Twelve dead and 38 injured - one of them a 3-month old baby. Colorado bleeds again in the face of another American gun tragedy. Sitting at my desk feeling worn out at 10 AM in California I wish I had more answers. In the days ahead the battle will rage, played out on our TV screens like some made for TV movie. The unsmiling botox injected talking heads will feed us the news and we will cry and shake our heads and have deep sounding discussions about guns and American culture.
LESS GUNS!
MORE GUNS!
RIGHT TO CARRY!
STAND YOUR GROUND!
And the beat goes on...
And none of it matters to the people in Colorado hit by their second massive, senseless, gun violence tragedy a mere 13 years and 14 miles removed from the Columbine massacre that stunned and shattered our national psyches. Of course now it's simply become the new American reality. Every few years we awake to the next story about some lone or paired gunman who has massacred a large number of innocents.
Columbine...
Capitol Hill...
West Virginia...
Fort Hood...
Tucson...
Aurora...
And the beat goes on...
That goes without mentioning the thousands of other deaths each year from handgun violence or the snipers who terrorized Ohio and Washington DC in the last decade. Unlike in other countries most of the American Massacres seem to have no message other than "look at me", "remember my name". Notoriety and Fame now forever commingled and confused as our national obsession with guns and death take us through the looking glass where wrong is right so long as our name goes on into perpetuity.
In the coming days politicians will shake their heads and offer support and words of wisdom. They will look sincere and sound so serious. They will offer platitudes and prayers. Serious men and women will discuss serious ideas. Then they will go back to their gated communities surrounded by body guards and nothing will change. After all it's an election year and they can't risk touching the third rail that is gun control.
For a few days the press will salivate. Digging into every aspect of the shooter's life. His mom has already told the police they "have the right person". So there's undoubtedly plenty of stuff to uncover and drool over. Is he crazy? Is he angry? Was there a target? Does he think he's Bane from the movie he interrupted with his bullets, smoke and terror? In a week or so something else will come along to knock this story off the front page. After all, there's an election coming. We will go on with our lives and time will allow the memory to fade. Until the next time. And make no mistake, there will be a next time, and until we have a serious discussion about guns, gun control and our national obsession with gun violence...
the beat will go on...
Wed Apr 17, 2013 at 3:39 PM PT: I'm republishing this diary written after the Colorado movie shooting rampage last summer. It seems more appropriate today than it was back then.
For and additional kick in the groin, check out this blistering and brief Onion Article on today's Senate inaction: Next Week's School Shooting Victims Thank Senate For Failing To Pass Gun Bill
80% is not enough...