Republicans that were playing a practice game of baseball have been targeted by a man with a gun, as thousands of Americans have been, and will be even today. This republican group was shot at and wounded by a disturbed individual. This has become a common occurrence in America. None of us should be shocked. I was not.
This is a man whom none of us know, except for a few of his closest friends or family. He stepped over the bounds of normality, as so many do daily with guns in America. I say again, there are a thousand more just like him killing someone on a daily basis in America. This man happened to make republicans his target. He shot four. We pray for their complete recovery.
Why is anyone in Congress surprised at this method of hate? Why do they now shed tears? Legislation had been brought to the floor of Congress, for the entire Obama administration, to address several issues on guns. No legislation was ever offered to take away guns, but to take common sense steps, like background checks, all of which republicans rejected. Republicans rallied around the gun. I will add here, that I am not anti-gun ownership
This domestic shooter, James Hodgkinson, was 66 years old and it was said he was living in his van for two months. The question is why? How disturbed was he that he felt he had to go out and shoot-to-kill innocent people? Now, I don't know about you, but I thought this guy is 66 years old, and qualified for his Social Security a year ago if he worked and put in to the system, as millions have done. He was clearly raging inside. But why? They say he hated the republican agenda. So many millions do, but they will use their vote and not violence.
This shooter's chosen targets reminds me of the time Sarah Palin placed numerous democrats faces under the sign of a target-shooters cross-hairs. Remember that? Remember how many republican voters thought that was cool, and funny. Where was their outrage? Not one of them yelled, "Lock her up!"
Other disturbed individuals have made a school-room of young children their target, prayer groups in churches, temples and mosques, malls, movie theaters, and in night clubs. And at every turn the republican Congress turned their back on something as simple, but as critical, as a background check for gun purchases. Why are they crying, why are they so surprised? Did they forget what happened in Tucson to Gabby Giffords?!
I personally think that if we do have terrorist cells, be it domestic or foreign, in our beautiful land, then republicans have given them complete access and freedom to go out and create an arsenal for some future attack within our homeland. I think of the ease of purchase at gun shows. I will not be shocked if this happens. I was not shocked at all by this latest shooting. There are too many lone nuts out there to count. This was bound to happen!
Why didn't republicans do any thing in legislature immediately after these massacres (naming a few):
Tucson: Rep. Gabby Giffords wounded, 6 killed, 18 wounded
Sandy Hook Elementary: 20 children and 6 adults killed
Rosedale: 10 killed, 7 wounded
Orlando at Pulse: 49 killed, 58 wounded
Charleston: 9 killed
Oak Creek, WI: Sikh Temple 6 killed, 4 wounded
Aurora: 12 killed, 70 wounded
Columbine : 13 killed, 24 wounded ...
Republican congressmen are crying real tears now on the air, like the grouping I listed above did when being interviewed by media. Will they now think back on the hundreds we have all seen cry at the loss by shootings for too many years now? Can they finally stop their own grid-lock?
Texas Congressman Joe Barton and his two son's were there with him, a true heartbreak. A horror for any parent. Will Rep. Barton think back on Sandy Hook and those parents who had to bury their children? Rep. Barton does not support gun control legislation. I would wager, none of these republicans had done so. Yet, they openly weep ... do they finally understand what has been happening through out our land?
Killing is not and never will be a solution for what ails American politics, but to the damaged mind their hatred is magnified beyond a norm.
Did republicans reap the hate coming from the shooter James Hodgkinson by their obstructionist mentality and actions during the entire Obama administration? Think back on the rhetoric of Mitch McConnell and Boehner, and so many others. Those eight years were vile times. And then along came Trump who beat the ongoing republican drum of Them vs Us for his entire campaign... and now look what has been going on in the republican congress. It is enough to drive a normal person up a wall. Republicans were as culpable for creating hateful rhetoric, and they need to accept their role in it. it cannot all be pinned on those who do not support President Trump. Republicans need to play back their media loops.
Trump is merely the tip of the republican iceberg that has been riling normal people to be concerned and angered with politics that strips funding for the masses and pass along benefits to the ample 1%. Congress may start singing Kumbaya with each party, but it is a temporary gathering, and most Americans know it. Action needs to take place.
We must all keep in mind, that within the crowd of normal people, disturbed individuals pop up like the latest shooter. He went too far with his disdain for the republican agenda. Here is what may have pushed his mentality over the edge of normal behavior:
Republicans have cut funding or want to diminish: WHY? For the 1%?
Job Training
Medicaid
Medicare
Education
Climate
Domestic and Aid Programs
Veterans
Healthcare for women
Privatize Social Security
(See specific list below from 'TheHill. Com') This could be what the disturbed shooter was upset with, as many are, but would never act out in violence but in the act of a VOTE.
"AN ATTACK ON ONE OF US IS AN ATTACK ON ALL OF US!" Speaker PAUL RYAN
I never heard Ryan say that during the Sandy Hook massacre or during the Pulse massacre or after Tucson... never spoke those words.
From TheHill.Com:
President Trump's fiscal 2018 budget proposal would completely eliminate 66 federal programs, for a savings of $26.7 billion.
Some of the programs would receive funding for 2018 as part of a phasing-out plan.
Here are the programs the administration wants on the chopping block.
Agriculture Department — $855 million
· McGovern-Dole International Food for Education
· Rural Business-Cooperative Service
· Rural Water and Waste Disposal Program Account
· Single Family Housing Direct Loans
Commerce Department — $633 million
· Economic Development Administration
· Manufacturing Extension Partnership
· Minority Business Development Agency
· National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Grants and Education
Education Department — $4.976 billion
· 21st Century Community Learning Centers
· Comprehensive Literacy Development Grants
· Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants
· Impact Aid Payments for Federal Property
· International Education
· Strengthening Institutions
· Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants
· Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants
· Teacher Quality Partnership
Energy Department — $398 million
· Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy
· Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program and Title 17 Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program
· Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility
Health and Human Services — $4.834 billion
· Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
· Community Services Block Grant
· Health Professions and Nursing Training Programs
· Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program
Homeland Security — $235 million
· Flood Hazard Mapping and Risk Analysis Program
· Transportation Security Administration Law Enforcement Grants
Housing and Urban Development — $4.123 billion
· Choice Neighborhoods
· Community Development Block
· HOME Investment Partnerships Program
· Self-Help and Assisted Homeownership Opportunity Program Account
Interior Department — $122 million
· Abandoned Mine Land Grants
· Heritage Partnership Program
· National Wildlife Refuge Fund
Justice Department — $210 million
· State Criminal Alien Assistance Program
Labor Department — $527 million
· Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Training
· OSHA Training Grants
· Senior Community Service Employment Program
State Department and USAID — $4.256 billion
· Development Assistance
Earmarked Appropriations for Non-Profit Organizations
· The Asia Foundation
· East-West Center
· P.L. 480 Title II Food Aid
State Department, USAID, and Treasury Department — $1.59 billion
· Green Climate Fund and Global Climate Change Initiative
Transportation Department — $499 million
· National Infrastructure Investments (TIGER)
Treasury Department — $43 million
· Global Agriculture and Food Security Program
Environmental Protection Agency — $493 million
· Energy Star and Voluntary Climate Programs
· Geographic Programs
National Aeronautics and Space Administration — $269 million
· Five Earth Science Missions
· Office of Education
Other Independent Agencies — $2.683 billion
· Chemical Safety Board
· Corporation for National and Community Service
· Corporation for Public Broadcasting
· Institute of Museum and Library Services
International Development Foundations
· African Development Foundation
· Inter-American Foundation
· Legal Services Corporation
· National Endowment for the Arts
· National Endowment for the Humanities
· Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation
· Overseas Private Investment Corporation
Regional Commissions
· Appalachian Regional Commission
· Delta Regional Authority
· Denali Commission
· Northern Border Regional Commission
· U.S. Institute of Peace
· U.S. Trade and Development Agency
· Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
USE YOUR VOTE IF YOU ARE NOT SATISFIED!
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