The fog of domestic terrorism
The far right's descent into sacralizing guns
"The Broadway company of [Phantom of the Opera]," reported CTI Newsletter in April 2013, "uses six City Theatrical SS6000 Dry Ice Foggers which are finishing their second decade on the show." I wonder if the folks in the orchestra pit at the Majestic Theatre are adversely affected by the fog pouring over them. If they catch cold, it's the price we pay for a theatrical effect.
Republicans generate a fog of misdirection and obfuscation to prevent action to rid American streets of assault weapons. Murdered schoolchildren are the price we pay for GOP legislators in thrall to the gun lobby brazenly ignoring the "well-ordered militia" clause at the beginning of the 2nd Amendment. The Founders were protecting state militias (which were used to quell slave revolts), not individuals amassing personal arsenals. Furthermore, 18th century muskets bore no resemblance to modern semi-automatic rifles.
Isn't it odd how the textualists on the Supreme Court ignore the text of the Constitution when it suits them? Isn't it strange how the National Rifle Association cannot distinguish hunting rifles from AR-15s with 30-round (or more) magazines? Is there a drive-by hunting craze I'm unaware of that involves mowing down entire herds of deer? That would hardly be sporting.
But who are we to question? The sound of gunfire has become the music of the night, or at least of fourth-grade math. One girl trapped with the gunman in a classroom at Robb Elementary School called 911 with her teacher's phone after the teacher was fatally shot.
The Phantom of the NRA is here inside your mind. The professedly pro-life MAGA crowd appears not so much pleased by the death toll as indifferent to it. They've gone from "Every sperm is sacred" to "Every gun is sacred."
When Beto O'Rourke crashed Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's news conference on the school shooting in Uvalde, everyone quoted by Fox News was mad at Beto. Apparently his telling Abbott "It's on you" for weakening gun laws was inexcusable.
When will it be the right time to discuss ending this senseless carnage? How is it political for Beto to discuss it but it's not political for Gov. Abbott and other Republicans to blame every mass shooting on mental health problems? There are many mentally ill people on the streets of my city; they are among the least violent people I have encountered. How can the proliferation of assault weapons not be at least part of the problem? Why the vehement, wall-to-wall denial of that obvious factor? To the extent that mental illness is a factor and not an evasion, why do the same Republicans oppose mental health funding?
Elie Mystal of The Nation tweeted on May 26, "[W]hite Republicans are not interested in solving problems, they're interested in creating pretextual excuses to absolve them from having to solve problems."
To be fair, I should note that Sen. Ted Cruz suggests locking every school entrance but one and posting a cop there. Can you say fire code violation?
Even if we hire a phalanx of police to guard every school door, what's to prevent them from acting like the cops in Uvalde who reportedly waited an hour outside the school, tackling parents rather than going after the gunman?
Inevitably, right-wing sources spread a false claim that the shooter was a transgender person. One terrified trans girl was set upon by four men who blamed the trans community; one called her "a mental health freak." Imagine the courage it takes to remain true to yourself despite being the nation's favorite scapegoat.
Two Democratic U.S. senators out of fifty refuse to change the filibuster rule to allow passage of gun safety legislation. On the Republican side is a solid wall of opposition. Pundits, determined to blame both sides for a lopsided problem, turn this into "Congress refuses to act." Many people use this as an excuse not to vote, which helps Republicans win.
If we ban assault weapons and conduct a buyback program, lives will be saved. It won't solve everything, no. All-or-nothing approaches perpetuate grievances rather than getting anything done. But an assault weapons ban will lower the death toll. It did before.
It ought to be clear by now that we cannot shoot our way out of this problem. We can stop the mayhem and misery only if enough of us see through the fog of Republican disinformation and vote in unprecedented numbers to send them packing.