Tuesday

3 October 2017

— that awful mix of anger and sorrow.

Good Morning All,

I wrote to an old friend last night saying I hoped to do a better job at shutting up about American politics in these pages, partly because I’m about as political as a head of cabbage, partly because I live over here in Denmark, and partly because these pages are—in a very modest way—meant to be a respite from the latest front-page fare.

So, this morning, unfortunately and ironically, and with the heaviest heart, I have been reading in the Boston Globe about the latest mass killing in Las Vegas, the body count at 59 thus far, with over 500 wounded. That’s a new record in grimness, the old one being just over a year ago in Orlando, 49 victims. Before that, December 2012, at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, 27 victims, 20 of them little kids. Before that, April 2007, Virginia Tech, 32 dead. And the list goes on and on.

Not deer rifles. Not fowling pieces. Automatic attack rifles. 

When those innocent kids were gunned down at the elementary school, the Democrats controlled Congress. But nothing happened as far as banning—or at least adding more restrictions— on these military weapons. Same when the Republicans took over. Nothing happened after Orlando or Virginia Tech. As long as the Speaker of the House is Paul Ryan, a craven pol bought and paid for by the gun lobby and the NRA, nothing will happen this time, either.

What will happen is: Gee, what a terrible thing. What an act of pure evil. Our hearts go out to the victims. Let’s have a moment of silence for them on the floor of the House.

Congressman Seth Moutlon (D. - Mass.) refused to participate in that sham moment of silence. As the Boston columnist Kevin Cullen put it, he took an NFL knee. Cullen quoted him: “I know this will ruffle feathers. But I wasn’t elected to get along with everybody in D.C. I was elected to make a difference. We need to protect our communities, not listen to the NRA.”

And then there are the people who will say if the bellboys and chambermaids at the hotel had been packing, this would have never happened.

A couple of months ago, one of my brothers gave me hell for saying that Congressmen--Republicans and Democrats--who voted in favor of NRA-supported bills in Congress should be held liable to a charge of manslaughter. He is, of course, correct, though I still have to wonder how all those cowards are feeling on a morning like this. How does one look oneself in the mirror and say, “Thanks to me that nutcase had all the firepower he’d ever dreamed of."

According to the Gallup Polls, 55% of the populace want stricter gun controls. As such, when Congress consistently disregards the voice of the people, part of the collateral damage is that the people come away with even less respect for Congress. And this particular Congress of invertebrates and bottom feeders can ill afford to lose any more respect.

What can be done? One of my oldest friends maintains a website called NRA Watchdog (soon to be renamed Stop Gun Madness), where he provides alerts as to the latest NRA manoeuvre, the latest bill it is trying to push through Congress, so that his readers can call or write their Representative and Senators before the  bill comes up for a vote. He is of the opinion, with which I agree, that politicians—ever paranoiac about losing their jobs—listen to the people who make the most noise. At the moment, he’s spreading the word that the NRA is trying to get Congress to remove the ban on silencers. Were that to happen, it would make it much more difficult for police officers or anyone else to figure out from where the bullets were coming. If you’d like to get these alerts, his website is: ted@nrawatchdog.org

Anyway, sorry to my friend for lasting not even a day, sorry for these victims and their families, and sorry for my beloved country.

Go Well and Stay Well,

Bhekaron

P.S. Two Holly snaps: 

42 BC: First Battle of Philippi: Mark Antony and Octavian fight indecisive battle with Caesar’s assassins Brutus 

and Cassius.

1712: Duke on Montrose issues arrest warrant of Rob Roy MacGregor,  outlaw and folk hero.

1789: George Washington officializes Thanksgiving Day.

1849: Edgar Alan Poe found delirious in Baltimore gutter, last time he is seen in public.

1863: Lincoln designates last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving.

1872: Bloomingdale brothers open a store at 938 Third Avenue, NYC.

1919: Cincinnati Reds pitcher Adolfo Luque, first Latin player to appear in a World Series.

1929: Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes renamed as  Yugoslavia.

1932: Iraq gains independence from UK.

1935: Italy invades Ethiopia.

1942: Germany, test of V-2/A4 rocket, first man-made object to reach space.

1952: UK becomes third country with the bomb.

1957: California Supreme Court rules Allen Ginsburg’s Howl not obscene.

1962: Cape Canaveral: Wally Shirra joy rides six times around the globe in Mercury Sigma 7.

1990: German Democratic Republic  ceases to exist; Germany reunited.

1995: O.J. Simpson acquitted of the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.