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And to think that back when NPR had the "Left, Right and Center" political talk show, David Frum was the designated conservative. But back then, "conservative" could mean something very different than it generally does now.

 

Tangentially, I am reminded of a maxim from, IIRC, m'man William Blake, that a prophet is not someone who tells the future. That is merely a fortune-teller, a profession the Bible condemns. A prophet is a person who reminds us what was, is, and ever shall be true.

 

Dean Shomshak

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Warning: Rant Mode ON

 

The most recent mass shooting. A school shooting ... or maybe I should say, another school shooting. This time it's an elementary school in Texas. Is my school next? You can't be in my profession and not think about things like that.

 

So what do we do about it? Nothing. Not. One. Damned. Thing. Nothing ever changes. Nothing ever gets done. We have the capacity to make real changes. But we don't have the will. We won't take simple, proven, common sense steps to cut down on mass shootings because ... reasons. Honestly, I don't know why.

 

Actually, I do know why. Because there are too many people who value "Rights" in the abstract without any consideration of concrete consequences. Too many organ grinders singing the halcyon song of "GUNS=FREEDOM!!!1!" and too many monkeys who follow because it never occurs to them that they don't have to. Too many moral absolutists who think any kind of gun legislation is a slippery slope to a dystopian Socialist police state. Too many who, in their heart of hearts, doesn't see any of this as a problem because nothing bad happens to them.

 

And let's not forget the corporations and political organizations who have too much to lose if the status quo changes even a little bit.

 

So what do we offer? "Thought and Prayers™". Because it's all we've got. We call upon God to save us, because it is inconceivable to us that we might have the capacity to save ourselves. 

 

We could. But we won't.

 

The problem is that God, in my experience, has never promised to save us in spite of ourselves. In His wisdom, God never solves for us problems that we have the capacity to solve for ourselves. He may move mountains for us if the need arises ... but in most cases, He hands us a shovel and moves us to start digging.

 

"Thoughts and Prayers™" are not the solution to the current and ongoing problem of mass shootings. God won't wash the blood from our collective hands if we won't even turn on the water.

 

/Rant Mode

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2 hours ago, DShomshak said:

And to think that back when NPR had the "Left, Right and Center" political talk show, David Frum was the designated conservative. But back then, "conservative" could mean something very different than it generally does now.

 

David Frum hails from an era in American politics when a political conservative could be a rational person who had a set of views that differed from those of more liberal people, but which were logical and not unreasonable. Now to be called a "conservative" you apparently have to pass some sort of ideological purity test, and swear undying loyalty to whichever Dear Leader your faction kowtows to.

 

Of course David Frum is also Canadian. Our conservatives rarely list as far to starboard as American ones. ;)

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4 hours ago, Pariah said:

Warning: Rant Mode ON

 

The most recent mass shooting. A school shooting ... or maybe I should say, another school shooting. This time it's an elementary school in Texas. Is my school next? You can't be in my profession and not think about things like that.

 

So what do we do about it? Nothing. Not. One. Damned. Thing. Nothing ever changes. Nothing ever gets done. We have the capacity to make real changes. But we don't have the will. We won't take simple, proven, common sense steps to cut down on mass shootings because ... reasons. Honestly, I don't know why.

 

Actually, I do know why. Because there are too many people who value "Rights" in the abstract without any consideration of concrete consequences. Too many organ grinders singing the halcyon song of "GUNS=FREEDOM!!!1!" and too many monkeys who follow because it never occurs to them that they don't have to. Too many moral absolutists who think any kind of gun legislation is a slippery slope to a dystopian Socialist police state. Too many who, in their heart of hearts, doesn't see any of this as a problem because nothing bad happens to them.

 

And let's not forget the corporations and political organizations who have too much to lose if the status quo changes even a little bit.

 

So what do we offer? "Thought and Prayers™". Because it's all we've got. We call upon God to save us, because it is inconceivable to us that we might have the capacity to save ourselves. 

 

We could. But we won't.

 

The problem is that God, in my experience, has never promised to save us in spite of ourselves. In His wisdom, God never solves for us problems that we have the capacity to solve for ourselves. He may move mountains for us if the need arises ... but in most cases, He hands us a shovel and moves us to start digging.

 

"Thoughts and Prayers™" are not the solution to the current and ongoing problem of mass shootings. God won't wash the blood from our collective hands if we won't even turn on the water.

 

/Rant Mode

 

I'm right there with you, man.  You may recall that my newer kid's school had a social media threat that caused half the kids to be held out of school by their parents for three days.  Once again I'm questioning whether I should send him to the last day of school tomorrow.  What if there's a copycat?  Why do I have to worry about whether it's safe to send my kids to school?!

 

5 hours ago, unclevlad said:

Is it excessively cynical to think that some Republicans are actively in favor of these incidents, as the impetus to push toward their police state?  With them in charge, of course.  In favor *completely* in private, of course.  

 

Came across this article that explains quite a lot of that.  (Article is from a biased platform, but its sources are not.)  Extremely condensed version: Conservatives are psychologically prone to conspiracy theories and a fear-based worldview; feeding them conspiracy theories is highly profitable for social media platform operators and conservative politicians; some conservatives are worse than others.

 

4 hours ago, Ragitsu said:

I think I'm finally becoming apathetic to all of these shootings.

 

When I first heard about Sandy Hook I almost vomited.  This time I merely was unable to concentrate on work.  Desensitization in action.

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3 hours ago, Ternaugh said:

Meanwhile, the NRA is holding their Leadership Forum in Houston this week, and are banning guns from the event.

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/nra-conference-wont-allow-attendees-to-bring-their-guns-2022-5

 

Your intro's rather misleading. The NRA didn't ban them, the Secret Service did, because Donald Trump is attending.

 

Although I won't deny, while I don't condone any gun violence, the thought of it breaking out during an NRA conference did provoke a brief sadistic smirk to cross my face.

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13 hours ago, Old Man said:

When I first heard about Sandy Hook I almost vomited.  This time I merely was unable to concentrate on work.  Desensitization in action.

 

9 hours ago, Cygnia said:

GQP: Working as intended! 🤬

 

Whenever possible, I'll still vote in favor of sane(r..Christ) gun laws and any other measures which result in a new generation of United States citizens that don't salivate over the silhouette of a rifle, but I pretty much feel nothing by this point. I used to snark that one-hundred children could be executed and nothing would change; we're now comfortably in the twenties range. I have faith that we'll hit the thirties and still be playing that "Thoughts and prayers" record.

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I don't know if this exercise would be more chilling or sobering, but...

 

Without going back to Google...just using your own memory...how many mass shootings, school or otherwise, can you remember?  

 

Spoiler

Blacksburg WV (Va Tech)

Columbine

Auraria (Denver) movie theater

Pulse

Mandalay Bay

Boulder 
El Paso

Marjorie Stoneman Douglas HS

Sandy Hook

So this one makes 10.  These are the ones that stick for one reason or another, so they come up readily.  And many are horrifically *recent*.  

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