It wasn't that many years ago that we wondered how those in the middle east could live with frequent suicide bombers. Anyone considering traveling there seemed out of their mind. Welcome to America where our government sits on its hands while our people are regularly slaughtered at the hands of our own homegrown terrorists who don't have to sit in basements wiring explosives. Just stroll into any gun store or show and load up. Pick your soft target and start blowing people away. If there were bombs wrapped around their chests we would be legislating the crap out of it looking for a solution. We'd have the feds running surveillance, confiscating supplies, and profiling the would-be killers before they can strike. Instead, we buy the mental illness bullshit and drop to our knees in front of an amendment that has no place in modern society.
Individuals didn't have a right to own any gun they please and carry it anywhere they want before the outrageous Columbia v Heller decision in 2008. Fortunately it should be easy to overturn it once the Court regains its senses, since precedent no longer matters.
Exactly—and we can also draw a direct line from 9/11 and our disastrous response to it to today’s mass shootings. Add to that George W Bush letting the assault weapons ban expire in 2004, to both get the “gun” vote and continue the culture of fear and jingoism/xenophobia they all profited from after the attack, and continue to this day.
Absolutely. That was my first thought after getting to the end of the article. Too many in law enforcement embrace the RWDS views. We see evidence of it every day. Until law enforcement changes its policies and purges its ranks and sensible gun laws are enacted, we haven't much hope of protection against RWDS.
I noticed there has only been one poorly organized press conference about this shooting mostly asking for more prayers. No discussion of who this terrorist was affiliated with. I feel Texas is doing that on purpose, they don't want to advertise that their "gun laws" allow for killers like this guy to take over their state. This is all so frightening. I was talking to a high school Foreign Exchange Student from Germany the other day, and she said there are no guns in Germany. She asked, "What do you need them for ?" She was blown away by the active shooter drills on campuses as well. She couldn't believe that this is a norm in the USA. It is tragic how the 2nd Amendment has been misinterpreted by a large population of our citizens! Nowhere does it mention "guns" or "own", let alone AR-15s.
If you have a few moments, please read Heather Cox Richardson's recent article about the 2A and how it became bastardized by the Right. How the NRA started out, changed from being about sportsmanship to politics, and Reagan (may he rest in hell) supported them. I don't believe we'd be where we are today if the NRA didn't decide that taking money from gun manufacturers was the right thing to do. Fun fact: They sued one of their officers for accepting money from a gun manufacturer back in the day. How their values have changed! Their formation of a lobbyist group, giving tens of millions of dollars to politicians is how they stay so relevant, because, as you well know, those tens of millions of dollars are ultimately ending up in the pockets of our politicians.
Heather Cox Richardson should be required reading for everyone. She, like Rachel Maddow, is able to draw the parallels from history to what is currently happening. So much that I wasn’t taught in school and it’s a master class in history every day to read her letters.
They are all in my daily inbox as well. Along with Dan Rather and Jeff Teidrich. Jeff does give a very humorous view on most days, and I read him last because I need that laugh. But because I need to understand issues, I read Jay first. I'd be in a mirrored not-so-funhouse were it not for Jay. <3
Jeff's satire is almost always spot on, but I can understand some people not being able to get past the, err, rather profane language. He's one of the few right now pounding on the gun issue, and sometimes what he says is what people need to hear.
I personally have no issue with Jeff's colorful language. It's rather amusing, actually, especially when he talks about tRump. They're just colorful, emphatic words, so...
HCR stated in her article how the c'oup d'etat was orchestrated by THE NIXON ADMIN!! Republicans!! They didn't like the democratically elected and leaning president, and decided it was better to elevate Pinochet, whom they could "work with". This Republican treason has been going on for a long time, folks. It is long past time to put an end to it. But our big problem now is there are about 400 million guns in America, and do you know who possesses the majority of the deadliest? Yep, the RWDS. It's gonna be tough, but that's how democracy's form, and it will be how it survives. We're in this together!
Excellent discussion in the threads today. I don’t have time today to respond the way I’d like to (I’m in rehearsals on new show here in Dayton) but the thoughtful and many times impassioned comments give me hope that we can join others in a community of the informed and active.
The GOP shows the banality of cruelty in their insistence of every person owning an arsenal large enough to wipe out small towns, and yet feigning sympathy with “thoughts and prayers.” The total lack of empathy of one party in this country is a socio/psychopathic disease that has infected the body politic and is especially toxic to those who already are narcissistic and deem themselves victims who carry out these “fantasy or performance acts” to get attention.
We lose nearly as many people killed by gun violence each year as were killed during the entirety of US service members killed in Vietnam over a decade. That is just mind boggling.
I’m beginning to become uncomfortable with the term ‘mass shooting’. I understand the point is to highlight the gun problem we have in this country, but it seems to me that it is a way of sanitizing the horror of what is, in fact, mass murder.
Seems like a bit of a stretch…but certainly Russian troll farms have radicalized more people around the world than we will ever probably be able to count.
Yes it does seem like a stretch since there are factions in our own country who might possibly be more than willing to pay to make people afraid. I am not ruling it out. Things have become that heinous.
It should be called mass extermination, which, at this rate, it could rightly be termed. "Shootings" makes it too sanitary. Someone here might be able to come up with a full tally since Bush let the assault rifle ban go away, but I'll bet the hard reality of the numbers will support the term "mass extermination."
Death is disgusting and visceral. Gads, funerals are sanitized, the dead made to look pretty in their coffins. Plenty has been written on the subject of our sanitization of death, but the fact remains society today has NO idea. Even our pets are euthanized in our "loving arms" because we are "giving them a gift" and then the dead pet is whisked away long before the reality of the death process sets in. People are more shocked about the deaths of seven horses at Churchill Downs (and before that Santa Anita) than they are the NINE people who died in Allen.
I can only imagine -- because of ^^^ the trauma of that police officer who overturned the body of the Girl With No Face.
Until we can understand there are no do-overs, I am so sad for this country's situation.
I won’t argue with you on what you say. Question: Why isn’t the public allowed to see photographs of the slaughter of our countrymen, women, and children? Why can’t we see videos of the immediate aftermath of these executions? Will they answer that by saying they’re protecting us from seeing such horror? (Yet refusing to protect us by doing something to end it.)
Susan Burgess, for some reason (probably my computer needed a reboot, I can't reply to your post below, So hopefully you will see this and we can continue the conversation and foster more.
In short, the images of the carnage are the right of the families of the deceased, and if they do not wish them to be shown, the media (rightfully) defers to them. I can understand why, but press photos, like a couple I've seen, should be out there.
They need not show any angles that would show the identity of the victims. I see the side of the parents not wanting their child to be used that way, of course. But if a photo or video could jolt the common consciousness of our nation to WAKE UP to the reality we’re facing, the loved ones may relent, with full control. That’s why pictures are worth a thousand words. They are worth more than any words.
I agree; a broad panorama of the scene. Showing the blood, bodies lying there with no id'ing information. We need to jolt this country our of their complacency. Brutality needs to be shown for what it is, with no glorification.
Here, how about the wrenching photo of the napalm girl during Vietnam? Or that horrifying assassination photo during the same war? I'd copy here but substack won't allow. Folks can google using the language I provided. Those images changed the tide.
I just looked up Napalm Girl. She is 50 now and was being interviewed on CNN. She said you ‘have to show the pictures of the aftermath’. Just what we have been talking about.
"Mass shooting" is far too neutral. I taught in the safe state of NY and had to conduct shooter drills with high school juniors as well as learn wound care and tourniquet technique. My juniors, all five classes of them, and I devised a plan in case of an intruder. They thoughtfully explained their fears, and we worked as a team to outline what steps we would take even as I pointed out the strong gun laws in New York. It's not mass shooting; it's mass murder. Just say it plainly, because that is what it is, and left leaning people should just call it what it is. Republicans are not pro-life, or pro-gun; they are pro-death. Make bumper stickers, memes, and t-shirts. Whatever it takes.
Finding it odd that Tarrio and Fuentes are (were?) leaders of these so-called RWDS groups while belonging to one of the 'hated' groups themselves as Latinos and 'brown-skinned.' What am I missing here? Is there no whispering among the ranks about their ethnicity?
A few years ago, a day after one of the many, many, MANY mass shootings (I believe it was El Paso) I was at a flea market in rural southern NJ. There were lots of Latinos there, families, women, children, and while I waited for the rest of my family, I sat and observed. They were just living their lives, just like the victims of the shooting the prior day. I smiled at these sweet, lovely families as they sat nearby me, their children with their beautiful, shiny black hair, and black eyes, and I suddenly felt fear. I am a child of Sicilian immigrants, and I, too, have dark brown hair and black eyes. I had a bit of a tan after spending the day outside. I began to feel ashamed that had some RWNJ arrived with an AR, I might've been taken down just because of my appearance. I realized that these lovely people had targets on their backs just because of their ethnicity. I had to leave the area because I became so overwhelmed with sadness, ashamed because I couldn't stop the tears. These people, all people who are in the 'crosshairs' of the RWDS, are just living peacefully, spending their day in the sunshine and enjoying their families. And they're getting killed for it. And it seems like there's not a f**king thing we can do to stop it.
As I comment below, Latino is a cultural designation, not racial. Yes, miscegenation has resulted in many "brown" people, but Latinos are, like Americans, multi-ethnic and multi-racial. Sadly, this includes racially prejudiced people, too.
Thank you, Carmen. I wasn't sure what terminology to use, and I am with the understanding that 'Latinx' is a respectful way of referring to those who are of Hispanic origins. I wish to learn the proper references because honestly? The last thing I want to do is offend anyone by being ignorant, and I offer my sincerest apology if I have.
No offense taken by me, but I hope to have offered a point of clarification. Oddly enough. many Latinos reject the Latinx designation though it is an effort at inclusion and gender neutrality. One person in my community took rather angry issue with the term because it is so unnatural in the beautiful Spanish language. I was surprised by the rancor!
The Proud Boys are not necessarily white supremicists. For the most part, they are frustrated incels empowered by TFG with his "stand back and stand by" drivel. Craig Calcaterra,who is a near neighbor to me in Ohio, started a blog after his term at NBC Sports as a baseball commentator came to an end during covid. Here is his piece on the Proud Boys, after he decided to attend one of their "marches" through his home town. Check out some of the rest of his site, like Jay he was a fairly influential attorney before his love of baseball lured him to NBC.
I'm not far either. And I am sorry that you and your kids are living with this. My youngest graduated 10 years ago and she says she would have been afraid to go to school in the current environment. I do not know what my response would have been.
They want our kids afraid to go to school. They want us afraid to send them. Because they want to destroy schools & the middle class.
They want us afraid period. Those who are afraid are easy to control, as we see with these gullible RWNJ lemmings. Not a thought in their frightened little heads that the traitor right wing politicians & oligarchs didn’t put there.
I’ve never had guns because I have never been afraid to walk around unarmed. In 60+ years I have never needed to.
You know what I am afraid of now? Republicans and other RWNJ fascists & their daily mass murders. That’s ALL.
For the first time EVER I am seriously thinking about arming up to protect myself -- but ONLY from fascist Republicans, “militias”, GQP, Proud Boys. Oath Keepers and all their other traitorous thugs. NOTHING ELSE.
I grew up in a household of an avid outdoorsman (my father). We had guns.
HOWever, he was a by-the-book kind of guy, so while the guns were in the house, the ammo was stored in his office, meaning we had no access to put the two together. We grew up knowing the difference between a shotgun (20, 12 and 10 gauge) as well as how to handle a rifle (30-06, 7mm). They were hunting tools (deer, moose mostly), were used for humane varmint removal, and occasionally for trap and skeet shooting. My siblings and I all took the hunter education courses offered by State DNRs. We ALL knew what the consequences of firing meant to a target -- a poor shot ruins your dinner for months. It was INSTILLED in us that "you don't shoot what you won't eat." They were tools, and only that. They put meals on the table when we lived in Alaska and elsewhere.
I am continually horrified by the photographs I see with fingers over the trigger for
a photo op (sloppy and the mark of someone who does not know how to handle the tool); I DO NOT understand the need for assault rifles (I can hit what I aim for with one shot, whether it is at 1000 yards with a 30-06 or at 40 with a slug-loaded shotgun because I was taught with endless hours HOW to use this tool humanely, to fire once and be done). I don't need mechanical assistance to hit my target, and am disgusted by those who are relying on that sloppy machismo.
There is no, not one, need for military style assault rifles to be in the hands of anyone who cannot put in the time needed to learn how to use a hunting rifle and get your target in ONE shot.
This is one of the most chilling posts you have written, Jay. The NRA and it's cultists give them license to easily annihilate their perceived enemies in moments. We're all sitting ducks.
Einsatzgruppen, often called “mobile killing units,” were known for their role in the murder of Jews in mass shooting operations during the Holocaust. Pogrom, the Russian word meaning “to wreak havoc, to demolish violently.” Historically, the term refers to violent attacks by local non-Jewish populations on Jews in the Russian Empire and in other countries. The first such incident to be labeled a pogrom is believed to be anti-Jewish rioting in Odesa in 1821.
On March 16, 2023, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine released a report that found Russian forces in Ukraine violated international humanitarian law and conducted “indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks” against civilians.
INDISCRIMINATE !
Tell me that's not what this is.
"Civilians must be protected from the effects of all military operations and that attacking civilians with any weapon is categorically prohibited"
Important background on the RWDS "group" of terrorists, Jay! You did it again ... opened our eyes. It seems to me, though, that extreme terrorism is actually here, not just imminent? Do you think there is more (bigger, badder) on the horizon? Thanks!!
"The public, especially all law enforcement, should take note of the connection between RWDS and right-wing militias," but aren't some law enforcement members also members of white supremacist terrorist groups?
Recently, while pulling together a news summary for my daily report on Ukraine, I found a story: a teacher in the Czech Republic told her students war in Ukraine was a fabrication, that she had web cams in Kyiv, showing there was nothing going on there. When the children told her they have seen documentary footage showing fires and missile craters in Kyiv, she told them to "look for other sources of information". The parents reported the teacher to the police, she was arrested and charged with "promoting acts of genocide and war crimes and distributing dangerous misinformation". That is an actual crime in the Czech Republic - and not a petty one. It carries with it a hefty fine and a prison term 3 - 5 years. Like several other countries, Czech Republic, through its bitter history with the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, had learned what happened if hate speech and ideas of racial supremacy went unchecked. So, over there, they got serious about not letting it happen again.
But in the US? Individuals and organizations spewing that kind of dangerous poison wail about their freedom of speech the moment anyone tries to check them. January 6th insurrection is the first time we have seen serious consequences for a significant number of participants. And how many are still walking free? WHY did we have to wait for THAT to happen? HOW is a man who said about Charlottesville that "there were very fine people on both sides" is still considered a viable presidential candidate? When is it going to sink in - it's not freedom of speech, it's domestic terrorism, and we are all being held hostage. It's not freedom of ANYTHING when we are no longer free to safely go to school, to the mall, to a movie theater, to a sporting event... Heck, I live in North Carolina, and I am uneasy whenever I am in traffic anywhere near a car with a confederate flag and "don't tread on me" stickers. It's not freedom when one group of people can do whatever they want, and those of us who are not like them are waiting in line to become the next statistic.
As a former police dispatcher with three different police organizations from local level to county on up to state level, YES. You'd be shocked at how they behave behind closed doors, and it's not just the LEOs. Also, I work on an active military base as a civilian, and YES, so many of them are right-wingers and frankly it's horrifying.
The media all over - not just in Texas - vastly downplays the white nationalism and organizations that these shooters are involved with. I don't understand it.
It wasn't that many years ago that we wondered how those in the middle east could live with frequent suicide bombers. Anyone considering traveling there seemed out of their mind. Welcome to America where our government sits on its hands while our people are regularly slaughtered at the hands of our own homegrown terrorists who don't have to sit in basements wiring explosives. Just stroll into any gun store or show and load up. Pick your soft target and start blowing people away. If there were bombs wrapped around their chests we would be legislating the crap out of it looking for a solution. We'd have the feds running surveillance, confiscating supplies, and profiling the would-be killers before they can strike. Instead, we buy the mental illness bullshit and drop to our knees in front of an amendment that has no place in modern society.
Exactly right. After the 'Shoe Bomber,' came the TSA. Now we all have to take off our shoes when we travel by air. Funny how they fixed that. /s
But we don't have a constitutional right to wear shoes 🤷♀️
Individuals didn't have a right to own any gun they please and carry it anywhere they want before the outrageous Columbia v Heller decision in 2008. Fortunately it should be easy to overturn it once the Court regains its senses, since precedent no longer matters.
Yes. I get your drift.
Exactly—and we can also draw a direct line from 9/11 and our disastrous response to it to today’s mass shootings. Add to that George W Bush letting the assault weapons ban expire in 2004, to both get the “gun” vote and continue the culture of fear and jingoism/xenophobia they all profited from after the attack, and continue to this day.
Exactly. The US needs to do as much or more to stop the RWNJ domestic terrorists as any other terrorists.
Law enforcement should also look within.
Absolutely. That was my first thought after getting to the end of the article. Too many in law enforcement embrace the RWDS views. We see evidence of it every day. Until law enforcement changes its policies and purges its ranks and sensible gun laws are enacted, we haven't much hope of protection against RWDS.
We want to fire them but they want to kill us.
And our military!
I noticed there has only been one poorly organized press conference about this shooting mostly asking for more prayers. No discussion of who this terrorist was affiliated with. I feel Texas is doing that on purpose, they don't want to advertise that their "gun laws" allow for killers like this guy to take over their state. This is all so frightening. I was talking to a high school Foreign Exchange Student from Germany the other day, and she said there are no guns in Germany. She asked, "What do you need them for ?" She was blown away by the active shooter drills on campuses as well. She couldn't believe that this is a norm in the USA. It is tragic how the 2nd Amendment has been misinterpreted by a large population of our citizens! Nowhere does it mention "guns" or "own", let alone AR-15s.
If you have a few moments, please read Heather Cox Richardson's recent article about the 2A and how it became bastardized by the Right. How the NRA started out, changed from being about sportsmanship to politics, and Reagan (may he rest in hell) supported them. I don't believe we'd be where we are today if the NRA didn't decide that taking money from gun manufacturers was the right thing to do. Fun fact: They sued one of their officers for accepting money from a gun manufacturer back in the day. How their values have changed! Their formation of a lobbyist group, giving tens of millions of dollars to politicians is how they stay so relevant, because, as you well know, those tens of millions of dollars are ultimately ending up in the pockets of our politicians.
It’s past time to declare the NRA a terrorist organization, seize all its assets, and force it out of business.
It is already in bankruptcy court, I believe.
Heather Cox Richardson should be required reading for everyone. She, like Rachel Maddow, is able to draw the parallels from history to what is currently happening. So much that I wasn’t taught in school and it’s a master class in history every day to read her letters.
Heather, Jay and Robert Reich keep me informed and usually sane; Jay's article today is horrific.
They are all in my daily inbox as well. Along with Dan Rather and Jeff Teidrich. Jeff does give a very humorous view on most days, and I read him last because I need that laugh. But because I need to understand issues, I read Jay first. I'd be in a mirrored not-so-funhouse were it not for Jay. <3
Jeff's satire is almost always spot on, but I can understand some people not being able to get past the, err, rather profane language. He's one of the few right now pounding on the gun issue, and sometimes what he says is what people need to hear.
I personally have no issue with Jeff's colorful language. It's rather amusing, actually, especially when he talks about tRump. They're just colorful, emphatic words, so...
I think it is hilarious, and reminds me of Billy Connelly (you have to root through the censors, so sorry about that). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaqsOL-Nv24&ab_channel=
Need to read Kareem Abdul-Jabbar too!
Not trying to steal Jay's thunder from this terrific piece, but so much is swirling around these days.
For reference, you can find HCR's article here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/may-6-2023?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Also Joyce Vance's disturbing article which ran today where she draws connections, as Jay did here: https://joycevance.substack.com/p/the-week-ahead-d2e?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
I would add the HARTMANN Report to that list https://open.substack.com/pub/thomhartmann/p/we-already-have-the-law-to-get-weapons?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android
That was a hair raising and informative read.
That in itself is a passive but powerful slo-mo coup is it not?
HCR stated in her article how the c'oup d'etat was orchestrated by THE NIXON ADMIN!! Republicans!! They didn't like the democratically elected and leaning president, and decided it was better to elevate Pinochet, whom they could "work with". This Republican treason has been going on for a long time, folks. It is long past time to put an end to it. But our big problem now is there are about 400 million guns in America, and do you know who possesses the majority of the deadliest? Yep, the RWDS. It's gonna be tough, but that's how democracy's form, and it will be how it survives. We're in this together!
Excellent discussion in the threads today. I don’t have time today to respond the way I’d like to (I’m in rehearsals on new show here in Dayton) but the thoughtful and many times impassioned comments give me hope that we can join others in a community of the informed and active.
The GOP shows the banality of cruelty in their insistence of every person owning an arsenal large enough to wipe out small towns, and yet feigning sympathy with “thoughts and prayers.” The total lack of empathy of one party in this country is a socio/psychopathic disease that has infected the body politic and is especially toxic to those who already are narcissistic and deem themselves victims who carry out these “fantasy or performance acts” to get attention.
We lose nearly as many people killed by gun violence each year as were killed during the entirety of US service members killed in Vietnam over a decade. That is just mind boggling.
I’m beginning to become uncomfortable with the term ‘mass shooting’. I understand the point is to highlight the gun problem we have in this country, but it seems to me that it is a way of sanitizing the horror of what is, in fact, mass murder.
They should also be labeled as domestic terrorism
...Unless these are radicalized agents being paid by foreign interests.
Seems like a bit of a stretch…but certainly Russian troll farms have radicalized more people around the world than we will ever probably be able to count.
Yes it does seem like a stretch since there are factions in our own country who might possibly be more than willing to pay to make people afraid. I am not ruling it out. Things have become that heinous.
It should be called mass extermination, which, at this rate, it could rightly be termed. "Shootings" makes it too sanitary. Someone here might be able to come up with a full tally since Bush let the assault rifle ban go away, but I'll bet the hard reality of the numbers will support the term "mass extermination."
Death is disgusting and visceral. Gads, funerals are sanitized, the dead made to look pretty in their coffins. Plenty has been written on the subject of our sanitization of death, but the fact remains society today has NO idea. Even our pets are euthanized in our "loving arms" because we are "giving them a gift" and then the dead pet is whisked away long before the reality of the death process sets in. People are more shocked about the deaths of seven horses at Churchill Downs (and before that Santa Anita) than they are the NINE people who died in Allen.
I can only imagine -- because of ^^^ the trauma of that police officer who overturned the body of the Girl With No Face.
Until we can understand there are no do-overs, I am so sad for this country's situation.
I won’t argue with you on what you say. Question: Why isn’t the public allowed to see photographs of the slaughter of our countrymen, women, and children? Why can’t we see videos of the immediate aftermath of these executions? Will they answer that by saying they’re protecting us from seeing such horror? (Yet refusing to protect us by doing something to end it.)
Susan Burgess, for some reason (probably my computer needed a reboot, I can't reply to your post below, So hopefully you will see this and we can continue the conversation and foster more.
In short, the images of the carnage are the right of the families of the deceased, and if they do not wish them to be shown, the media (rightfully) defers to them. I can understand why, but press photos, like a couple I've seen, should be out there.
They need not show any angles that would show the identity of the victims. I see the side of the parents not wanting their child to be used that way, of course. But if a photo or video could jolt the common consciousness of our nation to WAKE UP to the reality we’re facing, the loved ones may relent, with full control. That’s why pictures are worth a thousand words. They are worth more than any words.
I agree; a broad panorama of the scene. Showing the blood, bodies lying there with no id'ing information. We need to jolt this country our of their complacency. Brutality needs to be shown for what it is, with no glorification.
Here, how about the wrenching photo of the napalm girl during Vietnam? Or that horrifying assassination photo during the same war? I'd copy here but substack won't allow. Folks can google using the language I provided. Those images changed the tide.
I just looked up Napalm Girl. She is 50 now and was being interviewed on CNN. She said you ‘have to show the pictures of the aftermath’. Just what we have been talking about.
Yes. Exactly.
"Mass shooting" is far too neutral. I taught in the safe state of NY and had to conduct shooter drills with high school juniors as well as learn wound care and tourniquet technique. My juniors, all five classes of them, and I devised a plan in case of an intruder. They thoughtfully explained their fears, and we worked as a team to outline what steps we would take even as I pointed out the strong gun laws in New York. It's not mass shooting; it's mass murder. Just say it plainly, because that is what it is, and left leaning people should just call it what it is. Republicans are not pro-life, or pro-gun; they are pro-death. Make bumper stickers, memes, and t-shirts. Whatever it takes.
Finding it odd that Tarrio and Fuentes are (were?) leaders of these so-called RWDS groups while belonging to one of the 'hated' groups themselves as Latinos and 'brown-skinned.' What am I missing here? Is there no whispering among the ranks about their ethnicity?
A few years ago, a day after one of the many, many, MANY mass shootings (I believe it was El Paso) I was at a flea market in rural southern NJ. There were lots of Latinos there, families, women, children, and while I waited for the rest of my family, I sat and observed. They were just living their lives, just like the victims of the shooting the prior day. I smiled at these sweet, lovely families as they sat nearby me, their children with their beautiful, shiny black hair, and black eyes, and I suddenly felt fear. I am a child of Sicilian immigrants, and I, too, have dark brown hair and black eyes. I had a bit of a tan after spending the day outside. I began to feel ashamed that had some RWNJ arrived with an AR, I might've been taken down just because of my appearance. I realized that these lovely people had targets on their backs just because of their ethnicity. I had to leave the area because I became so overwhelmed with sadness, ashamed because I couldn't stop the tears. These people, all people who are in the 'crosshairs' of the RWDS, are just living peacefully, spending their day in the sunshine and enjoying their families. And they're getting killed for it. And it seems like there's not a f**king thing we can do to stop it.
Re: your first paragraph. I have been trying to understand this too. The Allen shooter has a Hispanic name.
Some sort of self-hate? Denial of their ethnicity? It's baffling, to be sure.
Some white-passing Latinos associate more with their European (Spanish) lineage than with any indigenous roots. It's part of colorism.
"White passing"
As I comment below, Latino is a cultural designation, not racial. Yes, miscegenation has resulted in many "brown" people, but Latinos are, like Americans, multi-ethnic and multi-racial. Sadly, this includes racially prejudiced people, too.
Latino is not a racial designation, but cultural and linguistic.
Thank you, Carmen. I wasn't sure what terminology to use, and I am with the understanding that 'Latinx' is a respectful way of referring to those who are of Hispanic origins. I wish to learn the proper references because honestly? The last thing I want to do is offend anyone by being ignorant, and I offer my sincerest apology if I have.
No offense taken by me, but I hope to have offered a point of clarification. Oddly enough. many Latinos reject the Latinx designation though it is an effort at inclusion and gender neutrality. One person in my community took rather angry issue with the term because it is so unnatural in the beautiful Spanish language. I was surprised by the rancor!
More food for thought or grist for the mill depending on perspective. Race, culture, ethnicity continue to challenge any easy or simple understanding.
https://wapo.st/3Bct7YS
Maybe they’re paid assassins. And maybe they aren’t the only ones.
The Proud Boys are not necessarily white supremicists. For the most part, they are frustrated incels empowered by TFG with his "stand back and stand by" drivel. Craig Calcaterra,who is a near neighbor to me in Ohio, started a blog after his term at NBC Sports as a baseball commentator came to an end during covid. Here is his piece on the Proud Boys, after he decided to attend one of their "marches" through his home town. Check out some of the rest of his site, like Jay he was a fairly influential attorney before his love of baseball lured him to NBC.
https://craigcalcaterra.com/blog/the-proud-boys-come-to-new-albany/
We live a short drive from the Allen mall. Our kids school district (Frisco) alerted us of a threat to the schools today, so our kids are home.
It won't stop. It is a money maker for the Republicans. They care one hell of a lot more about money than kids.
I'm not far either. And I am sorry that you and your kids are living with this. My youngest graduated 10 years ago and she says she would have been afraid to go to school in the current environment. I do not know what my response would have been.
They want our kids afraid to go to school. They want us afraid to send them. Because they want to destroy schools & the middle class.
They want us afraid period. Those who are afraid are easy to control, as we see with these gullible RWNJ lemmings. Not a thought in their frightened little heads that the traitor right wing politicians & oligarchs didn’t put there.
I’ve never had guns because I have never been afraid to walk around unarmed. In 60+ years I have never needed to.
You know what I am afraid of now? Republicans and other RWNJ fascists & their daily mass murders. That’s ALL.
For the first time EVER I am seriously thinking about arming up to protect myself -- but ONLY from fascist Republicans, “militias”, GQP, Proud Boys. Oath Keepers and all their other traitorous thugs. NOTHING ELSE.
I grew up in a household of an avid outdoorsman (my father). We had guns.
HOWever, he was a by-the-book kind of guy, so while the guns were in the house, the ammo was stored in his office, meaning we had no access to put the two together. We grew up knowing the difference between a shotgun (20, 12 and 10 gauge) as well as how to handle a rifle (30-06, 7mm). They were hunting tools (deer, moose mostly), were used for humane varmint removal, and occasionally for trap and skeet shooting. My siblings and I all took the hunter education courses offered by State DNRs. We ALL knew what the consequences of firing meant to a target -- a poor shot ruins your dinner for months. It was INSTILLED in us that "you don't shoot what you won't eat." They were tools, and only that. They put meals on the table when we lived in Alaska and elsewhere.
I am continually horrified by the photographs I see with fingers over the trigger for
a photo op (sloppy and the mark of someone who does not know how to handle the tool); I DO NOT understand the need for assault rifles (I can hit what I aim for with one shot, whether it is at 1000 yards with a 30-06 or at 40 with a slug-loaded shotgun because I was taught with endless hours HOW to use this tool humanely, to fire once and be done). I don't need mechanical assistance to hit my target, and am disgusted by those who are relying on that sloppy machismo.
There is no, not one, need for military style assault rifles to be in the hands of anyone who cannot put in the time needed to learn how to use a hunting rifle and get your target in ONE shot.
That rant over,
Regulate guns NOW.
If I am walking down the street and a chubby 30-something white guy is coming towards me, I'll usually cross the street.
OK, I might be too excited that Jay liked my comment.
This is one of the most chilling posts you have written, Jay. The NRA and it's cultists give them license to easily annihilate their perceived enemies in moments. We're all sitting ducks.
And, as I understand it, guns are prohibited at NRA conventions. Correct me if I’m wrong, please.
You are not wrong. Nor are they allowed at most far right political events.
Gee, now, I wonder why.
Hypocrisy? Yep.... that's why. They're all HYPOCRITES.
Thanks.
My post yesterday:
Einsatzgruppen, often called “mobile killing units,” were known for their role in the murder of Jews in mass shooting operations during the Holocaust. Pogrom, the Russian word meaning “to wreak havoc, to demolish violently.” Historically, the term refers to violent attacks by local non-Jewish populations on Jews in the Russian Empire and in other countries. The first such incident to be labeled a pogrom is believed to be anti-Jewish rioting in Odesa in 1821.
On March 16, 2023, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine released a report that found Russian forces in Ukraine violated international humanitarian law and conducted “indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks” against civilians.
INDISCRIMINATE !
Tell me that's not what this is.
"Civilians must be protected from the effects of all military operations and that attacking civilians with any weapon is categorically prohibited"
https://www.icrc.org/.../treaties.../geneva-conventions
Important background on the RWDS "group" of terrorists, Jay! You did it again ... opened our eyes. It seems to me, though, that extreme terrorism is actually here, not just imminent? Do you think there is more (bigger, badder) on the horizon? Thanks!!
"The public, especially all law enforcement, should take note of the connection between RWDS and right-wing militias," but aren't some law enforcement members also members of white supremacist terrorist groups?
Yes, that thought occurred to me too. And it really scares me because it is no doubt true.
Recently, while pulling together a news summary for my daily report on Ukraine, I found a story: a teacher in the Czech Republic told her students war in Ukraine was a fabrication, that she had web cams in Kyiv, showing there was nothing going on there. When the children told her they have seen documentary footage showing fires and missile craters in Kyiv, she told them to "look for other sources of information". The parents reported the teacher to the police, she was arrested and charged with "promoting acts of genocide and war crimes and distributing dangerous misinformation". That is an actual crime in the Czech Republic - and not a petty one. It carries with it a hefty fine and a prison term 3 - 5 years. Like several other countries, Czech Republic, through its bitter history with the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, had learned what happened if hate speech and ideas of racial supremacy went unchecked. So, over there, they got serious about not letting it happen again.
But in the US? Individuals and organizations spewing that kind of dangerous poison wail about their freedom of speech the moment anyone tries to check them. January 6th insurrection is the first time we have seen serious consequences for a significant number of participants. And how many are still walking free? WHY did we have to wait for THAT to happen? HOW is a man who said about Charlottesville that "there were very fine people on both sides" is still considered a viable presidential candidate? When is it going to sink in - it's not freedom of speech, it's domestic terrorism, and we are all being held hostage. It's not freedom of ANYTHING when we are no longer free to safely go to school, to the mall, to a movie theater, to a sporting event... Heck, I live in North Carolina, and I am uneasy whenever I am in traffic anywhere near a car with a confederate flag and "don't tread on me" stickers. It's not freedom when one group of people can do whatever they want, and those of us who are not like them are waiting in line to become the next statistic.
Still too many in law enforcement that are aligned with these fascist radicals.
AND the military too—it’s frightening
As a former police dispatcher with three different police organizations from local level to county on up to state level, YES. You'd be shocked at how they behave behind closed doors, and it's not just the LEOs. Also, I work on an active military base as a civilian, and YES, so many of them are right-wingers and frankly it's horrifying.
Yet more parallels to 1930s Germany 🫣
The media all over - not just in Texas - vastly downplays the white nationalism and organizations that these shooters are involved with. I don't understand it.