There
is no need for Islamic terrorists to bring us down, we are doing a
fine job of it ourselves. We are killing far more of us every day
than any Islamic terrorist could do. Terrorists may go for the big
flashy statement, but for body count, we can't be beat.
Guns
are rampant in this country. All kinds, shapes, sizes. Guns for
children even. Another record for gun sales this past Black Friday.
Why? Last week's outrage, the Syrian refugees, no doubt. Those people
who have suffered the loss of everything in their world...their homes
and lives turned to rubble by our bombs. Their ability to care of
their families gone up in smoke. No home, no job, no neighborhood, no
infrastructure, no food, no water, they are left with the clothes on
their backs and their lives. These people who have undergone up to
two years of scrutiny, who only want a safe place to raise their
families, that are the victims of the very people we say we are
fighting, that are finally being allowed in are being vilified by our
politicians and a good segment of our population who want to refuse
them entry and if they are let in want to refuse them any help
because they are being told by the rabid right wing and Fox News that
these people should be feared. Never mind that if a terrorist wants
in this country it is far easier to get in on a visitor's visa.
Meanwhile,
a guy gets pissed off at his waitress because she asked him not to
smoke in the restaurant so he pulls out his gun and shoots her in the
head.
Meanwhile,
a guy hides in the dark and shoots his neighbor three times because
she asked him earlier in the day not to drive his riding lawnmower
across her yard.
Meanwhile,
a guy shoots his neighbor because the man refused to move his car
which he had parked in the public street in front of the shooter's
house.
Meanwhile,
a guy shoots his two kids and then himself.
Meanwhile,
a guy shoots up a Planned Parenthood killing three people and injuring many more.
Meanwhile,
a man and a woman burst into a banquet and open fire killing
14 people and wounding 17 others, most critically.
And
that was just some of what went on this week but by all means, let's
be afraid of desperate Syrian women and children.
Did
you know that people on the FBI's terrorist watch list can buy guns
here legally?
I
had thought I would write about the Syrian refugees and the shameful
and hateful attitude towards them by so many Americans. The attacks
in Paris just galvanized them and the whole time I'm thinking that we
are in far more danger from our neighbors than we are from any
outside terrorist. We have a culture of gun ownership gone bizarre, a
hysteria of fear and hatred in a country where the gun has become the
only solution to every problem, where would be vigilantes parade down
the street brandishing their long guns, where victims are blamed for
not having their own gun amid the chaos...
business
as usual when suddenly the door slams open and 2 gunmen lay down
constant fire from their long guns with huge ammo clips for 5 or 6
minutes, who leave as suddenly as they came and so when amid all the
noise and chaos and screaming and diving for cover and adrenalin
dumping in your system causing you to shake and you're trying to
figure out what the fuck is happening and you look down to see the
blood coming from the bullet hole in your body and tell me just
exactly when you stupid idiot who thinks you could have taken out the
shooter because you think you are 'well trained', just when in all
that do you think you could have pulled out your own gun and started
shooting before they nailed you
...where
someone who goes target shooting considers himself 'well trained' and
so never goes anywhere without his gun. People who can't venture out
and feel safe without a handgun on them will one day use that weapon.
They want to use it. That's why they have it. The feeling of safety
is an illusion as the reality is that the presence of a gun increases
the likelihood of it being used and when guns get used, people die.
The
hue and cry will once again die down and once again no reforms to gun
ownership will be made. It is, after all, just normal life here. The
deaths of all the innocents are considered debt paid for those who
think their right to wield a deadly weapon trumps innocent lives.
So,
because we would rather turn a blind eye instead of face our
homegrown terrorism, we justify our obsession with guns by projecting
our fear onto the helpless and disenfranchised Syrians fleeing for
their lives.
Just
what the fucking fuck, America? Just, what the fuck.
I'm starting to wonder if all these mass shootings aren't false flag operations staged by the gun manufacturers to increase holiday sales.
ReplyDeleteAmen. Amen.
ReplyDeleteWell said.
ReplyDeleteI hope your post goes viral. Please post it on Facebook and any other social media there is.
ReplyDeleteI say these things to my friends who are conservatives and they react to me like I know nothing and am naive. How can they not see what this country has come to with all the violence being shown on TV, movies, and video games constantly and a gun culture that has taken over our society. O
YES!
ReplyDeleteWe are blind to our own ignorance and complacency. Guns kill. And people don't need guns to feel safe; they will feel safe only when guns are off the shelves at gun shows, at Walmart, etc.
I am out of things to say.
ReplyDeleteSo much hate and anger with the added gun...disaster waiting to happen..
ReplyDeleteI can't wait until January 1st here in Texas when the new law takes effect...... NOT. How many crazies will have their "open" carry weapons just to feel powerful..... very sad situation. I feel we have taken many steps backwards and we back in a lawless wild west. Syrian refugees should be the least of our worries.
ReplyDeleteI so agree with you. It's like Salem witch hysteria concerning the refugees many of whom are well educated, experienced workers who are trying to save their families. What a pathetic world we live in.
ReplyDeleteIt's absurd that people on a terrorist watch list can buy guns legally. One day armed individuals will shoot their way into a session of Congress and blow away fifty or sixty lawmakers and then maybe we'll see a change...maybe.
ReplyDeleteIm with you sister!! Every single coward I know owns a gun and is always Touting the lingo..."Ur in My Range" yada yada what a big bunch of babies scared of their own shadows! I'm so over the whole gun thing, like you say they have them and are just waiting for ANY excuse to use it then they want to get off scott-free with murder...since when is deadly forced needed to settle a disagreement??
ReplyDeleteI guess I didn't comment when I read this yesterday, but yes, I'm with you all the way!
ReplyDeleteVery well said...
ReplyDeleteI I knew you were going to be thinking along the same lines I was about the Syrian refugees. All those people with nowhere to go, and the USA professing to be such a welcoming place. I'm sure you saw where that reporter got suspended for saying the Statue of Liberty was bowing ( or something like that). True, it was an opinion, but I so agree with her. I am so not proud of this country anymore. And, the state of TX is the worst representative of all. It seems I am an alien in my home state. Anyway, thanks for getting the message out that some of us still have some sanity.
ReplyDeleteCould not have said it better myself. All the cowards in the world with guns. All those who fear their beliefs are not strong enough without guns. Glad I live in the country and see my neighbors on that rare moment, and also glad they keep their guns at home.
ReplyDeleteWalt Kelly was right..
ReplyDeletehttp://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/myl/Pogo2.jpg
Makes me cry... And yes, to Pogo. Yes. Sigh.
ReplyDelete