I bought a new pistol yesterday. As an Transgender woman, I decided it's time to get my concealed carry. I believe that this massacre has really shown that Democrats and Republicans are both soulless evil parties. Democrats have jumped so hard on the gun thing, and they tried to push it too far. Yes, people on terrorist watch lists shouldn't get guns, but the two Democratic bills went way farther than that. The Democrats didn't want to actually pass any laws, they just wanted to score points off the Republicans after they voted no. It's pure evil. Republicans just want to blame it all on radical Islam and call it a day.
Meanwhile, no one cares to talk about how both Islam and Christianity have done so much to oppress, murder, and torture LGBT people for 2000 years. No one delved deeper into how Islam, mental illness, and self-loathing created a man who was willing to kill other human beings. No, instead we get to here 50 editorials about how evil the Republicans and the NBA are for not jumping on board the anti-gun train, and get to hear from Hillary surrogates about how if you are LGBT you pretty much have to vote for HRC. Thanks, glad to hear you actually care about how 50 of my brothers and sisters were slaughtered. Banning guns isn't going to solve any issues...in France they pretty much banned guns and over 100 people died in Paris. Guns should be regulated better, but just banning guns isn't going to solve the fact that Christianity and Islam want people like me dead
Meanwhile, no one cares to talk about how both Islam and Christianity have done so much to oppress, murder, and torture LGBT people for 2000 years. No one delved deeper into how Islam, mental illness, and self-loathing created a man who was willing to kill other human beings. No, instead we get to here 50 editorials about how evil the Republicans and the NBA are for not jumping on board the anti-gun train, and get to hear from Hillary surrogates about how if you are LGBT you pretty much have to vote for HRC. Thanks, glad to hear you actually care about how 50 of my brothers and sisters were slaughtered. Banning guns isn't going to solve any issues...in France they pretty much banned guns and over 100 people died in Paris. Guns should be regulated better, but just banning guns isn't going to solve the fact that Christianity and Islam want people like me dead
1
Throw the bums out.
Each and every GOP member who refuses to do the right thing for our country.
We've had enough.
We've reached the tipping point (although we all thought Sandy Hook was just that. Foolish us).
This cannot continue.
This cannot continue.
This cannot continue.
People. Please. Please. Please. VOTE.
Each and every GOP member who refuses to do the right thing for our country.
We've had enough.
We've reached the tipping point (although we all thought Sandy Hook was just that. Foolish us).
This cannot continue.
This cannot continue.
This cannot continue.
People. Please. Please. Please. VOTE.
6
Everyone is guns guns guns...and what gets lost is the fact that 50 LGBT people and allies got killed my a man following a religion that openly professes hatred towards LGBT people.
Liberals have gone straight to guns, and conservatives have gone straight to jihadism....nobody cares that religion hates LGBT people. This massacre seems to be a manufactured political talking point, and that enrages me. Politicians don't have souls, it seems to me like the liberals are secretly excited because the massacre gives them leverage on the guns and makes Republicans look bad, and that is disgusting. I've heard several pundits blatantly say that this killing will benefit Hillary because it will motivate her base.....why do they think it's OK to discuss how a massacre will HELP Hillary like 2 days after it happened? As a Transgender woman, I really am mad that the policial class has seemed to have forgotten that 50 human beings died, or they don't care and see it only as political leverage in some liberals vs conservatives drama. 1 point for the liberals I guess, Yay for us! Ugh.
Liberals have gone straight to guns, and conservatives have gone straight to jihadism....nobody cares that religion hates LGBT people. This massacre seems to be a manufactured political talking point, and that enrages me. Politicians don't have souls, it seems to me like the liberals are secretly excited because the massacre gives them leverage on the guns and makes Republicans look bad, and that is disgusting. I've heard several pundits blatantly say that this killing will benefit Hillary because it will motivate her base.....why do they think it's OK to discuss how a massacre will HELP Hillary like 2 days after it happened? As a Transgender woman, I really am mad that the policial class has seemed to have forgotten that 50 human beings died, or they don't care and see it only as political leverage in some liberals vs conservatives drama. 1 point for the liberals I guess, Yay for us! Ugh.
2
Oh, Jacqueline,
I can't speak for all liberals, but don't beat yourself up over what the talking heads are saying about who will 'benefit most' by this horrific tragedy. They have to keep talking because that's what they're paid to do, as disrespectful as seems before these poor souls are even buried. You are right - this was definitely a hate crime. My take is this guy was mad at the world, decided to single out gay people as his scapegoat, and as an afterthought dialed ISIS-911 to establish his manliness cred. (I've posted that opinion previously.)
I can't even imagine your life being singled out for special 'sin' status by organized religion. It's 2016. Religions of the world are going to have to take a meeting and catch up societally with the reality of gender identity. It's not enough to talk the love talk; they've got to walk the love walk. By the way, I know a lot of nice people who are churchgoers for the camaraderie and consolation, who make up their own minds in their private lives regarding any number of issues (family planning, homosexuality, etc.).
Obviously, rapid-fire weapons such as this perpetrator used are just an extravagance that the normal law-abiding citizen is going to have to, unfairly by their point of view or not, think about giving up for the greater good. I mean, why not own hand grenades? I can't believe the police are thrilled to have this firepower on the street.
Anyway, I'm very sorry for your pain and the pain of those who lost loved ones.
I can't speak for all liberals, but don't beat yourself up over what the talking heads are saying about who will 'benefit most' by this horrific tragedy. They have to keep talking because that's what they're paid to do, as disrespectful as seems before these poor souls are even buried. You are right - this was definitely a hate crime. My take is this guy was mad at the world, decided to single out gay people as his scapegoat, and as an afterthought dialed ISIS-911 to establish his manliness cred. (I've posted that opinion previously.)
I can't even imagine your life being singled out for special 'sin' status by organized religion. It's 2016. Religions of the world are going to have to take a meeting and catch up societally with the reality of gender identity. It's not enough to talk the love talk; they've got to walk the love walk. By the way, I know a lot of nice people who are churchgoers for the camaraderie and consolation, who make up their own minds in their private lives regarding any number of issues (family planning, homosexuality, etc.).
Obviously, rapid-fire weapons such as this perpetrator used are just an extravagance that the normal law-abiding citizen is going to have to, unfairly by their point of view or not, think about giving up for the greater good. I mean, why not own hand grenades? I can't believe the police are thrilled to have this firepower on the street.
Anyway, I'm very sorry for your pain and the pain of those who lost loved ones.
All in the most educated country on earth.
But by an historical standards it may be small world, but it is not terrifying at all. Previous generations lived through Vietnam, world wars, Indian wars and civil wars and endured calamities of proportions not seen in the last twenty years. Even 9/11 is barely noticeable in a death statistic for unnatural death.
We live in the safest period ever for this land despite terrorism, gun violence, and product safety issues.
What has changed is our sensibility.
We live in the safest period ever for this land despite terrorism, gun violence, and product safety issues.
What has changed is our sensibility.
1
Since the GOP refuse to enact even the most basic of gun regulations and allow the random carnage of americans daily. Maybe we americans should boycott places like Disney, movie theaters any place ideal for a mass shooting owned by corporations. If the bottom line of corporations gets effected republicans will line up to help them. Pretty sickening that would work and slaughter of innocents does not.
2
And Congress does nothing, the people be damned. And so we wait for the next NRA-backed slaughter.
1
Americans want gun control - Congress does not - the disconnect? The NRA.
Follow the money.
Follow the money.
8
We've allowed our politics to be taken over by the corporations with the Supreme Court ruling "Citizen's United" (stupid misleading name) And, with this also the politics of hate, which enable these politician's to continue the fallacy that with this particular massacre allow them to continue their lies, although it is obvious they don't care one iota for you or me or anyone other then the contributions from the gun lobby... we have become the #1 producer of arms in the world, and this distorts everything. We are not safe, you cannot have everyone being able to have access to every gun in the universe and not expect these atrocities to happen! Shame on all who are complicit!
5
If he was a first-generation Muslim American, then perhaps the litmus test of an individual's loyalty to the USA should be one's embrace of gays and lesbians no matter how much it supposedly goes against the Koran (or any other holy book).
Which teenager coming out to his or her parents would more likely avoid an honor killing: Muslim or Christian?
Which teenager coming out to his or her parents would more likely avoid an honor killing: Muslim or Christian?
2
With each slaughter, gun lovers go into damage control mode. Can we blame it on mental health? Maybe it was inspired by ISIS. Maybe the shooter didn't like gays. Surely there is some way to create a distraction, a misdirection, a dodge that will fool the simpleminded. And the gold standard: "There's enough blame to go around".
Let's stop looking for a gun tragedy that isn't caused by guns.
Let's stop looking for a gun tragedy that isn't caused by guns.
15
Actually, you have it backwards.
Stop trying to blame guns for a terrorist attack.
Maybe then, people will take your position more serious.
Box cutters killed 3000 Americans in 2001...remember?
Stop trying to blame guns for a terrorist attack.
Maybe then, people will take your position more serious.
Box cutters killed 3000 Americans in 2001...remember?
3
Actually, you are the one that has it backwards.
The easy, unqualified, access to guns by anyone with the money to buy them is a clear and present danger to all of us.
The easy, unqualified, access to guns by anyone with the money to buy them is a clear and present danger to all of us.
1
SurfCity64:
And after 9/11, can you bring box cutters on an airplane? Didn't think so.
And after 9/11, can you bring box cutters on an airplane? Didn't think so.
The sadness I feel is that this shooting is being converted into a casus belli by every politician in this sad country, as they rush toward mikes and pound their chests, guaranteeing at least fifteen more years of insanity, similar to the results of the 9/11 event, that skewed the judgment of this country's government, when we threw our thinly held values to the ground and resulted in the mass gathering of all e-mails and the tapping of telephone calls and the use of torture and invasions of many countries with no purpose, except to protect Israel from its many well deserved enemies. This place is not worth defending in its present state as it has become a madhouse. And only two unworthy candidates running for office of president. What a nasty place this is, with a dim future.
6
An articulate summary of our very disturbing, dangerous place here in America.
What has happened to America is way beyond Orwellian. Is it true that most Americans are hateful? Or is it true that it's the politics of hate, the mouthpieces of hatred from media like Fox News and drivel from much of the so called "liberal media" which still does not address underlying conditions and connections to our major problems here in the US. If we don't care about the millions of people who have been killed, displaced injured in the countries we go to war in, why should there be concern for us here who live in one of the most violent nations on earth?
It's difficult to know what the truth is, but I once talked at length with a survivor of the Holocaust who said that those who foment hate have the loudest voices and receive the most attention from the media. He said it would take 1,000 voices or more to counter one hate monger. He said what is happening in America now is similar to what happened in Germany in the 30's and that most people were complicit, even if they did not agree with the rise of Nazism and Hitler. So the lesson is the rest of us in massive numbers need to rise up and demand our voices be heard. There are policies in place to prevent that, from not allowing gatherings and protests in public spaces to not reporting movements, or dismissing movements as trivial. I am afraid for our country. Whether HRC or Trump, we are headed off a cliff!
What has happened to America is way beyond Orwellian. Is it true that most Americans are hateful? Or is it true that it's the politics of hate, the mouthpieces of hatred from media like Fox News and drivel from much of the so called "liberal media" which still does not address underlying conditions and connections to our major problems here in the US. If we don't care about the millions of people who have been killed, displaced injured in the countries we go to war in, why should there be concern for us here who live in one of the most violent nations on earth?
It's difficult to know what the truth is, but I once talked at length with a survivor of the Holocaust who said that those who foment hate have the loudest voices and receive the most attention from the media. He said it would take 1,000 voices or more to counter one hate monger. He said what is happening in America now is similar to what happened in Germany in the 30's and that most people were complicit, even if they did not agree with the rise of Nazism and Hitler. So the lesson is the rest of us in massive numbers need to rise up and demand our voices be heard. There are policies in place to prevent that, from not allowing gatherings and protests in public spaces to not reporting movements, or dismissing movements as trivial. I am afraid for our country. Whether HRC or Trump, we are headed off a cliff!
6
100% correct, Sir!
1
disneyworld has 4 lands
adventureland
fantasyland
futureland
and tomorrowland
now theyll have to add a mass murder land and theyll be up w th times
adventureland
fantasyland
futureland
and tomorrowland
now theyll have to add a mass murder land and theyll be up w th times
1
2nd Amendment: "A well regulated [sic] militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." This was written when there were no revolvers, rifles, machine guns, multi-round assault rifles, etc. Those who claim to be "originalists," meaning interpretation of the Constitution at the time it was written, should keep this in mind. Furthermore, the NRA is not "a well regulated militia" in any sense of the phrase, nor are individuals armed with assault weapons designed to kill as many people as possible in the shortest time possible. Assault weapons belong in the hands of the "well regulated militia," not in the hands of mentally unstable individuals who can buy them at gun shows. They belong in the hands of our armed forces, whose missions may be to kill as many as possible--but those armed forces are by definition "a well-regulated militia."
Come on, Congress--we are your constituents, and you should represent our views, not just those of Wayne LaPierre. There are 535 of you, and only one of him, so act together, and your constituents will thank you. We want you to represent us, not Wayne and his cronies.
Come on, Congress--we are your constituents, and you should represent our views, not just those of Wayne LaPierre. There are 535 of you, and only one of him, so act together, and your constituents will thank you. We want you to represent us, not Wayne and his cronies.
7
the founding fathers never heard of saudis, islamic terrorists, nazism etc. Perhaps it's time now to add another amendment.
1
Within the fantasyland of Disney one is not safe from vicious prehistoric predators. It is after all, located in Florida.
Within each place of gathering, whether school, church or club, one is not safe from vicious gunslingers. After all, we are in America.
Within each place of gathering, whether school, church or club, one is not safe from vicious gunslingers. After all, we are in America.
Alligators are not 'vicious'. They are just acting according to their instincts. That one saw a small prey animal and went after it. An alligator (gorilla, bear, whatever) does not act with malice aforethought. Granted, an alligator is a predator - that is, an animal that kills other creatures. As is Homo sapiens, which kills alligators for shoes, handbags, just for fun, or, as was common when I was a child, for souvenirs of visits to Gulf states, either as parts or sometimes as wholes - baby taxidermified alligators.
Omar Mateen, now. HE was vicious.
Omar Mateen, now. HE was vicious.
2
Terrifying world? It isn't a terrifying world. It is the only life you will ever know and if you choose to think of it as a terrifying world then you have lost. You have let the terrorists win. Instead, try being thankful for your life, try living according to karma and the result of your own actions. Be big, be happy and sad and elated and destroyed. Every part of life, including death, is a blessing. It is your choice to win or lose.
5
Parents, many have commented, are to blame for not being mindful of potential threats associated with certain areas or activities. It has suggested that no reasonable parent would allow a child near water in the evening in Florida because gators are everywhere.
By the same logic, Americans should understand that no place is safe because guns are, indeed, everywhere. The judgment of any parent willing to raise kids in American would seem somewhat suspect.
By the same logic, Americans should understand that no place is safe because guns are, indeed, everywhere. The judgment of any parent willing to raise kids in American would seem somewhat suspect.
1
Once again our nation appears to react as if this is just normal--shootings of "others."
The acceptance of "this is just what happens, can we please watch the TV (the actual shooting or recent horror); can we move on with our facebook lives?-- I love the self marketing of ignorant congeniality; I have my answer; don't confront me; leave me alone; I'm only jealous, I'm not mad that you have more than me and obtained it at my expense with others lives. Just show me someone less than me and I'll feel better about my pathetic life." This is my experience of Americans as a white male born in1962. All my responsible baby sitters were males with an Afro. We've got it all backwards.
The acceptance of "this is just what happens, can we please watch the TV (the actual shooting or recent horror); can we move on with our facebook lives?-- I love the self marketing of ignorant congeniality; I have my answer; don't confront me; leave me alone; I'm only jealous, I'm not mad that you have more than me and obtained it at my expense with others lives. Just show me someone less than me and I'll feel better about my pathetic life." This is my experience of Americans as a white male born in1962. All my responsible baby sitters were males with an Afro. We've got it all backwards.
The relentless whitewashing of the ISIS attack in Orlando continues.
Instead of confronting Barack Obama and his failed presidency, specifically Obama's incompetence in the Middle East that not only created ISIS, but has tens of millions of people strewn across Europe as migrants and refugees.
You will never solve a problem you won't admit having. No matter how much hand wringing and disingenuous storybooking you try.
Instead of confronting Barack Obama and his failed presidency, specifically Obama's incompetence in the Middle East that not only created ISIS, but has tens of millions of people strewn across Europe as migrants and refugees.
You will never solve a problem you won't admit having. No matter how much hand wringing and disingenuous storybooking you try.
3
I'm not afraid of any of this.
You know what really worries me is that I'm going to die from a heart attack from being over worked. Something will happen to me where I cant support my sick wife and daughter with Down's syndrome. I fear I'll lose my house because the affordable care act is not all that affordable. It's this and the related stress of living in a country where you're rich or nothing. That's the terrorist I fear.
You know what really worries me is that I'm going to die from a heart attack from being over worked. Something will happen to me where I cant support my sick wife and daughter with Down's syndrome. I fear I'll lose my house because the affordable care act is not all that affordable. It's this and the related stress of living in a country where you're rich or nothing. That's the terrorist I fear.
10
Very well articulated.
3
The excuse the Republicans used for voting down not allowing terrorists on a watch list to buy guns is that many, many upstanding Americans are on that "secret" list. They also say it is "very hard to get off that list".
It certainly seemed easy for this particular shooter to get off the list.
Also, all one has to do is go to any airport and try to board a plane, in order to find out if one is on the "secret" list.
It certainly seemed easy for this particular shooter to get off the list.
Also, all one has to do is go to any airport and try to board a plane, in order to find out if one is on the "secret" list.
1
It is not a small, terrifying world, it's a small, heavily armed ignorant group of Americans. This does not happen anywhere else but here.
7
It is really hard to believe you read the NYT. Try reading some history of the 20th century, then count backwards the number of Europeans (not even including Russians and Soviets) killed by other Europeans since 1607/20, then count forwards. I believe in a total gun bun in the US by private citizens but we will never compare to what Europeans have done to each other for centuries.
It happened in Paris. Aldo, gays are targeted in many other countries just for being gay. This was all brought about because Obama won't confront evil and now it has come to our shores. So much for his legacy!
3
Every Swiss household has a rifle. You don't get out much do you.
2
Sure, it was the guns, nothing whatsoever to do with Islam.
2
With all dues respect for those murdered, their families and friends, this is a pretty bad piece of writing. While it seems it is supposed to be "reporting", it is more an endless lament for some inchoate vision of some patch of America trying to formulate itself in the reporter's mind. I learned nothing from this other than the reporter needs to learn how to write to the standards what used to be the rather high standards at the NYT. Where were the editors here? Seriously.
The sadness of Pulse's satisfaction with the mere Disney-style illusion of America's Main Street superiority was followed a couple days later by a toddler's sudden abduction by a prehistoric monster right in front of a Disney hotel.
And these events occurred in an election year in which candidates are asking the country to evaluate whether America is great, or whether something has gone terribly wrong.
I'm baffled as to the size of the population that suspects we have allowed too many little alligators in the American lake, versus the population that fears that big alligators are about to take political control of the lake. Inability to distinguish between the two appears to be this election year's theme.
And these events occurred in an election year in which candidates are asking the country to evaluate whether America is great, or whether something has gone terribly wrong.
I'm baffled as to the size of the population that suspects we have allowed too many little alligators in the American lake, versus the population that fears that big alligators are about to take political control of the lake. Inability to distinguish between the two appears to be this election year's theme.
1
Gun laws or no gun laws, I see a slightly different problem here: the FBI knew that this guy was under investigation - twice - for making shooting threats. The FBI knew that this guy bought a gun. Even if there was no cause to formally deny him a gun or formally arrest him, would it hurt to pay Mateen a visit after it became known that a known terror suspect bought an assault rifle and ammunition in bulk?
Hell, I think cough syrup purchases are monitored closer than what happened in this case - and, mind it, cough syrup is legal.
Hell, I think cough syrup purchases are monitored closer than what happened in this case - and, mind it, cough syrup is legal.
2
Hate is hate is hate is hate is hate is hate. Guns allow that hate to escalate into horror in a minute. Get them off the streets of America by electing socially conscious leaders who will take action to restore sanity and true security in OUR America. Do not be afraid. That is what terrorists and those who fund terrorism want. Take action.
2
Mass shootings. Did we have these problems in the 40's, 50's, 60's or 70's? Short answer? No. "Those guns," notably, the assault rifles, were not as prevalent as they are today. We did ban the so called machine gun. We did so because it was a weapon of war. Then, in the 80's along come the 3 R's. Reagan, Rush & Rove. (More Lee Atwater than Rove.) Hyper-partisanship, led by the rise of fox news, also lead to the rise of the NRA. You can see where this is going. We are no longer a United States. One see's Orlando as a a terrorist act while the other see's it as a guns/hate crime. The evidence is clear. In closing, Assault weapons have no business on the streets of this country. (as tommy guns before it) By making that statement, its clear the side of the issue I am on.
28
So during the decade in which assault weapons were banned, did crime go down?
. We did ban the so called machine gun. We did so because it was a weapon of wa
th machine gun has NEVER been illegal in america
before 1934 anyone could walk into a gun shop and walk out w a m/g
th spread of mob murder spurred th govt to make regulations about possessing mg, but they have never been illegal in th usa
Federal law strictly regulates machine guns (firearms that fire many rounds of ammunition, without manual reloading, with a single pull of the trigger).
Among other things, federal law:
1. requires all machine guns, except antique firearms, not in the U.S. government's possession to be registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF);
2. bars private individuals from transferring or acquiring machine guns except those lawfully possessed and registered before May 19, 1986;
3. requires anyone transferring or manufacturing machine guns to get prior ATF approval and register the firearms;
4. with very limited exceptions, imposes a $200 excise tax whenever a machine gun is transferred;
5. bars interstate transport of machine guns without ATF approval; and
6. imposes harsh penalties for machine gun violations, including imprisonment of up to 10 years, a fine of up to $250,000, or both for possessing an unregistered machine gun.
th machine gun has NEVER been illegal in america
before 1934 anyone could walk into a gun shop and walk out w a m/g
th spread of mob murder spurred th govt to make regulations about possessing mg, but they have never been illegal in th usa
Federal law strictly regulates machine guns (firearms that fire many rounds of ammunition, without manual reloading, with a single pull of the trigger).
Among other things, federal law:
1. requires all machine guns, except antique firearms, not in the U.S. government's possession to be registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF);
2. bars private individuals from transferring or acquiring machine guns except those lawfully possessed and registered before May 19, 1986;
3. requires anyone transferring or manufacturing machine guns to get prior ATF approval and register the firearms;
4. with very limited exceptions, imposes a $200 excise tax whenever a machine gun is transferred;
5. bars interstate transport of machine guns without ATF approval; and
6. imposes harsh penalties for machine gun violations, including imprisonment of up to 10 years, a fine of up to $250,000, or both for possessing an unregistered machine gun.
1
Yes, you did have this problem in 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's.
However, since US population roughly doubled since that time, current frequency may seem higher.
However, since US population roughly doubled since that time, current frequency may seem higher.
The entire article could be summed up by the words of that Sacramento Pastor, who lamented that not enough Gay people were murdered.This is our sickness & the rotting values of this country, a country that offers so much potential.The culprit once again,is distorted religion, & the political party that is supported by these distorted religious values, that have never evolved.
Christian love has been discarded by religious intolerance.
Christian love has been discarded by religious intolerance.
2
A well regulated militia...what is the definition ? Is this what we see reflected in the political rhetoric that supports gun ownership?
2
The second amendment, not even in its current form, was implemented at the time of single shot muskets with no bullets that took 3 minutes to load, NOT AR-15s. America should look at its own history. Patrick Henry who was the largest slave owner at the time of the implementation of the amendment had the law changed so individual states could use their militias to control their slaves.
Our biggest concern is a hyphenated America that has no desire to be one. Many Hispanic-Americans fight tooth and nail for illegal aliens, while their neighbors lose their jobs, homes, and hope. Muslim-Americans cry, "this is not Islam," while another massacre happens at the hands of a Muslim. We need to close the doors and get our house in order before we reach a point of no return.
4
What will the LGBT community message be in the wake of Orlando? Will we stay focused only on the bigotry or homophobia? Or will we become a loud voice demanding the removal of military assault rifles from civilian hands? The Orlando shooter may have been homophobic and it certainly seems he was a terrorist but the final common denominator here is the AR 15 he blew innocent people away with. The NRA and members of congress and the senate may try to redirect the blame here in order to serve their own purposes but as the latest gun violence targeted group we LGBT citizens must keep our message clear: military assault weapons do not belong on our streets much less in our nightclubs or schools.
6
Obama is always saying: “Are we going to start treating all Muslim Americans differently? Are we going to start subjecting them to special surveillance?” It might happen that the answer to these questions would not be politically correct if one looks into the results of a 2011 Study carried out by Professor Mordechai Kedar from Bar Ilan University’s Department of Arabic and Middle East Studies. A “random survey of 100 representative mosques in the U.S.” showed that “51% had texts on site rated as severely advocating violence; 30% had texts rated as moderately advocating violence; and 19% had no violent texts at all. In 84.5% of the mosques, the imam recommended studying violence-positive texts and 58% percent of the mosques invited guest imams known to promote violent jihad.”
Maybe it is time to start using common sense? We do not need “to start treating all Muslim Americans differently” but if according to the Clarion project, a non-profit group that describes itself as “dedicated to exposing the dangers of Islamic extremism” there are “more than 80 radical mosques in the US,” at least these mosques should be put under strict surveillance or simply closed.
Maybe it is time to start using common sense? We do not need “to start treating all Muslim Americans differently” but if according to the Clarion project, a non-profit group that describes itself as “dedicated to exposing the dangers of Islamic extremism” there are “more than 80 radical mosques in the US,” at least these mosques should be put under strict surveillance or simply closed.
3
LOVE is all you need. So claimed the Beatles. Ah for a return to those simpler times. A time when "taking a hit" referred to inhaling pot smoke deeply. Now it means being shot by an automatic weapon. In the 60s the vbe was free love and the sexual revolution. Now the vibe is the shots that kill about 32,000 people per year and injure more than 60,000 per year. Followed by the sounds of silence.
3
I'll respond to this idealization of 60'es with the Beatles' song "Maxwell's Silver Hammer", which boils down to a person killing at least three people for no particular reason.
1
What about all the people being killed in our inner cities? What about Chicago and all the people who were shot over memorial day weekend? Nobody seems to care about people who get shot everyday on our streets. They are getting shot for the same reason as the Orlando shooting... hate. Guns are not the problem. Hate is. Till people start looking at similarities and stop asking to be acknowledged for their differences. These shootings will continue to be common. We are all people.
2
Did you READ that article about the Memorial Day shootings in Chicago?
What gave you the idea that these murders were about hate?
What gave you the idea that these murders were about hate?
At some point we'll be like Israel, with armed guards posted outside of coffee shops. Sadly I feel like this is exactly what the NRA and GOP want.
5
The World has always been a dangerous place. Real life isn't the playground Americans want it to be. The political laziness of our leadership is shocking. These kind of attacks are not going to stop until we take things more seriously.
3
No, it's not a "small terrifying world." Violence can, and does, happen anywhere, everywhere. So do fires, tornadoes and tsunamis. I am far more likely to be killed by lightning than to be shot in a nightclub. Do I watch the skies while I'm enjoying the outdoors? Yes, of course. But the remote threat of lightning doesn't make me stay home.
I've told my wife several times that the most likely thing standing between me and dying of old age is one of the dozens of drivers I see every day on my commute, texting on their stupid phone, asleep at the switch of a 3,000 lb. block of steel moving at 65 miles an hour. That's the clear and present danger to my existence. But you know, I drive to work just the same, as do millions of others, every day.
I refuse to live in a world full of fear, especially when proclaimed by a for-profit organization to boost sales. It's been a long time since FDR said "We have nothing to fear, but fear itself." A point worth remembering.
I've told my wife several times that the most likely thing standing between me and dying of old age is one of the dozens of drivers I see every day on my commute, texting on their stupid phone, asleep at the switch of a 3,000 lb. block of steel moving at 65 miles an hour. That's the clear and present danger to my existence. But you know, I drive to work just the same, as do millions of others, every day.
I refuse to live in a world full of fear, especially when proclaimed by a for-profit organization to boost sales. It's been a long time since FDR said "We have nothing to fear, but fear itself." A point worth remembering.
5
I like your post, but FDR's quote is almost always taken out of context. He was referring to a panic or run on a bank. In such a panic - as happened in 1929 - something, such as rumours that big-shot investors are pulling out, spreads and prompts small depositors to run to the bank and clear out their accounts while there's still something left. Of course, banks never keep on hand enough money to supply all depositors at once. The panic takes hold and creates a cascade effect, as more people, seeing others line up, get in line too. The crash becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, creating the very disaster the depositors hoped to escape.
FDR knew a real threat when he saw it. It's telling he didn't apply that 'nothing to fear but fear' remark to Hitler and Tojo. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't apply it to AR-15s - or radical Islam - either.
FDR knew a real threat when he saw it. It's telling he didn't apply that 'nothing to fear but fear' remark to Hitler and Tojo. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't apply it to AR-15s - or radical Islam - either.
3
I'm hesitant to call this an episode of Islamic extremism, rather than a single, sick person deciding to commit a hate crime and then claiming affinity with that movement. He likely would have done this anyway.
While our state and federal lawmakers, and our judiciary, fail to restrict weapons designed to mow down soldiers in warfare, I believe they share the blame
No Buy lists and waiting periods are commendable, but not enough. We need assault weapons bans. And please don't tell me that isn't the right thing to do because it wouldn't stop all access to guns. When you leave your house, do you leave your front door unlocked because someone could tunnel into your basement?
While our state and federal lawmakers, and our judiciary, fail to restrict weapons designed to mow down soldiers in warfare, I believe they share the blame
No Buy lists and waiting periods are commendable, but not enough. We need assault weapons bans. And please don't tell me that isn't the right thing to do because it wouldn't stop all access to guns. When you leave your house, do you leave your front door unlocked because someone could tunnel into your basement?
7
except that the killer was an islamist fanatic, islam had nothing to do with it
1
Guns DO NOT rule our country! The people holding the guns rule our country........DUCK and HIDE!!!!
2
Just bear in mind that during Senator Murphy's filibuster, about the same number of people were shot dead as were in Orlando.
It's not a small, terrifying world. We have created a world fraught with dangers: about one gun for every man, womand and child in the country. A number of people shot (presumably accidentally) by toddlers every week, idiots who text while driving.
While cars and bullets take a toll of some 65,000 Americans per year, the press never fails to focus on terrorist attacks, the total of which on American soil fails to reach the toll of a single year's worth of bullets.
It's not a small, terrifying world. We have created a world fraught with dangers: about one gun for every man, womand and child in the country. A number of people shot (presumably accidentally) by toddlers every week, idiots who text while driving.
While cars and bullets take a toll of some 65,000 Americans per year, the press never fails to focus on terrorist attacks, the total of which on American soil fails to reach the toll of a single year's worth of bullets.
6
I'm so tired of people blaming guns. None of the gun laws voted down today would have prevented this or any other mass shooting that has occurred. Someone else having a gun in there might well have prevented some of the carnage. All mass shootings have occurred where people are not allowed to carry. We MUST be allowed to carry. (And by the way, 40 states already allow concealed carry where alcohol is served. Where it is allowed, no one has gone off in a drunken spree to kill others.)
5
Yes, actually, the law might have, if the military weapon had been banned.
Also, Florida has perhaps the fewest regulations against firearms in the nation.
We must be allowed to carry a gun. Just not an M16 or facsimile. there is no other purpose for these kinds of weapons than to kill as many people in the shortest amount of time. This is NOT self-defense, unless you are in a war zone.
I, for one do not think the United States of America is a war zone.
someone else DID have a gun in that night club - an off-duty police officer.
Also, it has yet to be determined if some of the victims are the result of "friendly fire" which is most definitely possible, as it was dark in there.
The more guns we carry in public, the more risk of unnecessary violence.
Also, Florida has perhaps the fewest regulations against firearms in the nation.
We must be allowed to carry a gun. Just not an M16 or facsimile. there is no other purpose for these kinds of weapons than to kill as many people in the shortest amount of time. This is NOT self-defense, unless you are in a war zone.
I, for one do not think the United States of America is a war zone.
someone else DID have a gun in that night club - an off-duty police officer.
Also, it has yet to be determined if some of the victims are the result of "friendly fire" which is most definitely possible, as it was dark in there.
The more guns we carry in public, the more risk of unnecessary violence.
3
What a fantasy world you live in, Susanna. No one in Canada, the U.K., or Australia (or many other places) would choose the "protection" of gun-carrying you advocate over their legal bans on firearms. The low rates of violence and gun deaths in those countries speak for themselves.
It is time to take the most sensible step of all, namely, repeal of the outdated and misinterpreted Second Amendment. This will be a long slog, of course, but like other cultural changes, it can and will happen one day. Our country's fascination and obsession with firearms are unique in the world. This is the kind of "American exceptionalism" we must and will outgrow.
It is time to take the most sensible step of all, namely, repeal of the outdated and misinterpreted Second Amendment. This will be a long slog, of course, but like other cultural changes, it can and will happen one day. Our country's fascination and obsession with firearms are unique in the world. This is the kind of "American exceptionalism" we must and will outgrow.
4
Susanna, I am so tired of people denying the carnage cause by guns. And it is always for selfish reasons. They are afraid, they want to be a hero, they won't work hard enough to afford a safe neighborhood. It is always selfishness and laziness, blaming someone else. I love guns, grew up with them and if I thought that ONE person, even a stranger, MIGHT be saved a violent death by me not owning a weapon I would, as I have done, give up my guns. Stop the selfishness and take responsibility for your life.
3
Today the full 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta will hear a case that tells you how the NRA and gun lobby has taken over our political system and made guns into a religious and sacred object in most states. The Court will hear an appeal by the gun sellers and the Florida Republicans through their attorney general of a Florida law that bars doctors from discussing guns with their patients and gun safety.
Same statute bars insurers in determining the premiums of homeowner policies from asking if there are guns in the house.
All of this due to a NRA and GOP collaboration to rewrite the second amendment so that guns have more protection than most religious objects.
"A well regulated militia being necessary for the SECURITY of a free state" is gibberish according to the current state of GOP and NRA created laws. Thank God for states like Connecticut that truly believe that the security of the state and its citizens is paramount to gun owners and sellers rights as the founders stated.
Same statute bars insurers in determining the premiums of homeowner policies from asking if there are guns in the house.
All of this due to a NRA and GOP collaboration to rewrite the second amendment so that guns have more protection than most religious objects.
"A well regulated militia being necessary for the SECURITY of a free state" is gibberish according to the current state of GOP and NRA created laws. Thank God for states like Connecticut that truly believe that the security of the state and its citizens is paramount to gun owners and sellers rights as the founders stated.
13
Its not all about you. Its not all about me.
Leave others alone and let them live their lives.
Hopefully they will do the same for you.
That is what freedom is supposed to be.
Leave others alone and let them live their lives.
Hopefully they will do the same for you.
That is what freedom is supposed to be.
6
It is really interesting, and an insight on the NYT extreme readership. Very few of the posters here actually mention that the attacker was a Muslim attacker and this was a Muslim terrorist attack on our country. Fewer yet have referred to the near-criminal attempt of the DOJ to censor the transcripts.
Instead, the NYT and posters are trying to redefine this horror to encompass diversity, gay rights, Disney-bashing, Hispanics in Florida, blacks and the confederacy, - in fact, every agenda that they usually flog. I am surprised that someone has no tried to turn this into an anti-women thing. The fact that "more than a few politicians managed not to mention" the victims were gay or latino is a tremendously good thing. It means that everyone is considered American, regardless of race or sexual orientation.
The real question is - how does the NYT allow "fake journalism" os this sort to be published? It is little more than a poorly-written op-ed piece.
Given that I've said all this - I wonder if this will make it into the paper!
Instead, the NYT and posters are trying to redefine this horror to encompass diversity, gay rights, Disney-bashing, Hispanics in Florida, blacks and the confederacy, - in fact, every agenda that they usually flog. I am surprised that someone has no tried to turn this into an anti-women thing. The fact that "more than a few politicians managed not to mention" the victims were gay or latino is a tremendously good thing. It means that everyone is considered American, regardless of race or sexual orientation.
The real question is - how does the NYT allow "fake journalism" os this sort to be published? It is little more than a poorly-written op-ed piece.
Given that I've said all this - I wonder if this will make it into the paper!
8
No, it is NOT a good thing. If Omar Mateen had wished to target American policy in Afghanistan or the Middle East, he could have chosen any number of seemingly more appropriate targets, such as a government building, which was the choice of right-wing Christian terrorist Timothy McVeigh. Or he might have attacked a church or other non-Muslim place of worship, as did the Taliban when they dynamited the Bamiyan Buddhas.
He specifically chose a gay nightclub. I don't know if he knew he was going there on 'Latin Night' and that the patrons would be overwhelmingly Latino; but it's LGBT every night, and he'd been there before, so he knew what kind of nightclub it was.
With regard to the transcripts: They are not being 'censored'. In fact, rather a lot of what happened in that nightclub has gotten out. Why do you need every gory detail? Is Game of Thrones not enough for you?
With regard to Mr Barry's article: It's a feature, and specifically a regular column by Mr Barry, not a hard-news story. Features and commentary are real journalism, too.
As to your last line: Yes, I've used that cheap ploy, too, daring the comment screeners not to print my comment and crying censorship in advance. The difference is, I admit it's a cheap ploy and am at least embarrassed by resorting to it.
He specifically chose a gay nightclub. I don't know if he knew he was going there on 'Latin Night' and that the patrons would be overwhelmingly Latino; but it's LGBT every night, and he'd been there before, so he knew what kind of nightclub it was.
With regard to the transcripts: They are not being 'censored'. In fact, rather a lot of what happened in that nightclub has gotten out. Why do you need every gory detail? Is Game of Thrones not enough for you?
With regard to Mr Barry's article: It's a feature, and specifically a regular column by Mr Barry, not a hard-news story. Features and commentary are real journalism, too.
As to your last line: Yes, I've used that cheap ploy, too, daring the comment screeners not to print my comment and crying censorship in advance. The difference is, I admit it's a cheap ploy and am at least embarrassed by resorting to it.
3
How, how, HOW can you be so thick as to ignore the glaring irony in your own words. "It means that everyone is considered American, regardless of race or sexual orientation." I agree with you wholeheartedly here: race, orientation AND RELIGION should not be used as a tool by the media. Omar Mateen was also an American.
3
Because the whole pledge allegiance to ISIS was a red herring. A regular at a gay club with a Grindr account is a Muslim terrorist? Somehow, I think it was all cover for a nut whose self loathing was so great that he'd rather be remembered as a (counterfeit) ISIS fighter than the unhinged self loathing murderous and suicidal gay that he was.
5
Yes, we're waking up to a smaller and terrifying world. Why? Just some serious problems: climate change, an unsustainable populations in the 3rd world and the vast majority of the globe's land controlled by brutal Orwellian nightmare type governments where you will be tortured, jailed and/or killed if you advocate for individual civil liberties, free speech, gender equality and homosexual rights. There are billions more people on this planet that abhor those western values and principles than embrace them. We owe it to future generations to enact immigration law that protects its open societies from literally being overrun by millions of people who utterly detest its core values and principles, but want the economic benefits that come from western societies governed by the rule of law rather than ruled by man, a brutal ideology and/or a religion.
How do I know? I handled immigration cases before the federal courts in the United States as an Assistant U.S. Attorney.
What needs to be done? Change immigration law to impose a "merit based test" that allows an applicant to enter western nations only if (i) they will contribute to the nation's economy, (ii) they will not take a job away from a citizen, and (iii) demonstrate their personal practices and lifestyle embrace core western values and principles--an allegiance to individual civil liberties including free speech and gender equality.
Once done, we can help guide others into the Age of Enlightenment.
How do I know? I handled immigration cases before the federal courts in the United States as an Assistant U.S. Attorney.
What needs to be done? Change immigration law to impose a "merit based test" that allows an applicant to enter western nations only if (i) they will contribute to the nation's economy, (ii) they will not take a job away from a citizen, and (iii) demonstrate their personal practices and lifestyle embrace core western values and principles--an allegiance to individual civil liberties including free speech and gender equality.
Once done, we can help guide others into the Age of Enlightenment.
12
Sooo, I'm just curious. Tell me about how you would apply your standard to a five year old Honduran girl whose mother brought her here at great personal risk in the hope that maybe the child could have a better life than the horror of rape, beatings and gang violence that the mother fled.
3
Your list of suggested legislative changes, while spirited, does nothing to address the issues at hand. Omar Mateen was not an immigrant. He was a mentally unstable American. Your grandstanding also doesn't do your argument much good. Just makes you seem kinda sad, really.
3
Well said! There's a reason floods of immigrants aren't stopping in Turkey or Greece, they want to get to Germany or Britain. Central Americans aren't stopping in Mexico, they are continuing on to the US. They want all the resources while expecting those countries who accept them to accommodate - and fund - their way of life even if it conflicts with the host country's values.
But I suppose we shouldn't be surprised in our "what's in it for me?" America that others would not have the same attitudes.
After all, an employee of a Home Depot had no problem sporting an "America was never great!" ball cap during her shift. Apparently she saw nothing "great" in being able to express her opinion without risk of being arrested by the government. She saw nothing "great" in being a female allowed to work next to men, drive a car or go to college.
But I suppose we shouldn't be surprised in our "what's in it for me?" America that others would not have the same attitudes.
After all, an employee of a Home Depot had no problem sporting an "America was never great!" ball cap during her shift. Apparently she saw nothing "great" in being able to express her opinion without risk of being arrested by the government. She saw nothing "great" in being a female allowed to work next to men, drive a car or go to college.
1
If we are a 'Balkanised country' there's plenty of blame to go around. Yes, the right is preaching the politics of hatred and ignorance. But who is it fostering 'identity politics' and the slapping of labels on ourselves - and unavoidably on each other - and defining ourselves by those labels?
If you look at a rainbow flag (like the one flying on the flagpole on my lawn, which gets put up every June 1) you will note all the colours are stripes, with distinct borders. If you look at a real rainbow, though, you will see there are no clear dividing lines - the colours all melt, each into the next one, and when you get to one end of the spectrum you're back where you started - purple will melt into red.
(The alligator, along with poor Harambe, is a separate though not unrelated discussion, about how alienated we have become from the natural world. Wild animals are not toys or performers, and if you enter their environment they will not behave like Teddy Ruxpin or the singing critters in a Disney cartoon. It would never, ever occur to me to wade into a swamp in Florida, even on Disney property - gators have been known to turn up in backyard pools! The sad parents are victims of our over-urban, complacent society that fosters cluelessness about the natural world. No one told them what they needed to know about animals, Disney provided them with a false sense of security, and they and their child paid the price for their understandable naivete. )
If you look at a rainbow flag (like the one flying on the flagpole on my lawn, which gets put up every June 1) you will note all the colours are stripes, with distinct borders. If you look at a real rainbow, though, you will see there are no clear dividing lines - the colours all melt, each into the next one, and when you get to one end of the spectrum you're back where you started - purple will melt into red.
(The alligator, along with poor Harambe, is a separate though not unrelated discussion, about how alienated we have become from the natural world. Wild animals are not toys or performers, and if you enter their environment they will not behave like Teddy Ruxpin or the singing critters in a Disney cartoon. It would never, ever occur to me to wade into a swamp in Florida, even on Disney property - gators have been known to turn up in backyard pools! The sad parents are victims of our over-urban, complacent society that fosters cluelessness about the natural world. No one told them what they needed to know about animals, Disney provided them with a false sense of security, and they and their child paid the price for their understandable naivete. )
6
Everyone, except our esteemed political and military leaders, knows that when you thrust a stick into a hornet's nest, there's a very good chance you can or will get stung. Our endless, costly and stupid military adventures have brought death and destruction to vast parts of the world, yet we continue to think none of it will ever splash back on us? Think again folks. Our endless fascination with guns and militarization do not help, either. Sadly, it's the perfect, ugly storm for America and we created it, but worse, allow it to continue.
9
Um, homophobia, extreme religion, mental illness, and particularly a violent and primitive culture especially in regard to gender issues, did not originate with our entry into that area of the world. Well before the Treaty of Versailles, all the way back to Biblical times, people were killing each other.
Not uncommon in these comment strings is a childish pattern of thought that implicitly posits the US as the only actor with agency in a world otherwise full of helpless puppets that are acted upon by us and act only in reaction to us. This view of the US as supervillain - which is really only the right's superpatriotism turned inside out - is actually reassuring to the childlike mind: if all power is vested in us, then all we have to do is stop doing whatever it is we're doing, and everything will be hunky-dory. But especially when you're dealing with people who believe your very existence offends their deity, just minding your own business will not protect you. The mere fact that somewhere, anywhere, women wear shorts and drive cars, and gays are dancing, not only offends their god - it challenges his existence or implies he may not be all-powerful. So they take it upon themselves to do what God is not doing. (And I'm not referring solely to extreme Islam, either.)
Not uncommon in these comment strings is a childish pattern of thought that implicitly posits the US as the only actor with agency in a world otherwise full of helpless puppets that are acted upon by us and act only in reaction to us. This view of the US as supervillain - which is really only the right's superpatriotism turned inside out - is actually reassuring to the childlike mind: if all power is vested in us, then all we have to do is stop doing whatever it is we're doing, and everything will be hunky-dory. But especially when you're dealing with people who believe your very existence offends their deity, just minding your own business will not protect you. The mere fact that somewhere, anywhere, women wear shorts and drive cars, and gays are dancing, not only offends their god - it challenges his existence or implies he may not be all-powerful. So they take it upon themselves to do what God is not doing. (And I'm not referring solely to extreme Islam, either.)
2
You may want to reduce this to a religious argument, but that's simplistic and incorrect. The fact is, the US is the only power in the world that is working, brutally I might add, to overthrow governments, institute regime change and in the process, has dispossessed millions of innocent people of their homes, livelihoods and families. According to your theory, those who are lashing out at the US should also be attacking Paraguay, the Vatican, New Zealand, Japan and the Eskimos. But, that's not happening at all. The US has over the last 30+ years allied itself with and supported plenty of hard core religious fundamentalists, from the Taliban to Saudi Arabia. And, to what end, I ask? Everyone's gods are and can be offended by what the US has done. It is inhuman and inexcusable.
Oh bosh, Karekin. These extremist deities drink blood like water. They are attacking the US because we are big and visible. They probably can't even find Paraguay on a map. They have also attacked European countries and Australians (in the Bali nightclub bombing, which i'm sure you don't remember) because GW Bush, like a stopped clock that's right twice a day, said one true thing: they hate our freedoms.
A great piece by a great writer, as usual.
But- a thought keeps running through my head. Among those hundreds of people knowing they were to be slaughtered _the siege went on for three hours - wasn't there one person with the instinct for survival and leadership qualities to convince five guys as follows. "You're going to die anyway. When he is changing magazines we charge at him together. He can't kill us all." It's happened in history many times, most recently on the train in France. Those three Americans were military, as am I, and maybe that's why I think this way. Maybe its a lesson to be learned if, or when, a similar situation arises in the future.
They were all young, friendly, and full of life. This shouldn't have happened.
But- a thought keeps running through my head. Among those hundreds of people knowing they were to be slaughtered _the siege went on for three hours - wasn't there one person with the instinct for survival and leadership qualities to convince five guys as follows. "You're going to die anyway. When he is changing magazines we charge at him together. He can't kill us all." It's happened in history many times, most recently on the train in France. Those three Americans were military, as am I, and maybe that's why I think this way. Maybe its a lesson to be learned if, or when, a similar situation arises in the future.
They were all young, friendly, and full of life. This shouldn't have happened.
4
i wonder also why that didn't happen, the way it did on flight 93. but most of the rest of us weren't there and it's not fair to second guess why no one stepped up. but i can imagine that, at least at the start, with pounding music, semi darkness with who knows what kind of wacky lighting effects, and hordes of people screaming and running it would have been very difficult to get a clear picture of what to do, and how and with whom.
5
The victims are not to blame for their deaths.
1
For all of the catchy slogans of unity: "#OneOrlando", etc. - the stark truth is that we have become an intolerant nation, not just over gender, but religion, immigration, race, economic class, and of course political belief. And when we see that intolerance acted out every day in Congress, and other legislative bodies, and reported 24/7 by the MSM, it gets reinforced.
And the intolerance - and the hate and fear it engenders - is not just restricted to places like Orlando, Newtown, Aurora, Charleston, it infects everywhere from big cities to small hamlets. I live in a tiny place, over two thousand miles away from Orlando, and was speaking with a young gay man after the horror was reported, and he told me, "I feel very vulnerable, even here, because this shows that it can happen anywhere, any time". I was struck by the fact that this young person, a born and bred American, supposedly endowed with the rights we're all supposed to enjoy, cannot enjoy them because of widespread, culturally sanctioned intolerance. It was a very sobering realization.
But if we wait for our supposed "leaders" to show us how to become more tolerant and accepting, we'll never get there. The remedy we seek has to come from us. Instead of buttons and bumper stickers, trying to convince others to change, we need convince ourselves to live what we preach. "Judge not, lest ye be judged".
And the intolerance - and the hate and fear it engenders - is not just restricted to places like Orlando, Newtown, Aurora, Charleston, it infects everywhere from big cities to small hamlets. I live in a tiny place, over two thousand miles away from Orlando, and was speaking with a young gay man after the horror was reported, and he told me, "I feel very vulnerable, even here, because this shows that it can happen anywhere, any time". I was struck by the fact that this young person, a born and bred American, supposedly endowed with the rights we're all supposed to enjoy, cannot enjoy them because of widespread, culturally sanctioned intolerance. It was a very sobering realization.
But if we wait for our supposed "leaders" to show us how to become more tolerant and accepting, we'll never get there. The remedy we seek has to come from us. Instead of buttons and bumper stickers, trying to convince others to change, we need convince ourselves to live what we preach. "Judge not, lest ye be judged".
9
If your young man cannot distinguish between a Muslim terrorist attack and one that is specifically anti-gay, he needs to be educated in the realities of the world. Your "culturally sanctioned" discrimination is restricted to fringe groups. If it is that way in your tiny hamlet, perhaps move to somewhere more enlightened and civilized?
I believe the Orlando attack was both motivated by extreme Muslim philosophy and anti-gay.
For my part, I feel safer here personally than anywhere else, but the young man who has suffered discrimination and hate for years is much more sensitive so I doubt he'll feel safe anywhere.
For my part, I feel safer here personally than anywhere else, but the young man who has suffered discrimination and hate for years is much more sensitive so I doubt he'll feel safe anywhere.
All too familiar in Iraq as well. Sunni/Shia violence has been horrific and so common since Saddam fell from power, that it doesn't even make the news any more. Marketplaces, theaters, mosques, libraries, schools have been subject to near weekly bombings for years now. Familiar in Syria and Yemen as well, unfortunately. Awful.
5
Unfortunately, the people who need to vote those legislators out on their kiesters believe this is just business as usual, nothing to see here...unless it affects them personally. In other words, no empathy. It's only about them. Which is why they like Trump so much; he's one of them. This has become one lean, mean country.
8
This will never be real to most people until they can see the scene, a picture is worth a thousand words.
3
"....goes boom, boom,....."
And there it is in a nutshell---a totally delusional, raised-on-movie-gun-fantasies, completely AMERICAN response.
I will vote for far less "boom, boom".
And there it is in a nutshell---a totally delusional, raised-on-movie-gun-fantasies, completely AMERICAN response.
I will vote for far less "boom, boom".
9
Epcot and Disneyworld are meant to be inspirational, not reality. The gay lifestyle is part of the disintegration of American Social Values, along with widespread use of drugs for recreation, alcohol overuse and sexual decadence. You can't have it both ways. Civility and perversity, they do not co-exist. The shooter in this case did the same thing that the San Bernadino shooter did; he went to a place that he was familiar with. Thats all. Oh and one last thing, Treyvon Martin was killed by a man who was fighting for his life. As Treyvon Martin slammed the mans' head into the pavement repeatedly he was shot. Luckily, the man had a hand gun or he might have been the one killed. Reality is indeed difficult to face.
2
The shooter by many accounts was a latent homosexual who because of an environment of intolerance hated the very men who appealed to him and who he could never have. So perhaps you have it exactly backwards.
16
Omg, bongo. I gotta go to work, so I can't take a lot of time on this. Man, you got to chill. You are wound too tight.
Within any group you will find some bad actors. Nursing home residents, middle school kids, bowling teams. But for you to across-the-board condemn a bunch of young people at a dance club because of your definition of perversity is perverse in itself.
A lot of stuff in life doesn't suit me. Sometimes people with whom I must deal are unreasonable. Sometimes I just think they are flat-out wrong. But I don't blast them to smithereens with a machine gun. What the heck?
Within any group you will find some bad actors. Nursing home residents, middle school kids, bowling teams. But for you to across-the-board condemn a bunch of young people at a dance club because of your definition of perversity is perverse in itself.
A lot of stuff in life doesn't suit me. Sometimes people with whom I must deal are unreasonable. Sometimes I just think they are flat-out wrong. But I don't blast them to smithereens with a machine gun. What the heck?
19
No, you do not have a right to define "American Social Values" no matter what fables you tell yourself, much less "perversity".
3
Everyone tries to extract meaning from the mass shootings that occur. The common ground for most is to call for gun control. We try to honor the victims, but they melt into each other. If you are LGBT and Latino, the Pulse shooting means something extra. Because many are particularly sensitive to children dying, the Newtown shooting stands out. But absent some sort of connection to the setting, I find mass killings to be like tornadoes or plane crashes, tragic but not life-changing for me. Nothing moves me more than a road rage shooting around the corner or a hiker dying on a trail I hike. I'm not the least bit desensitized to local deaths. But murders across the country seem like business as usual. I can pass on the moral lectures some may want to give. I think I speak for most people. After all, if everyone were horrified all that gun legislation would have passed.
3
Elected officials are bought and paid for by the gun lobby. They fear the NRA more than largely disorganized electorate.
1
Orlando has always - or at least since Disney - been a place of delusion in which to lure the suckers.
20
Headlines like on this article "catapults the propaganda" about being terrified. Reminds me of Tom Ridge's color codes designed to keep us under our beds after 9-11. We are more likely to die from being crushed by furniture than by terrorism.
3
so far. Bartolo, but terrorists are crushing villages in Syria and Iraq, killing many many folks who don't follow their harsh beliefs. Meanwhile terrorists are trying to get weapons of mass destruction.
A sweet story of sadness. The same of course can be said about a school in Connecticut or a movie house in Colorado or a Government building in California, etc., etc. We all instantly deeply express our profound thoughts of sadness and sincere condolence and then we buy more guns because we don't want to have this happen to us and life moves on. This country is so fake it makes Disney World the grown-up in the room.
12
How disgraceful. Useless lawmakers adding insult to injury.
The public needs to know the names of each an everyone of those senators who voted against guns control. What a bunch a heartless cowards.
We need to know who they are. Out with the names of those Senate Republicans who chose once again to side with the NRA. Disgraceful, Appalling, Disgusting!
The public needs to know the names of each an everyone of those senators who voted against guns control. What a bunch a heartless cowards.
We need to know who they are. Out with the names of those Senate Republicans who chose once again to side with the NRA. Disgraceful, Appalling, Disgusting!
31
It's not just guns.
It's a mindset.
Remember Timothy James McVeigh?
He didn't use a gun.
He was an American who detonated a truck in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995 that killed 168 people and injured over 674 people.
"According to the United States Government, it was the deadliest act within the United States prior to the September 11 attacks, and remains the most significant act in United States history.
"He learned from co-conspirator Terry Nichols how to readily available materials; specifically, they combined household chemicals in plastic jugs."
Maybe we should ban plastic jugs.
Excluding mental deficiencies, this all starts in the home, bad friends, or radical teachers.
2
"Guns. Gay rights. Islamic extremism. Immigration. Latinos. Guns."
An event like this has the possibility to further a dialogue about all of the above. But unfortunately Trump, Clinton, and outspoken allies of each are using this for political purposes.
These issues are huge. They shouldn't be manipulated for personal political gain nor for verbally and angrily attacking others, but for discourse and action. I agree with the historian quoted that this toxic election season is adding fuel to the fire (not a direct quote).
An event like this has the possibility to further a dialogue about all of the above. But unfortunately Trump, Clinton, and outspoken allies of each are using this for political purposes.
These issues are huge. They shouldn't be manipulated for personal political gain nor for verbally and angrily attacking others, but for discourse and action. I agree with the historian quoted that this toxic election season is adding fuel to the fire (not a direct quote).
6
I remember when four dead in Ohio was a shocking number of innocents to die.
36
Blue, 9/11 changed all of that.
And amazingly, everyone has forgotten about it. I mean EVERYONE. The media has forgotten. People have forgotten about terrorists. They have forgotten that the biggest terror attack in history did not involve even one gun. Just boxcutters.
If you can forget 9/11, then we will forget Orlando in a week or two.
And amazingly, everyone has forgotten about it. I mean EVERYONE. The media has forgotten. People have forgotten about terrorists. They have forgotten that the biggest terror attack in history did not involve even one gun. Just boxcutters.
If you can forget 9/11, then we will forget Orlando in a week or two.
6
A key difference is that they were killed by our government.
1
I disagree. I don't think anyone has or ever will forget 9/11. We fought two wars because of it and it's something that will live in our hearts just as the bombing of Pearl Harbor, but life goes on. The issue now is guns and how easily that assault weapons can be obtained. We can't change what happened on 9/11, but we have the ability to change the current gun laws.
4
The idea that people should be bringing guns into a club as a means of protection is ridiculous. How is the person at the door supposed to know who the bad guys and good guys are. Do you tell him it's OK for you to bring a gun in because you are only going to protect yourself. Yeah, a bunch of drunk guys with guns. Sounds safe to me.
42
If they didn't stop the ISIS admirer at the door, why would they stop anyone else, VMG?
Orlando is a beautiful city, full of beautiful people from all over America and the world.
It is what some feel is the perfect example of the American melting pot, everyone is welcome and we should respect everyone's sensibilities. It is also what makes Omar's violence somewhat ironic. Like Mohammed Atta's use of American airliners, Omar was able to conduct his terrorist attack against oft maligned groups; gays and Latino's, because he too was of a minority who's sensibilities were to be never offended.
Don't think for a moment Omar didn't know this.
It is what some feel is the perfect example of the American melting pot, everyone is welcome and we should respect everyone's sensibilities. It is also what makes Omar's violence somewhat ironic. Like Mohammed Atta's use of American airliners, Omar was able to conduct his terrorist attack against oft maligned groups; gays and Latino's, because he too was of a minority who's sensibilities were to be never offended.
Don't think for a moment Omar didn't know this.
2
In my wildest dreams I cannot find any rational reasoning as to why ordinary citizens should be allowed to own military style assualt rifles. None. The extremists that rule the NRA and apparantly our Congreess do. The American public are finally coming around to think they at least need to be controlled or limited. A step in the right direction but not far enough. They need to be banned and as in Australia bought back by the government under a mandatory buyback program. Short of that they will eventually drive this country apart. Without national intervrention these horific events will continue. Without national intervention communities will begin to take more extreme localised action. Donald wants to build a wall at the Mexican border. Can you imagine when the community next door decides to build a wall around itself and bans assualt rifles and you will need to be searched before you are allowed to enter it. Is this what it is going to take to make ourselves safe? This is the direction we are moving in and it's sad. This November we all need to look at elections and do some soul searching on who to elect that will help us take our country back. We need elected representatives that represent us, the majority. Congress is right now viewed positively but only 16% of the population and that is up from a low. How sad is that. We obviously think they are doing a horrible job. Well fire the lot of them.
29
You really should read about the history of the Bill of Rights, with emphasis on the second amendment. People have written books on that subject alone. They are easy to find. Log into the website of the book seller and search "second amendment".
The second amendment was written 225 years ago. It is 27 words long. Available weaponry was very different then the weaponry of today. The founding fathers realized that the constitution was written for their times and circumstances. For that reason there is the mechanism to allow for amendments. Amendments to adapt to the times. I think the times are ripe for a rigorous debate on guns in society. I would call the death by guns of nearly 100 Americans a day is an epidemic that needs addressing.
1
The solution to many of those gun deaths is education, but Obama declared war on the largest gun education organization in the country early in his administration. The facts are that very few NRA members are criminals who use their guns illegally. As for your assumptions of why and how the amendment was written I again suggest further reading. The constitution was written to serve the country into the future, not just for contemporary times. The right to self defense requires adaptation to the times and the prevalent guns of the day.
A big dose of reality on how the world works and the reality of radical Islam just walked into the door of America again. As sad as Orlando is, it is going to happen again unless we as Americans are really willing to destroy the evil who sees us, the USA, as evil.
Forgiving the people who subscribe to radical Islam or trying in the slightest way to placate Islam, is not an option for peace.
Forgiving the people who subscribe to radical Islam or trying in the slightest way to placate Islam, is not an option for peace.
3
And America that is a show, with neon lights on land and sea, on buildings and boats, is the America the ads promote. But a deeper darker America seethes, and breathes the toxic fumes of hate, sadism and nihilism. My best friend moved to Port St.Lucie, FL and seven months after moving there he died unexpectedly leaving a gaping hole in my life. He described Port St.Lucie as idyllic, bragged he could not have chosen a better place to retire and wanted me to visit. He was gay. If he had been alive he would not have believed that Omar Mateen grew up in Port St.Lucie. Originally from India, I'm always fascinated about small town, America--its crimes and grime, its drugs and shootings, how underneath its quiet facade there lurks the turbulence of dissension, confrontations, anger and violence. But Orlando is not small town. It is large and vibrant and now seems more dangerous than ever before. "America is so dangerous", my relatives tell me when they call me from, Chennai, India. "Be careful there. Don't get killed!" I am a doctor. I deal with the public everyday. A woman accompanied her husband into my office and told me how a motorist cut him off on the road and he wanted to pursue that guy and have it out. "Is this normal?" she asked me. I told her, "No!" though the husband seemed normal. I didn't find out if he had a gun in the car that day. One cannot always know when the abnormal will emerge from the normal. Therein lies the flammability of America.
18
Credit should be given to the NRA for being the only manufacturers association in the country, that somehow, gets its customers to pay for its marketing campaigns.
This is a remarkable feat - it is unimaginable, for example, that people would join a dues collecting organization, that existed to market television sets to them, but that is exactly what the gun industry is doing via the NRA.
The 2nd amendment is important, and must be preserved; but not every product in the Gun Manufacturers inventories is appropriate for general distribution. Just as automobile manufacturers can't sell a car without seat belts, or a muffler, there are firearms that are inappropriate for general distribution.
Perhaps, if the anti-gun fanatics could bring themselves to admit that guns are not inherently evil, and the manufacturers could accept reduced sales, a compromise could be achieved.
This is a remarkable feat - it is unimaginable, for example, that people would join a dues collecting organization, that existed to market television sets to them, but that is exactly what the gun industry is doing via the NRA.
The 2nd amendment is important, and must be preserved; but not every product in the Gun Manufacturers inventories is appropriate for general distribution. Just as automobile manufacturers can't sell a car without seat belts, or a muffler, there are firearms that are inappropriate for general distribution.
Perhaps, if the anti-gun fanatics could bring themselves to admit that guns are not inherently evil, and the manufacturers could accept reduced sales, a compromise could be achieved.
1
And yet, as of yet, we are unwilling to ask the hard questions and make the reforms which would disallow these sorts of incidents.
No one is asking, which US operatives in Afghanistan in the late seventies, early eighties placed the Mateen family in the US? We know US operatives at the time were working with Al Qaeda and OBL in the war against the Soviets.
But again and again, these members of our military intel community place the principals in these tragedies in position from which they can do great harm.
No one questioned what John Brennan did or did not do as station chief in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the time when most of the 9/11 hijackers got their visas to enter the US in Riyadh, and moved to the US living near major military installations like CentCom and San Diego for several years.
No one questions that Graham Fuller through his son in law Uncle Ruslan, moved the Tsarnaev family to the US so that the Boston Bombers were in position to inflict great harm.
No we all wring our hands and say how could we know, when those who placed these monsters in our midst to commit grievous harms in all cases work for the American taxpayer.
Can't we hire people with better judgement than this.
Or not give them so many resources that they can cause so much harm?
No one is asking, which US operatives in Afghanistan in the late seventies, early eighties placed the Mateen family in the US? We know US operatives at the time were working with Al Qaeda and OBL in the war against the Soviets.
But again and again, these members of our military intel community place the principals in these tragedies in position from which they can do great harm.
No one questioned what John Brennan did or did not do as station chief in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the time when most of the 9/11 hijackers got their visas to enter the US in Riyadh, and moved to the US living near major military installations like CentCom and San Diego for several years.
No one questions that Graham Fuller through his son in law Uncle Ruslan, moved the Tsarnaev family to the US so that the Boston Bombers were in position to inflict great harm.
No we all wring our hands and say how could we know, when those who placed these monsters in our midst to commit grievous harms in all cases work for the American taxpayer.
Can't we hire people with better judgement than this.
Or not give them so many resources that they can cause so much harm?
4
"Separate is not equal" were four pivotal words. "A well regulated military being necessary to the security of the state," twelve words -- the preamble to the Second Amendment, indicate clearly that the authors intended that the possession of arms be well regulated. So get over it and allow gun safety regulations.
There's more. There are 11,000 violent and accidental non-suicide gun deaths in the USA each year and a companion 60,000 wounded. That's 5.45 wounded for each one killed. That's 71,000 gun victims each year which extends to 7.1 million friends, family and acquaintances who knew these victims using a 100X formula. That's 2.2% of the population -- not including the 21,000 suicides.
Yet we endure a Republican Party and its allegiance to the NRA and its fog of information. We all wonder if finally with Donald Trump and the GOP in disarray -- all due to Mitch McConnell's failed GOP business model, that we are at last at a political inflection point.
That's why 2016 is a truly historic election year.
Lastly, I wonder how long it will take to seep into the American psyche that Sandy Hook, Charleston, San Bernadino and Orlando were any town any where and it could happen where you are reading this.
It's a man-made nightmare and it has the NRA and GOP written all over it.
There's more. There are 11,000 violent and accidental non-suicide gun deaths in the USA each year and a companion 60,000 wounded. That's 5.45 wounded for each one killed. That's 71,000 gun victims each year which extends to 7.1 million friends, family and acquaintances who knew these victims using a 100X formula. That's 2.2% of the population -- not including the 21,000 suicides.
Yet we endure a Republican Party and its allegiance to the NRA and its fog of information. We all wonder if finally with Donald Trump and the GOP in disarray -- all due to Mitch McConnell's failed GOP business model, that we are at last at a political inflection point.
That's why 2016 is a truly historic election year.
Lastly, I wonder how long it will take to seep into the American psyche that Sandy Hook, Charleston, San Bernadino and Orlando were any town any where and it could happen where you are reading this.
It's a man-made nightmare and it has the NRA and GOP written all over it.
9
Ken:
I also favor some types of additional gun control laws, yet...
Your numbers basically fall into the category of fearmongering. Most gun homicides are gang/drug related. Gun accidents remain fairly insignificant (e.g. about 600 per year). If a person stays away from gangs and dealing drugs their individual risk falls by more than half. If they don't own a gun or take a gun safety course, it falls even further.
Simply put, the risk of firearm homicide to the general population is tiny. (The same is true of the risk of terrorism.) Overestimating risks is dangerous because it not only causes people to overreact in response, but also to not focus on the bigger risks in life (e.g. heart disease, cancer, auto accidents, power equipment usage, etc.)
I also favor some types of additional gun control laws, yet...
Your numbers basically fall into the category of fearmongering. Most gun homicides are gang/drug related. Gun accidents remain fairly insignificant (e.g. about 600 per year). If a person stays away from gangs and dealing drugs their individual risk falls by more than half. If they don't own a gun or take a gun safety course, it falls even further.
Simply put, the risk of firearm homicide to the general population is tiny. (The same is true of the risk of terrorism.) Overestimating risks is dangerous because it not only causes people to overreact in response, but also to not focus on the bigger risks in life (e.g. heart disease, cancer, auto accidents, power equipment usage, etc.)
A quote from James Madison, "The advantage of being armed [is an advantage which] the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation...In the several kingdoms of Europe... the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms"
'The Federalist on the New Constitution' (Philadelphia: Benjamin Warner, 1818), p. 259, Federalist No. 46 by James Madison.
'The Federalist on the New Constitution' (Philadelphia: Benjamin Warner, 1818), p. 259, Federalist No. 46 by James Madison.
2
It's not fear mongering its math. You have to live in an area where every now and then you see a 26 year-old in a Jazzy electric skooter/chair wheeling down the sidewalk because he was paralyzed by a wound.
There are also collateral deaths and wounds.
The 21,000 suicides leave their scars on families and friends too. Every family has on or knows of one -- a young teenager through 30 years old who is gone and not there at Christmas time. So don't skirt the subject.
Each death or wound is a terrorist act of sorts. Our gun culture and video game and move violence projects the concept of violence. Some play out the role because they saw and learned the concept.
There are also collateral deaths and wounds.
The 21,000 suicides leave their scars on families and friends too. Every family has on or knows of one -- a young teenager through 30 years old who is gone and not there at Christmas time. So don't skirt the subject.
Each death or wound is a terrorist act of sorts. Our gun culture and video game and move violence projects the concept of violence. Some play out the role because they saw and learned the concept.
Americans have no respect for human life. It became official after the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam war. One of many not otherwise publicized. All of the perpetrators, war criminals, who killed defenseless women, children and the elderly, raped the women and children, were pardoned of their crimes and let loose. Even Lt. Calley was let off easy after American public opinion said that he wasn't guilty of anything other than following orders.
Medical error by our doctors and nurses are responsible for more than 1000 preventable deaths a day, plus 10,000 non fatal injuries a day.
Cops kill people on a whim and get away with it. Our military continues to kill more civilians than enemy combatants. Nursing home administrators let their helpless charges drown in hurricane flood waters. I once saw a bumper sticker that said "Swim Grandma". Only the people of South Louisiana would recognize what that means.
America has no respect of human life and these mass murders are just a symptom.
Medical error by our doctors and nurses are responsible for more than 1000 preventable deaths a day, plus 10,000 non fatal injuries a day.
Cops kill people on a whim and get away with it. Our military continues to kill more civilians than enemy combatants. Nursing home administrators let their helpless charges drown in hurricane flood waters. I once saw a bumper sticker that said "Swim Grandma". Only the people of South Louisiana would recognize what that means.
America has no respect of human life and these mass murders are just a symptom.
7
People like Robert Jminez contribute to an environment of hate which makes these incidents possible. In France he could be charged with incitement to hatred; in the U.S. we can only counter it with expressions of support for tolerance. Such ranting bigots should remember that bigotry flies in all directions, and that they could also be its victims - would they rejoice in murder then? And what does he make of 1 Corinthians 13 : "Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth."?
1
"Balkanized state and nation" my foot. Life in America is absolutely peaceful and safe. Crime rates have been steadily diminishing since the 1990s. It is profoundly irresponsible for the NYT to promote this kind of fear mongering, as championed by the NRA, which leads people to buy lethal weapons for 'self defence', and then to use them to actually kill people. As opposed to Europe, where people perceive no such threat, and therefore don't feel the need to own a gun.
4
It is my guess based on Omar Mateen's history of violence and acting out from childhood on that he had a childhood brain injury. In the interest of understanding his behavior, I hope that an autopsy is done on him, as well as a thorough medical, educational, and psychosocial history. This is not to deny other factors that drove his behavior, but simply to seek a full understanding of him.
3
One nation? Never!
From the beginning when the Southern states had to be threatened with economic boycotts to join through the war they were dragged into to make them stay this has always been two nations. The South with its overwhelmingly Anglo-Saxon population and attendance to Episcopal, Baptist, Presbyterian and Methodist church affiliations and the North with its mix of nationalities and cultures and the old oppressive church that had caused so many to leave Europe.
The agricultural South with its slaves and the industrializing North with immigrants treated little better. The South which preferred to sell its cotton to the highest bidder and the Northern factories that had Congress pass export tariffs to force the cotton to be sold to them.
Today, a South that is still conservative in its religion and reverence for military service, its citizens an overwhelmingly large part of it and a North with disdain for the force which it considers brutish and uneducated.
The South with its God, guns and religion and a North which has eliminated all three as being an anachronistic in these "enlightened" times.
You'd have to be blind to see that the gulf between us is wider than ever and rapprochement is no longer possible. There is genuine hatred shown daily in the comments in every newspaper.
Surely it is time to look for a peaceable way to separate. The world will lose the tyrant it needs and hates and we'll all be a lot happier.
From the beginning when the Southern states had to be threatened with economic boycotts to join through the war they were dragged into to make them stay this has always been two nations. The South with its overwhelmingly Anglo-Saxon population and attendance to Episcopal, Baptist, Presbyterian and Methodist church affiliations and the North with its mix of nationalities and cultures and the old oppressive church that had caused so many to leave Europe.
The agricultural South with its slaves and the industrializing North with immigrants treated little better. The South which preferred to sell its cotton to the highest bidder and the Northern factories that had Congress pass export tariffs to force the cotton to be sold to them.
Today, a South that is still conservative in its religion and reverence for military service, its citizens an overwhelmingly large part of it and a North with disdain for the force which it considers brutish and uneducated.
The South with its God, guns and religion and a North which has eliminated all three as being an anachronistic in these "enlightened" times.
You'd have to be blind to see that the gulf between us is wider than ever and rapprochement is no longer possible. There is genuine hatred shown daily in the comments in every newspaper.
Surely it is time to look for a peaceable way to separate. The world will lose the tyrant it needs and hates and we'll all be a lot happier.
2
What the hell are you talking about? Us? Them? Gulfs? I read your incessant screeds and here is what they are all about: Me! I read earlier about your heroic relative who burned the haystack, whew, we are free because of you I guess?
Well I think your incredibly narrow point has been made ad infinitum to any reader of these comments so how about heading to the barn and beating one of your plowshares into an atom bomb or something, in case They show up.
Well I think your incredibly narrow point has been made ad infinitum to any reader of these comments so how about heading to the barn and beating one of your plowshares into an atom bomb or something, in case They show up.
3
Lacking any ability to defend your belief that we shouldn't separate you resort to an ad hominem attack.
A typically reaction from the intellectually bankrupt.
As for my views there are more who are ready to separate than you'd believe.
A typically reaction from the intellectually bankrupt.
As for my views there are more who are ready to separate than you'd believe.
When we reach the point of these tragedies happening every day one has to wonder whether "love" is really the answer. Maybe anger is the answer. Anger at the politicians who allow this pathetic cycle of death and "grieving" to continue. Anger at each other for perpetuating non-existent differences between us that keep us from moving forward as one nation, and not a group of special interests. Anger at the rotting away of our core values as a society, dissolving that sense of security and stability that was the American life.
If you want to mourn something, mourn that. The pathetic chants of "love" following each of these tragedies makes them that much sadder...and more inevitable.
If you want to mourn something, mourn that. The pathetic chants of "love" following each of these tragedies makes them that much sadder...and more inevitable.
14
You cannot compel, order, force, coerce, or require people to love. Our emotions are out of our control. Our choice is not whether or not to feel an emotion, but whether or not to act on it.
Whoever you are out there: I don't care if you hate me. I'm OK with that. I've been hated by better people than you, I'm sure, and for better reasons. And I reserve my right to hate you. (Some people are hateful, and should be hated.) Or dislike you, or disagree with you, or disapprove of you. And to say so. And you have the same rights of freedom of speech, thought, and conscience, which apply even to those thoughts one finds repugnant.
What you do NOT have is the right to act on those feelings or thoughts in a way that deprives me of my rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
I don't give a flip if you hate me, or think your God hates me. Just don't shoot me, or beat me, or poison my cat, or vandalise my car, or try to get me fired from my job, or similar hostile acts.
And in return I will likewise put up with you.
Why, oh why, is that so hard for so many people?
Whoever you are out there: I don't care if you hate me. I'm OK with that. I've been hated by better people than you, I'm sure, and for better reasons. And I reserve my right to hate you. (Some people are hateful, and should be hated.) Or dislike you, or disagree with you, or disapprove of you. And to say so. And you have the same rights of freedom of speech, thought, and conscience, which apply even to those thoughts one finds repugnant.
What you do NOT have is the right to act on those feelings or thoughts in a way that deprives me of my rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
I don't give a flip if you hate me, or think your God hates me. Just don't shoot me, or beat me, or poison my cat, or vandalise my car, or try to get me fired from my job, or similar hostile acts.
And in return I will likewise put up with you.
Why, oh why, is that so hard for so many people?
5
".... I've been hated by better people than you..."
Well, these stock phrases are obstacles to thinking and feeling. Do you really think that? Isn't that ranking and sorting of people 'exactly' what the killer does, only with a gun? Are you really so sure you are better than the next person?
Well, these stock phrases are obstacles to thinking and feeling. Do you really think that? Isn't that ranking and sorting of people 'exactly' what the killer does, only with a gun? Are you really so sure you are better than the next person?
Motive drives an action. The gun is simply the means. The list of ways in which the Radical Islamists have threatened, terrorized and killed us is long. Think about bombs - underwear bombs, shoe bombs, backpack bombs and airplane bombs. Then the knives - stabbings and beheadings, proudly brought to your living room by video. Sure guns are too available and we should license and monitor their owners, but seriously, this is not about guns. The motive is the hate directed against the Western way of life by a radical offshoot of a religion that instructs a devout follower to destroy anything not adhering to Sharia law. I simply no longer buy Obama's theory that saying this out loud will energize the terrorists. We've done it his way for 8 years and we have had non stop terror. Time to admit that Obama's insistence that when you hear ISIS, you hear not their weakness, but our weakness in liking our guns. We are just fine. They are the problem.
11
'Islamic terrorism' has accounted for 0.0013% of all gun related deaths in the US over the past year, including Orlando. And you think Islamic extremism is the problem?
2
Live together or die.
Growing up in the 50's I was taught that the USA was a "melting pot", where people of diverse backgrounds came together, shared common objectives, were blended into "Americans", and became one people.
In reality the divisions Mr. Barry cites so well in this excellent article, and other divisions as well, have always existed. Our history is one of inner turmoil. Ethnic, racial, class, and religious divisions have persisted, and they have erupted repeatedly. Even during times when the country has seemingly pulled together, such as during WW II, those divisions were merely less noticeable, never resolved.
Problems so seemingly intractable have repeatedly given way to violence, possibly out of frustration as much as out of hatred, anger, greed, prejudice and fear. The world situation shows us that it isn't just in America. And as Mr. Barry points out, it's a small, small world.
I recall the columnist Sidney Harris writing, many years ago, that the measure of intelligence is tolerance. I find wisdom in that still. Tolerance is the hope of the world. Its absence inevitably leads to violence and destruction. Is that our lot? Or is there hope?
Growing up in the 50's I was taught that the USA was a "melting pot", where people of diverse backgrounds came together, shared common objectives, were blended into "Americans", and became one people.
In reality the divisions Mr. Barry cites so well in this excellent article, and other divisions as well, have always existed. Our history is one of inner turmoil. Ethnic, racial, class, and religious divisions have persisted, and they have erupted repeatedly. Even during times when the country has seemingly pulled together, such as during WW II, those divisions were merely less noticeable, never resolved.
Problems so seemingly intractable have repeatedly given way to violence, possibly out of frustration as much as out of hatred, anger, greed, prejudice and fear. The world situation shows us that it isn't just in America. And as Mr. Barry points out, it's a small, small world.
I recall the columnist Sidney Harris writing, many years ago, that the measure of intelligence is tolerance. I find wisdom in that still. Tolerance is the hope of the world. Its absence inevitably leads to violence and destruction. Is that our lot? Or is there hope?
10
It's bad enough LGBT issues weren't front and center in this article (although the writer tried ), but this entire comments section has been thoroughly gaywashed, as if this event didn't even take place in a gay bar (or, more properly, a bar that catered to the LGBT community). Try to divorce Aurora from the movie theater or Newtown from the school. That's what you get when you "forget" these were LGBT people who were targeted. Yes, Latinos and Latinas, but members of the LGBT community, which is what brought them to Pulse. It's what brought the gunman there too.
3
'“And this son of a bitch comes out and starts shooting, and one of the people in that room happened to have it, and goes boom, boom — you know what, that would have been a beautiful, beautiful sight, folks,” said Mr. Trump'
Unless, of course, another few of the people in the room who also happen to have guns start shooting. Then others with guns think that there are many "shooters" and the gun fight at the OK Corral breaks out in a dark room with 300 people and pulsating music. Not so beautiful after all.
Unless, of course, another few of the people in the room who also happen to have guns start shooting. Then others with guns think that there are many "shooters" and the gun fight at the OK Corral breaks out in a dark room with 300 people and pulsating music. Not so beautiful after all.
58
Gun shots of a racist homophobe might momentarily silent the vibrancy of life but not its resilience to come back alive again to share common grief felt for the lost ones and take up the remaining part of the worldly journey with new resolve and hope.
5
"The final belief is to believe in a fiction, which you know to be a fiction, there being nothing else. The exquisite truth is to know that it is a fiction and to believe in it willingly."
Wallace Stevens
Wallace Stevens
2
Beautifully written, Mr. Barry. Thank you.
13
this human interest perspective on the orlando massacre and the light it casts on "diversity" is understandable but does not clarify the basic issue.
"diversity" -- aka fragmentation, regionalism, separatism, political conflict and loss of central control -- are the historically common symptoms that precede the decline of great civilizations.
the reason for the decline? the civilizations become too complex to manage. the only remedy for the breakdown of complex systems of control is more complexity, which accelerates the breakdown of control. see Joseph Tainter, "The Collapse of Complex Societies".
we can debate political ideas, but in truth politics turns on demographics and economics. we can debate our disagreements and divisions, but they arise out of the complexity of our society, and both demographics and economics predict that the future will only be more complex and impractical to manage.
"diversity" -- aka fragmentation, regionalism, separatism, political conflict and loss of central control -- are the historically common symptoms that precede the decline of great civilizations.
the reason for the decline? the civilizations become too complex to manage. the only remedy for the breakdown of complex systems of control is more complexity, which accelerates the breakdown of control. see Joseph Tainter, "The Collapse of Complex Societies".
we can debate political ideas, but in truth politics turns on demographics and economics. we can debate our disagreements and divisions, but they arise out of the complexity of our society, and both demographics and economics predict that the future will only be more complex and impractical to manage.
13
Are you referring to the diversity State Senator Darren M. Soto was talking about? Isn't integration and acceptance then about making the complexities less complex?
2
There are many aspects, almost all of them sad and deeply lamentable, about Orlando and Pulse. One message that I take away is that the police can do almost nothing in the face of a determined shooter.
The news came Monday that the SWAT team arrived quickly but was called out of the night club within ten minutes of arrival. This fact needs explanation and elucidation.
Men who have gone into battle for thousands of years face up to one undeniable fact: they can be killed. Our highly trained and over equipped police forces have not yet come to terms with this reality. They have to be prepared to run extraordinary risks to save lives, risking their own, something that police, in the ordinary course of things, are not expected to do. (Such risks are expected of police only when they can't be avoided.)
Though there were major changes with the adoption of the "active shooter protocol" after Columbine, is clear that not enough changes have been made and police commanders have not fully come to terms with these new realities.
I greatly sympathize with their difficulties. It takes a bizarre and, in ordinary situations, a misplaced mindset to run those kinds of risks with human lives. Somehow, military commanders do so and manage to live with themselves. We have gotten to a time when, unfortunately, the same moral commitment is required, right here in America,
First, stop or slow the shooters. Then, bring out the wounded. After that, let the other debates rage on.
The news came Monday that the SWAT team arrived quickly but was called out of the night club within ten minutes of arrival. This fact needs explanation and elucidation.
Men who have gone into battle for thousands of years face up to one undeniable fact: they can be killed. Our highly trained and over equipped police forces have not yet come to terms with this reality. They have to be prepared to run extraordinary risks to save lives, risking their own, something that police, in the ordinary course of things, are not expected to do. (Such risks are expected of police only when they can't be avoided.)
Though there were major changes with the adoption of the "active shooter protocol" after Columbine, is clear that not enough changes have been made and police commanders have not fully come to terms with these new realities.
I greatly sympathize with their difficulties. It takes a bizarre and, in ordinary situations, a misplaced mindset to run those kinds of risks with human lives. Somehow, military commanders do so and manage to live with themselves. We have gotten to a time when, unfortunately, the same moral commitment is required, right here in America,
First, stop or slow the shooters. Then, bring out the wounded. After that, let the other debates rage on.
7
Over equipped police forces? Did you see the kevlar helmet of the officer who was shot in the head by the Orlando psycho? That helmet most likely saved the life of that officer! Perhaps you'd prefer the police wear nice little berets...
3
Many wounded died during the 3 hour wait,I suppose. Would have expected better of police,but do not know the clarifying details which tend to emerge late. Then people are focused on the next breaking news fiasco.
1
I had reference to the armored vehicles and other war equipment that began to be passed along to police departments after 9-11, 2001 and which accelerated with the end of major operations in Iraq, etc. Frankly, after Orlando, I don't know what level of equipment is proper any more. I know that having huge military vehicles rumbling into places like Ferguson, Mo. gives both the appearance and fact of an occupying army.
3
The current state of our nations senate is a profile of cowardice. They have turned the paranoia of 9/11 into a national police state and our streets into a shooting gallery. History will frown heavily on this era of inaction to protect the citizens of the United States.
60
We are not a police state -- if anything, we have forgotten the harsh lesson of 9/11 so fast it made my head spin -- and our streets are NOT shooting galleries.
Crime and violence are actually way down over 20 years -- before 9/11.
Crime and violence are actually way down over 20 years -- before 9/11.
5
The Supreme Court decision that unreasonable searches can result in reasonable arrests means to me that we are edging ever closer to a police state and that some people, like those in Ferguson, Mo., and many other places, live in one at present. To some degree, we are a nation gone insane with arresting everyone and throwing millions in jail. When I read the statistics, I wonder how any of us have avoided jail time.
The mass killings are far too frequent and too numerous. Rare, unexpected events have been turned into a near routine in America and the way we are going we shall soon likely see a time when mass killings of more than five people at a time become weekly.
"Nothing can be done" and murder of small children in their schools does not shock enough for a nation to move into action. We should be ashamed. We should find ways to deal with this continuing curse to retain our belief, and fact, that we are a civilized nation. The same applies to the daily grind of murders, most by guns, in minority communities.
The mass killings are far too frequent and too numerous. Rare, unexpected events have been turned into a near routine in America and the way we are going we shall soon likely see a time when mass killings of more than five people at a time become weekly.
"Nothing can be done" and murder of small children in their schools does not shock enough for a nation to move into action. We should be ashamed. We should find ways to deal with this continuing curse to retain our belief, and fact, that we are a civilized nation. The same applies to the daily grind of murders, most by guns, in minority communities.
44
"The Supreme Court decision that unreasonable searches can result in reasonable arrests means to me that we are edging ever closer to a police state and that some people, like those in Ferguson, Mo., and many other places, live in one at present."
Not just a police state but one with disdain for the citizen who gets up every morning with the intent to do well and receive just compensation. The Supreme Court has had much to do with this. No longer is your property safe when government envies it and claims it for public purpose and and not just use. Your income and savings are resented and seen as a source of additional revenue for government through new taxes. And despite new taxes that will supposedly pay for it borrows until that revenue is used to pay interest.
Our new leaders aren't really new. But they have become more powerful. Our elected officials are their lackeys, they demand more and pay less, pitting one state against another in a bidding war for a branch office.
Business and the banks have become more oppressive and threatening. They are the leaders and nothing seems able to stop their power grubbing as they move jobs out of the country and bankrupt cities. Underpaying their lowest level employees who then look to the taxpayers to support them.
We seem to be growing a workforce that is less educated and carrying baggage made through mistakes in their teens that they can never overcome because even when an opportunity to escape comes it is too expensive.
Not just a police state but one with disdain for the citizen who gets up every morning with the intent to do well and receive just compensation. The Supreme Court has had much to do with this. No longer is your property safe when government envies it and claims it for public purpose and and not just use. Your income and savings are resented and seen as a source of additional revenue for government through new taxes. And despite new taxes that will supposedly pay for it borrows until that revenue is used to pay interest.
Our new leaders aren't really new. But they have become more powerful. Our elected officials are their lackeys, they demand more and pay less, pitting one state against another in a bidding war for a branch office.
Business and the banks have become more oppressive and threatening. They are the leaders and nothing seems able to stop their power grubbing as they move jobs out of the country and bankrupt cities. Underpaying their lowest level employees who then look to the taxpayers to support them.
We seem to be growing a workforce that is less educated and carrying baggage made through mistakes in their teens that they can never overcome because even when an opportunity to escape comes it is too expensive.
2
There is only a fleeting refuge behind the Mickey ears in fake Mexico, fake Norway, fake China, fake Germany, fake Italy. The hard truth is that there are "guns everywhere" in real America. The fantastical thinking of people like Trump, in which ubiquitous arms stop, rather than foster, killing, we will have to live with the waking nightmare of gun violence.
34
Congress and their NRA master put us at much more danger than ISIS.
11
The killer in Orlando was a mentally disturbed loner, and his homicidal rampage does not represent an entire country, but it does represent a significant segment of it. As I overheard one woman on the NYC subway say to her cohort, "They got exactly what they deserved in Orlando. God will not be mocked."
American voters insist on electing politicians who insure easy access by maniacs to assault rifles that are effectively combat machine guns. The problem is not the politicians, or the NRA - it is the paranoia of the American voters, especially the hate-driven voters who have elected the majority in both houses of congress. This is no trifling subtext.
Our politics reflects a rabid hatred in all directions: racial, sexual, economic class, religion. And this hatred can only indicate the seething frustration of millions of citizens with their own humdrum, futile lives, a frustration that is whip-lashed out onto others.
The Orlando killer is an extreme acting-out of the politics of rage, and it constitutes a national mental health crisis spanning the entire continent.
American voters insist on electing politicians who insure easy access by maniacs to assault rifles that are effectively combat machine guns. The problem is not the politicians, or the NRA - it is the paranoia of the American voters, especially the hate-driven voters who have elected the majority in both houses of congress. This is no trifling subtext.
Our politics reflects a rabid hatred in all directions: racial, sexual, economic class, religion. And this hatred can only indicate the seething frustration of millions of citizens with their own humdrum, futile lives, a frustration that is whip-lashed out onto others.
The Orlando killer is an extreme acting-out of the politics of rage, and it constitutes a national mental health crisis spanning the entire continent.
85
What special information do you have to assert that he was a loner as opposed to being an ISIS operative? I, like most thinking people, have no idea of his motives and associations
1
If you didn't say anything to the person on the train, then you condoned her statement. Silence=Approval
Hello Observer - but I *did* challenge her private conversation, but thank you for your input as well.
Guns Over People
GOP 2016
GOP 2016
147
We DO NOT need GOP 2016. Republicans proved they are a disaster on all levels of government. They don't govern, they OBSTRUCT.
1
Why GOP? Obama has been president for nearly 8 years. I haven't heard him talking outright against guns until very recently. Wake up--this isn't a Democrat versus Republican thing. This is a very powerful special interest group controlling our bought-and-paid-for politicians.
3
Republicans: mean business.
3
This article makes many salient points about the current state of the nation, particularly where rampant gun use and hate crimes are concerned, but I take issue with the title of the piece. The NRA, and by extension, our Congress, want Americans to view the world as terrifying. If we're scared, we'll buy more guns.
I realize the title is a play on the Disney World lyric, but it's more dangerous to our collective psyche than it is clever. Let's not support the notion that we need to live in fear. Instead, let's stand up, unarmed and unafraid, as we fight hate and bigotry in our country and in our world.
I realize the title is a play on the Disney World lyric, but it's more dangerous to our collective psyche than it is clever. Let's not support the notion that we need to live in fear. Instead, let's stand up, unarmed and unafraid, as we fight hate and bigotry in our country and in our world.
39
Americans love their guns more than they love their children. So very, very pathetic.
138
NO TRUE!!!
We are not represented by our elected officials in Congress like the republicans who yesterday voted down Feinstein's proposal for common sense measures.
We must vote them out!
Read this summary of how the vote went: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/senate-gun-control-bills-orlando_us_...
We are not represented by our elected officials in Congress like the republicans who yesterday voted down Feinstein's proposal for common sense measures.
We must vote them out!
Read this summary of how the vote went: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/senate-gun-control-bills-orlando_us_...
1
Massimo, no, I appreciate my guns that I use to protect, in my home, my children which I absolutely cherish!
I'm an American. I don't have, nor do I want, either guns or children. There are children in my life that I love and adore-- guns, never. Pathetic? I think not.
1
Orlando doesn't seem as surreal to me as Washington D.C. Today our lawmakers decided 4 separate times that it was ok for people - people considered too dangerous to fly on a commercial plane - to be allowed to buy weapons of war.
The real Fantasyland is way north of Orlando.
The real Fantasyland is way north of Orlando.
200
Who decides who is "unsafe" to fly? How does one get put on such a list? How does one prove that they are not a danger to society?
You can't answer those questions and neither can our lawmakers.
You can't answer those questions and neither can our lawmakers.
11
I can answer that no one needs guns, therefore if you are on an unsafe to fly list or danger to society list you don't get guns. Simple.
5
A city of make believe will be haunted by real tragedy for a long, long, time.
6
It does not bode well that our supposedly representative Senate is completely unresponsive to its constituents, turns a blind eye to mass slaughter, and fails to pass even one law to improve our safety. It is exhausting to be on this roller-coaster pleading for a tiny bit of sanity such as closing the terrorist loophole, only to have the effort fizzle and die on the Senate floor. What else can we do but anticipate the next daily mass slaughter with a kind of resigned equanimity, anticipate the impotence of our next wave of rage, and give up on involvement outside of our own narrow worlds and distract ourselves with the meaningless kitch of American life.
75
No! We must never give up! Never give up!
All great gains have required persistence. Use social media to pepper Congress with messages via Twitter and Facebook.
Re-post messages from groups that aim to Ban assault rifles and high volume magazines. spread the word to your friends and family.
We either start a tsunami movement to vote those out who voted against Feinstein's proposal which was the best of the 4, or the mass shootings will become a tsunami that overtakes us. Never give up!! Never give up!
All great gains have required persistence. Use social media to pepper Congress with messages via Twitter and Facebook.
Re-post messages from groups that aim to Ban assault rifles and high volume magazines. spread the word to your friends and family.
We either start a tsunami movement to vote those out who voted against Feinstein's proposal which was the best of the 4, or the mass shootings will become a tsunami that overtakes us. Never give up!! Never give up!
3
It seems that the Congress has managed to create the ultimate test of mental instability; the availability of weapons to kill scores, demonstrating one's mental instability.
And it impacts every open, loving, community gathering from our schools to our churches to our places of entertainment and social gathering. This time, the gay and Latino community disproportionately felt the pain and loss, but all we do is wonder where it will happen next.
We in America live in fear from laws which protects the availability of guns. Guns that send 12-16-30 bullets against innocent civilians in the time it takes to tweet or text a message goodbye. Gun laws protected by the NRA with the tenacity of a mother saving her child from a mountain lion. Who will be the next victims of mayhem ascribed to some "undetectable" or "undeterable" madman?
We don't need these weapons; the don't make us safer.
Why do we tolerate this madness?! Why do we let them bully us?!
I fought to live in a country free from fear - when will WE have the courage to stand and fight for that freedom FROM fear!
And it impacts every open, loving, community gathering from our schools to our churches to our places of entertainment and social gathering. This time, the gay and Latino community disproportionately felt the pain and loss, but all we do is wonder where it will happen next.
We in America live in fear from laws which protects the availability of guns. Guns that send 12-16-30 bullets against innocent civilians in the time it takes to tweet or text a message goodbye. Gun laws protected by the NRA with the tenacity of a mother saving her child from a mountain lion. Who will be the next victims of mayhem ascribed to some "undetectable" or "undeterable" madman?
We don't need these weapons; the don't make us safer.
Why do we tolerate this madness?! Why do we let them bully us?!
I fought to live in a country free from fear - when will WE have the courage to stand and fight for that freedom FROM fear!
53
I agree with you! We need a MILLIONS Americans march on Washington to show the power of the people. We are not being represented by this congress, at least not by the republicans. They need to be voted out. Perhaps they can get jobs digging graves for gunshot victims once they are out of congress.
1
We need thousands of employers to give us this day off for the march you speak of.
The bottom line is that the US collectively is okay with mass shootings. How else to explain something horrific that happens year after year, decade after decade, with no policy changes, no nothing, ever. Collectively, we've decided it's no biggie. A very sorry statement about this country.
107
"Americans" are NOT okay with mass shootings. Our Republican members of Congress are because they love the NRA campaign contributions more tha. they love this country.
Why can't i hear what the killer said? Is it too upsetting? We need to know the enemy to fight him. Islamic terrorism is alive and well but we aren't allowed to hear about it? Shame on our elected officials.
19
Bill - we can't hear what the killer said , because what really happened contradicts a narrative espoused by politicians as well as a certain newspaper which published an editorial ("Enough") claiming that this tragedy resulted from anti-Gay hatred stoked by the Republican Party
16
More likely it'd reveal the incompetence of the police response. Find the NYT article about it. They didn't follow protocol. They shot at victims; they probably maimed and killed some. It took them minutes to finally storm the club when it should've taken seconds, and, in a situation like that, with a gun capable of discharging dozens of rounds per minute, every second matters. Moreover, multiple calls were made by the victims to the police, but I believe they haven't and aren't intending to release those transcripts, either.
No matter how you slice it, though, a man with a history of spousal abuse, fits of rage, incendiary language, homophobia, and fascination with radical/fundamentalist/militant/whatever-you-want-to-call-it Islam (also highly homophobic and, as the essay notes, clearly with some sympathizers among America's fundamentalist Christians) indicate that he targeted this particular community out of hate.
No matter how you slice it, though, a man with a history of spousal abuse, fits of rage, incendiary language, homophobia, and fascination with radical/fundamentalist/militant/whatever-you-want-to-call-it Islam (also highly homophobic and, as the essay notes, clearly with some sympathizers among America's fundamentalist Christians) indicate that he targeted this particular community out of hate.
24
In a recent survey 61% of Muslims lamented the fact that we cannot have sharia law here.
The blame isn't just to be placed on Christians.
The blame isn't just to be placed on Christians.
2
There are many awful ways to die, and most of us will die experiencing one of them, but it will be cancer, a gruesome vehicle accident, a terrible fire like the Mont Blanc tunnel (or the much worse South Korean subway fire);
More likely it will be the medical worker who doesn't always wash her hands, or that guy one car over that knows he can text and drive, no problem.
Mass shootings are traumatic for many people at once, but all of the above are traumatic to those of us experiencing them, and to all of those who love them. Preventable medical setting deaths alone kill the equivalent of two 9/11-sized events each and every week in this country. Diverting anti-terrorism money to fix the medical setting problems would save vastly many more lives.
Get help to get over the trauma, but don't expect it to ever happen to you again, because it won't.