“He always had guns on him,” a former classmate said of Nikolas Cruz, who had a history of problems. “Everyone predicted it…” except Trump, the NRA, the Republicans and the Gun Lobby who didn’t “predict” but rather counted on the shooter to buy their products.
“We’ve begun to dissect the social media he was on,” Israel (Broward County Sheriff) added. “Some of the things are very disturbing.” Not so disturbing that this latest NRA-sponsored killer couldn’t get military weapons in “pro-gun” GOP/NRA FLA.
The NRA-Gun Lobby has made mass shooting “normal” and America disgusting. The NRA tally begins Aug 1, 1966, when a sniper fired on passersby from the observation deck. So far 1,077 have died in NRA violence from nearly every race, religion and socioeconomic background from the unborn to the elderly.
“It is a day you pray every day you don’t have to see,” Robert Runcie, the superintendent of Broward County Public Schools, told reporters.
Sorry, Mr. Runcie, but if you don’t like days like this don’t pray but rather vote against the NRA/GOP Gun Lobby killers and elect SANE Democrats in 2018 and 2020.
Trump is always sickening but today this NRA Lickspittle was a vile hypocrite tweeting: “My prayers and condolences to the families of the victims of the terrible Florida shooting. No child, teacher or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an American school.”
FLA pro-guns-for-everyone-for-any-reason Gov. Rick Scott (R) said he had been briefed by the Broward County sheriff… then maybe he called the NRA and solicited another contribution in dark money for his pacs.
Thanks to the NRA, the Gun Lobby and the Republican Party the FLA gunman had “countless magazines” and an AR-15 rifle instead of a single shot hunting rifle that – just maybe – the 2nd Amendment might allow in a sane country.
Let’s call it what it is: The FLA shooting was the latest in a long line of violent NRA, GOP, Gun Lobby-sponsored attacks for profit and power that have shattered the peace inside schools, movie theaters, churches, offices and other public places so gun manufacturers can become billionaires.
The NRA, GOP, Gun Lobby have turned murderers into one-man terror armies.
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40 Comments. Leave new
Children at the AR15 shooting gallerys are being taught to fear learing ,that would allow them to think for themselves,instead of what,fox news and other, conspiracy news sights allow.Therefor assuring more can be killed and punished for not blindly following an obligation to a conservative religion.God,any God thinks,this is ok? Where is this AR-15 religion going? what war are,”they”,fighting?
” The NRA, GOP, Gun Lobby have turned murderers into one-man terror armies ”
I’ll make a minor correction to that statement … actually … on 2nd though .. a damn major one !
Much as we may try and blame the NRA , Arms Manufactures , Lobbyists and GOP for the mess we’re in …
.. the fault and the majority of the blame falls firmly upon the shoulders of the American Public who have allowed themselves to be consumed by fear … addled by conspiracy … and influenced by the above entities solely that they may continue on with their centuries old love affair with the gun … whereby despite their claims of In God We Trust … what they really place their trust in … is the guns in their hands and their households
Because the reality is … if the above were not true … guaranteed we could of put a cap on the level of wretched excess gun violence in this nation …. decades ago .
FYI ; Though the worst so far as 2018 is concerned … this is now the 24th school shooting … this year ! 24 .. in less than seven weeks !
Our schools are now AR-15 users shooting galarys.What war is this AR-15 being used for on our children at school?Are they not sussposted to learn to think for themselves?,They might not grow up as good little conservatives, told what to think,by fox news and other such conspiracy pushers.God aproves this is the way to save them?What Kind of God is that?Yes they and the NRA have blood on there hands I believe.
Surprise, surprise, surprise. Trump supporters are attempting to use this tragedy to end the Russian probe. Some folks have no shame. This time, however, the victims of this all too familiar tragedy are calling out our idiot President for his totally tone-deaf response and predictable inaction. No wonder when President Trump’s own words about President Obama’s reactions to this type of tragedy will come back and bite him in the ass. The buck stops with 45 now.
” Surprise, surprise, surprise. Trump supporters are attempting to use this tragedy to end the Russian probe ”
Yup .. Propaganda * 101 .. as used by the Nazis .. later perfected and put forth in print by the propagandameister himself … Chairman Mao …e.g. Distraction Distraction Distraction
Sigh … Fascism and Communism .. on the surface they appear entirely different .. but underneath it all they are the same .
If you’re one of those rare literate Americans left in the land capable of reading a book more complex that ” Harry Potter ” or ” Fifty Shades of Grey ” … genuinely wishing to understand the nuances and tactics of propaganda so that you might avoid its effects …
” Propaganda ; The Formation of Mens Attitudes ” by Jacques Ellul
https://www.amazon.com/Propaganda-Formation-Attitudes-Jacques-Ellul/dp/0394718747/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1518718321&sr=1-1&keywords=jacques+ellul+propaganda
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families…”
Sigh. More useless prayers to an imaginary deity who if it did exist, at least according to the Bible is evil, so why pray to it? When are some folks gonna get the memo that problem requires action from all concern citizens, not more prayers that have long demonstrated its inefficacy?
Suffice it to say your view of both God and the Bible is distorted by your own prejudices at best making that comment at best appear more than a bit foolish .
But to condemn the fact that they pretend to pray disingenuously in a public moment of Platitudes & Attitudes to a false god of their own making and not of the Bible in order to appease the masses ?
Now that … is a relevant and defensible opinion to be putting forth in any conversation debate or discussion
Suffice it to say joelyn … if you want others to respect you .. you need to learn to respect others … because either respect is mutual … or it does not exist at all .
And as shown by my previous comment … showing respect to others does not in any way negate ones ability for genuine and accurate criticism and condemnation
I am with Joelyn…
Nine
Yes, prayer and imaginary beings like Jehovah, Jesus, Allah, etc are the most useless things folks can suggest when confronting the U.S. gun violence problem. Religious rhetoric may make some believers feel better but it does nothing to address much less solve this complex problem.
I would like President Trump and Ted Cruz to look that mother who lost her 14-year-old daughter in the face and talk about prayer. They may just get more than the earful the whole world heard earlier from her.
Suffice it to say child ( regardless of your physical age ) …. the only ‘ imaginary beings ‘ in this conversation … are the ones stuck within the depths of your own mind .
As the saying goes …being an atheist as you claim does not mean you believe in nothing … it means you believe in everything and anything
In closing little lady … you want respect ? Then give it in kind rather than exposing your vanity and blatant ignorance with your disrespectful diatribe
I am with Joelyn too! So much for the Republicans “thoughts and prayers” BS when their hearts are with the gun lobby and their hands are in their pockets…
I love the reply from one teenage victim of the Parkland shooting last Wednesday. Cameron Kasky sees no heroism in the words of Republicans who only offer their “thought and prayers.”
“I’ve never been to a school after a shooting like this where I’ve met so many students talking about issues of guns when so many politicians are saying now is not the time to talk about it,”
“Everybody has done an amazing job responding to this: the Stoneman Douglas community, the Parkland community — everyone is supportive and grieving and inspired. We’re going to use this to try to make something better out of it.”
“Do you think change is possible in terms of the kind of change you want?” Anderson Copper asked.
“Everything I’ve heard where we can’t do anything and it’s out of our hands and it’s inevitable, I think that’s a facade that the GOP is putting up,” He replied before turning on the NRA. “After every shooting the NRA sends a memo saying ‘send your thoughts and prayers.’ This is the only country where this kind of thing happens. I’ve heard from other people, they don’t have gun drills. We had to prepare extensively at Stoneman Douglas. This is something that can be stopped and will be stopped.”
“There is a segment of this society that will shrug this off and send their thoughts and prayers but march for hours over a rainbow wedding cake” he added.
Politicans, are you listening…?
Oh golly gee … look at that .. the tyranny of the ignorant masses rises again .. with now both Nine and MA contradicting themselves .
Yeah … aint y’all such a credible bunch .
Oh… Look! TJ is now saying that I am contradicting myself. So I take it that he believes that the Republicans aren’t been bought and paid for by the gun lobby! Sounding more and more like a closet Drumph supporter with each and every word he writes.
No one I know in real life will give up their guns as gun control is a bad topic if one wants to get elected in a Republican rural county like mine!!
Nine
What a shame, Nine. Civilians don’t need assault weapons. A shotgun for hunting game is one thing, but these mass killing machines have only one purpose and that is too kill as many humans as possible. It’s ridiculous. I will be financially supporting organizations dedicated to stopping the NRA lobby and the politicians they support.
Joelyn,
In rural America guns are part of the culture and the NRA plays on that fear of them being taken away and after one of these mass shootings gun sales go through the roof!
A better approach would be to ask a potential gun owner the question as to why one would needs a gun?
Now, what about sport?
I do Biathalon you know ski’s and a simple riffle and I am fit and a crack shot to boot!
My community has few crimes as I have no need for a military style riffle and if one needs to be examined to drive a car should one not be examined to own any gun at all just saying…..
I for one would undergo a periodic review of my mental health even though burdensome out of love for my greater community!
Just a personal opinion of course!
Nine
It’s a felony to lie on a gun application. If a person has been committed to a psychiatric hospital they are prohibited from purchasing fire arms but I wonder if those commitments readily show in a persons file. Moreover, if a person has a psychiatric diagnosis but has never been committed that falls under privileged medical information and cannot show up on state records. Considering that more people are taking antidepressants than ever before in the US we should question gun policies. Just like everything else there is so much money at stake that it becomes very unlikely that those policies will be amended. In Virginia there are flea markets where guns can be purchased “around back” with no background checks. Americans think that stricter gun laws will leave them vulnerable to an oppressive government. They actually believe that they can defend themselves against law enforcement agencies, the military, and our friendly intelligence agencies. What they largely fail to realize is that the government doesn’t need to use guns in order to enslave the public. We are already enslaved by economic mechanisms like the Federal Reserve and the Prison Industrial Complex. I wonder if any of the commenters have seen the movie documentary Bowling for Columbine. In large part we have become desensitized to these shootings. In the US we live in a culture of fear. When I traveled to Europe there was a marked difference in the vibes and atmosphere as there was a lack of nervous energy in large crowds. The difference was palpable. It may be an unpopular sentiment but I have an unfavorable emotional response when I see a redneck civilian with a pistol strapped to his hip entering the local pharmacy or Walmart.
Tara, I returned to Europe in 2003, partly because of the culture of fear you talk about.
“In the first 24 days of 2015, police in the US fatally shot more people than police did in England and Wales, combined, over the past 24 years.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/09/the-counted-police-killings-us-vs-other-countries
The NRA has polluted politics for profit…
PS A good Vox article and video:
https://www.vox.com/2016/6/13/11911948/australian-comedian-us-gun-laws
Tara .. to put it quite bluntly … when it comes to the choice between profits for the gun industry and feeding America’s centuries old obsession with guns … versus the safety and lives of the general populace … nobody from the majority of politicians right on down to local law enforcement .. gives a damn .
Exactly right TJ.
Dear Frank Schaeffer:
The obvious question is – where were the social institutions and support systems that Cruz so obviously needed before Parkland?
Just one day earlier, a similar atrocity was averted near Seattle when a woman reported concerns for her grandson. Police found guns and explosives that could inflict massive casualties. Our society produces too many severely traumatized and psychologically damaged persons to explain Cruz in purely individualized terms.
Cruz’ life unfolded in an atmosphere of officially promoted fear, suspicion, xenophobia and glorified military violence promoted under the false ‘War on Terror’ banner. And Cruz was in the Army ROTC, which promotes militarism at high schools and college campuses. Add the harshness of US social life, the loneliness and alienation behind depressive illnesses affecting millions, and you begin to see what lies behind 2 decades of massacres witnessed by 150,000 primary and secondary school students. Sometimes these pressures lead to suicides. Other times they lead to mass homicides.
Cruz didn’t emerge from hell; he is the product of an extremely dysfunctional society. That is attested afresh with each blood atrocity. But always, the social context for these atrocities is ignored completely. It is just as plain that nowhere on the official political spectrum is there an answer to the conditions that give rise to these horrendous affairs. But with markets delivering good returns, privileged layers of society know that all is well in the United States … other than the ignoramus blowhard in the Offal Office, and the few scoundrels who allegedly bow down to Putin.
A blessed Lenten walk with Christ!
gdd … SSDD .. same ole SNAFU … same conspiracy theory addled bs … same ole attempts to sow division … same Platitudes & Attitudes disingenuous blessings .
Golly gdd .. nary an original thought stuck within that demented cranium of yours … is there .
FYI … that last is a statement … not a question ..
Martin,
You going to bully me now as I know you are good at bullying the ladies….
Have at it but if we were in a bar I would probably jack you good if you talked there like you talk here!
For the ladies of course….
N
Nine, you gotta learn how to ignore internet crybabies. Don’t even bother to read their comments much less respond to them. Enjoy discussions with those capable of having a civil conversation and ignore the rest. You’ll be glad you did. All the best. Cheers.
thanks…
I will
N
Thanks Nine. That’s what I thought too. It’s easy to talk big behind a computer screen.
Dear Nine:
TJ Martin is a narcissist, and narcissists are notorious for projecting onto others what they most despise about themselves so that they may punish their failings in others vicariously.
As a narcissist, TJ Martin is better than everyone in every way, has respect for no one, and is alienated and alone. He has zero healthy relationships in his sordid life.
TJ Martin experiences contradiction as an utter negation of his existence. He must act with every means at his disposal to destroy his tormentors. He inhales supreme vanity in one instant and exhales his self-loathing the next. This is the rhythm of his life.
Learn about Narcissistic Personality Disorder and you will see TJ Martin give indications of it at every turn. People can can disagree both respectfully and charitably. Not narcissists!
A blessed Lenten walk with Christ!
Dear TJ Martin:
That’s about what we learn to expect from you.
— Ignore social context.
— Shoot anyone who disagrees.
If you have a better explanation of the rise in mass shootings since Columbine, post them.
I contextualized Cruz’ actions within a confluence of social, economic, political and personal matters. If you can’t tell the difference between multi-causality and ‘conspiracy theory,’ you’re not the historian you claim to be. But then, that’s about what we’ve learned to expect from you.
A blessed Lenten walk with Christ!
LOL! Everyone, please check this out. Someone sent a letter and a check to their congressmen that said. “Dear Rep. Bergman, since you and your colleagues in Congress seem to feel that this is the solution to mass murder, please accept this contribution.”
It’s a check that says thoughts and prayers on the amount line and in the white check box.
Now listen to the powerful voice of America’s next generation on confronting gun violence.
Emma Gonzales, a student at Parkland, read aloud Trump’s tweet about the incident and said, “We know that they’re claiming that there are mental health issues and I am not a psychologist but we need to pay attention to the fact that this isn’t just a mental health issue.”
Nicholas Cruz, she said, “wouldn’t have harmed that many students with a knife. How about we stop blaming the victims for something that was the shooter’s fault?”
She chastised Trump for accepting $30 million in donations and 2016 elections support from the NRA. Watch her Emma’s powerful speech, https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6ex7g9
Dear friends, let’s have this conversation especially with those we know who don’t vote. Cheers!
It is best to consider if you can be elected or if you are right
If you get elected you are free to do what’s right
The gun issue will determine who shall rule
Divide and conquer at its finest
Poetry deniability
Nine
I know I haven’t posted on here in a while, but I have just got to vent about this gun crap! I live in a red state with gun-totin’ rednecks everywhere, and I am just about fed up with the constant sh*&t stream on social media about how the government wants to take guns away from innocent people and if the shooter really wanted to kill people, he could have used a box cutter or cow manure like Timothy McVeigh or cyanide gas like the Nazis. I wanted to respond so bad(it was my brother’s father-in-law), but I share a facebook page with my mother so I had to bite my tongue. Then he ended with a post about how we need to get rid of the Obama leftovers in the DOJ, CIA, IRS & DHS because they were all Muslim sympathizers since Obama was a Muslim because his middle name was Hussein. That along with back-to-back memes of red necks holding assault rifles in pickup trucks. This is a sick f*&^ing culture down here. How would they feel if they were cowering in a classroom, trapped with nowhere to go and screaming bloody murder because some deranged sociopath decided he was entitled to take 17 lives. And kudos to that mom of the slain student and the rest of those surviving students unleashing full fury on that NRA funded piece of nasty @1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Sorry if I’m a little off-topic here but I just had to let it all out! Nobody to talk to where I live because I would probably get my tires slit, my home vandalized, and put myself at risk for bodily harm.
Stacey,
Always can vent here!
Cheers
Nine
Thanks! It’s very therapeutic.
And what’s so sad with all this school shooting going on is that he wasted his weekend tweeting about Oprah, Hillary, and Adam Schiff instead of addressing the recent tragedy and the gun issues!
I was wondering what happened to Gary Troll Bryson, but in case any of you read Frank’s facebook page and happen to be interested, he is on there whining about his guns. Trolls gotta troll like haters gotta hate and the two usually go hand-in-hand.
Thanks for the update of Gory… I’ve found his posts on Frank’s FB page, and shared all the egregious things he has said on this blog for all to see!
Hey, I just saw your post on Facebook. Ha-Ha-Ha!!! You really destroyed any shred of credibility he had there! Yet I’m sure most sane folks with any amount of critical thinking skills can see through his bulls*%t no matter what blog or social media outlet he trolls on.
That’s a really long list you posted and it just gets even longer. I will have to admit, seeing it all condensed together, I had a good laugh this morning. The things he says are so outrageous you can’t help but think WTF!! It’s funny yet it’s not funny at the same time ’cause there are people who seriously think the way he does. It’s people like him I worry about with a gun.