We Did This To Ourselves

My soul is tired tonight.

I'm not currently in a position time wise to be able to write at length, but I have to reach through the ether and feel less alone.

19 children dead. 2 adults as well.  I cannot begin to imagine the anguish of those parents, those families. My heart aches for them all.

I’m also thinking about my pregnant daughter. She and her husband are so excited about the baby that is on its way. But they are also going to know the nightmare that every parent knows in this day and age - that of dropping your child at school knowing it is a complete gamble with that child’s life. 

Coach Steve Kerr is right. We are held hostage by 50 senators. The overwhelming majority of people in this country support legislation regarding background checks. But because 50 politicians are more concerned with NRA money and clinging to power, our children, our mothers, our fathers, our friends, simply do not matter. The blood will continue to flow in our schools, our churches, our grocery stores, our movie theaters, our concerts, our workplaces because the money continues to flow from the NRA.

The GOP is not pro life. Not even remotely. They are pro power, pro control. They must be expelled from the body politic.  George Carlin nailed it so many years ago:

“Pro-life conservatives are obsessed with the fetus from conception to nine months. After that, they don't want to know about you… If you're preborn, you're fine; if you're preschool, you're fucked.”

Save the “thoughts and prayers.” They are not just useless, they are offensive in the extreme. No deity is going to save us. No amount of whispered words will put the blood and the life back in those children. No amount of looking up will save the next classroom of students.

We must look straight ahead. We are the only ones who can change this. And we must. There have been 212 mass shootings this year. 27 of them school shootings. It’s only May.

There are more guns than citizens in this country. We did this to ourselves. And with over 300 million weapons, there is nowhere to hide.

I’m so damned tired…

 

Comments

[Nikki in nyc]

It is horrifying, overwhelming and a nightmare that never seems to end. There were 14 other mass shootings since then. (Each involved 4 or more people). Maybe we have finally had enough and people will vote like their lives depend on it because they do.

Congratulations on your impending grandmotherhood. You must be so excited. I hope Culley feels well. It is a crazy world these days and bringing new life into it is daunting. But it is also a wonderful world and who knows what good this child may grow up to do. I hope all goes well with the pregnancy and that the delivery is smooth and quick!