We Can No Longer Even Celebrate Independence Day Without Fearing For Our Safety
Until weapons of war are made illegal, this will continue unabated
As if to emphasize that Independence Day this year was nothing worth celebrating, seven people are dead and dozens more injured after a mass shooting during a parade in Highland Park, IL, just north of Chicago. A gunman took up a position on a rooftop and, without warning, began spraying the crowd with what sounded like semi-automatic rifle fire.
It was the same sort of parade you’d find in Anytown, USA, the kind of thing you and I have done repeatedly in our lives without ever feeling anything resembling fear. Now I wonder if any of us will ever be able to attend a parade again without wondering if we’re safe.
This time around, one Republican Congresswoman couldn’t even be bothered to offer the usual pro forma thoughts and prayers. And you’ll NEVER guess who it was. Well, OK, you’ll probably nail it on the first try…because the squirrels on the exercise wheel where her brain should be are working overtime.
If it's a day in America, chances are it's the day after a grotesque mass shooting, or the day before one, or the day of one. This time it was in Highland Park, Illinois, outside of Chicago, where a gunman fired into the 4th of July parade and murdered six and injured dozens more. The suspect is in custody as of last night, and we don't know a ton of details yet, but of course Democratic politicians are making it political by saying, if you can even believe it, that guns may have played a part — the gun was apparently bought legally — while Republican politicians are saying "mental health, mental health, mental health!"
But GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is taking it over and above, like she's got some inside information about this massacre that happened in a state she doesn't represent in Congress. To be fair, she could also just be hallucinating. Point is, she's not just blaming it on mental illness, she's blaming it on SSRIs and "Big Pharma" and asking totally sane questions like "Are we really going to keep pretending?"
WELL ARE WE?
Are we? Sure, why not? Because it’s not like we’re going to talk about the elephant in the room- easy access to weapons of war, right?
This is America today. In some states, it’s ridiculously easy to purchase a weapon of war that allows a competent shooter to empty a 30-round magazine in 10-12 seconds, but a woman can’t get an abortion.
Yes, in some states, a gun has more rights than a woman, but that’s a worthy discussion best left for another rant.
In this case, MTG has determined that the root causes of mass shootings belong at the feet of Big Pharma.
“Are we really going to keep pretending?” I think that’s a question we could and should turn around on the (not so) esteemed Congresswoman from Georgia. Are we really going to keep pretending that easy access to weapons of war is no factor in mass shootings such as the one that occurred in Highland Park? Will we continue ignoring the situation and tinker around the margins instead of dealing with the real problem?
Oh, right…we can’t; because the NRA has pickled the balls of every Republican Congressperson in a jar. Any attempt to be honest about the problem of gun violence would result in angering the NRA kooks. That would mean losing financial support AND being primaried by someone willing to prostrate themselves before the NRA and their money.
Granted, both tweets were issued before the mass shooting in Highland Park. Then again, neither group made an effort to address the shooting in a positive manner after it occurred. Instead, NRA’s Twitter feed went silent as is customary in the aftermath of a mass shooting.
Gun Owners of America went on the attack, which isn’t surprising for a group that can be even more inhumanly pro-gun than the NRA.
But, I digress, so back to MTG, who seems determined to send the conversation off in a direction that will take the attention off guns and onto…well, who knows?
As long as no one’s talking about banning weapons of war or high-capacity magazines, then MTG is doing her job and will undoubtedly be well-rewarded by the NRA.
No. We want to know why those responsible for mass shootings have been allowed to LEGALLY obtain weapons of war that they then used to kill innocent men, women, and children.
In America, we can no longer go to an Independence Day parade without risking our lives. The worst part of the carnage was that the shooter didn’t act alone. He was assisted by the NRA and every Republican Congressman and Senator in Washington. They’re responsible for allowing the 1994 assault weapon ban to expire without renewing it, thus allowing weapons of war to legally fall into the hands of civilians who have no business owning such weapons.
As long as weapons of war continue to be legal, these sorts of attacks will continue. We can’t know when or where, but the NRA’s Traveling Road Show of Random, Senseless Death will continue until Republicans have had enough of blood and tears…or until some of their own are senselessly slaughtered. I hate to think in those terms, but Congresspeople can think of mass shootings as abstract because the death and carnage haven’t hit home.
Perhaps it will take a mass shooting in Washington, DC, on the doorstep of Congress before we see action taken. I sincerely hope that won’t be what finally drives change, but I don’t know what else would change the heartlessness displayed by Congressional Republicans.
And let’s not forget that this was another mass shooting undertaken by yet another supporter of Donald Trump. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.
