be like Niagara Falls. Fox News/Hate Radio would have sprung a rare triple hernia!! Russian bots on social media would be promoting a hyper-ventilating zeitgeist! American RWNJs would be shrieking and calling for the next round of travel bans, and for a Muslim Registry. The volume of our nation, already at a 10, would be kicked up to 11. We'd all suffer a virtual nation-wide stroke!
No, instead it's a crazy MAGA kid with Nazi White Supremacy aspirations. So the level of media-driven White GOP/Evangelist Anger is not there. Instead, we have the inevitable "thoughts and prayers". And more of the Insanity Defense:
"This is not the time to jump to some conclusion not knowing the full facts." Yes, it's Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, commenting on why Congress won't pursue gun control for assault weapons after this latest outrage. Yes... this is certainly the first time anything like this has ever happened in the history of the United States, since the last times it happened. So we need more time to study.
And here he is, responding during those other times. Note the specific language. Eerie, isn't it, that the same words are used over and over and over?
And really, what's he going to say? "We need to figure out how to reduce White Supremacist violence"? Not after Trump cut back funds for research into reducing such Right Wing violence, instead choosing to focus exclusively on Radical Islamic Jihadist violence... Or, after his GOP repeatedly refused to allow the CDC to study gun violence as a public health issue. "Thoughts and Prayers" are more easily offered up.
This all reminds of former Bush White House staffer David Frum's famous allegory:
A village has been built in the deepest gully of a floodplain.
At regular intervals, flash floods wipe away houses, killing all inside. Less dramatic—but more lethal—is the steady toll as individual villagers slip and drown in the marshes around them.
After especially deadly events, the villagers solemnly discuss what they might do to protect themselves. Perhaps they might raise their homes on stilts? But a powerful faction among the villagers is always at hand to explain why these ideas won’t work. “No law can keep our village safe! The answer is that our people must learn to be better swimmers - and oh by the way, you said ‘stilts’ when the proper term is ‘piles,’ so why should anybody listen to you?”
So the argument rages, without result, year after year, decade after decade, fatalities mounting all the while. Nearby villages, built in the hills, marvel that the gully-dwellers persist in their seemingly reckless way of life. But the gully-dwellers counter that they are following the wishes of their Founders, whose decisions two centuries ago must always be upheld by their descendants.
What can we, the gully-dwellers, do? It is helpful to know more about "the powerful faction". Know who they are, and vote them out. Here is a terrific compilation of the current top recipients of NRA campaign cash:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/10/04/opinion/thoughts-prayers-nra-funding-senators.html
Here is an even more comprehensive look at NRA legislators, state-by-state. It's really easy to click on any state and discover each Congress critter's haul:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/nra-donations/?utm_term=.e802bcfc47ac
And of course the $30 million-plus the Trump campaign received:
https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2016/11/the-nra-placed-big-bets-on-the-2016-election-and-won-almost-all-of-them/
That's a whole lot of cash to ensure nothing gets done. Ya need to keep the level of fear high to sell that amount of guns and ammo to keep that campaign fund-river flowing.
In the end, it always comes down to this terrific piece of Swiftian satire, brought to you by our pals at The Onion. I hate/love it:
https://www.theonion.com/it-s-an-honor-to-continue-being-valued-over-countless-h-1819585030
To end things on a positive note, consider joining/donating to this group. It started with parents whose kids were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary. It ain't perfect (it's gun violence prevention-oriented, not gun control), but it's groups like this that will lead us upwards and onwards...
https://www.sandyhookpromise.org
If Australia can do it, we can do it!!
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