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No words

June 12, 2016 by Dave Knadler

We're getting used to mass murder.

We’re getting used to atrocities.

Any day you have a mass murder is a bad day. This one seems even worse than usual — and not because it’s a new American record for the number of dead.

For me, the worst thing about this one is my reaction to it: anger, sorrow, recrimination, and then … resignation. The worst thing is finally accepting that I live in a country where mass murders are commonplace. The most interesting thing about them now is a record body count. We’re up to 50 and counting. How long will that stand?

The Washington Post and some other media outlets had the good sense to turn off comments on stories about the Orlando massacre, but there’s no escaping them unless you sit in your bedroom and look at the wall. Everybody has an opinion, mostly the same useless opinions they always express when a lot of innocent people are mowed down in the service of some vague rage or ideology.

The most maddening, for me, are the ones declaring that the military-grade weapons used to commit most of them are in no way a factor. The second most maddening are those blandly offering thoughts and prayers. Yeah, right. Why not just hit the “like” button on Facebook? Thoughts and prayers don’t seem to have accomplished a great deal over the last couple of decades. Maybe we need something a bit more concrete.

I don’t know the answer to this. Donald Trump would rather ban Muslims than combat weapons. I don’t think that’ll do it. And I know that resignation, acceptance — the kind of feeling I had today — can’t be part of it either. We elect leaders to figure out the hard stuff. I sure wish somebody would lead.

More along these lines:

  • newt gingrich drill now adWhy didn’t anybody think of this before?
  • Bringing a gun to a knife fight
  • Politically speaking, I’m in a bad mood
  • She wasn’t gone. Only resting.
  • Our way or the highwayOur way or the highway

Filed Under: politics, terrorism

About Dave Knadler

Obscure writer. Lazy photographer. Bashful guitarist. Perhaps too fond of wine. Tireless nemesis of New York Times crosswords.

Comments

  1. Susan says

    June 12, 2016 at 8:52 pm

    Thank you for saying exactly what most Americans are feeling. We need to get control of this but no one has the answers, especially Trump. I know we are not the minority. Why is it so hard to get control of guns in America? Other countries have done it. People want answers and action. Love is love is love is love.

  2. Deb says

    June 12, 2016 at 9:12 pm

    What in the world do you even say anymore.

  3. John H. says

    June 13, 2016 at 12:56 am

    My thoughts, and feelings, exactly.

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