(Heavy Sigh)
I am weary. School and church shootings in Texas are enough for one soul to bear, but when coupled with tone deaf and self serving politicians campaigning on the bodies of dead children, our hearts are shattered.
Within hours of yesterday’s shooting in Santa Fe, three Texas politicians showed up, wearing starched and ironed special para-military shirts straight out of central wardrobe, to bring us up to date on the news.
Once at the bank of the microphones in front of the high school, Governor Abbott gives the latest news and then takes a surprising turn saying that thoughts and prayer are not enough, we have to DO something.
And what action does he suggest to stop this?
I’m going to be working with members of the Texas Legislature, but also with members of our communities from across the state of Texas to begin with roundtable discussions beginning next week where we will assemble all stakeholders to begin to work immediately on swift solutions to prevent tragedies like this from ever happening again,” Abbott said.
Oh, we’re going to have a table and it shall be round. Boy howdy, that’s some tough talk right there. He’s going to invite people and I suspect donuts will be served. And we will never hear from it again, and then they will give the NRA its table back.
Next comes Ted Cruz who says “remember me, y’all?” and then proceeds to give a speech devoid of meaning, compassion, or any plan whatsoever. The man knows there is a target on his electoral butt he’s cowering in the corner just trying to smile nicely and not poop on himself in public.
And last in speaking order and intelligence, comes Lt. Gov Dan Patrick, who has the most power of any elective office in Texas. Dan’s the man with a plan. Without a hint of irony, Dan says the solution is for schools not to have so many doors.
No, seriously, I’m not kidding.
Dan Patrick on Friday suggested the existence of “too many entrances and too many exits” in schools may lead to such shootings. “We have to look at the design of our schools moving forward and retrofitting schools that are already built… there are too many entrances and too many exits to our over 8,000 campuses in Texas. There aren’t enough people to put a guard at every entrance and exit…maybe we need to look at limiting the entrance and exits into our schools so that we can have law enforcement looking at the people coming in through one or two entrances.” He continued, saying, “We’re gonna have to be creative. We’re gonna have to think out of the box.”
No, Dan, get back in the box. It’s odd to find a person in this day and age who has never participated in a fire drill. Or one that doesn’t have even the basic understanding of geometry.
None of them – not even one – mentioned the word guns.
Ted Cruz took $360,727 from the NRA in 2016 and he has an A rating.
Both Abbott and Patrick have the endorsement of the NRA, who gives them both a 100% approval rating.
But, in their defense, they had real nice freshly ironed hunting shirts with their names embroidered on them. You know, in case they forgot.
It was the most bizarre and disgusting Larry, Curley, and Moe episode ever.
I guess the new motto is “Guns don’t kill people. Doors do.”
1Fewer doors, armed teachers, bullet-proof book bags, thoughts and prayers. Yeah that will solve gun violence.
2I am surprised that none of them mentioned disbanding schools altogether and having every student home schooled since it would be much harder to kill as many kids if they were in smaller groups. This would also solve the Texas school funding problem.
Alternatively, re-examining the shootings that have occurred in movie theaters could offer some planning guidance for designing limited entrance/exit building for schools. Oh, and yes, giving every kid a few rocks to carry around in school.
3I hear ya TexasTrailerParkTrash!
4Too many doors is a Liberal plot to take away our Freedumb!
And I’m all for putting bars on school windows with cutting edge barbed wire and watch towers around the perimeter of schoolyard.
Maybe the only saving grace of the horrifying shootings in Santa Fe is the universal scorn and vilification directed at Dumb Dan Patrick’s “fewer doors” comments. People are on-line all over the world now, laughing at our clueless lieutenant governor. Hey lieutenant Dan: why don’t you return to AM hate radio, where your drooling listeners are incapable of humiliation? It’s a better fit for you—and us.
5Larry, Curley, & Moe.
6You got that right JJ.
Worst episode of The NRA Stooges ever.
Mel – The home-schooled Pflugerviller bomber may be a little too fresh in everyone’s memory for them to trot out closing public schools in favor of home schooling. But not to worry, they may bring up it up yet. That particular triumvirate isn’t one to leave bad ideas/policies/laws fallow.
In less than a year, a church massacre, Austin bombings, and now a high school massacre. It’s a big state but **** we’ve got more than our fair share of crazy, violent, over-weaponized citizens. Adding my own heavy sigh.
7I was absolutely sick watching those three yesterday. They were so clearly grandstanding with no real compassion for the families of Santa Fe. How could men with no decency or humanity be so powerful in Texas! I can’t be creative or original;I am shattered at the realization of how awful they are. We MUST get rid of all three.
8These are all interesting thoughts , but I think the problem is clear. GUNS! Not doors! Sorry about the shouting but really no one hears me.
9Sure, fewer doors. I can hardly wait to see how that plays out when the next fire drill comes with a real fire.
These spineless men make me sick.
10This is why the student being interviewed, when asked if she had expected there to be a shooting in her school, said yes.
We have failed our children because the NRA wants it that way…
From the folks over @ Salon, via RawStory:”Here is how the NRA made sure background checks will never prevent gun violence”.
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/05/nra-made-sure-background-checks-will-never-prevent-gun-violence/
11Too many doors and windows, we must move our schools UNDERGROUND, where they will be safe. Only one or two entrances, no windows, bulletproof walls, perfect. The same with the gyms, swimming pools, tennis courts, golf and ball sports facilities, all underground (all astroturf too).
Obama built thousands of underground prison bunkers to banish our patriots, we must repurpose them into educational facilities. They can even be subdivided into public, charter, and homeskool areas.
As long as a nearby fracking waste injection shaft doesn’t go wild it’s a win-win.
(And you rational people might wonder about underground floods, explosions, earthquakes, fire, poison gas, power fails, etc. Not to worry, with enough of your money these Repukes can make it work.)
12The NRA think long term. I haven’t heard as much about arming teachers this time. But not to worry, that idea was planted and nurtured in earnest after Parkland. Probably still going strong on social media with targeted ammosexuals, while we don’t hear much about it. Now the idea of running all students entering and exiting through the gauntlet of armed guards is getting the same treatment. To protect the kiddos dontcha know. The fact that all children would be conditioned to see weapons on a daily basis as being the new normal?
13Pure coincidink.
Because to the children of ammosexuals, this is already normal. But the NRA sees the opportunity to influence the children of everyone else. The whole gauntlet scheme will peter out in the media we consume. But it’ll keep percolating with the ammosexuals. And the ideas coming from the NRA stooges will keep being methods to indoctrinate the children of reasonable people believe that weapons carried by all is the all-American solution to every problem. It won’t happen overnight. But that’s alright. The NRA’s nothing if not patient.
Long-term.
Well, I guess no one thought to ask the litegov how it worked out for the Baptist church in Sutherland Springs to have only one door.
14As many have asked – what if there’s a fire at the school? If there aren’t enough doors, the students will be killed by the flames and smoke.
Personally, I blame the sun. Every time there’s a school shooting, the sun rose in the East that day. Perhaps we should make sunrises illegal, or restrict them in some manner…
15The NRA gives these bozos fashion accessories with their bags of cash – deliberately st00pid belt buckles and totally corrupt neckties.
The kids at Marjory Stoneman Douglas are 100% correct – vote them out. Vote 2018!
16I’ve got nothing constructive to add. Just rage. I hate those f*ckers.
17I’m going to be working with members of the Texas Legislature, but also with members of our communities from across the state of Texas to begin with roundtable discussions beginning next week where we will assemble all stakeholders to begin to work immediately on swift solutions to prevent tragedies like this from ever happening again,” Abbott said.
That is one of the worst word salads ever. Like Debbo, I am enraged. There are no words for Patrick’s stupendously stupid comment.
I was online all day yesterday and even without checking out Breitbart, I read some of the most vile comments, stupid, too. I blocked a lot of people. Face Book will be calling me the crazy lady pretty soon. They would be right.
18Linda, try this on for the Texas legislature:
In Japan before you get to buy a gun you have to take a test, then you have to go to a shooting range and pass a practical; all before you get to buy a gun. Three years later you have to take a test and a practical before you get to keep your gun. Three years later you have to take a test and a practical; by nine years very few Japanese want to own a gun anymore.
19Dan Patrick’s stupid statement is on a par with the recent statement by an equally stupid member of Congress that the rise in sea levels is due to rocks falling off the White Cliffs of Dover into the Channel, and the rocks being knocked into the Pacific by waves pounding ashore.
I was always against the Poll Tax and intelligence measuring as a pre-requisite to voting, but I’ve come to think that intelligence testing of people who run for public office may be the most useful thing to be done.
And if that kind of testing cannot be compelled by government, it sure as heck can be administered by others. Can you just see it: Dan Patrick having to answer questions in public, and achieve a particular score in order to run for governor?
20No one really expects anything from those utterly depraved and morally bankrupt NRA stooges. I could continue but Mama uses lye soap.
21WTF. I didn’t expect a Dem to propose keeping students at home as a solution to this cr@p.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-school-boycott-arne-duncan-20180520-story.html
22On the TV Sunday “This Week” show with George Steppinit, he had a long segment with LtGov Dan Patrick. Patrick was oozing a whole lot of the usual RW bullchit, and shuckin’ and jivin’ all over the place. George kind of softballed it (as usual w/ a Repuke), but did let Loeb-Patrick have enough rope to hang himself.
Following Dan, there were two parents who had lost children at the New School Elem and Parkland HS and were now part of some groups working on this problem.
The Parkland dad, Fred Guttenberg IIRC, was seething after hearing Patrick; he unloaded both barrels on him, came close to using multiple obscenities, and called Dan a moron and worse. A rant well worth seeing, the lady from New School was far too accommodating, IMO, but she appeared pretty mad too.
I’d put the link here, but the This Week website doesn’t have the video or a transcript up yet, looks like they’re very slow doing that anyway. You may be able to find the two segments on utube or something (I don’t do that stuff).
https://abcnews.go.com/thisweek
23It is astoundingly obvious just which of the Texas politicians are the most worried about their re-elections.
It is also a great disappointment that Texas teachers and others who I thought were working so hard to replace Abbott and Patrick because of their stand on taking even more money from Public Education to go into the pockets of their cronies that have charter schools did not show up in mass at the rally at Discovery Green.
Patrick’s words, in particular, were such drivel. The schools are doing everything they can with his lack of support, so to stand there and make such ridiculous comments is definitely nausea provoking. This imbecile broken down sportscaster needs to be sent packing back to Maryland.
Abbott should simply roll away. He is a nothing and a do nothing.
Cruz rolls out of his mausoleum for the photo-op. He is amont the most pathetic liars of politicians in a long time. He has no backbone, no ethics.
It is sickening the coverage of the happenings were turned over to these three clowns.
24When we outlaw doors, only outlaws will have doors!
The only way to stop a bad guy with a door is for a good guy to have a door.
25AlanInAustin:
You’re right, what we need are more doors in our schools, not fewer. If every teacher was provided with an exit door in his/her classroom, at the first sign of trouble students could escape from the building to safety.
Law enforcement could also enter the building at the exact spot where a shooter is located, and quickly end the attack.
26Their mass-shooting wardrobe. These happen so often, they can rationalize the expense to taxpayers. For sure, they didn’t spend their money. Looking good but what they said was pure trash.
27I remember an expression from the time I lived in Dallas. Fixin’ tuh. Sounds to me like Gov. Abbott is Fixin’ tuh git ready tuh do somethin’ about gun violence.
28