Short, Angry, and To The Point

Posted on by under guns, History, Law and justice, Personal, Political commentary, Rants, Social commentary

Republican House member Steve Scalise spoke about the Nashville school shooting earlier today:

“The first thing in any kind of tragedy I do is I pray. I pray for the victims. I pray for their families. I really get angry when I see people trying to politicize it for their own personal agenda, especially when we don’t even know the facts. We’ve talked about things that we can do, and it just seems like on the other side, all they want to do is take guns away from law abiding citizens, before they even know the facts. The first thing they talk about is taking guns away from law abiding citizens. And that’s not the answer, by the way. So why don’t we number one, keep those families in our prayers.”

I had not intended another post today, but after reading Mr. Scalise’s words, it’s either verbalize my frustrations here, or punch a hole in the wall!  There is so much to rebut here that I don’t know where to start.  A word of warning, this is a rant on my part and I will not mince words, nor will I apologize for what I say or how I say it.

  • You can pray until the cows come home, Mr. Scalise, but that is NOT helpful. Millions of people have been praying for decades about the severe gun problem and related deaths, yet the numbers keep rising instead of falling.  You can believe whatever the hell you wish, but don’t shove your rhetoric down MY throat.  Keep your useless prayers, take comfort if you wish in the myth that if you just pray hard enough, no more children will die.
  • “We don’t know the facts …” he says???  We know that a person bought 7 guns, took three of them into a school and murdered three children and three adults.  That’s a fact.  It’s also a fact that over 10,000 people have died by gun violence in less than three months, more than 400 of them children!   And to say that we are ‘politicizing’ it for our ‘own personal agenda’ is disgusting, offensive, and proves that Scalise is not mentally competent to serve in the United States Congress!
  • The incessant call for ‘thoughts and prayers’ by Mr. Scalise and others in Congress is naught but a sorry distraction, a sorry excuse for the fact that THEY are NOT doing their jobs!  Much easier to sit on their fat arses and mumble a few words of prayer than to go against their big donors in the NRA and pass laws that actually protect children!  Their job is to legislate in the best interest of this country.  Having more guns than people in the country, including millions of assault weapons that can mow down a crowd in under a minute is NOT in the best interest of the nation!  It is getting people killed EVERY DAMN DAY!
  • Scalise says we, the people with both brains and a conscience, want to take guns “away from law abiding citizens.” Law abiding citizens, Mr. Scalise, DO NOT purchase seven guns, as did the Nashville shooter!  Law abiding citizens DO NOT own AR-15s!  Assault weapons are purchased with only one thing in mind:  to kill humans!  You yourself were a victim of a mass shooting, and yet you foolishly refuse to even consider any form or fashion of gun regulation!  What a damn fool you are!

BAN ASSAULT WEAPONS NOW!!!  There is no other starting place … if you want your children and grandchildren to live in a safe place, then demand that your representatives and senators take action this week!  NOW!!!

64 thoughts on “Short, Angry, and To The Point”

  1. It’s sickening. And ‘thoughts and prayers’ is shameful already. I don’t even know how any American parent isn’t afraid to send their kids to school there where wearing assault weapon pins instead of a Congressional pin is acceptable. Don’t get me started. Those Repugnants are overtly corrupt, and people buy their lies. I’ll just say that I’m exactly with Clive who commented above – Constitution was written for very different times. Therein lies the story of the brainwashed who don’t get that, and outdated things need new laws passed. It’s dystopian. 😦 xx

    Liked by 1 person

    • I fully agree! If I had school-age children right now, I’d be petrified every morning when I said ‘goodbye’ to them, wondering if it would be the last time. Our legislators say it is “the price we pay for freedom”, but I call that bullshit! WHOSE freedom? Not our children’s nor our own … freedom for the gun nuts who think they will save the country from the very fascism they are supporting! I suspect that if the framers of the Constitution could see us now, they would try to go back and erase the 2nd Amendment! xx

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  2. Because of “thoughts and prayers” I closed my Twitter account. Every time a mass shooting happened, it popped up and I got furious every. single. time. It’s like being Bill Murray waking up on 2 February. But, as long as the NRA exists, there won’t be a bann. No matter how loud or large the protests against weapons; no matter how many people died.

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    • I fully agree with you! One of the most serious problems facing the U.S. today is the gun culture, the fact that there are more guns than people in the country, and the fact that our lawmakers see the deaths of our children as “the price we pay for freedom.” WHOSE freedom? Our freedom to be afraid to send our children to school, to be wary of even walking into a grocery store? The gun culture in this country is beyond belief. With only about 5% of the world’s population, we have nearly half of the privately-owned guns and more gun deaths than any other nation on earth! I wish the 2nd Amendment had never been included in the Bill of Rights, or that enough legislators would find their cojones and repeal it!

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  3. Also, as someone who does pray and meditate, I heartily dislike that Scalise and his ilk use prayer as an excuse not to take any action or make any difficult moral choices. That is not how it’s supposed to work. And for what it’s worth, not all of us who have spiritual faith see it that way.

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    • this is an excellent point and it would do well for those who are clearly anti-religion to understand this position.

      As the young kids so often speak today, “Just saying.”

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      • Religion is pretty much just your own personal belief regarding why you are here, who you are, and where you are headed, what you expect to do or be in life … and thereafter. It isn’t something that you can, or should, try to force on others … it is yours … it is between you and whatever deity you worship, whatever belief system you ascribe to. Nothing wrong with seeking others who are of like mind, but there is something very wrong with trying to force your view on others such as through laws or the system of education.

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    • I fully agree … he uses his religion as an excuse not to do his job. I don’t judge people by their religion or spiritual faith, but only by how they use it. If they try to force it on others, then it becomes a problem. That is what many would like to do these days, entwine religion with governance & law so that we are all forced to follow the dictates of a few, whether we believe them or not.

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      • Exactly right. I always want to tell those Christians who want to merge gov’t and religion into one…how do you know it’s your form of Christianity that will come out on top? You may find that the theocratic gov’t will determine you are not religious in the “correct” way… That is why church and state uniting is really bad both for the state and for religion.

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        • I fully agree. There was a very sound reason for the wall of separation between the two. It’s grossly unfair that in a nation with hundreds of religions or non-religions, we should all have to be guided by one group’s ideology.

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          • Our diversity of viewpoints and religions and cultures is the most exciting thing about America! At least from my point of view as an immigrant who moved here. Hard for me to believe that so many Americans (especially the MAGA supporters) seem eager to reject that aspect of life in the States….

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            • Agreed!!! I think that without the diversity that comprises this nation, it would be so boring! I have neighbors/friends who immigrated to the U.S. from Iraq about 5 years ago and we have shared each other’s culture, language, food, traditions, and more, and my life is much richer for it! If only everyone could have such an experience, perhaps they would stop worrying about such irrelevant things as skin colour, gender identification, religion, etc. Maybe?

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    • Sure, it’s logical if one could count on humans to act predictably. There are a number of flaws, however, with his ‘logic’ and I found it over-simplistic. Conversely, what if there were no good guys with guns AND no bad guys with guns? Then … nobody would ever be shot again! Makes a heck of a lot more sense to me!

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      • well, the only problem with that line of thinking is that the politicians wouldn’t vote to give up their armed security for one thing.

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  9. To hell with thoughts and prayers. To hell with winging apologists for gun-toting psychopaths. Take all the guns away. Why is the US about the only one which won’t ban gun ownership except in special, carefully defined cases?

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  10. Assault rifle, as a term, is abstract, and a ban would be challenging because of loopholes created in legal definitions.

    I think we should go a step further and outlaw the sale or ownership of semiautomatic rifles. Rifles that reloads after each pull of the trigger are the underlying problem, and I think that they would be easier to define and ban than “assault rifles,” which thrive in vernacular ambiguity.

    Thank you for speaking from the heart. I’m frustrated too.

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    • Why not go just a bit further — ban all weapons with a multi-chamber bullet holder, or in other words, all guns that fire more than one bullet without reloading.
      For myself I would ban all projectile weapons — all over the world if I could — as well as all weapons that can kill more than one living being at a time. Make it so if a person wants to kill another (why anyone would do that I don’t know) make them get up close and personal to be able to do it. Killing any living being at arm’s length or more is one of the most cowardly acts humans are capable of!

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      • I’m okay with people having the means to defend themselves, but I also believe that the burden of proof for responsible gun ownership is much higher than the standards—or lack thereof—we have for gun owners in our society. As Simone Weil said in the 30s, just about any hooligan can get their hands on a gun, and she called their behavior murderous and lethal absurdity. That’s exactly what we’ve been dealing with today. Murderous absurdity.

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        • I fortunately do not live in the USA, so i can walk around without fear of being gunned down 356/365 days of the year. But I feel for my southern neighbours, especially those of colour.
          The thing is, if no one had guns there wiuld be no need to defend onself against them. Thonk about it.

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  11. GET RID OF ALL ASSAULT WEAPONS IN THE WORLD!!!!! They are made for one thing and one thing only – killing other people! Put all of those idiots like Scalise in a room with one of the gun toting maniacs and see how long it would take them to begin a debate on gun control. The only trouble there would be that they wouldn’t live long enough to enact it. Or is that a problem?

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    • Exactly, my friend. They serve no other purpose … they were designed as weapons of war. Which leads me to believe that we are at war in the U.S. … a different kind of war from the one going on in Ukraine, but a deadly war nonetheless. Our voices thus far have not been loud enough to penetrate the fog of money that surrounds the heads of the U.S. Congress, but I think we need to get much LOUDER!!!! I wonder, if some of these members of Congress lost a child to gun violence, would they change their tune?

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  12. It might have been hoped that Scalise, having himself been the victim of a shooting that nearly killed him, might have offered a more practical take on this. But he’s a GOP politician so he wouldn’t, would he. Meanwhile most of the world looks on in disbelief, thinking that the US hasn’t changed since the days of the Wild West.

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    • Jill, I put my comment here as I agree with Clive’s remarks. Very few people are talking about taking all guns away, but that is the narrative that is being touted by the GOP. The focus must be on better and holistic gun governance and a ban of assault weapons and devices to major assault weapons out of non-assault weapons. Americans would support these two initiatives in a majority. Keith

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      • Yes, I too agree with Clive … and with you. Until members of Congress are forced to stop taking donations from corporations and lobbyists, they won’t do a damn thing. They won’t listen to their constituents, some 80% of whom are in favour of banning assault weapons and stricter gun laws. They won’t consider reasonable solutions, for it’s not in their personal best interest at this time. Thank the Supreme Court and Citizens United v FEC for that! It’s worse already this year than last year at this time … how much worse can it get before we have to start wearing body armour just to go to the grocery store? And stop sending our kids to school, for fear they may not return? Sigh.

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      • Therein lies the problem. Your Constitution was written for very different times and is no longer fit for purpose. As a result, interpretations of what ‘freedoms’ it gives have been distorted down the years. The necessary action should be to remove all guns from ownership, as was done here, except in special cases. But that will never happen, will it? Until then, lunatics are free to carry on murdering, and it will never stop. I said in a previous comment that the US is still in the days of the Wild West, and that is certainly the way it looks from outside.

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        • And the framers of the Constitution realized that the world would grow and evolve, change would come and it would be necessary to update the Constitution. They built the means for doing so into the document, but it requires consensus, the one thing we cannot seem to find in this nation.

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    • Agreed. In fact, when it first happened I thought surely his views on gun control would be altered, but obviously not. Yes, the rest of the world looks in our direction with horror or laughter, I’m never quite sure which, and then they are thankful they don’t have to live here. Sigh.

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        • Yeah, I can understand that. We thought things would change when Biden took office, and he has restored dignity to the Oval Office, perhaps some in the eyes of our allies, but the environment of vitriol was already firmly embedded in other areas and he hasn’t been able to penetrate that … I don’t know if anyone can at this point.

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  13. Okay, a little more about this, from Teresa M. Hanafin, Globe Staff Writer today in Fast Forward. Hugs and cheers, M

    So it’s not even April and already 404 kids and teens have been killed by guns in the United States. I heard that Republicans who like to send out Christmas cards of their family grinning while posing with their armory of guns, and conservatives who love to brandish and fire off rifles in their campaign ads, have started a betting pool where you guess how many more kids will be slaughtered by Easter. The winner gets an AR-15, a year’s supply of ammunition, and body armor so that you have a fighting chance if you get into a firefight with police after you’ve shot up an elementary school. Or a high school. Or a university. Or a synagogue. Or a gay bar. Or a dance studio. Or a Wal-Mart. Or a Fourth of July parade. Or a hospital. Or an outdoor concert. Your choice. We dare not infringe.

    If you’re smart, you’ll pick the number 61. That’s taking the average number of kids killed by a gun every day so far this year — 4.7 — and multiplying it by the number of days from today ’til Easter — 13. I don’t think there are any school vacation weeks during that time, so predicting that we’ll lose 61 more kids before the Easter egg hunts start is probably a pretty good bet.

    Or maybe the betting pool could include adults. Guns have killed about 9,600 of them since Jan. 1. At this rate, we could knock off another 1,400+ before we finish our Easter ham.

    Oh, I’m sorry, do I sound cynical?

    If you’re an incurable optimist and think that Republicans may take some action to control guns after the Nashville shootings yesterday, well, God bless you. It won’t happen, partly because at age 9, those kids were simply too old for Republicans to care about. Conservatives didn’t lift a finger to help save lives after a gunman blew apart 20 6- and 7-year-olds at Sandy Hook 11 years ago, so a few 9-year-olds getting their bodies riddled with bullets isn’t going to register. Maybe if someone enters a hospital maternity ward and mows down newborns in their cribs? Nah. We dare not infringe.

    Oh, I’m sorry, do I sound cynical?

    If you’re thinking of moving to another state in 2023, keep something in mind:

    If you’re okay with you or a member of your family being killed by a gun, then definitely move to a state with weak gun laws, lax gun violence prevention, and a high rate of gun ownership.

    So look for a house to buy in Mississippi, Louisiana, Wyoming, Missouri, Alabama, Alaska, New Mexico, Arkansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Montana, Oklahoma, and Kentucky. Shooting each other is practically a sanctioned sport in those places.

    If, on the other hand, you kinda want to keep your family safe, then look in states that have strong gun violence prevention laws and a lower rate of gun ownership: Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, New York, Connecticut, California, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Nebraska, Maine, Washington, Iowa, Vermont, Wisconsin, Oregon, or Virginia.

    Some of those states are too expensive, you say? Maybe that’s because lots of people who don’t like getting shot want to move there.

    By the way, if you want to move to another country that’s safer in terms of gun violence than the United States, you have your choice of 161 nations. Only 31 countries are more dangerous than the US when it comes to gun deaths. In fact, you’re safer from gun violence in Uruguay, Kenya, Thailand, Afghanistan, and Iran. You might come down with malaria or dysentery, but you’re less likely to have a bullet hole in your belly than if you had stayed put in the good ol’ USA.

    Oh, I’m sorry, do I sound cynical? Because my cynicism and sarcasm is so, so much worse than this country’s devastating gun violence.

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  14. Okay, so why the fuck do you pray for the victims? They’re dead. Praying for their souls? Not going to bring them back. This ‘pro-life’ party (gag) has shown absolutely no fucking interest in reducing gun deaths other than to bleat about praying. Praying for the families? Let’s ask the long list of families about how that makes them feel when their children have been gunned down.

    But no, the GOP, and Scalise is the epitome of this, would rather go blind and let more die rather than to face facts. If these were terrorists from other lands using these weapons, you know the GOP would be bleating loud and furiously that something must be done. But since they’re ‘mericans, and the base, you know, pathetic repetitions of thoughts and prayers are all they’ll ever give. As you point it, death guns keep rising and rising; clearly fucking thoughts and prayers ARE NOT WORKING.

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    • As Robert Reich posted on Facebook yesterday, “If you don’t support gun control, you’re not pro-life. It’s that simple.” He’s right. You’re right, if these were terrorists from south of the border or a Middle Eastern nation, the Republicans would have their claws out ready to seek justice. Their prayers are worth as much as if I said I’ll pat my cat every time another child is killed. Does just as much good! The gunmakers keep making ans selling more guns while we keep losing more children … and our sanity! Oh, but let’s protect kids from drag queens and fentanyl, just not from guns! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr …

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