Just a Fact of Life
There was another school shooting, this time in rural Georgia, home of MAGA maven Majorie Taylor Greene. She touted the all too often heard mantra of offering prayers for the dead and wounded, but no concrete solution to the deadly epidemic of gun violence plaguing our schools.
And where was Donald Trump on the issue? In his typical rambling, incoherent, devoid of solutions response during a Fox News Town Hall, he vowed to “heal our world” in the wake of yet another mass casualty shooting. Instead of elaborating on what he would actually do, he trailed off and began commenting on wars and how “sick and angry” we are over the incompetence of our leaders.
So, instead of offering solutions, he allowed his running mate, JD Vance, to address the issue.
Big mistake. HUGE!!
Rather than condemn the violence, Vance did what he does best. He threw gasoline onto the fire. He said that school shootings are simply a “fact of life”. Basically, he implied that kids should get used to being shot at while they are trying to get an education. He went on further to state that schools need to invest in better security rather than banning certain types of firearms.
In typical MAGA fashion, Vance wants already struggling school districts to stop wasting money on books teaching Critical Race Theory and Woke policies that are aimed at turning our children gay or grooming them to be victims of sexual abuse. Instead, he wants schools to invest in better security measures.
Vance conveniently ignored the fact that over 60 percent of Georgia schools, including the one in Winder, Georgia, have enhanced security measures. In fact, law enforcement credited these new policies as preventing an even greater loss of life.
Following the Parkland School shooting in Florida, Trump met with the survivors. In his hands, clearly visible, was a slip of paper with specific talking points that any normal human being would ask without needing prompting. After hearing them out, and following the suggestion written on the paper, Trump replied, “I hear you” and vowed to enact stricter gun control measures.
Until…
The NRA met with Trump after hearing his comments. Whatever was said in the meeting resulted in Trump’s immediate backtracking on his earlier vow to the traumatized students. Instead, out of fear of losing the support of the all-powerful gun lobby, he did nothing.
Fast forward to the current campaign where Trump is telling people that he is the best friend gun owners had in the White House as he tries to curry favor with the rabid pro-Second Amendment swath of voters. He has gone on to claim that he “did nothing” to further gun restrictions. He wants them to ignore the now stricken Executive Order he issued banning bump stocks following the Las Vegas massacre.
He also wants them to forget that he almost defied the NRA by suggesting he would enact stronger gun-control measures following the Parkland shootings.
Instead, he and other MAGA Republicans want you to believe the oft-repeated lie that Democrats are “coming for your guns”. It’s a scare tactic they have used in multiple elections and one that MAGA followers are all too willing to accept as fact eve though it has no basis in reality.
And so, children will continue to live in fear. They will continue to die needlessly. They will continue to be traumatized by lock down drills and active shooter alerts.
Oh well. It’s a fact of life.
Video commentary by Lean to the Left editor and podcast host Bob Gatty:
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