Yes, it is much better to give in to manufactured terror from folks we don’t know, than terror from the very same folks — the ones with guns and ‘God on their side’ who keep killing people. 
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FiftyFourandAHalf 
This was an act of domestic terrorism. I can’t believe the GOP presidential candidates’ responses to this travesty. If the murderer is white and the victims are people these conservatives don’t approve of for some reason (even if they are abiding by the law), then, what, it’s not a terrorist act to attack them? Be afraid. Be very afraid. And not of terrorists–of who might become our next president.
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There was another mass shooting just a short while ago in California — three white guys were seen leaving in an SUV … Nothing to see here. Move along.
When will we ever learn, when will we eeeehver learn.
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It’s a freaking epidemic of violence. As long as white men are the shooters, they’ll just chalk it up to individual incidents of mental illness. But if they weren’t white…
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There were multiple shooters — a couple the police said. Horrible. We fit Einstein’s definition of insanity.
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Yes, I’ve been following the developments. Terrible.
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I agree with your views on gun control, Elyse, but I have to go along with the comment on addressing mental illness. I think schools should be staffed with mental health professionals who screen children from as early an age as feasible. If the mentally ill can be helped at an early age, maybe they won’t grow into adults who believe that killing is the answer to their pain.
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And I agree with you that we need to invest more in helping those with mental health problems, Gail.
But these are two separate issues.
There are hate filled folks who have easy access to guns and go on a rampage.
There are folks with mental health issues.
Sometimes — but not always or even that often — the two overlap.
But in the weeks to come, we will hear rhetoric about how the problem with mass shooting is caused solely by folks with mental health issues. And then not a plugged nickel will be appropriated to treat mental illness.
They are two separate issues. If people didn’t have access to so many guns so easily, the carnage would be less.
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Well said.
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@ Gail and Elise,
I agree with both of you: guns are too many, too accessible and too powerful, and mental illness is a subset of the problem, not to mention a problem in its own right. But as a practical political matter, mental health may be the easier of the two to address.
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The problem is exacerbated by the fact that money is the bottom line in both cases – lack of funding for mental health solutions vs. the heavily supported gun lobbyists.
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Money the bottom line? I’m not so sure, Gail. I think gun control is less about the root of all evil and more about gun culture. It is so rabid that mere reason cannot prevail.
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Our current government isn’t going to put any money into anything. The mantra is “cut, cut, cut” — reality be damned. So prioritizing one or the other won’t make a difference.
We have to do something about our culture that permits gun violence and mental health problem avoidance. And then we have to put folks into office who will act on the priorities of the people.
We don’t have that now. And as a direct result, nothing will change.
Elections matter.
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They sure do, no argument there.
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Gun culture definitely, but I also believe that in the U.S., money is the catalyst for change.
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I understand now that the perpetrator has Asperger’s syndrome, similar to the Sandy Hook kid, and he has the same wide-eyed look as the Colorado theater shooter had.
Perhaps American society’s greatest political failure is the lack of universal healthcare, including the treatment of mental illness. I read this morning where a man with a brain injury shot to death a Waffle House waitress who asked him not to smoke. Background checks for gun purchases won’t work unless mental problems are documented.
It’s a jungle out there.
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Where did you read that he had Asperger’s? I haven’t seen that anywhere (not saying you’re wrong — obviously you have better sources — you’re in Colorado, aren’t you?)
The thing about mental health screening, is that every time we have one of these incidents, the GOP starts calling for better mental health screening– and then promptly cut the budgets for HHS, CDC, etc. etc. It’s a smokescreen, IMHO, to draw attention to the fact that in our country anybody — sane, crazy or violence prone — can get a gun and shoot people.
The question for folks who pull triggers shouldn’t be what might be wrong with them (and the stats I’ve read indicate that mentally ill are more often victims of violence rather than perpetrators), but whether they knew the difference between right and wrong at the moment that they did what they did.
I don’t pretend to know all the answers. But there are going to be people who want to do bad things. We as a country — via politicians who vote against the public beliefs of their constituents with their fealty to the NRA and the gun manufacturers, allow this to happen. Repeatedly.
We need to control the guns.
We need to get rid of politicians who aren’t willing to do that.
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I believe I heard it on the evening news, Elise. As near as I can tell, it was a false lead.but, I remember remarking to Mollie that this guy has the same strange wide-eyed look as The Colorado springs theater shooter. But, no I don’t live in colorado. I live in Joplin Missouri
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Reblogged this on Kate McClelland.
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Thanks, Kate!
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What will it take? That is was scares me more than anything.
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Me too. We just need to do something about the guns.
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I keep saying, isn’t it time? The answer seems to be no, not yet. I wonder, when do we say enough, the answer seems to be not yet.
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Move along. Nothing to see here. (We are so stupid)
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It’s so awful. Women (and men) who go to get healthcare–and the people who provide it– should not have to fear for their lives. I wonder if the man who attacked the place (and apparently had propane tanks and other explosives) considers himself “pro-life.” I think one of my daughters knows some people who work there.
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Oh dear. I hope they are ok. And no Nobody should have to worry about being a healthcare provider or going to one.
But it is our own citizens we need to fear. Which is so very sad.
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Yes, I agree.
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I, for one, fear 3-year old Syrian refugees. What if they grow up to become right-wing militant Christian fundamentalists with a gun fetish?
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Well they do look so innocent. But then again so did baby Hitler, I’m guessing.
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It’s not much of a surprise, to me. Planned Parenthood has been basically branded as the Antichrist by politicians pandering for votes. It’s only a matter of time before some zealous nutcase will take it upon himself to go after them. But all the facts aren’t in yet so, like kingmidgit, I can’t be sure that this is what’s happening now. But I can see something like this also happening to any future Syrian refugees who manage to immigrate here. Rhetoric leads to innocent deaths, as well as votes for fearmongering politicians.
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You can see something like this happening TO the refugees. That was my point in all of this. That we ourselves are the ones most likely to turn on ourselves.
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Yep. Been watching this off and on for the past 2 1/2 hours, waiting to see who the shooter is. Seems likely that it’s either a right wing whacko or some disgruntled ex of somebody who worked there. If it’s the former, I look forward to the reactions of the right to the left’s pointing out how emblematic this is of the true threat to this country.
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Exactly. I’m sure they’re looking for a rug to sweep it all under. But either way, I’m sure the person is a fine Christian. Positive.
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I’m reserving judgment until they identify the person, the target, and the reason. I get your reaction, but I want more information before I go there.
And what is it about Colorado Springs? Isn’t this the third one of these since the theater shooting there?
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God fearin’ folks, I’m betting there. Lots of guns and open spaces.
I agree that we don’t know what’s happened, and who is in charge. But I’m willing to bet big money that it isn’t the Syrian Refugees that the GOP is so afraid of. We succumb to terrors that aren’t there and accept the ones that aren’t.
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Totally agree that it aint the Syrians. 😉
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Oh no, I hadn’t heard of this. Haven’t had the news on since morning. I hope it ends up okay. And your point is so very well taken.
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It never ends ok, actually. We as a nation are afraid of the wrong things.
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Can’t “Like”. Yes, my first thought, other than the emotional reaction of being horrified, was “let’s review again what a ‘terrorist’ looks like.” UGH.
Thanks.
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They look a lot like Donald Trump’s followers, actually. Or so it seems to me.
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Yet another thing we have in common.
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