Today, a gunman murdered at least 19 children and 2 adults at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. For years now, after one massacre or another, I have written some version of the same article, explaining that the nation’s current gun free-for-all is not traditional but, rather, is a symptom of the takeover of our nation by a radical extremist minority. The idea that massacres are “the price of freedom,” as right-wing personality Bill O’Reilly said in 2017 after the Mandalay Bay massacre in Las Vegas, in which a gunman killed 60 people and wounded 411 others, is new, and it is about politics, not our history.
In March, 2018, the White House of the former guy made a proposal to reduce gun violence in schools by ARMING TEACHERS! The Wall Street Journal in their daily readers' question printed my response: “Children and guns do not mix! The logical next step from the NRA when—not if—an armed teacher kills the first innocent student will be eliminate any age restrictions on guns so the students can carry guns and protect themselves. The NRA is nothing but lobbyists for the gun manufacturers who have already proved they wouldn’t add a nickel to the price of a gun to save a child’s life. Congress will need to pass universal mental health care because the entire country has gone insane!”
You can bet if the NRA holds its convention in Houston this weekend with Governor Abbot, Senator Cruz, and the Former Guy scheduled to speak, someone will propose arming teachers! The Texas Tribune, the best newspaper in Texas for what journalism should be, has an excellent article on the history of mass shootings in Texas.
I have vowed after reading Justice Alito's draft for overturning Roe and taking away women's rights to never vote for a Republican candidate again at any level of government, local, state or federal. Tonight just cemented that vow and I encourage every citizen of America, now a failing democracy, to take the same vow. My Texas representative is very proud to have authored the euphemistically named "Constitutional carry" law allowing any one to carry a gun without even a permit. The whole Republican Party not just the MAGAettes and extreme right must bear responsibility for the rising autocracy, hate and violence in America. "There comes a time when silence is betrayal" - MLK Jr. Silence by any of us is now a betrayal of democracy. Action is the only response. We, the People, all of us this time!
Today was “Footloose and Fancy Day” at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Students and teachers were asked to wear a nice outfit with fun or fancy shoes.
It was the last week of school filled with festive events and dress-up themes for the elementary school children, but one that ended with students being rushed out of their classes while police officers rushed in with guns drawn.
Today’s school shooting in Texas is now the fourth deadliest school shooting in modern U.S. history, behind only Virginia Tech, Parkland, and, of course, Sandy Hook.
Our nation’s schools should be the safest places in our communities, full of learning, fun and the kinds of happy memories Robb Elementary tried to provide for their kids in the final days of the school year.
They should not be places of horror and nightmares.
Speaking is still physically difficult for me, but my feelings are crystal clear: I am furious.
I am furious with those who have the power to act and save lives but are afraid to do anything to end this uniquely American epidemic.
I know the fear of the gun lobby that those cowards have must be nothing like the fear those children in Texas felt as their lives and the lives of their classmates ended in a hail of bullets.
Or the fear the children who survived today’s massacre will feel every single time they remember their teachers stacking them into closets and bathrooms, whispering in an effort to keep them safe.
Or the fear the parents must have felt when they were alerted that there was an active shooter situation happening at their kid's school.
Senator Chris Murphy said it best to his colleagues in the Senate today, “What are we doing?”
Congress knows how to solve this problem.
Congress knows the steps we can take to protect our kids in their classrooms.
And they know because this is the only country in the developed world where this kind of slaughter happens on a routine basis.
So yes, our thoughts and prayers are once again with the victims of this shooting, their families, and their friends. But our anger and outrage are with those who have the power to act and choose to do nothing.
We do not have to accept these horrific acts of violence as routine.
And we must never stop demanding our leaders not only acknowledge this devastating problem, but take long overdue action to keep our children safe.
I will not rest until we have righted the wrong our elected officials in Congress have done, and until we have changed our laws so we can finally look our parents in the face and say: we are doing everything we can to keep your children safe.
"How about we treat every young man who wants to buy a gun like every woman who wants to get an abortion - mandatory 48-hr waiting period, parental permission, a note from his
doctor proving he understands what he's about to do, a video he has to watch about the effects of gun violence, and an ultrasound wand up the ass (just because). Let's close down all but one
gun shop in every state and make him travel hundreds of miles, take time off work, and stay overnight in a strange town to get a gun. Make him walk through a gauntlet of people holding
photos of loved ones who were shot to death, people who call him a murderer and beg him not to buy a gun.
I am with Senator Murphy and Steve Kerr...what the f...will it take to get you 50 republicans to care about the lives of our children and innocent people being massacred by guns obtained by people unfit to carry them?? I know your relationship with the NRA is so intertwined with your re-election money and obviously that is so much more important than innocent lives being taken. Do you not have anyone you love or care about? It seems not.
I have lived long enough to have seen this play out since the 60’s. The bravado and ego tripping have made me literally heart sick. The propaganda machine, brought here by Reagan, seems to have eaten the brains of “a long line of formerly upstanding citizens caught in the swirl of power.” (Thanks to MisTBlu on HCR substack). As much as I hate being lumped in with the “guilty Texans,” I am going to lump all republicans together in the cult category, and say you ALL are guilty. I occasionally get mail from the likes of Ted Cruz, filled with non-stop lies. Republican campaign ads would make Goebbels proud. I know some “formerly upstanding citizens caught in the swirl of power;” they are complicit, if not as guilty as the shooters. Are there no consequences for destroying a once-great, but flawed country? Ask Joe Manchin…
I had already seen the Steve Kerr press conference, but for those who haven't, please watch share with others (video can be found at the bottom of this Letter from an American). Maybe a respected (revered) basketball coach can get through to a different segment of the American people and make some headway where grieving parents and gun control advocates seem unable to do so.
Odd that politicians don’t hammer on the fact that SB8 in Texas mandates the shoving of an ultrasound wand up the vagina of anyone seeking an abortion (criminalized at 6 weeks since September 2021, complete with bounty hunting on those suspected of helping) but any legislation to place reasonable limitations on tools of slaughter is seen as restricting Constitutional freedoms? When you regulate my twat more than my gat, we’re going to clash.
"In order to stop these tragedies, we must defeat and throw out Republicans that work for the NRA, prop up the gun lobby, and stand in complicity with these massacres. Each time these monstrous acts occur, they choose to allow mass shootings so they can hold onto political power. And it's the innocent who pay the ultimate price. It’s time to hold them accountable.
Senator Schumer started the process tonight to force a vote in the Senate on Enhanced Background Checks, a bill that has already passed the House. We are furious that Senator Manchin has said he will do "all he can" to address this plague of violence, yet is unwilling to change the filibuster to do it. His words are empty and insulting, and mean that this bill would need 60 votes to pass -- and that means 10 Republican votes.
We’ll be honest: having seen their cowardice and abandonment in the other crises our nation has faced, we are not willing to peddle false hope that 10 Republicans of good conscience can be found in the Senate today. But this is a place where we yearn to be wrong. Or if we're right, a place where we vow to make it as painful for them as possible, if they once again pledge their allegiance to the gun lobby over the lives of our children.
I wish more proponents of gun control would study this information so they could make their arguments sharper and raise awareness of this incredibly pertinent history.
In the meantime, Marjorie Taylor Greene (and probably others of her ilk) claim that massacres are false flag operations, carried out by those that want gun control in order to raise public support for it. So damned depressing.
It's time to step up, speak out and vote the NRA-backed sméagol replicas to into Mordor where they belong;
As Joseph P. Welch said to Senator McCarthy "Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator. You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?
Sainted Ray Gun was against gun control except when Bobby Seale and Huey Newton and the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense came to Sacramento carrying loaded shotguns. Then he was so in favor of gun control the Assembly passed a bill against "brandishing" within two weeks. Yessirree bob, ol' Ray Gun was definitely against *those people* carrying guns and getting away with it.
I have to admit, the first moment I heard the news he'd been shot, the word that went through my mind was Yesss!!!!!!
In March, 2018, the White House of the former guy made a proposal to reduce gun violence in schools by ARMING TEACHERS! The Wall Street Journal in their daily readers' question printed my response: “Children and guns do not mix! The logical next step from the NRA when—not if—an armed teacher kills the first innocent student will be eliminate any age restrictions on guns so the students can carry guns and protect themselves. The NRA is nothing but lobbyists for the gun manufacturers who have already proved they wouldn’t add a nickel to the price of a gun to save a child’s life. Congress will need to pass universal mental health care because the entire country has gone insane!”
You can bet if the NRA holds its convention in Houston this weekend with Governor Abbot, Senator Cruz, and the Former Guy scheduled to speak, someone will propose arming teachers! The Texas Tribune, the best newspaper in Texas for what journalism should be, has an excellent article on the history of mass shootings in Texas.
https://www.texastribune.org/2022/05/24/uvalde-texas-school-shooting/
I have vowed after reading Justice Alito's draft for overturning Roe and taking away women's rights to never vote for a Republican candidate again at any level of government, local, state or federal. Tonight just cemented that vow and I encourage every citizen of America, now a failing democracy, to take the same vow. My Texas representative is very proud to have authored the euphemistically named "Constitutional carry" law allowing any one to carry a gun without even a permit. The whole Republican Party not just the MAGAettes and extreme right must bear responsibility for the rising autocracy, hate and violence in America. "There comes a time when silence is betrayal" - MLK Jr. Silence by any of us is now a betrayal of democracy. Action is the only response. We, the People, all of us this time!
This, from Gabby Giffords:
Today was “Footloose and Fancy Day” at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Students and teachers were asked to wear a nice outfit with fun or fancy shoes.
It was the last week of school filled with festive events and dress-up themes for the elementary school children, but one that ended with students being rushed out of their classes while police officers rushed in with guns drawn.
Today’s school shooting in Texas is now the fourth deadliest school shooting in modern U.S. history, behind only Virginia Tech, Parkland, and, of course, Sandy Hook.
Our nation’s schools should be the safest places in our communities, full of learning, fun and the kinds of happy memories Robb Elementary tried to provide for their kids in the final days of the school year.
They should not be places of horror and nightmares.
Speaking is still physically difficult for me, but my feelings are crystal clear: I am furious.
I am furious with those who have the power to act and save lives but are afraid to do anything to end this uniquely American epidemic.
I know the fear of the gun lobby that those cowards have must be nothing like the fear those children in Texas felt as their lives and the lives of their classmates ended in a hail of bullets.
Or the fear the children who survived today’s massacre will feel every single time they remember their teachers stacking them into closets and bathrooms, whispering in an effort to keep them safe.
Or the fear the parents must have felt when they were alerted that there was an active shooter situation happening at their kid's school.
Senator Chris Murphy said it best to his colleagues in the Senate today, “What are we doing?”
Congress knows how to solve this problem.
Congress knows the steps we can take to protect our kids in their classrooms.
And they know because this is the only country in the developed world where this kind of slaughter happens on a routine basis.
So yes, our thoughts and prayers are once again with the victims of this shooting, their families, and their friends. But our anger and outrage are with those who have the power to act and choose to do nothing.
We do not have to accept these horrific acts of violence as routine.
And we must never stop demanding our leaders not only acknowledge this devastating problem, but take long overdue action to keep our children safe.
I will not rest until we have righted the wrong our elected officials in Congress have done, and until we have changed our laws so we can finally look our parents in the face and say: we are doing everything we can to keep your children safe.
Thank you for standing with me in this struggle.
With courage, Gabby Giffords
"How about we treat every young man who wants to buy a gun like every woman who wants to get an abortion - mandatory 48-hr waiting period, parental permission, a note from his
doctor proving he understands what he's about to do, a video he has to watch about the effects of gun violence, and an ultrasound wand up the ass (just because). Let's close down all but one
gun shop in every state and make him travel hundreds of miles, take time off work, and stay overnight in a strange town to get a gun. Make him walk through a gauntlet of people holding
photos of loved ones who were shot to death, people who call him a murderer and beg him not to buy a gun.
( I don’t know author, but it is perfect.)
I am with Senator Murphy and Steve Kerr...what the f...will it take to get you 50 republicans to care about the lives of our children and innocent people being massacred by guns obtained by people unfit to carry them?? I know your relationship with the NRA is so intertwined with your re-election money and obviously that is so much more important than innocent lives being taken. Do you not have anyone you love or care about? It seems not.
I have lived long enough to have seen this play out since the 60’s. The bravado and ego tripping have made me literally heart sick. The propaganda machine, brought here by Reagan, seems to have eaten the brains of “a long line of formerly upstanding citizens caught in the swirl of power.” (Thanks to MisTBlu on HCR substack). As much as I hate being lumped in with the “guilty Texans,” I am going to lump all republicans together in the cult category, and say you ALL are guilty. I occasionally get mail from the likes of Ted Cruz, filled with non-stop lies. Republican campaign ads would make Goebbels proud. I know some “formerly upstanding citizens caught in the swirl of power;” they are complicit, if not as guilty as the shooters. Are there no consequences for destroying a once-great, but flawed country? Ask Joe Manchin…
I had already seen the Steve Kerr press conference, but for those who haven't, please watch share with others (video can be found at the bottom of this Letter from an American). Maybe a respected (revered) basketball coach can get through to a different segment of the American people and make some headway where grieving parents and gun control advocates seem unable to do so.
Odd that politicians don’t hammer on the fact that SB8 in Texas mandates the shoving of an ultrasound wand up the vagina of anyone seeking an abortion (criminalized at 6 weeks since September 2021, complete with bounty hunting on those suspected of helping) but any legislation to place reasonable limitations on tools of slaughter is seen as restricting Constitutional freedoms? When you regulate my twat more than my gat, we’re going to clash.
I have nothing new to say. 💔
I won't just mourn, I intend to ORGANIZE. There have been 27 mass shootings this year. 27!!
That has to end. No matter what, VOTE BLUE this November.
Robert Hubbell forcefully adds to our voices of righteous outrage that We Have Had Enough:
https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/the-blood-of-innocent-children?s=r
Indivisible.org has action:
"In order to stop these tragedies, we must defeat and throw out Republicans that work for the NRA, prop up the gun lobby, and stand in complicity with these massacres. Each time these monstrous acts occur, they choose to allow mass shootings so they can hold onto political power. And it's the innocent who pay the ultimate price. It’s time to hold them accountable.
Senator Schumer started the process tonight to force a vote in the Senate on Enhanced Background Checks, a bill that has already passed the House. We are furious that Senator Manchin has said he will do "all he can" to address this plague of violence, yet is unwilling to change the filibuster to do it. His words are empty and insulting, and mean that this bill would need 60 votes to pass -- and that means 10 Republican votes.
We’ll be honest: having seen their cowardice and abandonment in the other crises our nation has faced, we are not willing to peddle false hope that 10 Republicans of good conscience can be found in the Senate today. But this is a place where we yearn to be wrong. Or if we're right, a place where we vow to make it as painful for them as possible, if they once again pledge their allegiance to the gun lobby over the lives of our children.
Click here [https://elections.bradyunited.org/take-action/nra-donations-116th-congress-senators] to see how much your senators have received from the gun lobby. And with the shaking outrage of that knowledge, call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and demand that they vote yes on the background check bill."
indivisible.org
Also Moms Demand Action:
momsdemandaction.org
I wish more proponents of gun control would study this information so they could make their arguments sharper and raise awareness of this incredibly pertinent history.
In the meantime, Marjorie Taylor Greene (and probably others of her ilk) claim that massacres are false flag operations, carried out by those that want gun control in order to raise public support for it. So damned depressing.
It's time to step up, speak out and vote the NRA-backed sméagol replicas to into Mordor where they belong;
As Joseph P. Welch said to Senator McCarthy "Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator. You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?
Sainted Ray Gun was against gun control except when Bobby Seale and Huey Newton and the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense came to Sacramento carrying loaded shotguns. Then he was so in favor of gun control the Assembly passed a bill against "brandishing" within two weeks. Yessirree bob, ol' Ray Gun was definitely against *those people* carrying guns and getting away with it.
I have to admit, the first moment I heard the news he'd been shot, the word that went through my mind was Yesss!!!!!!
I don't want to live in this country any more.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders (next ARK governor)—White House Press Secretary embarrassment
Herschel Walker (toss up GA senator)—Heisman has-been carpet bagger
Dr. Oz (Trumpist PA senate candidate)—Turkish TV snake oil salesman
Even scavenger carp are aghast at such candidatorial crap.
What has poet Amanda Gordon said?
“It takes a monster to kill children. But to watch monsters kill children again and again and do nothing isn’t just insanity – it’s inhumanity,”
Somewhere there's someone who has children of their own and approves of this. I can't get my head around it.