I have done this one before. All that is old is new again. The overwhelming theme that has occurred this week in the argument over gun control are those three words. Because I can. I have gotten into debates with multiple folks on social media and all of them have asserted the same things. The second amendment gives me the right to do it. Of course, whether that’s true or not is up for debate. I don’t have time for that debate in these spaces right now.

Because I can. That has become to conservative mantra in the United States. It has become the mantra of the MAGA crowd. Because I can. I can cheat on my taxes. I can commit fraud on the American public. I can grab the private parts of women. I can be selfish and refuse to wear a mask. I can be selfish and refuse to get a vaccine or follow basic safety protocols. Because I can.

Because we can. Essentially, the difference between a fully functioning adult with moral autonomy and one that isn’t is the keen understanding between “can” and “should.” I’ve fought this my whole life. It’s a hard lesson to learn. That period of early adulthood is key. For the first time in your life you have autonomy from your parents. You CAN do things they would never allow you to do. Because we can. However, that is never the most important question. The most important question is whether we should.

I still remember vividly serving on the editorial board of my college newspaper. A student had been accused of sexual assault. He had not been charged. Journalistic ethics indicate you can report on it and publish his picture. So, the rest of the editorial board chose to do that. We have the right to do it. I didn’t think it was wise since we were a small campus and were the only source of news for the campus.

I lost that debate. They told me I wasn’t a journalism major and simply didn’t understand. We have the right to do it. Because we can. As it turned out, the charges were dropped. The student in question had an identical twin on campus. Both had to transfer to another university because of the fall out. The alleged victim recanted her story, so no one knows if an assault even occurred. Because we can.

All this happened because no one bothered to ask the important question: should we do this? Far too many people have made life more difficult, more painful, and more cruel because they’ve never bothered to ponder that question. Should we do this? Because I can has been the default position. Because I can has been the mantra that has driven this country into a ditch.

Naturally one could take this whole concept to its logical extreme, but any time a decision is made, the effects on those around us should be considered. Does my behavior present an inherent risk to those around me? Does my behavior make the world a better place or a worse place? Because I can is just simply not good enough. We need better. We deserve better.

OK, so here where the Republicans stand:

1. All books about diversity should be banned from school libraries to protect kids from being exposed to anything not bible thumping, white, and straight.
2. Teachers don’t have the judgement to set their own curriculum.
3. In more and more states teachers aren’t allowed to say the word “gay” or even address the fact that millions of children live in “non-traditional” families.
4. Teachers are not allowed to teach actual history including slavery, subjugation of women, immigrants, or those who are not white.
5. Textbooks that discuss actually history are banned because they might upset kids.

Now these same Republicans are calling to arm teachers with firearms to protect children against shooters who are, BY STATUTE, allowed to buy and own weapons of war and unlimited amounts of high powered ammo online.

So, to be clear – Teachers cannot be trusted to teach their students on subjects of history, social studies, and civics, but those same teachers must be depended on to carry firearms that can repel attacks by crazed gunmen carrying high powered weapons of war and wearing body armor.

Is it me, or have Republicans and their base lost their fucking minds?

I turns out that the police response to the Uvalde shooting was a shitshow, and then local authorities lied to the media about it.  Local and state authorities reported that the shooter was engaged by officers on the way in to the school.  FALSE.  Reports were then issued that SWAT took out the shooter.  Looks like that is false, too.  Then it was reported that an off duty border patrol officer shot the shooter.  We don’t know yet. Video has now emerged and witness accounts confirm that police hung back for AN HOUR before going in.

Could lives have been saved if they moved faster? We don’t know yet, but the likely answer is yes.  What we do know is that Abbott and his crew spent the better part of two days grandstanding, giving false information, and spouting bullshit about how gun laws don’t work.  We also know that this catastrophe clearly demonstrates that the “good guy with a gun” myth is bullshit.  This is the logical result of allowing weapons of war into the general populace and there is no ifs ands or buts about that conclusion.

Ted Cruz continues to show his ass to the media spouting nonsense about arming teachers and closing off all but one door to schools.  He’s like a broken record spouting his bullshit and lies, complaining about Democrats proposing legislation he hates, but offering no alternatives of his own.  He’s a useless bag of shit and  I wish he’d go back to Canada and leave Texas to Texans.  We don’t need his “help”.

Yesterday, the leaders of Texas and the GOP held one of their perfunctory press conferences. It was one of those deals where we decry the tragedy, offer our thoughts and prayers to the families of the victims, and tell ourselves there was nothing that we could have done to prevent it. One of these is done by rote. One of these are empty. One is a lie. I’ll leave you to figure out which one is which.

 

Yesterday, the Democratic contender for the governor of Texas decided to interrupt the proceedings. His message was simple. The performance art on stage was exactly that. We know how to prevent these things. We knew it would happen. We know not the exact time or the exact place, but we knew it would happen. Then, he was given the message we all are given in this moment: you are politicizing a tragedy.

Beto wasn’t taking it and decided to cause a scene. I’m not sure if what he did will help or hurt his election chances. My gut tells me a few things. First, it tells me that 95 percent or more of the voting public has already made up their minds. My gut tells me most Texans agree with Beto and most Texans think Greg Abbott has been a disastrous governor. My gut tells me all of this won’t matter and that Abbott will somehow win the election anyway.

Yesterday morning, our daughter texted us from school. She was hiding in a closet in her Chemistry classroom. She was looking around for items to throw in case a gunman penetrated the classroom and the closet space. It was somewhere between 15 minutes and 30 minutes until the district and/or news organizations finally said everything was okay. Those were the longest 15 to 30 minutes of my life.

Earlier this year, they essentially lost two days to bomb threats. We went through the same cycle of worry, dread, and relief. These two events are cruel reminders that we don’t have the control we think we do. They are cruel reminders that all of this can end in the blink of an eye. They are cruel reminders that we can’t afford to wait until “the time is right” to politicize a mass shooting.

Unfortunately, there is always a mass shooting in the forefront of our brain. Maybe we can politicize Buffalo now. In Texas, maybe we can politicize Santa Fe now. Maybe we can politicize church shootings, mall shootings, theatre shootings, and concert shootings. Maybe someone should send out a rule. Maybe it could be a mandatory waiting period.

I say to hell with that. I am not going to lose my daughter because a right wing politician doesn’t want to somehow suppress the image of 20+ dead Texas children and teachers while they accept a check from the gun lobby. I am not going to lose my daughter because the NRA wants to have their show and advertise their wares on the same week as a mass shooting in their state. If you are going to have the audacity to do that then you will have to stomach all of it. You will have to stand there and tell the world that you care more about someone’s right to own an automatic weapon than about the lives of school children. I’m going to politicize every damn second of it.

Either lives matter or they don’t. Either you care about the safety and security of our children or you don’t. Either you have compassion for all of the people walking this Earth or you don’t. Certainly compassionate and caring adults can differ on policy. We are all adult enough to realize that. Compassionate and caring adults do not have a waiting period to solve a problem. If the floods are coming you don’t make people wait to develop solutions not to drown. When people are freezing to death you don’t tell them that heat is political and shouldn’t be discussed during the crisis. The notion is patently ridiculous. When our children are being blown away at school it is most definitely a crisis and it is most definitely political. We better talk about it right damn now before the next one of these happens again.

Dan Crenshaw has announced that he’s not able to attend the NRA convention in Houston this weekend because of his…wait for it…trip to Ukraine.  His office has confirmed that he will conveniently not be back in time to make his appearance at the convention.  His spokesperson also asserted that his extended trip in Ukraine has nothing to do with the slaughter of 10 people in Buffalo and 21 people (including 19 small children) in Uvalde.  It’s simply pure coincidence.

Sure.  He’s not as stupid as he acts.

Yesterday, during a political stunt being held by Greg Abbott, Beto O’Rourke showed up, interrupted the scripted event and said what the rest of us are thinking, that these recently murdered children’s blood is on his hands.   Before he was politely escorted out, Beto got in a few shots including, “The time to stop the next shooting is right now and you are doing nothing.”

John Lewis would have been proud.  In a lifetime of activism Lewis always spoke of getting into “good trouble” protesting injustice and inequality.  He was arrested and beaten several times during his protests for civil rights in the ’60s, and always coached those coming behind to continue getting into “good trouble” using non-violent presence and words.  Beto did that yesterday, and I have to say it was remarkably effective.  The stage was packed with rightwing blowhards including radio talk show host Dan Patrick, felony indicted for 7 years Ken Paxton, Cancun Ted Cruz and others and they were caught completely flatfooted as O’Rourke gave Abbott a piece of his mind.  The mayor of Uvalde, who was participating in this political stunt, called Beto a “sick son of a bitch” for “politicizing” this political event.  Observers of Abbott have noted that when caught lying, bullshitting, and politicizing, Abbott starts talking really fast and stuttering.  Let’s just say he did both after being called out for his lying, bullshitting, and politicizing.

I’ve never been a big fan of O’Rourke, especially when he blundered by running for president at the precisely wrong time in 2016.  He squandered his political strength with that mistep; however, you can watch him maturing live on television, and he is becoming a forminable figure in Texas politics. If nothing else you can say one thing about him…he’s a hell of a lot better and stronger than the clown sitting in the governor’s mansion today.