Not Again
Not again. This shouldn't be happening. I've debated whether I wanted to do this article. It's been done before though. Here it is again. We are our own worst enemy. This is what happens when we become consumed by our own gods. We become dreadful of non-existent demons while the cartoon villains in our minds become very real in our eyes.
Thus, we become distracted by misplaced priorities. Not wanting to look at ourselves in the mirror and acknowledge that our worship of firearms to the point of it overriding life itself is what drove the shooting; instead it simply becomes easier to blame violent movies and video games along with social media. It's easier to blame something else than ourselves I guess.
This isn't a partisan issue, but a health one. Yet, because we are creatures of conflict with our righteous sides, we transformed the topic into a partisan one. The gun topic is one that can be approached without catering to a Liberal or Conservative bias. Unfortunately, this topic has become so polarized that it's black-and-white for those who only see the us-vs.-them dynamic. In there eyes, you're either for or against. There is no middle ground driven by logic or reason. Understanding and constructive dialogue dies in cold blood.
Some say that it's not a good time to talk about the issue at hand. I agree. At the same time, when is it a good time to have that conversation? I'm talking about that conversation not dominated by rhetoric based on manufactured fears and false assumptions that people conjured up in there minds. This is the conversation that will never take place. These voices, dominated by fears of there own making, become blind to there unrealistic demands. These voices, driven by preconceived biases, will only want that conversation if they can dominate it on there terms that cater only to their narrow, one-sided view. There will be no examination. It's either there way or the highway. This defeats understanding in the first place. Those who ignore the issue become a very part of that problem itself.
This is what happens when we allow our fears consume us. It's hypocritical when those who scream abortion at the top of there lungs go silent when this topic hits the headlines. Does the sanctity of life itself become ignored once that life is born? It seems that way.
How can one scream about protecting the fetus, but yet, allow real children to die while knowing that those unfortunate deaths could have been prevented? Those who have the power to do something chooses not to while promoting false assumptions and lies for votes while their followers blindly clap like happy seals, unaware that they have been taken advantage of by them. How can one reconcile the two contradictions?
Does it seem that once that newborn comes into this world, the baby has to fend for itself as those who screamed for that life to come into being displays no interest as they accomplished there mission? The sanctity of life doesn't end at birth, it only beginning.
I'm not anti-gun by the way. The issue was never about rifles or handguns. I've fired them off myself in passing. They do serve a worthwhile role in defense. I've applaud those who use guns to protect lives in those situations that require quick thinking. However, as mentioned earlier, hunting rifles and handguns were never the issue. Yet, why are people allowed to own military-grade weapons? They serve purely only for offensive capacity. Yet, the NRA has taught a whole generation of people that owning anything to your hearts content, regardless of how impractical it is, is your God-given right.
For them, the Second Amendment means owning anything under the sun without restraint. Anything that tries to keep this runaway furor in check is seen in the same light as Nazis coming to kick your door down and taking you to the nearest concentration camp. People see even common sense measures as a slippery slope. However, that slippery slope argument ends when people are murdered in a supermarket because of there race. That slippery slope argument ends when people are shot in there church because of there ethnicity. That slippery slope argument ends when children are gunned down in a school here in Texas.
There is no love for the NRA here. They exploited people's fears and anxieties for profit and control. They (at least in the last 50 years) haven't been concerned with people's gun rights. They've only maintained there stance because there has been a strong financial incentive to. Other than they, they couldn't care less about people's gun rights. They've taken advantage of gun owners for there own self-serving purpose. One found great riches in scaring the crap out of gun owners to the point where the NRA got fear down to a science. No restraint in gun regulation is in the organization's best interest. Maximizing potential members means maximizing potential profits. It's all about the money at the cost of human lives.
When the NRA planted absurd fears into there member's heads, it wasn't because they wanted to protect there rights. It was never about there rights. It was all about protecting there power and privilege at all cost. There are no "Radical Leftist" trying to take away people's gun so they can send them to concertation camps afterwards. This was a imaginary fear created by them to exploit naïve gun owners.
Gun owners are just as much victims of the NRA's tomfoolery as they been manipulated by them for decades on end for there own selfish pursuits. While many have waken up, millions haven't. At this point, I can't have sympathy for those who still choose to be manipulated by them. There is no respect for those who use fear as a instrument of control. This is regardless of whether one is an lobbyist, preacher, or politician. One can be pro-gun while still supporting common sense measures. Supporting them doesn't betrays one's commitment to the Second Amendment. Supporting them doesn't make one anti-gun or anti-American either. The troubles that the NRA endured in the past several years have been of there own making. They're ethically bankrupted.
Getting back to a question asked earlier, (How can one reconcile the two contradictions?) I think I realized the answer: acknowledge that there is no problem. Blame everything else under the sun except the obvious problem(s). It easy to blame video games despite the fact that scientific evidence collected in the last 20 years failed to make a link between violent video games and real-world violence. Correlation does not equal causation. Even if the shooter played such games, he also wore t-shirts, pants, and drank soda. Are people going to blame those items for the shootings. These games are played all over the world, and yet, America is the only place where this happens on a regular basis. However, I can make the safe assumption that those using video games as a scapegoat never embraced science in the first place. To them, holding a gun in an FPS is the same as holding one in real life. This is why many can hold on to such false assumption while living in the Middle Ages. Maybe there was that long-standing grudge from that student who flunked chemistry or biology in high school and is now passing off that grudge of science as "personal conviction". However, they still want that scapegoat.
Videos games like GTA are simply a reflection of the society that it's portraying. Nothing more. If one condemn GTA, then they are simply condemning themselves because they are a product of that society portrayed in the game. Thus, when one condemns the game, are they doing so because they want to get one the scapegoat bandwagon, like those on there "moral crusade" in the 50's condemning comic books, pinball machines and rock music? Is the commendation driven by something more subtle?
Maybe those talking heads who condemn violent games and movies see themselves in that society, and instead of doing self-reflection as an opportunity for improving one's character or society in general, instead choose to condemn the media in question because they don't want to acknowledge that they are a massive part of the problem. Self-righteousness takes hold. Maybe that person in question is there own worst enemy, and they don't want to see there own reflection in the mirror knowing that they won't like what they see. One could apply the "shoot the messenger" mentality here.
There is no love of Beto on this blog either. I don't like Beto, and he shouldn't have not done what he did. At the same time though, Greg Abbott and his cronies sit high on a stage looking down upon him and the rest of us as if they're gods who are the benefactors for us mere mortals who don't know any better. Who in the Hell are they to talk down to him while acting as if they are the only ones who can protect us, especially when they are a very massive part of the problem!
As much as I don't like Beto, he is right. There is blood on Greg Abbott's hands. I've been saying that for over two years now on this blog. Over 80,000 Texans died from Covid as a result of his mishandling of the virus outbreak in this state. Over 200 died in the 2021 freeze because of his mishandling of the electrical grid situation. Now, children are dying because Abbott has slept on an issue that should have been an priority. Greg Abbott and his cronies have been running the state for many years now. There is no one else to blame except him. Greg Abbott isn't Pro-Life. This is an empty slogan used by him to fool gullible and naïve voters into voting for him. If he was, then he would have taken the steps needed to prevent what happened in Uvalde from occurring. If he really was interested in protecting life, he wouldn't have slept on an issue that he should have made into a priority while looking for other distractions instead. We all pay the price for his selfish and destructive games.
Greg Abbott supported an initiative to increase school security, but never allocated the funds for those schools to upgrade. He supported an initiative that placed emphasis on mental health. However, a massive chunk of those funds have been redirected to his failed Lone Star Border Patrol project, chasing misdemeanors while dangerous minds with the intent to kill have gone unnoticed.
The press conference episode shows why one-party rule is a very bad thing, regardless of the political party in question. If the political monopoly in this state was constantly challenged, then both political parties would have to go out of there way to genuinely reach out in order to win the hearts and minds of voters, thus actually improving the quality of life in this state. In a state which is primarily dominated by one party, there is no inceptive to improve and the party in power becomes complacent. Thus, Greg Abbott can take his support for granted while taking down to those who don't agree with him. This originally wasn't going to be yet another "Greg Abbott Sucks" post (there are already so many of them on this blog), but yet, when he is such a central figure in the events that have played out, his failures can't be ignored.
One does not become anti-gun, anti-Second Amendment, or anti-American because they support common-sense measures that are needed to protect the general welfare of people. Such measures don't require people to surrender there guns and there rights. This was a fear that the NRA brainwashed people with. At the end of the day, we become our own worst enemy when we cave into these fears. We become our own worst enemy when we become melodramatic about our pointless tribalistic preferences while real-world suffering is ignored in place of political theater and pomp. We become our own worst enemy when we put our lives in the hands of people who don't know how to run a state. Selfish people who are our for there own pursuits and ambitions and only offer excuses instead of action. I'm tired of their crap.
Texas shooting victims: 'They were sweet kids and lovable' (BBC) - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61579600
Texas shooting: The teachers who sacrificed their lives to protect children (BBC) - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61593071
Live Reporting (BBC) - https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-us-canada-61576584
Texas shooting: America's gun control debate that never goes away (BBC) - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61585716
America's gun culture - in seven charts (BBC) - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41488081
Texas shooting: How a sunny Uvalde school day ended in bloodshed (BBC) - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61577777
Uvalde shooting: Texas school gunman 'walked in unobstructed' (BBC) - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61600914
Uvalde shooting: Texas shooting response was 'wrong', says official (BBC) - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61613177
A Gun-Control Activist Said ‘Yes’ to the Texas Governor’s Invitation. Here’s What Happened Next. (Politico) - https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/05/27/gun-control-activist-texas-governor-abbott-scruggs-00035593
Gun deaths in US rise to highest level in 20 years, data shows (The Guardian): https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/13/us-gun-deaths-levels-cdc-2017
About Underlying Cause of Death, 1999-2017 (CDC): https://wonder.cdc.gov/controller/saved/D76/D48F344
America's gun culture in charts (BBC): https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41488081
Gun violence in the United States(Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_the_United_States
Crime in the United States (Wikipedia): https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_the_United_States
Fact-checking figures about gun violence in Texas (PolitiFact): https://www.politifact.com/article/2019/sep/06/fact-checking-figures-about-gun-violence-texas/
How many guns are on the streets in the United States? (PolitiFact):https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/sep/09/beto-orourke/how-many-guns-are-streets-united-stat...
U.S. Leads World in Mass Shootings (WSJ):https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-leads-world-in-mass-shootings-1443905359
Greg Abbott Related Links
Fact-checking Texas leaders’ claims about Operation Lone Star (Texas Tribune) - https://www.texastribune.org/2022/04/27/texas-operation-lone-star-greg-abbott-border/
Analysis: Abbott’s border initiative is expensive, ineffective and not as tough as it sounds (Texas Tribune) - https://www.texastribune.org/2022/04/08/texas-immigration-abbott/
Texas Guard’s border mission needs an additional $531 million to continue past this month, top general says (Texas Tribune) - https://www.texastribune.org/2022/04/05/texas-border-mission-budget/
Gov. Greg Abbott redirects $500 million from other agencies to fund border security mission through end of fiscal year (Texas Tribune) - https://www.texastribune.org/2022/04/29/greg-abbott-texas-border-mission-funding/
Gov. Greg Abbott signs several school safety bills in wake of shooting at Santa Fe High (Texas Tribune) - https://www.texastribune.org/2019/06/06/texas-santa-fe-mass-shooting-mental-health-school-safety/
2021 Texas power crisis (Wikipedia) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Texas_power_crisis
Texas leaders failed to heed warnings that left the state's power grid vulnerable to winter extremes, experts say (The Texas Tribune) - https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/17/texas-power-grid-failures/
What Went Wrong With Texas’s Main Electric Grid and Could It Have Been Prevented? (Texas Monthly) : https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/what-went-wrong-with-texass-main-electric-grid-and-could-...
Daily Beast : Texas Governor Admits Dangers of Reopening State on Private Call With Lawmakers - https://www.thedailybeast.com/texas-governor-greg-abbott-admits-dangers-of-reopening-state-on-private-call-with-lawmakers
KVIA.COM : Texas governor admits reopening state will lead to increased infections in leaked audio - https://kvia.com/your-voice-your-vote/texas-politics/2020/05/05/texas-governor-admits-reopening-state-will-lead-to-increased-infections-in-leaked-audio/
Quorum Report : In leaked audio, Gov. Abbott talks about the way the spread of COVID-19 will increase as Texas reopens - http://quorumreport.com/quorum_report_daily_buzz_2020/in_leaked_audio_gov_abbott_talks_about_the_way_the_buzziid29539.html
New York, California Related Shootings Along With Extremism, White Replacement And Other Baseless Conspiracy Theories
Buffalo shooting: Black Americans describe grief and fear (BBC) : https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61462939
Buffalo shooting: Gunman sought to 'continue his rampage' (BBC) : https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61459023
Buffalo shooting: Ten dead in racially motivated attack at New York state store (BBC) : https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61452958
California police say 68-year-old suspect in church shooting was motivated by hate (The Guardian) : https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/16/california-police-suspect-church-shooting
Buffalo might never have happened if online hate had been tackled after Christchurch (The Guardian) : https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/may/16/racist-words-social-media-kill-buffalo-meta-twitter-google-radicalisation
Buffalo shooting: how white replacement theory keeps inspiring mass murder (The Guardian) : https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/may/15/buffalo-shooting-white-replacement-theory-inspires-mass
From Jim Crow to Buffalo, replacement theory’s trail of destruction runs across American history (The Guardian) : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/16/white-supremacy-replacement-theory-civil-rights
After Buffalo race massacre, rightwing pundits focus on … anything else (The Guardian) : https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/16/right-wing-conservative-reaction-buffalo-shooting
‘The Ladder Down to Hell’: How Social Media Breeds Hate Speech (Snopes) - https://www.snopes.com/news/2019/03/21/anti-muslim-hate-speech-rising/
A 'Fox & Friends' host said it's 'a fact' that America is experiencing a Hispanic invasion, directly
echoing the El Paso shooter's manifesto (Business Insider) - https://www.businessinsider.in/a-fox-and-friends-host-said-its-a-fact-that-america-is-experiencing-a-hispanic-invasion-directly-echoing-the-el-paso-shooters-manifesto/articleshow/70557010.cms
Tucker Carlson Claims There’s No White Supremacy Problem: ‘This Is A Hoax’
Fox News host says “it’s actually not a real problem in America.”
HUFFPOST
ADL : Murder and Extremism in the United States in 2018 - https://www.adl.org/murder-and-extremism-2018
ADL Report: White Supremacist Murders More Than Doubled in 2017 - https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/adl-report-white-supremacist-murders-more-than-doubled-in-20...
FBI:UCR (Uniform Crime Reporting) : Victims - https://ucr.fbi.gov/hate-crime/2017/topic-pages/victims
The Guardian : FBI data shows sharp rise in US hate crimes - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/13/fbi-data-hate-crimes-rise-us-report
BBC : FBI: US hate crimes rise for second straight year - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41975573
FBI : 2016 Hate Crime Statistics - https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2016-hate-crime-statistics
UK.REUTERS.COM : U.S. hate crimes rise for second straight year - FBI - https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-hatecrime-fbi/u-s-hate-crimes-rise-for-second-straight-year-fb...
National Rifle Association (Wikipedia) : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Rifle_Association#Political_involvement
National Rifle Association - Criticism (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Rifle_Association#Criticism
Wayne LaPierre (Wikipedia) : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_LaPierre
Wayne LaPierre - Criticism (Wikipedia) : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_LaPierre#Criticism
NRA files for bankruptcy (CNN Business) : https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/15/business/nra-bankruptcy-new-york-texas/index.html
NRA Foward : https://www.nraforward.org/
NRA Leaves New York to Reincorporate in Texas, Announces New Strategic Plan (NRA Foward) : https://www.nraforward.org/press-release
National Rifle Assn (OpenSecrets): https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=d000000082
National Rifle Assn (OpenSecrets): https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/recips.php?cycle=2018&id=d000000082
National Rifle Assn (OpenSecrets): https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/totals.php?id=D000000082&cycle=2018
What is a PAC? (OpenSecrets): https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacfaq.php
N.R.A. Seeks Distance From Russia as Investigations Heat Up (NYTimes): https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/28/us/nra-russia-maria-butina-investigations.html
NRA in crisis: how the gun group became ensnared in the Russia inquiry (The Guardian): https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/01/nra-russia-investigations-gun-lobby
Deceptive Second Amendment Ads (FactCheck.org): https://www.factcheck.org/2019/09/deceptive-second-amendment-ads/
Did George H.W. Bush Resign from the NRA? (Snopes): https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/bush-nra-resignation/
Abortion Links
UPWORTHY - It is possible to be morally pro-life and politically pro-choice at the same time. : https://www.upworthy.com/it-is-possible-to-be-morally-pro-life-and-politically-pro-choice-at-the-same-time
PATHEOS - Capital Punishment For Abortion Is Not Pro-Life : https://www.patheos.com/blogs/suspendedinherjar/2019/04/capital-punishment-for-abortion/
PATHEOS - Better Way To End Abortion In America : https://www.patheos.com/blogs/keithgiles/2019/01/a-better-way-to-end-abortion-in-america/
Moral Panic (Rational Wiki): https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Moral_panic
Video Games Links
The Rise and Fall of American Youth Violence (PDF) (Urban Institute) - https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/60381/410437-The-Rise-and-Fall-of-American-Youth-Violence.PDF
The Amplifier Magazine
Division 46 (Society for Media
Psychology and Technology) of the
American Psychological Association
New Study Shows That There Is No Link Between Violent Video Games And Aggression In Teenagers
(Forbes) - https://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2019/02/15/new-study-shows-that-there-is-no-link-between-violent-video-games-and-aggression-in-teenagers/?sh=7b3fe5fd328e
Violent video game engagement is not associated with adolescents' aggressive
behaviour: evidence from a registered report (Royal Society Publishing) - https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.171474
Every Country Has Video Games, Only One Has A Mass Shooter Problem (IGN) - https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/08/06/every-country-has-video-games-only-one-has-a-mass-shooter-problem
How playing video games affects your body and brain (Business Insider) - https://www.businessinsider.com/video-games-and-violence-2018-3
The Evidence that Video Games Lead to Violence Is Weak (Psychology Today) - https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/ulterior-motives/201908/the-evidence-video-games-lead-violence-is-weak
Do Video Games Inspire Violent Behavior? (Scientific American) - https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-video-games-inspire-violent-behavior/
Violent Video Games Don't Lead to Increases In Violent Crimes, Study Finds (GameSpot) - https://www.gamespot.com/articles/violent-video-games-dont-lead-to-increases-in-viol/1100-6422421/
Video Games Aren’t Why Shootings Happen. Politicians Still Blame Them. (New York Times) - https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/05/sports/trump-violent-video-games-studies.html
New Study Finds No Link Between Gaming And Sexist Attitudes (Forbes) - https://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2015/04/10/new-study-finds-no-link-between-gaming-and-sexist-attitudes/?sh=36d1e3c81436
Video games unlikely to cause real-world violence, experts say (CNN) - https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/05/health/video-games-violence-explainer/index.html
Violent Video Games and Real-World Violence: Rhetoric Versus Data (Psychology of Popular Media Culture) : https://nature.berkeley.edu/garbelottoat/wp-content/uploads/marky-etal-2014.pdf
video games, mass shootings (POLITIFACT) - https://www.politifact.com/article/2019/aug/06/weak-link-between-video-gaming-and-shootings/
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