Friday, February 16, 2018

A TRAGIC HISTORY THAT UNFORTUNATELY WILL BE REPEATED

I used to engage in debates after school shootings...gun control, mental illness, video games, poor parental guidance, metal detectors, armed guards... but I stopped because nothing is going to change.
The fact is this is what we have become. This is America. This is the new normal.
No one is ever going to do anything about this.
I, like you, grieve for the victims and families involved but I have become a cynical pragmatist.
This country will do nothing about these repeated travesties. Sandy Hook? Nothing. San Bernardino? Nothing. Columbine? Nothing. Conyers, Middletown, Rancho Tehama, Marshall county, Marysville, Roseberg? Nothing. And nothing will be done after Parkland. Yes, modern day gun technology has made it easier to kill more people faster, but these school shootings have gone on for decades...centuries even. And we have done...nothing.
Here is a link to a comprehensive accounting of all school shootings. You will see what I mean.
It's our history...and unfortunately, our future as well.
I wish I could be optimistic. I wish I could tell you our leadership will do anything but tweet their "thoughts and prayers" then sit blithely by doing nothing until the latest incident fades from our memory but they won't.
History documents their inaction. Their history is our history. Our past, our present and our future.
So, tweet away, ramp up the Facebook posts, have a lively debate on Google Plus, but nothing will change.
Weapons are too easily purchased.Weapons are accessible to our children, our criminal element and the mentally ill.
Personally, I don't think the Parkland killer was even certifiable.
It was the cold, calculated act of a child with access to assault weapons.
He planned it and carried it out. He took an Uber, then entered the school and indiscriminately shot everyone he came in contact with. He knew full well what he was about to do, he planned it then did it.
Cold hearted mass murder. And there are others waiting to go off just like the orchestrator of Parkland.
Lots of people knew of this kid, and did...nothing. People like this leave clues, they give warnings.
But if those in the know choose to do...nothing, then we are defenseless.And innocent people perish.
Young people perish before they even get a chance to live. And this country will do nothing about it. 
God bless their memories, God bless the grieving families attempting to cope with the aftermath of this latest atrocity.I wish someone could do something about it. I wish I could do something about it.
I wish there was an easy answer.
Thanks for reading. Thanks for caring. Thanks for grieving.
Sometimes I hate the world...the "World According to Kimba."
If you feel powerless at present, join the club.