Within the next day or so, the massacre at the Pulse club in Orlando will pass out of the news cycle. It will be replaced by the next political outrage, sex scandal, dead white blond, or what ever shiny object attracts the attention of the chatterati. The lens will move away from the detritus of mass shootings and the tear stained faces of the anguished friends and relatives to focus on the next object of horror and fascination.
Moments of silence will be held and platitudes will be offered. Then, as the candles have guttered and sputtered out, and the flowers wilt, and the ribbons fade in the sunlight and the rain, calls will be made for something to be done. Verbal assaults will be launched against this or that religion, ethnic, or other demographic group. Demands will be made to curtail some of our liberties in the defense against terrorism. But the freedoms offered up for sacrifice will be those in the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments. We must give up our right to free speech, our right to assemble, our right to a trial by a jury of our peers, our right to know the charges against us and to face our accusers, our right to an attorney, our right to not testify against ourselves (torture). We will be told these are the things we must give up so we may be safe.
All these will be willingly offered up on the altar of protection. All our most cherished traditions, except one — the Second Amendment. This untouchable sacred cow will be shielded though thousands of innocents will fall (and it is always the innocent that fall). The Second Amendment is our national religion — our One True God. And it is a religion, complete with holy text, bibles, missals, high priests, acolytes, objects of veneration, acts of devotion, and houses of worship. The God of the Gun has no other gods before it.
The true tragedy of Orlando is not the 50 dead, nor the 53 wounded, nor the grieving anguished friends and relatives. The true tragedy of Orlando is not that the victims were gay, or that this was a religious / homophobic hate crime. The true tragedy of Orlando is not that the perpetrator was of any particular religion or claimed allegiance to any particular terrorist group. The true tragedy of Orlando is the same as that for Newtown, Blacksburg, San Bernardino, Aurora, Fort Hood, and the countless other points of amnesia that dot the national map.
This is normal in America. Hardly a week goes by that there isn’t mass shooting somewhere. And these are not the coordinated attacks of a determined enemy, but the random violence of various people who perpetrate these attacks for disparate and unconnected reasons. The killers are of different religions and different ethnic backgrounds killing for different reasons. Before the blood dries at Pulse, another mass shooting will take place. And then another, and another. Just another day in the death of America.
And amid the clamor and blamestorming and cries for action, the true tragedy of Orlando is — nothing will change.