There's something that reeks in the Republican response to recent violent attacks involving guns. We all know what it is. Some don't want to say (or act) because they are afraid of the gun lobby, but feel quite comfortable attacking marginalized groups as though that's the common denominator.
I mean besides the absurdly unequal response depending on skin color, which we will return to a little ways down the page. . .
Try GUNS. This is the problem. Common sense regulation, not free for all zero restriction fearmongering about taking away your dubious "right to bear arms" and demonizing those who desire safety.
Or domestic violence (I put the dates for your information only, the content is relevant.) If you can't get angry over women being assaulted because we're human, perhaps you can pay attention because it often leads to violence that could affect YOU:
Oct 10, 2017: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/stephen-paddock-las-vegas-domestic-violence-fantasy-boston-bomber-orlando-shooting-a7993186.html
August 15, 2017: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/08/15/the-persistent-crime-that-connects-mass-shooters-and-terror-suspects-domestic-violence/?utm_term=.b0085fcbc58e
June 16, 2017: https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-link-between-domestic-violence-and-mass-shootings-james-hodgkinson-steve-scalise
June 15, 2016: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/16/world/americas/control-and-fear-what-mass-killings-and-domestic-violence-have-in-common.html
The color of the shooter's skin determines what response Trump and Republicans give:
Link to follow her account: https://twitter.com/jemisha_johnson
The Republican response always reeks of xenophobia and politicization of anyone but white shooters.
These links are about Las Vegas but discuss the difference in coverage of a white shooter vs other shooters.
http://www.scarymommy.com/terrorism-mental-illness/
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/double-standard-white-privilege-media-las-vegas-shooting_us_59d3da15e4b04b9f92058316
You can compare with the coverage of the Halloween attack in NYC and the attack on the church in Texas. I was dumbfounded by the immediate assessment of terrorism for the brown man and zero mention of the race, motive, identifying features or ideology that appear in initial reports of people of color. But it's how I knew immediately the shooter was white. No assumptions, no scouring of his social media to grab a phrase to quote as proof of assigned motive, no pontifications on the role of his political or religious views and how we should crack down on those.
Here's a pretty good piece on the difference in reaction of the President to the two recent tragedies involving guns, but shooters of different skin colors:
https://www.bustle.com/p/trump-responds-to-the-texas-church-shooting-its-so-different-from-his-reaction-to-the-nyc-attack-3227741
Here is the transcript link and a significant passage on how disturbing it is to politicize and paint certain perpetrators in a light convenient to push an agenda that plays easily into the hands of actual terrorists, while urging caution and support for zero gun control when the guy is white like the people in power. Why do you think ISIS tries to claim responsibility for any attack, even Las Vegas? Recruitment. And Republicans apparently want to help with that.
Link to video: https://www.democracynow.org/shows/2017/11/2
From video transcript:
From a Twitter account you should probably follow:
On thoughts and prayers. . .
It's not so much that thoughts and prayers aren't nice, it's that sending thoughts and prayers to victims of mass shootings whilst accepting millions from the NRA makes you politicians look like liars and hypocrites. In case it wasn't clear.
People Fed Up With ‘Thoughts And Prayers’ Demand Action After Texas Church Massacre
I mean besides the absurdly unequal response depending on skin color, which we will return to a little ways down the page. . .
Try GUNS. This is the problem. Common sense regulation, not free for all zero restriction fearmongering about taking away your dubious "right to bear arms" and demonizing those who desire safety.
Or domestic violence (I put the dates for your information only, the content is relevant.) If you can't get angry over women being assaulted because we're human, perhaps you can pay attention because it often leads to violence that could affect YOU:
Oct 10, 2017: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/stephen-paddock-las-vegas-domestic-violence-fantasy-boston-bomber-orlando-shooting-a7993186.html
August 15, 2017: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/08/15/the-persistent-crime-that-connects-mass-shooters-and-terror-suspects-domestic-violence/?utm_term=.b0085fcbc58e
June 16, 2017: https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-link-between-domestic-violence-and-mass-shootings-james-hodgkinson-steve-scalise
June 15, 2016: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/16/world/americas/control-and-fear-what-mass-killings-and-domestic-violence-have-in-common.html
The color of the shooter's skin determines what response Trump and Republicans give:
The Republican response always reeks of xenophobia and politicization of anyone but white shooters.
These links are about Las Vegas but discuss the difference in coverage of a white shooter vs other shooters.
http://www.scarymommy.com/terrorism-mental-illness/
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/double-standard-white-privilege-media-las-vegas-shooting_us_59d3da15e4b04b9f92058316
You can compare with the coverage of the Halloween attack in NYC and the attack on the church in Texas. I was dumbfounded by the immediate assessment of terrorism for the brown man and zero mention of the race, motive, identifying features or ideology that appear in initial reports of people of color. But it's how I knew immediately the shooter was white. No assumptions, no scouring of his social media to grab a phrase to quote as proof of assigned motive, no pontifications on the role of his political or religious views and how we should crack down on those.
Here's a pretty good piece on the difference in reaction of the President to the two recent tragedies involving guns, but shooters of different skin colors:
https://www.bustle.com/p/trump-responds-to-the-texas-church-shooting-its-so-different-from-his-reaction-to-the-nyc-attack-3227741
Here is the transcript link and a significant passage on how disturbing it is to politicize and paint certain perpetrators in a light convenient to push an agenda that plays easily into the hands of actual terrorists, while urging caution and support for zero gun control when the guy is white like the people in power. Why do you think ISIS tries to claim responsibility for any attack, even Las Vegas? Recruitment. And Republicans apparently want to help with that.
Link to video: https://www.democracynow.org/shows/2017/11/2
From video transcript:
In contrast, the president immediately sought to try to divide Americans and further his own political agenda. And what do I mean by that? It’s things like what you were just discussing earlier: trying to basically score political points, to feed his agenda, his long-standing policy to radically transform our immigration system, to significantly curtail, if not outright stop, the immigration of nonwhites to the United States. And this—and we could just see, in contrast, after the Las Vegas shooting, after the Charlottesville attacks, we did not see the president calling for changes in policies, like gun control policies, after the horrific attacks in Las Vegas. But here we see the president immediately calling for changes to the immigration system.
The other concern we have is Senator Graham, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, claiming that he and the president had a phone call the evening of the attack and that they both agree that this is a religious war. This was deeply disturbing to us, because we know—and I think all Americans can agree—that violence, unfortunately, has no single faith, race or political ideology, whether—you know, you just look no further than the Charleston attacks, the Charleston, South Carolina, church shooting, the congressional baseball game attack, to know that violence, unfortunately, it comes in various forms. And so this is just deeply, deeply disturbing. And furthermore, the New York Police Department’s own deputy commissioner, John Miller, yesterday, in a press conference, very explicitly and clearly said Islam is—had no role in this attack.
From a Twitter account you should probably follow:
On thoughts and prayers. . .
It's not so much that thoughts and prayers aren't nice, it's that sending thoughts and prayers to victims of mass shootings whilst accepting millions from the NRA makes you politicians look like liars and hypocrites. In case it wasn't clear.
Thoughts and Prayers and NRA Funding
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