2016

I don't pretend to be a modern-day Nostradamus, but sometimes the future is so obvious that one can't help but know it.  This is one of those times, unfortunately.  Besides, old Nostro was a fake, couching his predictions in such obscure language that no definitive judgement can be made about their accuracy.  But this prediction is crystal clear:

Sometime in 2016 there will be a mass killing at a mosque in the United States.  And after it happens, Donald Trump and the rest of the Republican political leaders, along with Fox news and the right-wing radio crowd, will mock and insult anyone who dares to suggest their hate-filled rhetoric against Muslims had anything to do with it; instead, they will blame it on Democrats for somehow not identifying and treating the delusional individual who is responsible, and hours after it occurs, the NRA will issue a press release stating that the high-powered, high capacity rifle the shooter used can't be blamed and the only way to have a safer society is to make more of them available.

I really hope I'm wrong about this, but I bet I'm not.

There are no morals more relative than conservative morals, and no hypocrisy quite like conservative hypocrisy.

Mass Killings

Thinking about the massacres that are taking place in our country, it occurred to me:  If one were so inclined, what strategy could be created that would maximize their number, and the casualties resulting from each.   It’s actually an easy task, since all the work has been done by Republicans.  Just follow their plan.

1.      Cut public funding for the mental health services that might forestall unbalanced, delusional individuals from committing the attacks.

2.      Make sure that powerful weapons with high-capacity magazines are readily available to these individuals.

3.      Give them ideas for targets by demonizing reproductive health organizations, people of other nationalities, other color, other religion, other sexual orientation, other politics.

4.      Assign sole responsibility to them after each incident.

5.      Also blame their victims for not carrying around the necessary firepower to protect themselves.

6.      Repeat steps 1 through 5 as many times as necessary.

I don’t really think Republican politicians are consciously following a strategy designed to kill Americans. Their aim is to get elected, and to do that they need the support of the NRA and other right-wing groups and individuals. The strategy of Republicans is actually designed to create fear and hatred of everything outside the boundaries of conservative world, and to make plenty of weapons and ammunition available for protection from it. At a nice profit of course.  Casualties from mass murders are an acceptable form of collateral damage. 

Remember, guns don’t kill people, people kill people – with guns.

There are no morals more relative than conservative morals, and no hypocrisy quite like conservative hypocrisy.