Same old stuff again . . .
Yes, a pair of marginal, intellectually deficient homicidal maniacs plied their trade last weekend. Before the crime scene tape was deployed, the political left went into its blood frenzy, as it always does, trumpeted by its co-conspirators in legacy media. The typical calls for “action now, without any thought, just with feelings for the victims and families of victims” drowned out the legitimate, non-politically inspired grief.
The question “why does this happen?” is consistently answered “easy access to guns,” penned by people who have neverpurchased firearms. Opinion makers like Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) have determined that “ARs will be banned,” with the Dilbert cartoonist also noting it won’t happen this week and maybe not this year – but that this weekend will be the cornerstone date that will be referred to in that silly, ineffectual infringement. (He also said it will be of no positive effect in the rate of violent crime, but we have only to look at the Chicago crimes stats from last weekend to see that . . .)
Meanwhile, pols on the left are saying that white supremacists – a miniscule group with no political or social power – are the root cause of all this, ignoring the devaluation of human life across the social spectrum, including entertainment vehicles such as television, video games and motion pictures.
Is entertainment “at fault?” I don’t know. There was a time I could watch a Sam Peckinpah picture and only mildly flinch. The level of inhumane, toxic and pathologically violent fare available today makes a classic like The Wild Bunch seem quite tame.
Meanwhile, faces are buried in streaming devices as people sleep-walk through the reality of corporeal existence. Stunned by sudden death – a feature of existence in this universe – they don’t realize the simple fact: the death rate is 100%.
No one gets out alive.
Considering that no place is a “safe space,” being obsessed by the ‘nanny-in-a-box’ is magnitudes of order worse than my television childhood. Not only are people allowing themselves to be programmed by strangers, they’re ignoring the real world they pass through. Being so wrapped up, they take precious moments to realize, “Hey! That’s gunfire!” Being asleep at the wheel is no way to go through life.
Of course, cries for increasing infringements abound. @realDonaldTrump is even singing the infringement song, saying “Republicans and Democrats must come together and get strong background checks . . .”
How much stronger? In what way stronger? We already have agencies bound to upload information on those “under information or indictment” (let alone conviction) for felonies or domestic violence crimes to the National Instant Check System. Meanwhile there’s no criminal penalty for failure to notify authorities of those known to be prone to violence or expressing violent fantasies.
The point is, many of these violent criminals were known to be potentially dangerous – by family members, associates, coworkers – and no one said a thing to anyone in authority. In the rare cases where the person was known to be problematic by members of law enforcement, there was no apparent attempt to contact, interview, or seek 72 hour involuntary commitments for evaluation. That should be actionable. If you want people to drop a dime, put the burden on them to do so unless they’re okay facing the consequences of their silence.
The run to ‘red flag’ (sic) laws ignores the rather standard, nearly never used involuntary commitment process existing in many (if not all) states. A ‘red flag’ call from someone is akin to someone complaining to Facebook or Youtube about content. The defendant is then forced to “prove” there is no credible threat. How that is better than a 72 hour hold for evaluation is beyond me.
If you don’t want more BS gun laws, you need to contact the White House and your representatives in Congress to tell them (respectfully, please). Let them know that jumping on the ‘feel-good’ band wagon will predictably inform your decision in the voting process next go-around.
As to the motives and the underlying excuses for the mass killings, I find myself lacking interest. I don’t care why, I care what. It matters not whether left-wing or right, cowards hiding behind their firearms as they ‘video-game’ through crowded venues are irrelevancies. They face too little a chance of being summarily dropped by an armed citizen/off-duty cop. For their cowardice and bullying behavior, they minimize themselves even more.
Sadly, they have willing accomplices who seek to memorialize their misdeeds with silly legislation and grandstanding for political gains.
These are sad times.
- - Rich Grassi