Lost In The Fray

Posted on by under Election 2022, Free Press Issues, guns, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

Amid the continual coverage of last Tuesday’s elections, and amid the speculation about whether the former guy would be so dumb as to launch another presidential campaign, this little tidbit of actual news seemed to be largely overlooked on Monday …

Three killed and two wounded in shooting at University of Virginia

Now, I know that last week’s elections were among the most important mid-terms in the history of our nation, and I know a lot of people are fixated on the former guy, but … how can a shooting that killed three college students be relegated to a minor news story???

And while most of you probably did hear about the UVa shooting once the networks eventually found time to report on it, four students were found dead on Sunday in an off-campus house at the University of Idaho.

Having read about the UVa shooting in The Guardian, a UK publication, I opened the New York Times website and all I saw was election coverage, speculation, reactions, etc.  I went to The Washington Post’s site, and again … all election news or journalistic speculation.  And I wonder if we are so inured to gun violence in this country that it isn’t even front-page news anymore.  Or is it that people are so enthralled by the political drama that they can only focus on that one thing?  I haven’t even heard the usual “thoughts and prayers” by the politicians this time – I guess they are too focused on their own fortunes or misfortunes to pay attention to the misfortunes of the families of seven dead students.

The three victims in the UVa shooting were

From left, Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry, the University of Virginia football players who were killed Sunday. (University of Virginia Athletics/AP)

The youths had attended a play about Emmett Till in Washington, D.C. and their bus was just returning to the UVa campus when one of the students, who I shall not name, opened fire inside the bus.  The shooter was also a student, though not in the same class as most of the rest of the group.  No motive has yet been discerned.

Information on the deaths of the University of Idaho students is still very sketchy and all I know for sure is that the four deaths are being investigated as a homicide.  Initial reporting indicated the four were shot to death, but that has since been changed and no ‘cause of death’ is officially available.

I do realize the importance of this month’s election and I am as focused on the results and what they might mean for the future of this nation as much as anyone.  But one of the most serious problems we have in this nation is guns, and the lives of college students being cut short by a man with a gun is too important to just give a passing glance.  In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott won his bid to remain governor of the state.  Texas, where last May 24th, 19 students and two teachers were brutally murdered in an elementary school in Uvalde.  Said Kimberly Mata Rubio, the mother of the slain 10-year-old Lexi Rubio …

“Abbott hasn’t done anything to curb gun violence or prevent another school shooting from happening in Texas in the 6 months since the Uvalde elementary school shooting.”

But apparently the people of Texas care more about things other than the lives of their children.  The issue of school shootings and guns in general is woven into our political discourse and the two really cannot or should not be separated.  More and more in this country the laws lean toward unlimited and unrestricted gun ownership … and use.  The man charged in the UVa murder had twice failed background checks, but still was able to purchase a gun.  Something wrong here, folks.

The media does us a disservice when they focus on the political fray to the exclusion of all else.  We need to hold their feet to the fire, hold them accountable to report all the news, not just the political news.  Life matters.  Say their names:  Devin Chandler.  Lavel Davis Jr.  D’Sean Perry.

23 thoughts on “Lost In The Fray”

  1. So true Jill, I think they ignore it because it did not affect them and it would be sacrilege to complain about guns and be rejected by everyone, a bit like all the atheists that pretend to be Christians, too scared to admit what they think.

    Liked by 2 people

    • You make a couple of good points there. Even when there isn’t a contentious election to analyse to death, people are incensed over a mass shooting for about 2-3 days, then it’s on to the next story … because after all, it didn’t happen to them. I often wonder how many non-believers are church-goers hedging their bets just in case they are wrong? What an odd world humans have made this.

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  4. So sad. I read a whole story about it. They still don’t know why he singled the three men out. Seems like another loner, misfit sort of thing..

    Liked by 2 people

    • No offence to you, Mary, I know where your heart is, but to say the shooter “seems like another loner” is almost condoning the shooting, like saying it is okay for people to be loners who kill others. Devin Chandler. Lavel Davis Jr. D’Sean Perry.
      These young men are now dead because Republicans sold their souls to the NRA and the weapons manufacturers of America! AND, because the Democrats do not have the COHONES to stop them. One person alone is not the only guilty party! Every person who supports the manufacture of guns, and who screams about those who attempt to control guns is G-U-I-L-T-Y! of conspiracy to murder, or of murder itself!
      Now is not the time for silence!

      Liked by 2 people

      • No, I don’t think Mary was condoning the actions of the shooter at all, but merely trying, as am I, to understand why he did it. According to one witness, a young woman who was on the bus with them, was part of their group, he very specifically targeted those particular young men. Why? Had they ridiculed or mocked him, or excluded him from some activity? Nobody is condoning what he did, only trying to understand it.

        Liked by 1 person

          • In the strictest sense of the word, that’s actually true, for guns don’t get up and shoot themselves. However, since we know people have flaws, tempers, etc., it is sheer madness to put a gun in the hand of ANY civilian. We cannot abolish all people, but we could abolish all guns if our lawmakers all put people over profit, but the gun industry has bought and paid for too many politicians of the Republican stripe.

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            • Which is why I feel Biden and the Democrats must act while they have the chance and outlaw the manufacture of guns for anyone but military or govermnent safety organizations.
              I know it will not happen anytime soon, but the narrative must change if it is ever to change. Guns only kill people (or other living beings) when they are in the hands of people!</> Therefore they should not be allowed to be in the hands of people!

              Liked by 1 person

              • If only it were that simple, rg. Biden cannot do it by executive order, and while the House could easily pass stringent gun control laws, they would stall in the Senate that is divided 50-50, as the Republicans would invoke the filibuster, requiring a 60% majority. NO Republican will vote for gun laws, for they are bound to their donors, the arms industry.

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      • I certainly did not mean that. It is true that guns are # 1, but also it’s mental illness, our society in America that is so stressful and often alienating to so many people young and old without family support, peer pressure, the love of being a bully sanctified by people like trump, over crowded conditions we live in, wealth inequality that breeds resentment, racism that breeds resentment, etc.
        A normal society that functioned well for everyone wouldn’t produce the need for so many guns in the first place, but since we are not a well functioning society, the guns get into the wrong hands, as well as knives and bombs in some instances. I’m for strict gun control, but not a total ban for everyone that goes through a thorough and strict background check with many restrictions for ownership

        Liked by 1 person

    • It is indeed sad and … I’ll be very curious to find out what his motive was. I wonder if somehow they had mocked him, or excluded him from something? I’m not trying to make excuses, for nothing justifies murder, but just really curious.

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